1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,410 Welcome to Digication Scholars Conversations. 2 00:00:03,690 --> 00:00:05,510 I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll. 3 00:00:05,780 --> 00:00:09,270 In this episode, you'll hear Part One of my conversation 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,540 with Whitney Fountain-Ruiz, a recent graduate of Arizona State 5 00:00:13,540 --> 00:00:17,649 University, where she received her master's degree in communication. 6 00:00:18,349 --> 00:00:23,350 More links and information about today's conversation can be found on Digication's 7 00:00:23,375 --> 00:00:25,525 Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 8 00:00:27,265 --> 00:00:31,154 Full episodes of Digication Scholars Conversations can be found on 9 00:00:31,185 --> 00:00:33,845 YouTube or your favorite podcast app. 10 00:00:34,705 --> 00:00:38,014 Welcome to Digication Scholars Conversations. 11 00:00:38,025 --> 00:00:43,704 I'm your host Kelly Driscoll and today I'm so excited to introduce Whitney 12 00:00:43,784 --> 00:00:48,965 Fountain-Ruiz, a recent graduate of Arizona State University where she pursued 13 00:00:48,975 --> 00:00:51,435 a master's degree in communication. 14 00:00:51,445 --> 00:00:52,574 Welcome, Whitney. 15 00:00:52,910 --> 00:00:53,810 Thank you. 16 00:00:53,830 --> 00:00:55,300 Thank you for having me today. 17 00:00:55,420 --> 00:00:56,470 Absolutely. 18 00:00:56,470 --> 00:01:01,679 I have so enjoyed learning about you through the beautiful pages of your 19 00:01:01,690 --> 00:01:08,619 ePortfolio, but I'm absolutely thrilled to have a chance to now talk to you and 20 00:01:08,630 --> 00:01:14,250 give you a chance to tell your story and experience with our listeners today. 21 00:01:15,150 --> 00:01:18,980 So I thought I'd just get started with asking you to tell us a little 22 00:01:18,980 --> 00:01:23,770 bit about your background and what led you to Arizona State University. 23 00:01:24,745 --> 00:01:30,165 Well, I will say, and I've said this to many people, that it was not planned. 24 00:01:30,445 --> 00:01:32,235 Like, it just happens. 25 00:01:33,245 --> 00:01:40,485 I started college at a community college in California at Southwestern College. 26 00:01:41,535 --> 00:01:50,885 Probably in 2004 or 2005, my degree was in psychology, but I didn't know what to do. 27 00:01:50,885 --> 00:01:52,065 I didn't know how, how it works. 28 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,339 And I didn't know how to ask questions at the time because 29 00:01:56,339 --> 00:01:59,020 I think I was about 18 or 19. 30 00:01:59,029 --> 00:02:00,639 So I did not ask questions. 31 00:02:00,690 --> 00:02:02,579 I didn't know who to go to. 32 00:02:02,859 --> 00:02:08,089 I didn't understand what path I was supposed to take to, in order to graduate. 33 00:02:08,830 --> 00:02:16,699 And so many years later, um, my daughter, she's my stepdaughter, but she's my baby. 34 00:02:17,679 --> 00:02:17,769 Absolutely. 35 00:02:17,829 --> 00:02:21,240 Um, when she Graduated high school. 36 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,480 She asked me to go with her to college. 37 00:02:24,010 --> 00:02:28,230 And I was like, Oh, I guess so. 38 00:02:28,230 --> 00:02:28,970 I'll try this. 39 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:29,909 It was, it was. 40 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:35,470 Stressful at first because we didn't know how, we didn't understand how 41 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:41,009 to apply, or at least it felt more complicated than what it actually was. 42 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:47,139 But, uh, I was able to apply and we, her and I actually took some classes together, 43 00:02:47,829 --> 00:02:50,699 but I changed my degree to Communication. 44 00:02:51,125 --> 00:02:51,595 Okay. 45 00:02:51,645 --> 00:02:54,815 And she chose psychology, funny enough. 46 00:02:55,275 --> 00:02:58,755 And we were there for two years. 47 00:02:58,755 --> 00:02:59,735 COVID happened. 48 00:03:00,005 --> 00:03:00,335 Yeah. 49 00:03:00,335 --> 00:03:01,295 So we were going in person. 50 00:03:01,934 --> 00:03:03,115 Yeah, we were going in person. 51 00:03:03,115 --> 00:03:04,175 But you know what? 52 00:03:04,175 --> 00:03:09,855 I understand it was a hard time for a lot of people, but It seemed to be the 53 00:03:09,885 --> 00:03:15,875 perfect time for me to go because right when that happened, it went from going in 54 00:03:15,875 --> 00:03:19,475 person to doing it, the classes online. 55 00:03:19,484 --> 00:03:21,234 And I have a, a son too. 56 00:03:21,234 --> 00:03:27,124 So I was able to stay at home and, um, be with my son, be there 57 00:03:27,125 --> 00:03:29,315 for him and do my classes online. 58 00:03:29,755 --> 00:03:35,905 And even though it was, Um, we, we had to, we had a scheduled meetings. 59 00:03:36,204 --> 00:03:37,795 I, I felt more comfortable. 60 00:03:37,895 --> 00:03:39,485 I felt it was great. 61 00:03:39,485 --> 00:03:46,225 And then that school in particular happened to create a new transfer program. 62 00:03:46,545 --> 00:03:53,410 So it was trans, it was a transfer program to SDSU, San Diego State University. 63 00:03:53,420 --> 00:03:56,980 So that's why I said it wasn't planned. 64 00:03:56,980 --> 00:03:57,740 None of this was planned. 65 00:03:58,470 --> 00:03:59,350 Things were happening. 66 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,730 It's just, I was able to get financial aid and the, with the 67 00:04:03,730 --> 00:04:08,700 financial aid, I, I could use it to transfer to get my bachelor's degree. 68 00:04:09,230 --> 00:04:13,200 And I saved up the money from financial aid. 69 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:19,084 So when I finished my bachelor's, I said, um, I, I was in touch with a professor, 70 00:04:19,334 --> 00:04:21,875 my very first communication professor. 71 00:04:21,875 --> 00:04:25,305 I've been in touch with him all these years and he's helped me along the way. 72 00:04:25,305 --> 00:04:27,775 So I told him, okay, what do I do next? 73 00:04:28,084 --> 00:04:31,535 And he said, I recommend Arizona State University. 74 00:04:32,185 --> 00:04:36,885 And luckily I had enough money to go to school there. 75 00:04:36,945 --> 00:04:38,195 And it was so fast. 76 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:44,530 I think it took like a year or a year and a half maybe to finish my master's degree. 77 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:50,640 And I was, I'm so happy that I've had the chance to have that experience. 78 00:04:51,020 --> 00:04:51,680 Yes. 79 00:04:51,710 --> 00:04:56,759 Uh, many congratulations and, and thank you for sharing that story. 80 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:04,219 I think for many people, you know, they have some ideas about how You know, their 81 00:05:05,810 --> 00:05:10,940 education trajectory is going to work and may not realize that there may be 82 00:05:10,940 --> 00:05:16,349 some pivots and changes and unexpected things that happen along the way. 83 00:05:16,369 --> 00:05:21,279 And as I have these conversations with students and alumni, I'm learning 84 00:05:21,289 --> 00:05:28,085 that Many during that kind of upheaval during COVID, um, it became a time 85 00:05:28,085 --> 00:05:34,514 where people were kind of evaluating what's next and what they want to do and 86 00:05:34,515 --> 00:05:36,564 changes happening with their families. 87 00:05:36,564 --> 00:05:42,074 And many found it as a time where they could pivot and reinvest more 88 00:05:42,075 --> 00:05:47,175 time in their education and, um, have a different kind of balance. 89 00:05:47,355 --> 00:05:52,015 with family life and things that they were doing outside of the 90 00:05:52,025 --> 00:05:53,955 home before all of that happened. 91 00:05:53,965 --> 00:05:56,725 So, um, thank you for sharing that. 92 00:05:56,735 --> 00:06:02,284 It's something that I'm finding, um, is an interesting kind of common thread with 93 00:06:02,284 --> 00:06:05,165 a lot of folks around, around that time. 94 00:06:05,244 --> 00:06:08,985 It was still a bit of a bumpy road going along. 95 00:06:09,220 --> 00:06:12,210 Especially because, for example, when I was doing the 96 00:06:12,210 --> 00:06:15,420 transfer program, it was new. 97 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,390 It was fairly new, maybe like two years old. 98 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:24,809 And there was still like, we were still trying to figure out, because 99 00:06:24,809 --> 00:06:26,479 I also went with two other people. 100 00:06:26,479 --> 00:06:29,669 Two people that I met in my classes, they became my best friends. 101 00:06:29,690 --> 00:06:35,180 And one of them I went to San Diego, I mean to Arizona State with in the end. 102 00:06:35,290 --> 00:06:35,760 Mm hmm. 103 00:06:35,770 --> 00:06:36,050 But. 104 00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:41,419 We were constantly trying to figure out, do we have all the classes we need? 105 00:06:41,780 --> 00:06:48,269 And at times we were told, or at least we thought we had all the classes 106 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:50,269 and then another class pops up. 107 00:06:50,729 --> 00:06:53,840 So when I transferred to SDSU. 108 00:06:54,195 --> 00:06:58,965 And I got there, they said, Oh, you still have two math 109 00:06:58,965 --> 00:07:01,075 classes that you have to take. 110 00:07:01,125 --> 00:07:01,655 Oh boy! 111 00:07:01,655 --> 00:07:03,955 And I was like, No! 112 00:07:05,475 --> 00:07:09,945 I, I literally felt, I, I can visualize, or at least the whole time when 113 00:07:09,945 --> 00:07:13,965 I was taking the classes, it felt like, I had like a little floaty, 114 00:07:14,225 --> 00:07:17,535 uh, floating device around my neck, and I was just keeping my head above 115 00:07:17,535 --> 00:07:19,655 water trying to pass these classes. 116 00:07:19,755 --> 00:07:20,435 Uh, I was, yeah. 117 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:22,010 I passed them with a B. 118 00:07:22,010 --> 00:07:29,980 I was like, yeah, those things could make some students feel like, um, discouraged. 119 00:07:30,270 --> 00:07:32,520 They're like, okay, I don't have time for this. 120 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:37,360 So I had to go physically back to the community college to take those classes. 121 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,790 And um, you know, I had to arrange life a little bit just to finish that off. 122 00:07:42,820 --> 00:07:43,170 Yeah. 123 00:07:43,210 --> 00:07:48,030 But, but it, it makes the whole journey worth it because you have, 124 00:07:48,545 --> 00:07:52,005 So many challenges and you're like, ah, I've overcome them, you know, 125 00:07:52,005 --> 00:07:53,375 so it makes everything worth it. 126 00:07:53,475 --> 00:07:54,055 Yes. 127 00:07:54,325 --> 00:08:01,105 Yes and you mentioned that there was a an individual that you have stayed in contact 128 00:08:01,105 --> 00:08:08,869 with that sounds like they have kind of become a mentor for you and Yeah was part 129 00:08:08,869 --> 00:08:11,909 of leading you to this pathway to ASU. 130 00:08:11,940 --> 00:08:16,059 Could you talk a little bit about how you met them and maybe some 131 00:08:16,059 --> 00:08:19,809 ways that they've supported you and maybe you're still in touch today? 132 00:08:20,119 --> 00:08:20,689 Yes. 133 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:26,419 Uh, so my professor, like I said, he was my very first communication professor. 134 00:08:26,679 --> 00:08:32,975 And there's one saying that I like to, um, tell my kids or tell other students, 135 00:08:32,975 --> 00:08:38,245 like, don't ask people to be your mentor, you know, you make them your 136 00:08:38,265 --> 00:08:41,884 mentor, but you don't ask them because it kind of puts, it makes them feel 137 00:08:41,884 --> 00:08:47,484 like a pressure or like, Oh, what, what, what are they going to want from me? 138 00:08:48,275 --> 00:08:53,495 You know, so you have to learn, at least I've found out, you have to 139 00:08:53,495 --> 00:08:59,505 learn how to build rapport with people and, and gain trust and friendship 140 00:08:59,535 --> 00:09:02,015 and, you know, feel comfortable. 141 00:09:02,064 --> 00:09:05,484 Make them also feel comfortable enough that, you know, they can come to you too. 142 00:09:06,314 --> 00:09:10,175 Because he's actually come to me too to ask me about ASU because he 143 00:09:10,185 --> 00:09:12,595 wants to get his, um, doctorate. 144 00:09:12,814 --> 00:09:15,035 And so he said, how was the program? 145 00:09:15,035 --> 00:09:16,555 And I told him everything was great there. 146 00:09:16,555 --> 00:09:22,415 It was really, it was convenient and, you know, the teachers are very supportive. 147 00:09:23,274 --> 00:09:25,634 And so, yeah, he was my very first professor. 148 00:09:25,655 --> 00:09:30,114 I think I remember the class because of also the students in 149 00:09:30,115 --> 00:09:36,595 the class, the way that Uh, he had us connect with each other. 150 00:09:36,595 --> 00:09:41,075 I remember the first class he told us to grab at least like three people's 151 00:09:41,075 --> 00:09:44,695 phone numbers, three other students phone numbers, so that we, when we 152 00:09:44,695 --> 00:09:48,864 need help or need to study, uh, we keep in contact with those people. 153 00:09:48,864 --> 00:09:51,604 And that, and that's actually great advice because some kids 154 00:09:51,605 --> 00:09:56,655 might be coming in, and they don't know anyone and they feel alone. 155 00:09:57,415 --> 00:10:00,025 At least you have someone you can ask questions, right? 156 00:10:00,025 --> 00:10:01,184 Yeah. 157 00:10:01,185 --> 00:10:04,155 And, and then the class was just, it was so much fun. 158 00:10:04,165 --> 00:10:07,335 I remember dying laughing in that class. 159 00:10:07,364 --> 00:10:12,144 A lot of the times I, I remember everything I was taught in that class. 160 00:10:12,415 --> 00:10:17,485 The very first thing he said to us was, It's communication, not communications. 161 00:10:21,975 --> 00:10:25,155 So, and then I started to notice when people say that and I was like, 162 00:10:25,395 --> 00:10:27,515 ah, now I know it's communication. 163 00:10:27,515 --> 00:10:28,444 It's that's the degree. 164 00:10:28,444 --> 00:10:28,874 Okay. 165 00:10:29,644 --> 00:10:35,225 Um, but yeah, he was really supportive by, you know, Asking me 166 00:10:35,235 --> 00:10:39,035 questions about what are my goals? 167 00:10:39,035 --> 00:10:39,885 What do I want? 168 00:10:39,945 --> 00:10:43,005 And sometimes we think that we know what we want. 169 00:10:43,755 --> 00:10:48,995 Um, or we think that we have to go down a specific path to get what we want. 170 00:10:49,615 --> 00:10:53,064 Um, and then it might lead to something else. 171 00:10:53,095 --> 00:10:57,255 And that's exactly what has happened to me because I told him. 172 00:10:58,350 --> 00:11:03,970 Um, he met with me after I, or while I was in my bachelor's program, he met 173 00:11:03,970 --> 00:11:06,449 with me and asked me what I wanted to do. 174 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:10,370 And I said, I wanted to be a body language expert because I've been 175 00:11:10,829 --> 00:11:15,949 studying that and you know, he said, well, I mean, you can make a YouTube 176 00:11:15,979 --> 00:11:20,590 channel and discuss, like make commentary about videos and things like that. 177 00:11:21,510 --> 00:11:23,610 And in the end. 178 00:11:23,995 --> 00:11:27,335 After I finished my master's, I wrote to him again and I 179 00:11:27,355 --> 00:11:28,895 said, okay, now what do I do? 180 00:11:29,785 --> 00:11:31,415 And he's like, okay, you ready to work? 181 00:11:32,625 --> 00:11:36,094 He's like, come, come to Southwestern College and become 182 00:11:36,094 --> 00:11:37,294 a professor here, you know? 183 00:11:37,735 --> 00:11:41,014 And that's what I'm pursuing, currently pursuing right now. 184 00:11:41,364 --> 00:11:43,789 And I'm excited because he allowed me. 185 00:11:44,500 --> 00:11:49,770 Uh, an opportunity to speak with his class and give a lecture or a discussion 186 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:56,430 about things about, actually about my Digication and it was exciting and 187 00:11:56,430 --> 00:11:57,849 I'm like, yeah, I'm ready for this. 188 00:11:57,849 --> 00:11:57,999 I 189 00:12:00,330 --> 00:12:04,150 am ready to work and I don't want to forget any of that knowledge. 190 00:12:04,150 --> 00:12:07,710 I just want to keep absorbing it, you know, that's an, that's another reason 191 00:12:07,710 --> 00:12:16,780 why I got my master's is because I was so excited about learning and it wasn't just 192 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,800 the content that I was learning in class. 193 00:12:19,830 --> 00:12:24,730 It was, I was learning other things about problem solving and being creative 194 00:12:24,730 --> 00:12:32,944 and all this new technology that, you know, has come out, ChatGPT, Canva. 195 00:12:33,214 --> 00:12:38,555 All of those programs at LinkedIn, they even helped us, uh, with our resume 196 00:12:38,555 --> 00:12:46,374 and our LinkedIn profiles and even on LinkedIn itself, they have courses. 197 00:12:46,374 --> 00:12:49,624 So I just kept grab, you know, grabbing all this knowledge and. 198 00:12:49,935 --> 00:12:53,215 And I'm so excited about sharing it with others. 199 00:12:53,444 --> 00:13:02,024 Yeah, and that really comes through as you're exploring your ePortfolio as well. 200 00:13:02,624 --> 00:13:09,655 You have these beautifully written reflections on different things that you 201 00:13:09,655 --> 00:13:14,160 were learning and making these wonderful connections between things that you 202 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:18,600 were learning in your courses, but how that connected to other experiences 203 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,910 or other courses that you had taken. 204 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,860 So there's this beautiful kind of synthesis with the experiences that 205 00:13:24,860 --> 00:13:30,010 you had, um, and kind of thinking about how you might apply some of those 206 00:13:30,020 --> 00:13:32,310 skills in different settings as well. 207 00:13:32,900 --> 00:13:41,990 And I was curious, um, as you joined, uh, ASU, how were you introduced to Digication 208 00:13:41,990 --> 00:13:47,620 and this whole idea of creating the ePortfolio, or was this something that 209 00:13:47,620 --> 00:13:49,420 you just kind of discovered on your own? 210 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:52,290 Well, we had one Cla... 211 00:13:52,449 --> 00:13:56,250 One course called Training and Development, which was 212 00:13:56,250 --> 00:13:57,630 one of the best courses ever. 213 00:13:58,709 --> 00:14:04,335 . I just loved it because it taught us how to teach others, you know, and it was more 214 00:14:04,335 --> 00:14:12,725 about being, um, creative and, and look at everyone else as an active learner. 215 00:14:12,725 --> 00:14:17,395 They want to learn in a way where they know that it'll, it will apply to their 216 00:14:17,395 --> 00:14:24,175 life and they want it to be interactive so they can actually learn how to do 217 00:14:24,175 --> 00:14:25,765 whatever you're training them to do. 218 00:14:26,385 --> 00:14:28,505 And at the end of the course, we had to create. 219 00:14:29,075 --> 00:14:34,305 Uh, different Digication about, I think it was about sections that we 220 00:14:34,305 --> 00:14:39,885 learned in that course and, and how, uh, what we learned from each section 221 00:14:40,775 --> 00:14:44,884 or what we learned about learners or training and development itself. 222 00:14:45,305 --> 00:14:46,745 And that was cool. 223 00:14:46,795 --> 00:14:49,314 I, I look at it now and I'm like, huh. 224 00:14:49,650 --> 00:14:53,230 I didn't put in as, I know I put a lot of work into it, but 225 00:14:53,230 --> 00:14:57,410 I was like, it doesn't look like anything like my last Digication. 226 00:14:57,500 --> 00:15:01,589 The last Digication was from Capstone. 227 00:15:01,630 --> 00:15:08,055 And I will tell you, I was the very first person to put it up so that my 228 00:15:08,055 --> 00:15:12,925 Digication has over a thousand views on there because I think I was kind of like 229 00:15:13,265 --> 00:15:18,125 the Example for everyone else at first and and it put pressure on me because 230 00:15:18,125 --> 00:15:21,404 I'm like, okay people are looking at my stuff So I better make this good. 231 00:15:21,404 --> 00:15:23,064 We call that healthy peer motivation. 232 00:15:23,065 --> 00:15:29,275 Yes, exactly, oh man, I was like I need to and I think I've 233 00:15:29,275 --> 00:15:31,035 changed it up a couple of times. 234 00:15:31,035 --> 00:15:35,215 I I I I put a lot of pressure on myself and it was good pressure. 235 00:15:35,225 --> 00:15:38,795 It was good because it was so rewarding when I finished. 236 00:15:38,835 --> 00:15:44,805 And I think even more rewarding when my professor said, this was a great job. 237 00:15:44,835 --> 00:15:46,755 You know, we're really proud of what you've done. 238 00:15:47,035 --> 00:15:51,995 And I'm like, yes, but it was scary. 239 00:15:52,215 --> 00:15:57,465 I think it was scary for most students because, uh, even though they gave us 240 00:15:57,790 --> 00:16:03,270 Like an outline, like a timeline of what section we should have done on which days 241 00:16:03,270 --> 00:16:05,069 and, you know, where we should lead up to. 242 00:16:05,069 --> 00:16:06,630 And we did have a mentor. 243 00:16:07,060 --> 00:16:11,360 Along the way, it was like, you had to do all of this by yourself. 244 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,320 You had to make the decisions on how you wanted to design it. 245 00:16:15,020 --> 00:16:21,099 Uh, what information, even though they gave you the, okay, this section 246 00:16:21,099 --> 00:16:25,050 is for reflection, even though they told you that, you had to figure out 247 00:16:25,060 --> 00:16:29,260 how you wanted to put that, you know, and, and, and be creative with it. 248 00:16:29,260 --> 00:16:34,340 And I think the creativity is what saved me, like using Canva. 249 00:16:34,665 --> 00:16:35,444 Or was it Cam? 250 00:16:35,465 --> 00:16:36,185 Yeah, Canva. 251 00:16:36,764 --> 00:16:42,395 Um, that was more meditative because I, I love being creative. 252 00:16:42,405 --> 00:16:49,284 So just, just, uh, concentrating and focusing on how I want it to look 253 00:16:49,694 --> 00:16:51,944 helped me so much with the pressure. 254 00:16:53,614 --> 00:16:58,495 But yeah, each section also allowed me to learn more about myself and 255 00:16:59,795 --> 00:17:07,974 put, put into practice or helped me to practice the information that I learned. 256 00:17:08,270 --> 00:17:11,250 So that I would be able to express it to others. 257 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:20,080 So when I did the lecture with, uh, my, my professor's class, I was able to do 258 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:24,989 it off the top of my head, no script, no, I mean, I had, uh, a worksheet. 259 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,520 to follow for everyone else to follow too. 260 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:34,020 But I, I, I remembered everything because I had to work on this thing 261 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,740 for, I don't know how long it was, uh, eight weeks, eight weeks, I 262 00:17:37,740 --> 00:17:41,820 believe I had to work on it for eight weeks and really concentrate on it. 263 00:17:42,230 --> 00:17:45,360 And with my friend, her and I, we would call each other. 264 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:47,429 Cause she was also in the same class with me. 265 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,879 We would call each other and try to keep each other motivated, 266 00:17:50,889 --> 00:17:55,694 see where we were understand what we needed to do for Eset... 267 00:17:56,294 --> 00:18:02,475 Each, each section and, you know, really keep each other on our toes. 268 00:18:02,485 --> 00:18:05,844 Like, okay, she's already up to this point. 269 00:18:05,844 --> 00:18:07,764 I better hurry up and get to that point too. 270 00:18:07,764 --> 00:18:11,564 Like you kind of feel like, okay, am I falling behind or am I, am I ahead? 271 00:18:11,850 --> 00:18:15,360 That's why everyone would look at each other's Digication, because they're like, 272 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:17,570 okay, am I where I'm supposed to be? 273 00:18:17,780 --> 00:18:20,949 And like you said, it's healthy, a healthy competition. 274 00:18:21,290 --> 00:18:21,750 Pure motivation. 275 00:18:22,340 --> 00:18:23,310 Yeah, motivation. 276 00:18:23,310 --> 00:18:25,909 Not competition, but motivation. 277 00:18:25,910 --> 00:18:28,239 I think the community aspect is important. 278 00:18:28,419 --> 00:18:35,075 And, um, I'm glad to hear that the, um, instructor that you were working with, it 279 00:18:35,075 --> 00:18:40,574 sounds like they encouraged you to share it with others in your course so they 280 00:18:40,575 --> 00:18:46,454 could see it and, and you also made the decision to make it public, which is how 281 00:18:46,465 --> 00:18:50,595 we found your beautiful ePortfolio also. 282 00:18:51,105 --> 00:18:55,715 Um, and as someone who was the first to kind of share it, I'm sure 283 00:18:55,754 --> 00:18:57,784 that, you know, it was a little. 284 00:18:58,229 --> 00:19:03,770 Scary in the beginning to to put yourself out there, um, but I think probably 285 00:19:03,770 --> 00:19:08,300 rewarding as well that you got to see that a lot of people were saying, Oh, wow. 286 00:19:08,300 --> 00:19:08,689 Okay. 287 00:19:08,689 --> 00:19:13,840 This is, this is a high bar to strive for, but I'm sure it really helped 288 00:19:13,850 --> 00:19:21,215 other people to, See how, how you chose to organize it and what pieces 289 00:19:21,215 --> 00:19:22,955 of work you chose to put in it. 290 00:19:22,985 --> 00:19:27,774 The quality of the reflections again, uh, was just wonderful. 291 00:19:29,295 --> 00:19:33,585 Here's a preview of what's coming up next in Part Two of my conversation 292 00:19:33,585 --> 00:19:38,425 with Whitney Fountain-Ruiz, a recent graduate of Arizona State University. 293 00:19:38,655 --> 00:19:43,009 I did try to get him into it, but I wanted him to understand 294 00:19:43,019 --> 00:19:45,830 it is okay if you make mistakes. 295 00:19:46,649 --> 00:19:51,840 But if you make a mistake, you can also ask questions until you get help or 296 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:53,449 find the answer that you're looking for.