Faith Van Putten is a graduating Early Childhood Studies student, with a minor in English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). She is from Sacramento, California, and has participated in Peer Mentors, D.R.E.A.M., and Family Building Blocks while at WOU.

Why did you choose WOU?
I chose WOU because of the small class sizes, their Disability Services, and it was a new adventure.

What has your experience been like as an out-of-state student? 

I am from California so I am about nine hours from my family. My family is the most important thing to me. It has been hard being away from them but I found my WOU family with the Peer Mentor team.

How has the Disability Services office shaped your experience at WOU? 

I am a student with a learning disability. I am dyslexic! I love my learning disability because it has made me stronger and pushed me to learn how to advocate for myself. WOU has a great Disability Services office, if something happened with a professor and I was not getting the help I needed I would walk in and share what was going on and normally within 30 minutes it was fixed. I felt supported and knew there was someone on my team.

What has been your most memorable class?
My most memorable class had to be my Biology class. I have always struggled with school and Bio class was no different. I had an amazing Bio teacher (Dr. Snyder) who helped me through each part with countless office hours. Many of my professors at WOU know who I am because I was in their office hours every week at the same time either going over homework or getting ready for the next test.

What has been your favorite annual event at WOU?
I have a few favorite annual events at WOU. I love fall training/ New Student Week and Holiday Tree Lighting. At fall training I got to bond with other leaders at WOU and learn new skills. During New Student Week, I got to meet new students and families and help make them feel comfortable at WOU. The Tree Lighting was always so much fun because the whole community came together and the tree is just so beautiful.

What have some of your extracurriculars been?
I have been rather involved at WOU. I have been a Peer Mentor (PM) for three years, helped start D.R.E.A.M (Disability, rights, empowerment, accessibility and mentoring) and student teaching at Family Building Blocks. Each of these have impacted my life at WOU. Peer Mentors has been my home for three years, I made friends within the team and built connections within the dorm halls. D.R.E.A.M is a safe place for those with disabilities to come together share our experiences and raise awareness about different disabilities, mine is dyslexia. Lastly, Family Building Blocks (FBB), I started volunteering there my junior year then got placed there for my student teaching. I love it there getting to work with children, families and getting to know the community.

What was your most visited spot on campus? 
Overall my most visited spot on campus had to be Heritage Hall. I lived there my freshman year then worked in the Hall for the following three years. Many of my happy memories happened in Heritage. I met my first friends, worked programs, and built connections with first year residents.

What will you miss the most about WOU?
What I will miss most about WOU is the community that I built over the years. I will miss freshman move in day and getting to greet families and talk to them to make them a little less nervous. I will miss working programs and building the connections within the hall. I will miss all my friends that I made in the ED program.

What are your plans for after graduation?
After graduation I will be looking into masters programs in either family services or early childhood as well as getting a job!