In the Jungle; Cody Lindbloom

Welcome to In The General, where we meet the gorillas of Pittsburgh State University. I'm your host, Howard Smith, and today we're joined by Cody Linda Bloom. Cody, glad you're here with us. Well, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. Hey, Cody, where are you from? I'm from Frontnet, Kansas, which is just, as you may know, just a couple of miles north of Pittsburgh. What's it like being that close by to go to school? Well, it's really nice. I live at home, so it's very convenient. A lot of food, then. A lot of home-cooked food, yeah. So it's being a commuter or a local is a good deal going to Pitt State. I would say so, yes, sir, very much so. So what's your major? My major is psychology with an emphasis in developmental disabilities. Wow, that's a good feel. So what drew you into psychology and also the developmental disability side of it? Well, that's a really good question. At first, I had no idea what I wanted to go into. Well, I actually take that back. In high school, I really wanted to be a Nashville songwriter or a professional wrestler in the WWE. Yeah. A professional wrestler? Yes, sir. You got my attention.

Now, why did that draw you? Well, you know, for years, I was very fascinated with the show of wrestling and how, you know, they draw an audience. And not just the audience, but I like their volunteer work as well. The WWE does a lot with reading and they do a lot with make a wish foundation. And I, that drew me to it, too. Oh, okay. Let me make sense in with the psychology. With the psychology, yes, sir. Yeah, all right. But I just, I thought it was really fascinating field. But looking back now, it's probably not a feasible thing, you know, with all the injuries and whatnot. I kind of want something that, you know, it's not so strenuous, physically strenuous. All right. So talk a little bit again, then go further on on the developmental disability side of this thing. Well, with developmental disabilities, just like with the field of psychology and with a major psychology, I really had no idea what I wanted to go into at Pittsburgh State. For the first year and a half, I was undeclared. It wasn't until Dr. Jamie Wood. I had a course general psychology with Dr. Jamie Wood. And he, you know, brought me in and he goes, Cody, you know, I think, you know, psychology would be a really great fit for you.

Let's meet, let's talk about psychology. Little did he know that we would meet at about 10, 11, 12 times during the course of my freshman and sophomore years until he actually hooked me in. And I decided that psychology is the best fit for me. And that's where I wanted to go. With developmental disabilities, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do and what emphasis I wanted good towards because you have to, for the Bachelor of Science, you had to have an emphasis. So I felt like developmental disabilities was the best fit for me because of my work with special Olympics in high school. With special Olympics in high school, I was part of student council. And as part of the student council, what we do is we go every year to, well, the local carnies and stadium where they had their special Olympics for the athletes and we give them the ribbons and their medals. And that kind of, you know, paved the way towards me being interested in helping others with intellectual and developmental disabilities. So some of that work actually reinforced that desire or your interest in that area back in high school? Oh, yes, yeah.

Of course, yes, sir. So that was a good high school program. It was a great program. It was given me experience in a field that I had no idea that I would eventually, you know, be really interested in wanting to work into. So it's really helped a lot. With developmental disabilities on campus, I am a part of the Center for Research Evaluation and Awareness of Dislexia. And that has really, really not only peaked my interest even more in my emphasis, but it's made me a better, I feel like a better person overall. What course is challenged you the most today? Well, how, geez. Right now, behavioral modification and kind of processes. Those are my two hardest courses that I'm taking right now. Those are very strenuous courses. Well, I feel like there's a lot of strenuous courses in the psychology department overall. And that's one of the biggest, I feel, one of the biggest misconceptions is that I hear every now and then that people think that psychology is a easy major. And it's, you know, it's a very easy degree to achieve. And that is a very, that's a misconception.

But right now, behavioral modification, cognitive processing is really difficult for me at the moment. But I'm working and I'm striving towards that A. Yes, there's been anybody that's influenced you while you've been in college here. Oh, of course, there's been a number of people who have influenced me. Who are some of those and how did they influence you? Well, the first one that comes to mind is Dr. Jamie Wood. He's influenced me a lot. If it wasn't for him, I would not, I may not be, you know, a psychology major today. I could be, who knows, I could be still going towards it wrestling path, if it wasn't for him. But he does a lot of things for me that he didn't have to do. For one, you know, he took me into his office, you know, 10, 12 times talk to me about psychology in the fields and the careers in psychology. Something else that he's done is he is a advisor for our research group. What we're doing right now is me and a couple other undergraduates are presenting research at the American Psychological Science Convention in Boston this May.

And he's the advisor for it. And if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be doing research as an undergraduate. A lot of people doing research is it's not a right. It's a privilege and having the opportunity of doing research with a professor such as Dr. Jamie Wood is a blessing. Hey, what's your favorite part of campus? I feel like my favorite aspect to campus is the faculty and staff. The faculty and staff on campus are, you know, they're incredible. And it's not just, you know, the educators on campus, they're great because they want, you know, that's too succeed. But it's not just the educators. It's, you know, the custodial staff. It's the grounds crew. It's, you know, the guys at Cedex say what they grill a crossing when, you know, they're making their sandwich. All of those guys and gals, they make being a gorilla so enjoyable. They, you know, they're always smiling. They're asking you how that your day is.

Those people, I would say specifically, is what makes Pittsburgh State a great place. Is the people behind the scenes and the people who are just trying to help you be the best person you can absolutely be. If somebody were looking at pit stake today, why would you tell them they should consider it? I would tell them to consider Pittsburgh State University because the opportunities here are endless. We may not have specific programs like other universities may have. But we have professors and we have faculty and staff who go above and beyond four students to be successful. At Pittsburgh State, you're not a number. You are a person. If you walk through the oval at least 15 people will say hi to you and they'll know your name. It's a place, I like to tell people that Pittsburgh State University, even though it's a midwestern school, it has a southern feel because everybody is so friendly and they want everybody else to succeed. And that proves why you belong to Pittsburgh State University. Thank you for joining us in the jungle.

I'm your host, Howard Smith.