Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll.

In this episode, you'll hear
Part One of my conversation

with Whitney Fountain-Ruiz, a
recent graduate of Arizona State

University, where she received her
master's degree in communication.

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 so excited to introduce Whitney

Fountain-Ruiz, a recent graduate of
Arizona State University where she pursued

a master's degree in communication.

Welcome, Whitney.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me today.

Absolutely.

I have so enjoyed learning about you
through the beautiful pages of your

ePortfolio, but I'm absolutely thrilled
to have a chance to now talk to you and

give you a chance to tell your story
and experience with our listeners today.

So I thought I'd just get started
with asking you to tell us a little

bit about your background and what
led you to Arizona State University.

Well, I will say, and I've said this to
many people, that it was not planned.

Like, it just happens.

I started college at a community college
in California at Southwestern College.

Probably in 2004 or 2005, my degree was in
psychology, but I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know how, how it works.

And I didn't know how to ask
questions at the time because

I think I was about 18 or 19.

So I did not ask questions.

I didn't know who to go to.

I didn't understand what path I was
supposed to take to, in order to graduate.

And so many years later, um, my daughter,
she's my stepdaughter, but she's my baby.

Absolutely.

Um, when she Graduated high school.

She asked me to go with her to college.

And I was like, Oh, I guess so.

I'll try this.

It was, it was.

Stressful at first because we didn't
know how, we didn't understand how

to apply, or at least it felt more
complicated than what it actually was.

But, uh, I was able to apply and we, her
and I actually took some classes together,

but I changed my degree to Communication.

Okay.

And she chose psychology, funny enough.

And we were there for two years.

COVID happened.

Yeah.

So we were going in person.

Yeah, we were going in person.

But you know what?

I understand it was a hard time for a
lot of people, but It seemed to be the

perfect time for me to go because right
when that happened, it went from going in

person to doing it, the classes online.

And I have a, a son too.

So I was able to stay at home
and, um, be with my son, be there

for him and do my classes online.

And even though it was, Um, we, we
had to, we had a scheduled meetings.

I, I felt more comfortable.

I felt it was great.

And then that school in particular
happened to create a new transfer program.

So it was trans, it was a transfer program
to SDSU, San Diego State University.

So that's why I said it wasn't planned.

None of this was planned.

Things were happening.

It's just, I was able to get
financial aid and the, with the

financial aid, I, I could use it to
transfer to get my bachelor's degree.

And I saved up the money
from financial aid.

So when I finished my bachelor's, I said,
um, I, I was in touch with a professor,

my very first communication professor.

I've been in touch with him all these
years and he's helped me along the way.

So I told him, okay, what do I do next?

And he said, I recommend
Arizona State University.

And luckily I had enough
money to go to school there.

And it was so fast.

I think it took like a year or a year and
a half maybe to finish my master's degree.

And I was, I'm so happy that I've had
the chance to have that experience.

Yes.

Uh, many congratulations and, and
thank you for sharing that story.

I think for many people, you know, they
have some ideas about how You know, their

education trajectory is going to work
and may not realize that there may be

some pivots and changes and unexpected
things that happen along the way.

And as I have these conversations
with students and alumni, I'm learning

that Many during that kind of upheaval
during COVID, um, it became a time

where people were kind of evaluating
what's next and what they want to do and

changes happening with their families.

And many found it as a time where
they could pivot and reinvest more

time in their education and, um,
have a different kind of balance.

with family life and things that
they were doing outside of the

home before all of that happened.

So, um, thank you for sharing that.

It's something that I'm finding, um, is
an interesting kind of common thread with

a lot of folks around, around that time.

It was still a bit of a
bumpy road going along.

Especially because, for
example, when I was doing the

transfer program, it was new.

It was fairly new, maybe
like two years old.

And there was still like, we were
still trying to figure out, because

I also went with two other people.

Two people that I met in my classes,
they became my best friends.

And one of them I went to San Diego, I
mean to Arizona State with in the end.

Mm hmm.

But.

We were constantly trying to figure
out, do we have all the classes we need?

And at times we were told, or at least
we thought we had all the classes

and then another class pops up.

So when I transferred to SDSU.

And I got there, they said,
Oh, you still have two math

classes that you have to take.

Oh boy!

And I was like, No!

I, I literally felt, I, I can visualize,
or at least the whole time when

I was taking the classes, it felt
like, I had like a little floaty,

uh, floating device around my neck,
and I was just keeping my head above

water trying to pass these classes.

Uh, I was, yeah.

I passed them with a B.

I was like, yeah, those things could make
some students feel like, um, discouraged.

They're like, okay, I
don't have time for this.

So I had to go physically back to the
community college to take those classes.

And um, you know, I had to arrange life
a little bit just to finish that off.

Yeah.

But, but it, it makes the whole
journey worth it because you have,

So many challenges and you're like,
ah, I've overcome them, you know,

so it makes everything worth it.

Yes.

Yes and you mentioned that there was a an
individual that you have stayed in contact

with that sounds like they have kind of
become a mentor for you and Yeah was part

of leading you to this pathway to ASU.

Could you talk a little bit about
how you met them and maybe some

ways that they've supported you and
maybe you're still in touch today?

Yes.

Uh, so my professor, like I said, he was
my very first communication professor.

And there's one saying that I like to,
um, tell my kids or tell other students,

like, don't ask people to be your
mentor, you know, you make them your

mentor, but you don't ask them because
it kind of puts, it makes them feel

like a pressure or like, Oh, what, what,
what are they going to want from me?

You know, so you have to learn, at
least I've found out, you have to

learn how to build rapport with people
and, and gain trust and friendship

and, you know, feel comfortable.

Make them also feel comfortable enough
that, you know, they can come to you too.

Because he's actually come to me
too to ask me about ASU because he

wants to get his, um, doctorate.

And so he said, how was the program?

And I told him everything was great there.

It was really, it was convenient and, you
know, the teachers are very supportive.

And so, yeah, he was my
very first professor.

I think I remember the class
because of also the students in

the class, the way that Uh, he
had us connect with each other.

I remember the first class he told us
to grab at least like three people's

phone numbers, three other students
phone numbers, so that we, when we

need help or need to study, uh, we
keep in contact with those people.

And that, and that's actually
great advice because some kids

might be coming in, and they don't
know anyone and they feel alone.

At least you have someone
you can ask questions, right?

Yeah.

And, and then the class was
just, it was so much fun.

I remember dying laughing in that class.

A lot of the times I, I remember
everything I was taught in that class.

The very first thing he said to us was,
It's communication, not communications.

So, and then I started to notice
when people say that and I was like,

ah, now I know it's communication.

It's that's the degree.

Okay.

Um, but yeah, he was really
supportive by, you know, Asking me

questions about what are my goals?

What do I want?

And sometimes we think
that we know what we want.

Um, or we think that we have to go down
a specific path to get what we want.

Um, and then it might
lead to something else.

And that's exactly what has
happened to me because I told him.

Um, he met with me after I, or while
I was in my bachelor's program, he met

with me and asked me what I wanted to do.

And I said, I wanted to be a body
language expert because I've been

studying that and you know, he said,
well, I mean, you can make a YouTube

channel and discuss, like make commentary
about videos and things like that.

And in the end.

After I finished my master's,
I wrote to him again and I

said, okay, now what do I do?

And he's like, okay, you ready to work?

He's like, come, come to
Southwestern College and become

a professor here, you know?

And that's what I'm pursuing,
currently pursuing right now.

And I'm excited because he allowed me.

Uh, an opportunity to speak with his
class and give a lecture or a discussion

about things about, actually about
my Digication and it was exciting and

I'm like, yeah, I'm ready for this.

I

am ready to work and I don't want
to forget any of that knowledge.

I just want to keep absorbing it, you
know, that's an, that's another reason

why I got my master's is because I was so
excited about learning and it wasn't just

the content that I was learning in class.

It was, I was learning other things
about problem solving and being creative

and all this new technology that, you
know, has come out, ChatGPT, Canva.

All of those programs at LinkedIn, they
even helped us, uh, with our resume

and our LinkedIn profiles and even on
LinkedIn itself, they have courses.

So I just kept grab, you know,
grabbing all this knowledge and.

And I'm so excited about
sharing it with others.

Yeah, and that really comes through as
you're exploring your ePortfolio as well.

You have these beautifully written
reflections on different things that you

were learning and making these wonderful
connections between things that you

were learning in your courses, but how
that connected to other experiences

or other courses that you had taken.

So there's this beautiful kind of
synthesis with the experiences that

you had, um, and kind of thinking
about how you might apply some of those

skills in different settings as well.

And I was curious, um, as you joined, uh,
ASU, how were you introduced to Digication

and this whole idea of creating the
ePortfolio, or was this something that

you just kind of discovered on your own?

Well, we had one Cla...

One course called Training
and Development, which was

one of the best courses ever.

. I just loved it because it taught us how
to teach others, you know, and it was more

about being, um, creative and, and look
at everyone else as an active learner.

They want to learn in a way where they
know that it'll, it will apply to their

life and they want it to be interactive
so they can actually learn how to do

whatever you're training them to do.

And at the end of the
course, we had to create.

Uh, different Digication about, I
think it was about sections that we

learned in that course and, and how,
uh, what we learned from each section

or what we learned about learners
or training and development itself.

And that was cool.

I, I look at it now and I'm like, huh.

I didn't put in as, I know I
put a lot of work into it, but

I was like, it doesn't look like
anything like my last Digication.

The last Digication was from Capstone.

And I will tell you, I was the very
first person to put it up so that my

Digication has over a thousand views on
there because I think I was kind of like

the Example for everyone else at first
and and it put pressure on me because

I'm like, okay people are looking at
my stuff So I better make this good.

We call that healthy peer motivation.

Yes, exactly, oh man, I was
like I need to and I think I've

changed it up a couple of times.

I I I I put a lot of pressure on
myself and it was good pressure.

It was good because it was
so rewarding when I finished.

And I think even more rewarding when my
professor said, this was a great job.

You know, we're really
proud of what you've done.

And I'm like, yes, but it was scary.

I think it was scary for most students
because, uh, even though they gave us

Like an outline, like a timeline of what
section we should have done on which days

and, you know, where we should lead up to.

And we did have a mentor.

Along the way, it was like, you
had to do all of this by yourself.

You had to make the decisions
on how you wanted to design it.

Uh, what information, even though
they gave you the, okay, this section

is for reflection, even though they
told you that, you had to figure out

how you wanted to put that, you know,
and, and, and be creative with it.

And I think the creativity is
what saved me, like using Canva.

Or was it Cam?

Yeah, Canva.

Um, that was more meditative
because I, I love being creative.

So just, just, uh, concentrating and
focusing on how I want it to look

helped me so much with the pressure.

But yeah, each section also allowed
me to learn more about myself and

put, put into practice or helped me to
practice the information that I learned.

So that I would be able
to express it to others.

So when I did the lecture with, uh, my,
my professor's class, I was able to do

it off the top of my head, no script,
no, I mean, I had, uh, a worksheet.

to follow for everyone else to follow too.

But I, I, I remembered everything
because I had to work on this thing

for, I don't know how long it was,
uh, eight weeks, eight weeks, I

believe I had to work on it for eight
weeks and really concentrate on it.

And with my friend, her and
I, we would call each other.

Cause she was also in
the same class with me.

We would call each other and try
to keep each other motivated,

see where we were understand
what we needed to do for Eset...

Each, each section and, you know,
really keep each other on our toes.

Like, okay, she's
already up to this point.

I better hurry up and
get to that point too.

Like you kind of feel like, okay, am
I falling behind or am I, am I ahead?

That's why everyone would look at each
other's Digication, because they're like,

okay, am I where I'm supposed to be?

And like you said, it's
healthy, a healthy competition.

Pure motivation.

Yeah, motivation.

Not competition, but motivation.

I think the community aspect is important.

And, um, I'm glad to hear that the, um,
instructor that you were working with, it

sounds like they encouraged you to share
it with others in your course so they

could see it and, and you also made the
decision to make it public, which is how

we found your beautiful ePortfolio also.

Um, and as someone who was the
first to kind of share it, I'm sure

that, you know, it was a little.

Scary in the beginning to to put yourself
out there, um, but I think probably

rewarding as well that you got to see
that a lot of people were saying, Oh, wow.

Okay.

This is, this is a high bar to strive
for, but I'm sure it really helped

other people to, See how, how you
chose to organize it and what pieces

of work you chose to put in it.

The quality of the reflections
again, uh, was just wonderful.

Here's a preview of what's coming up
next in Part Two of my conversation

with Whitney Fountain-Ruiz, a recent
graduate of Arizona State University.

I did try to get him into it,
but I wanted him to understand

it is okay if you make mistakes.

But if you make a mistake, you can also
ask questions until you get help or

find the answer that you're looking for.