In the Jungle; Andy Gloshen

Welcome to In The Jungle, where we meet the grills of Pittsburgh State University. I'm your host, Howard Smith, and today we are joined by Andy Glaschen. Andy, thanks for being here. Oh, thank you for having me. Thank you. Hey, Andy, where are you from? Carl Junction, Carl Junction, Missouri. Wow, that's not very far. Yeah. How did you choose Pitt State? Two or a bunch of different campuses came here in the fall, so I got to see it with the leaves changing and the campuses really, really pretty. Met a few people on campus, few professors, and just kind of fell in love with it just to a really nice, kind place. So you liked the environment here? It just really was appealing when you showed up. Had you been on any other campuses? Yeah, I went to MSU in Springfield, checked that out, and then of course MSU, Southern, which really is necrate, but both of those campuses didn't have the feel I was looking for. Something about this campus, it really does have that big school feel. I don't know if people would say that, but it's like the big school feel on a small campus, and this place really does have that quite a bit. Well, that's great to know that it's captured you. I think it's beautiful as well. So what's your major? And how can you decide it on that major?

I graduated last December, actually, with an undergrad in just a general psychology and a minor in history. And now I am in the school psychology program in a grad school here. I always wanted to be a teacher. When I came here, I started out as a history ed major, and then kind of realized I didn't want to do that. So I went and switched to psychology and then heard about school psych about halfway through my junior year and kind of realized it was a nice blend of like being in a school while getting to do psych work. So I really fell in love with that. One of the things when you're in those education programs, sometimes they have you do. There's an explorations in ed class where you kind of get exposure to education. Is that kind of where you get some exposure and said, you know, maybe this isn't the right thing? Yeah, very much so. I'm very thankful for that class. Without that, I probably still would have kind of gone on with that track and then gotten farther into and realized I wasn't cut out for it. But that class really showed me that being a teacher is something I think I'd be very good at.

I don't think I'd have the patience for it exactly. So kudos to people who can be teachers, but I just realized that I couldn't do that. That's actually that's good to hear because that's part of the purpose of that class. That is to early on in the college experience give you an opportunity to get a feel for it. That's really what you want to pursue before you get too far down the line, get too many hours under your belt. Yeah, so what courses have challenged you to date? I mean, has there been anything in particular that's kind of pushed you? Yeah, after I switched to a psychology, I kept the history as a minor because I had to pick a minor doing the BA and a lot of those upper-level history classes can really kick, but they're a pretty difficult doctor, daily and doctor-harmoned specifically. They have pretty tough classes for sure. Yeah, they're good instructors. Oh, very tough. Tell me a little bit about being in a history class. I mean, what's it like? I mean, if it pushed you some, so. Yeah, it's very much lecture style, not a lot of power points or things to go off of, and then lots of little projects that seem small

until you actually start to take them on, like book reviews and just article reviews and different things like that. Just trying to sit in there and take in all the info they're saying, getting written down as much as you can, it's not always easy, but definitely challenging and very, very good professors. You know, I'm like, you know, I can still recall a professor I had that actually ended up being a vice president here at one point, but he would walk through the door and he knew his content so well, and he engaged you so quickly. But I mean, I was always overwhelmed with how much they could bring back out of that. That was then always came in, no outline or anything, just kind of talked. So in psychology, a couple of things that you, that a little earlier we were talking, you said, you got an opportunity to do some research. Well, now what were you doing with research and how did you get that opportunity? Yeah, when I switched to a psych, I took a research methods class with Dr. Jamie Wood and he, well, I approached him after one of the first or second classes and he had mentioned that if anyone wanted to do research

just to come in and talk to him. So I approached him and asked if that was something that we could possibly look into. A little bit of time went by, I think you realize that I was kind of a decent student. So he talked with me again and gave me the opportunity to come on to a team that he had already formed to start to do some research. And we looked into a ADHD medication on campuses, on college campuses, people that use it on college campuses. So we actually did a study here at Pitt, just sent out like a survey monkey to everyone on campus and got quite a few responses back and then we were able to take that research to Chicago for an APS convention. So. So did you presented that then at a professional? Yeah, it was just a poster session. But yeah, I mean, we had posters up with a bunch of other people from all over the nation and tons of people came up asking questions about it. It was a very cool experience. Now to debt, reinforce your wanting to go further than in psychology. I know you're looking at school psych now, is that right? Yeah, that was knowing that I had, that I was going to have that under my belt, going into grad school,

definitely made me feel more comfortable with it all. It was definitely, it was kind of a realization that like I can do this. This is something that I can be good at. So it was a huge reinforcement for me to continue and pursue psychology and eventually school psychology. So how'd you hear about Pitt State? Well, being from Carl Junction, who's kind of over there, it's like an MSSU, PSU, like rivalry pretty much all the time with people. So I had known about it my entire life. My dad went here, got his undergrad here, and my mom got her master's here. So it's definitely like- In the blood. Yeah, exactly. It runs through my blood, I was about to say that. So yeah. You know, being from Carl Junction, too. Now you live over here. Yeah. You feel like that was a good move. I mean, you could have commuted, but you chose to live here. You liked the community? Yeah, yeah. I lived on campus freshman year, and that was fantastic. I highly recommend people to live on campus. That's how you meet people, and how you get to know people. And then I made some friends, and then ended up living in a few apartments really close to campus, like walking distance, or I ride my bike now.

So yeah, it's nice to be here close to you, able to get to things much easier. What's your favorite part of campus? I, the space, there's like the oval, there's just lots of grassy space out there, and then the fields in between the weed, and present scouts house, there's just lots of room to do things. And that sounds kind of weird, but it's nice to be able to just go out and throw around to Frisbee, and then like a nice contained space, or anything like that. It's just, especially the lake. Like I spent a lot of time, freshman sophomore year around the lake, just hanging out, doing homework, whatever. It's just such a pretty nice atmosphere. No, I think that's great, because it's interesting, because you initially came over here in the fall, you liked the environment, and you still love it. I think our grounds people do a fantastic job. Oh yeah. I think it's a beautiful campus, so it's neat to hear that being reinforced. What advice would you give to a prospective student that was considering pit state? Why should they look at us? I hear it all the time. I heard it when I was applying here.

It has a big school feel on a small campus. I mean, it really does. There's tons of stuff to do. You're gonna meet people. Everyone here is so genuine in kind. It's unlike any other place. I visited a lot of schools, and this was for me by far and way the best. And that proves why you belong at Pittsburgh State University. Thank you for joining us in the jungle. I'm your host, Howard Smith.