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THE STATE PROGRAM >> My name is Tim Goth Owens. I work in the
STATE Program as the instructor or coordinator of the seminar that's a piece of the STATE
Program. >> It's a program for students with disabilities
who struggled academically with learning disabilities and set them up with a mentor that would help
them organize their time and really maximize their potential. I've been with the RCPD for
three and a half years as a student and a mentor and mentor coordinator for the program
as well. The Stern family just needs to know how generous
their gift really is. They're giving students, that might not have succeeded, only, only
because they didn't have the tools, a chance to succeed.
>> One of the things the mentoring piece does is they sit down and meet with a person and
get to know somebody who has many of the same challenges, and they see them a little further
down the road. And one of the things that happens further down the road is they are
not blaming everybody else. They may have Dyslexia, but that stops being
an explanation for everything. And it stops being, you know, you ask somebody, so tell
me about yourself. That's kind of like the first thing they say is, well, I have Dyslexia.
It stops being the first thing. >> I try to take their specific accomplishments
and really highlight them because they're big. It's about not just saying you can do
it, you can do it. But look at what you've already done. And you can go even further.
>> Yeah, maybe it takes me longer to do this, but I can find my strengths. Through the STATE
Program, I became a lot more comfortable with myself. Something I can take with me is the
confidence. It's kind of brought a whole level of awareness as well.
>> Trying to get students to begin studying for finals on the first day of class and to
teach them what it means when we say that. >> I knew everything that I needed to do in
terms of my study habits and approaching classes the right way. I was improving as a student
before participating in the STATE Program, but I still felt like there was more that
I could do. The big barrier for me was really finding out a way to utilize all of those
tools. >> I think the biggest thing I took out of
the STATE Program was to understand how my brain actually records things. Fifteen, twenty
minutes a day on something and I can remember stuff.
>> In middle school, high school, I never had to study. I always got A's without the
studying. And then when I got to college, it was this major roadblock where my grades
weren't what I expected them to be and what my parents expected them to be.
When I found about the learning disability, I had to go back and say, well, what can I
do now to make sure that I can finish college? And one of the things that I had to learn
how to do was learn how to study. >> They all have a difficulty that they bring
with them that gets them to be a client of RCPD. They've struggled and they've worked
really hard to deal with these kinds of problems that they have.
They're usually pretty bright. Some of them, until they got to college, even in spite of
these challenges never really had to work very hard. Many of them have no idea that
college is a full time job and what it actually looks like to work 40 hours a week.
>> I took a physiology class, and I did poorly in it.
When I would go to her, I said, I don't know if I can pass this class. I worked so hard
but still I can't do it, and I don't understand. And she's like, well, maybe, you shouldn't
go in the medical field. I mean, work hard, it's supposed to pay off.
And I felt like it wasn't getting paid off. The STATE Program helped.
>> If you can develop that relationship, then they know that there is one person on campus
who absolutely cares about their success. >> No one teaches you how to learn. It was
nice to have someone to teach you how to note take and to study properly.
I decided to reapply to MSU and try to get into the Nursing program. I began here, so
I want to finish here. The only way I could focus would be studying.
But it definitely pays off. Tomorrow is my orientation.
>> When I started the STATE Program, I knew it was a choice that I was making for myself.
I was able to access more resources and increase my ability as a student. I started feeling
much more capable of being a successful student. >> It's kind of like I'm getting a second
chance here to learn. >> I just believe that anything can help me
succeed, I'm for it. >> Their willingness to try things, it's the
best part of this. The standard approach that we're trying to catch 60, 70 percent of students
isn't going to work for them. But there is an approach that works for them.
>> I just want to say a personal thank you to the people who put this together and see
the need for it because there's a lot of intelligent people who don't have the tools. It's a method
for people that maybe have had a harder time with certain things and nobody really understood
it. >> One thing that kept me motivated was knowing
that this program was funded by a family that really believed in students that have disabilities.
I stuck with the program and worked as hard as I could because they believe in me and
believe in other students. Programs like this are really helpful.