Welcome to Digication Scholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll.
In this episode, you'll hear my conversation with Andres Parres a
student at the University of LaVerne.
More links and information about today's conversation can be found on Digication's,
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Full episodes of Digication Scholars conversations can be found on YouTube.
Or your favorite podcast app.
Welcome to Digication Scholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll, and today I'm very excited
to introduce Andres Perez.
He is a current student at the University of LaVerne.
Uh, where he is majoring in psychology with a Pre-Med track.
Welcome Andres.
Hi.
Thank you for having me.
Um, yeah.
So my, my name is Andres.
It's currently my last year at the University of Louverne.
I'll be done with all my classes in the summer.
Not too sure when I'm going to be graduating.
It's either in the spring or in the fall.
I have to clarify with my advisor.
Um, but, uh, yeah, and, uh, oof, what was I going to say?
Oh no, I blanked.
On the spot.
It's fine.
Thank you so much.
It's very exciting that you're getting Near to the end of your time
there, and as part of your experience there, uh, for our listeners, I
was able to, uh, learn a little bit about Andres before our conversation
today from his wonderful ePortfolio.
And uh, for those that have been listening to other conversations,
I did have a chance to talk to one of his professors, Benjamin Jenkins
on Digication Scholars as well.
And we had such a lovely conversation about how he uses ePortfolios
in his courses that I wanted the opportunity to speak to one of his.
Past students as well.
So, um, Andres, I know in the portfolio that you created, it has,
uh, a title in it that's called the LaVerne Experience ePortfolio.
Could you tell us a little bit about what that is?
Yeah, so the LaVerne Experience, uh, so basically it's a requirement from
the school in order for us to graduate and it incorporates all the student,
uh, the values of the university, so community engagement, uh, diversity,
inclusion, um, lifelong learning, and there's one more, but I forgot what it is.
But, um, yeah, so we had to incorporate the values into our portfolio and see
how the values has affected us over the time, uh, we've been at the university.
And so I highlighted three key, uh, values that diversity,
inclusion, community engagement, and lifelong learning in my portfolio.
So then I explained in my portfolio.
Each value of what it meant to me and like how it's affected me and what
I'm going to take from those values and apply it to my life in the future
after I graduate from Little Rock.
Nice.
So, when you started creating this ePortfolio, was there a specific
course that you were taking that kind of prompted you to start building it?
Um, well, it was our Honors Colloquium II class that Professor Jenkins taught.
Um, it's basically, it's a part of our librarian experience requirement.
Um, not everyone takes Honors Colloquium, it's only for the honors program.
But, uh, usually the class, like, people outside of the honors program have
to, like, go out in the community and, like, either, like, um, be a tutor for
students at a public school or volunteer at a, I think at a food shelter.
But, uh, for our class, uh, Professor Jenkins wanted to focus on giving
back to the community and being a, giving, adding to the LaVerne history.
So, um, at, uh, at our university we have a, uh, Uh, ooh, what's it called?
Uh, the history and then he wanted us to add to it.
So we used our portfolios to add to it.
Oh, what's it called?
Oh, no.
Are you speaking about the university archive?
Yeah, the archives.
Yes.
Thank you for saving me.
Yeah, the archives.
He wanted us to add to the archives and, um, which will add to the community and
making us have a history so when future students can look back upon the archives.
And see it.
And then he also, in the class, he wanted us to use archives to write another paper.
Um, and so yeah, we used the archives to look back on our history and then
like, and apply it to how much it's changed over the time of the course of
the university's history to present day.
Yeah.
So what was that experience like for you?
I know you, uh, in some of the reflective writing that you
did in the e-portfolio were.
Kind of sharing that when you first embarked on creating the ePortfolio,
you were struggling a little bit to think about, you know, your kind of
place in the institution's history or how you were doing really mattered.
You know, you were going to classes and then.
Going home, you know, how does this kind of fit into the bigger picture?
So what was the experience like for you as you're creating
the ePortfolio and starting to make some of those connections?
Well, Professor Jenkins gave us, gave us the idea of just like, look, You
have to make a portfolio, but it's up to you what you put in there.
Like he, he gave us instructions, but it wasn't like a set thing
to follow, like a prompt.
It was kind of just like, this is your project.
You do what you want with it, which was difficult.
Cause usually I like instructions and I like knowing what to do.
So I was, I was able to be a little bit more creative in this sense.
And I was able to like take different things in my life and put it together.
But, um, Yeah, it was difficult because honestly, I'm not involved in any
sports clubs, anything at the school.
I literally just go to class, drive home, and then I do stuff outside of class.
And so it was difficult to see how I've impacted the community in any
way, because like, you know, if you're not really there, then how can you?
Impact the community.
So I had to like, uh, look at my personal life to see how I impact the
community instead of just the school.
I started to expand my horizons and think outside of the box,
um, to answer those questions.
Yeah.
So what kind of discoveries did you make in that process?
Well, upon, upon looking, reflecting on my life, basically, um, I, I found
out that I actually, like, in fall, I'm engaged with the community a lot.
Um, at that time, you know, I have a, I have a podcast called,
uh, 'Get In' football podcast.
It's changed.
The name has changed since the portfolio.
So it's outdated on the portfolio, but, um, yeah, I realized that we engage a
lot with the community, every video we make, you know, sometimes it doesn't get
a lot of views, but you know, so there's always someone to engage with someone that
watches and that engages with our video.
And, uh, recently we had a video, um, And we were talking about the Jamaican
national team, and we had a lot of people from Jamaica commenting on our videos,
sharing their thoughts and opinions, and that was just mind blowing to us
because we had no idea we could reach another country and have that big of
an engagement with another country, so it was really cool to see that
engagement with them, and then, uh, and then diversity and inclusion, you know,
I play soccer outside of the school.
And I was thinking, I was like, there's got to be something cause
it's the world's biggest sport.
Um, you know, it's, uh, everybody loves it and there's got to be something.
And then I was, I'd recently joined a semi professional team at the time of making
the ePortfolio and two of my teammates were Jamaican and I believe Nigerian.
And I never really encountered anyone from those countries, like
specifically from those countries.
So it was really cool to talk with them and spend time with them on
the field and outside of the, Field.
And yeah, it was just something I had to think about outside.
And then the lifelong learning, that was, that was when I could actually
go in the classroom and it was like reflect on classes I've had in the
past, because usually for me in college, like once I take a class, I don't
really think about it too much unless I have to use it for another class.
So it was kind of like one of those things, but like it forced me to
go back and think about all these other honors classes I've taken, all
these other psych classes I've taken.
And then I was able to use that.
To draw from my ePortfolio, and then I use a couple of examples from like papers,
and I think I used a presentation I used in one of my favorite classes I've had
to incorporate it into my ePortfolio.
Yeah.
How did you make decisions about what you wanted to include?
And it looks like in some of the other 'LaVerne Experience', uh,
portfolios that I've seen, there's kind of an, uh, overlying structure.
Did you modify that structure at all or did you kind of use what
was available within the template but then filled it in with yours?
Specific kinds of projects.
And how did you decide what you were going to add to each area?
Yeah.
Um, well he gave, uh, Professor Jenkins gave us a, a rough idea of how to set it
up so it didn't look like a chaotic mess of material just chucked into a portfolio.
Um, but I wanted to tell a story with everything I did, uh, to an extent.
So like for my essays that I had in the section, I forgot what
I exactly called that section.
I wanted to tell a story of my progression through, uh, college so far.
Like my writing style.
My, uh, presentation style, because I wasn't a very strong writer.
I'm sure my high school teachers could attest to this, um, in, in my
high school classes, um, I always got like B pluses on all my essays.
I rarely got any, any A's and, you know, I, I wanted to show that I've grown as a
writer, um, and show that I've improved and, uh, in some way, because I've, I've
made sure I incorporate a research paper I wrote, cause I've never wrote, at the
time I've never written a research paper, and I was proud of what I've written
cause I spent a lot of time working on it.
And I wanted to show that and then show a reflection essay that I
had as well in another class that challenged me to think outside the
box again from Professor Jensen.
At the time, you, uh, you, uh, Professor Jensen was a professor at all freshman
year and he had like all of these essays all the time that were like really
like made you think outside the box and they were never straightforward.
It was very frustrating, but you had to like really put your mind to it.
And, and so, yeah, so I incorporated one of his essays and then I just.
Try to tell a story with everything that I did and try and like reflect,
put my own spin on it, um, too, because I try to show my personality
a little bit through the presentation.
Like why the reason why I incorporated, uh, incorporated presentation into that
section for the documents was because, uh, it was my favorite class, but also
it's my favorite thing I've worked on so far because in that presentation it was
an interpersonal communications class, uh, and so the class was basically.
About, um, uh, relationships and how they work.
And I thought it was really cool because it was applicable to my life.
And you can, I, I, what I've learned, I've used in my life and I can see about it.
Uh, see what it's about.
And, um, and I was able to, in the presentation, I was able to
analyze my favorite movie and the relationship between the two characters.
And then, so I was really proud of that.
So I had to incorporate that.
So yeah, a lot of everything that's in there is a story of myself.
In a way that I try to make a story in throughout my life, uh, in each section.
So, that was the idea behind it.
Nice.
And for you, was this kind of, um, process of personal storytelling or reflecting
on your experiences something that you had done before you used the ePortfolio?
Or was this a new, uh, A new kind of practice or process for you?
It was definitely a new practice.
Um, because I didn't, I didn't really reflect on my life in that way and try and
incorporate the values of the university that we had, uh, to look at upon.
So it made me reflect on my life because I never really done that before.
I usually just gone, gone with the flow and I was like,
all right, this happens next.
And this happens for a reason and all that.
And, um, Yeah, and I just had to really reflect, but I enjoyed it because it
made me think outside the box though.
Um, especially with, uh, we had to do interviews and I tried to
get, like, a theme going with the interviews because I just didn't want
to interview, like, random people.
Um, and, uh, like, uh, so I was like, let's interview someone from the
past of the university and then let's interview someone in the present.
So I grabbed one of my friends that I've known literally the first day of college.
I met her on the first day.
And then I grabbed my mom who went to the university, thankfully, so thank
you, mom, for going to that university.
Aww, that's wonderful.
I was able to reflect, I was able to compare and contrast the two,
so I was just focused on telling a story in every aspect that I could.
Yeah, so I'm curious, between their two different perspectives, were there a
lot of parallels in their experience.
Going to the same university, even though they were there at different times.
Um, I would say there's, there's some parallels, both very hard
driven women on both sides.
Um, but it, my mom always emphasized that the campus during her time was so
much smaller than the campus it is now.
Because a lot of it was never built, uh, when she went there, and, and
then now it's a lot bigger, obviously.
But, um, yeah, I mean, it kind of reflected the same way, because,
uh, you know, My friend, Sh...
She's still in college, but my mom's gone on to graduate school
and got her PhD and stuff.
So, like, uh, she's a lot more developed in the educational side.
And my friend's still starting out in that sense.
And so, um, it was similar in the sense of what they got from the university so far.
But it, um, but my mom was able to apply more to what she learned from LaVerne.
I was able to use it outside of LaVerne for further education.
Um, but my friend hasn't, is still there, but she thinks that it's gonna
help her, uh, long, later down the road.
Nice.
And I know in my conversation, uh, with your, um, professor, Professor
Jenkins, he was speaking a bit about the university archives.
And how important it is for students to be able to share their stories and
experiences in the same way that you're able to refer to the archives and learn
about the institution's history and what life was like for students then and what
the kind of, Learning outcomes were at that time to serve you today, that
your experiences and stories can have value to future generation and kind of
thinking about the ePortfolio as sort of a time capsule, sort of your legacy that
you're leaving behind for other students.
And was that something that you kind of had in mind as you were creating these
stories or who are you thinking about as the, the audience for your ePortfolio?
Well, I know obviously professor Jenkins was the main audience.
Um, also, you know, I know he works, um, as an archivist at the school.
Um, but yeah, I didn't really have like a set audience in mind.
I knew that it's possible for future, uh, students to see my portfolio.
But it's not like a guarantee, right?
Um, but I just wanted to, I took the matter serious and I wanted to
ensure that I was able to reflect and my portfolio showed the story of
my time at LaVerne and, um, I didn't have like a set audience in mind.
I just want to be able to show my personality, but also show my time
at LaVerne and hopefully people can learn from it or people can see.
What it was like back then.
And so, yeah, my, my, I didn't have like a set audience in mind.
And I was curious too.
So you, it sounds like you added materials from a number of different courses
that you've taken over your time there.
And as you were kind of going through this process of curating and making
decisions about what you wanted to include, had you seen any of your own
kind of growth or transformations as you had kind of moved through the curriculum
there from one course to the next, how your skills may have developed.
I think thinking outside the box is probably the best thing because, you
know, usually in high, in high school, you would be like, here's a prompt,
write about it, you know, or you have to write a certain way, especially in
those AP courses, you have to write a certain way in order to get the grade.
So you're very limited on what you could do.
Um, and, and when I got to the University of LaVerne, it was kind of interesting.
Uh, the writing professor I had freshman year was, I mentioned
before, was Professor Jensen.
He always, like, encouraged to think outside the box, and he gave us prompts,
but the thing was, is I remember at the time I was always frustrated
every time he gave us an essay to write about, was that he never, like,
was super specific on what to write.
Like, we would have, like, some, like, reading, we, like, a reading we had to
do, or, like, a book we read, and then we'd have to write about it, but he
kind of gave us the leeway to kind of write about what we wanted to write.
But, um, yeah, I think my writing style in that sense of thinking outside
the box improved, but also through writing so many essays and papers, um,
my overall writing just got better.
I'd stop making, I stopped speaking like, don't slang English, you know, uh,
I, I gotta like, I started like, I've narrowed down the typos and I've started
speaking like proper English when writing instead of just like using like slang
that you should never use in a paper and I would always be a culprit of that.
And then I'd be like, Wait a minute, I gotta go back, because
I can't say that, that's not, that's not how you write a paper.
Um, but also um, I think another thing, uh, that has, uh, that has improved
over time was um, listening to others as well, because usually I was kind of
like, narrow minded in that sense, but I think through all the classes I've
taken, it's, I've, I've learned that it's important to also, like, listen
to everybody and just hear them out.
Um, because I've taken a lot of philosophy classes because of the honors program
and everyone, and we've learned about so many different cultures, cultures
I've, like, never even thought about.
And, but it's always important to incorporate those, uh, to not incorporate
them, but listen to them and see how they can be even incorporated in your
life or how similar they are to certain values that you have in your life.
And just be able to compare and contrast.
So those are the two things I've learned so far.
Nice.
Uh, and it's great to hear that it sounds like some of the assignments that
you were given that kind of pushed you outside of your comfort zone and may
have initially challenged you and made you feel a bit frustrated or some of the
things that you're most proud of today.
And where you've seen some of your, um, biggest growth happen.
So, I know many educators are, are hoping to kind of push their
students to the next level.
So, um, it sounds like you've had some really good experiences and teachers
there at your, your time at LeBarn.
Um, and I was curious for you, you mentioned that you, uh, have a love
for soccer and that it's something that you do, uh, outside of your,
uh, time at the, at the school.
It's something that you've included as part of your extracurriculars
within your portfolio.
Um, when did you make the decision to include that?
What kind of led you to want to share that, that aspect of yourself?
Well, soccer's been a massive part of my life and it's helped me be the person
I am today through, um, trials and tribulations, uh, but I, I started when
I was 12, uh, and actually a couple of days ago, it was my eighth anniversary
of playing on the 17th of August.
I saw it on my, um, Instagram.
My mom showed me one for Facebook, but what I Aw, congratulations!
Oh, Yeah, so I was, so yeah, it's been eight years since I started playing,
and it's always been a big part of my life for, um, because you know, uh,
this is personal, but I will share it.
Uh, so I was diagnosed with a, uh, blood disorder, hemophilia A, so I
don't, I can't clot, I don't have factor VIII, so I can't clot blood.
Um.
So, I was never cleared to play any sports when I was a kid.
I couldn't play football, soccer, tennis, nothing.
Um, and uh, you know, thankfully, and luckily, I was blessed with a great
medical team at Kaiser Permanente.
Shout out Kaiser Permanente in that sense.
Um, and I was blessed with a great team who, when I turned 12, actually
approved of me playing, but also, uh, the medication got a lot better
as well, and so I was able to play.
And so, yeah, it's always been a big part of, uh, part of my life.
Before the age of 12, I always remember watching soccer with
my grandpa and, uh, my dad.
And it was always the Mexican National Team.
We, um, big supporters of the Mexican National Team, because my
grandfather, he was from Mexico.
And he, he actually got me into soccer, because I remember one time
I was like, probably like five, and he was like, he was watching Chivas,
he loved Chivas, and I was a kid.
I had no idea.
I didn't really care too much.
And I was like, Hey, can we change the channel?
I don't want to watch this.
And he got mad at me.
And he was like, change the channel.
What do you mean change the channel?
And then he got mad at me.
So I had to leave the room.
And I was like, why is he so mad at me?
I just asked him to change the channel.
I didn't get it until recently, uh, when I started, like, when I was
around 12 and really got into soccer, playing soccer, watching soccer, that I
understood what it meant, um, to be so passionate about something that you love.
And soccer is something that I'm very passionate about and that I love.
And, uh, and so I thank him for that.
Uh, so yeah, it was just a big, big part of my life.
I've, you know, had a lot of ups and downs with soccer, uh, Actually, I had a year
break after senior year of high school.
I got injured with a knee injury, took a year break and then didn't get back
to it until I was making this portfolio literally the week and before I had to
turn in my portfolio, I made my semi professional debut and that was my first
game back in over like a year and a half.
So it was just like, everything was coming together at the
right time as I was making it.
But like, during that year gap, it never left, uh, my passion for soccer.
And during that time was when I made podcast, was filled in that soccer
gap or that I had, uh, Um, but it was never, never really felt the same.
Like I love making that podcast, but it playing is just a different experience
for me is something that I prefer to do.
But, um, yeah, so now I'm doing both and I just love what I'm doing at the moment.
Ah, that's such an incredible story.
And I'm so glad to hear that even though there were so many limitations placed on
you as a child, that you've been able to.
You know, build this love for the sport and have this wonderful opportunity
to play and have come so far.
That's really remarkable in just eight years time.
Right.
Yeah.
And, um, I love to hear that it's rooted in family and, uh, you know, of course
your grandfather wanted to share his.
Joy and passion for the sport with you and what a wonderful way to kind of carry on.
Your family's kind of history and joy with the sport also.
Um, so you mentioned you started the podcast, if I got this correct,
and you started that when you needed to take that kind of one
year break from the sport, correct?
Yeah.
So There's going to be a backstory behind this.
So actually, the podcast I have today isn't the original podcast that I had.
So my friend Elijah, he is a part of my podcast.
I went to high school with him for four years.
So me and him are still good friends because we still have podcasts together.
But senior year of high school, we actually had another podcast called
Everything in Between the Sticks.
And it was an idea we had just for fun.
You know, we only post on Spotify and it was just kind of like for
laughs and giggles and it didn't do well cause you know, you don't
really post on Spotify unless you have like an audience to follow.
It's good.
It's hard to follow people on Spotify that are starting out.
YouTube's the best way.
And you know, it didn't go anywhere.
We kind of forgot about it.
Like we stopped filming and we like just forgot about it.
And then he texted me.
He was like, Hey, it's probably like September of 2022.
I think.
Yeah.
Around like August, September ago.
Yeah.
So we're actually almost reaching our year anniversary.
So it'll be next month.
Uh, and he was like, Hey, Uh, we have some people in Sweden who watched our
podcast, Everything in Between the Sticks.
And I was like, Sweden?
And he was like, yeah.
He was like, you want to run it, run it back?
And I was like, you know what?
Sure.
Why not?
Let's run it back.
And this time, uh, we incorporated one of his friends is now
one of my friends, Diego.
So then it became a trio on the podcast.
And then so around September, I'm sure I can probably find the exact day if
you just look on the YouTube channel.
Cause, yeah.
Can see the when it's posted.
I think it's like September 10th, I think.
Yeah, we can include a link to it in our show notes.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, that's fine.
It's on our greatest video.
It's because it's a start, it's a startup video and we
had no idea what we were doing.
Uh, and I was just like, we, we didn't know how to flow because we were all,
we were three guys, but we never knew how to like how to properly have a
flowing conversation that was engaging.
And so it was kind of like one of us would speak and then another one would speak.
And then we would wait and it just never was like really flowing and
we're like, Oh, who would watch this?
And then slowly we picked up over time, we picked up how to like
actually have this huge, like dialogue or like how to talk and like how
to flow instead of just one of us.
Uh, one at a time.
And so, yeah, we've, we've, we've picked up a few tricks here and there.
And, uh, we've grown a little bit since we started a year ago, but, um, yeah.
And then we had the World Cup.
We grew during the world cup and then, uh, we actually did
really well during the Gold Cup.
That's where the Jamaican fans came in the Jamaica video.
That's our best video actually with a 10 K.
And then, uh, then we had a tick talk with my team West Ham.
They were playing in a final.
And that went to 18k.
That was our best TikTok ever.
And it was just literally a video of me reacting to us scoring the winning goal.
And that was it.
That was the video.
But it was really like a sentimental video to me.
Cause my little brother's in the background of the video.
He's celebrating like crazy.
He's celebrating more than I am in the video.
And that's just cause I was in shock of that.
We actually were, we won a trophy and I couldn't believe it.
But, um, yeah, Yeah, it's also that video, the TikTok was also important to me
because it documented history of My team winning, but I care about my team a lot.
And it was just like seeing that moment.
I got to just go on Tik Tok and relive that moment.
Watch myself react to the video.
Well, and clearly others have enjoyed in kind of reveling
in that joy with you, right?
Yeah.
Some people were a bit salty that my team won, but some people
were, but, uh, overall it was a good, good reaction to it.
And you know, I thoroughly enjoyed doing the podcast with those guys.
They're a great group of guys.
And being able to experience certain things with them, like we
went to a football game recently.
It was a Wrexham, I don't know if you know who that is, Wrexham AFC.
It's owned by Ryan Reynolds.
And Rob McElhenney versus Manchester United.
We had to go to San Diego to watch the game.
Did a video on that.
And it was just, Another fun experience that we were able to do was us three.
So yeah, it's a nice little escape too because like if it's a busy week
then I have like an, I know I have an hour set where I can just talk
about something that I love with.
Two guys that are amazing and yeah, it's just a great time.
Well, and it sounds like you have a lot of, uh, respect for the kind of team that
you've built for your podcast and how do you feel like that may connect to your
kind of team interactions playing soccer?
Well, you know, I've always...
It's always been taught to me.
It's always treat everyone with respect, obviously, you know, treat
others how you want to be treated.
But, you know, it also helps that I went to school four years with that guy, with
Elijah, and then Diego and I just got on really well straight from the start
because he was friends with Elijah.
And it, it, sometimes we have our little bickers, uh, little bickers
here and there, but it creates, creates for a fun conversation
that adds to the conversation.
But it, it translates well to the field, cause I, I don't think I've, I've
only non gone along with a few of my teammates, but that's besides the point.
But overall, you know, you always gotta get behind your teammates, cause they're
your teammates at the end of the day.
It's 11 players on the pitch, and uh, you gotta always have each other's backs.
Uh, so It's kind of easy to incorporate the fact that, like, you have to be
nice to each other, but also just, like, have everyone's back, especially
people that are important in your life.
And so, I always just try and have everyone's back, whether it's these
guys or my teammates on the pitch.
Like, I'll always have their backs no matter what.
No questions asked.
So, I always love to ask what students plans are after graduation.
Have you, have you thought about that at all?
Are you starting to?
Make some connections on that front.
What are you thinking?
Um, see, this is where it gets iffy for me.
Um, uh, you know, Med school is what I'm aiming for, but I have
a secret passion project, which is soccer, professional soccer.
It would be the dream.
Uh, but Med school is the realistic dream.
Uh, so, uh, Uh, I'm studying for the MCATs right now, uh, so I can take it, uh, but
I'll probably, after graduation, probably go to EMT school and be an EMT for a
little bit, uh, before I go to Med school.
Uh, but, uh, the goal is, the dream is soccer at the moment.
I'm fully focused on it and I have Med school in the rear view mirror
though, just in case soccer falls apart.
But my dream is to go professional.
Um, if that happens or not, we will see.
But I have some, I have some things in the works at the moment to try and
go pro, so we'll see how that goes.
That's, that's the dream after college, but if not, you'll probably
see me in some med, Med school place.
I don't know, some journal.
Yeah, that sounds great.
Yeah, and I encourage you to pursue both of those passions as long
as they continue to be passions.
Because you just, you really don't know where, where life might take you.
So follow, follow your heart.
Well, I'm so glad we had a chance to connect today and
for you to share your story.
And before we say our goodbyes, I was wondering for, um, students that
may be listening to this or for those that may be introducing ePortfolios
to students for the first time.
I know when you came to this, you weren't really sure if it
was going to be of value to you.
Or, um, you know, what stories you might share, what advice might you
have for students that are like, I don't, what, what is this all about?
How, how could this benefit me?
Just have fun with it.
You know, don't, don't like try and make it something that it's not.
Uh, just don't try and make it super academic.
You know, a portfolio is supposed to be a show yourself, show your personality.
Be a part of you, be a reflection of you.
So just make sure you have your little pizazz to it, be it, have fun with it.
Cause I had fun with it, compiling everything, finding everything
and, you know, talking to my mom, talking to my friend.
And yeah, just, and also be, be happy to share, share it too.
Just be able to share it and just share it with anyone.
Um, and yeah, just focus on having fun.
That's the most important part.
And then also the grade helps too, but, um, just be serious,
but also have fun with it.
It's that perfect balance.
You just gotta find.
But don't try and just make it all academic and try and put your
own spin on it because that's what a portfolio is all about.
Right.
Well, thank you so much again.
It was wonderful to talk to you.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for listening to everyone.
I appreciate it.
Thanks so much.
Bye.