On November 9th, Her Campus at CNU hosted an event called Coffee, Careers, & Conversation. This event provided a chance for young, driven women to engage in career-oriented conversation with some of our CNU professors! As a recap, we are interviewing the professors who attended. Dr. Linda Waldron, an Associate Professor of Sociology here at CNU, attended the event and answered a few questions regarding her path to success.
What classes do you teach here at Christopher Newport University?
“I teach SOCL 205: Identity, Individual and Society, SOCL 304: Socialization, SOCL 314 Education, Culture and Society, SOCL 320: Media & Popular Culture, SOCL 480: Research Methods, SOCL 501: Multiculturalism, Diversity and Education, and HONRS 317: Youth Violence.”
What made you choose your career path?
“When I was an undergrad, I changed my major a lot. I started out [with] political science, [then] I thought I was pre-law, math, Spanish, social work, and then I was sociology. When I left school, I worked in a social work position. I worked in a group home for delinquent and abused kids that were court ordered to be there. It was supposed to be a temporary residence but most of the kids ended up [staying] there for years. It was a residential schooling program, so they got classes, but it wasn’t an accredited program. I realized that I was very interested in the problems that existed there, so I thought if I [went] to grad school I could learn more about this and maybe approach it from a different way. I applied to a lot of joint Masters/PhD in Sociology [programs], and when I was in grad school [the] Columbine [shooting] happened. I started to become very interested in issues of school violence and youth violence, and because I was interested in how the media was covering it. I digressed to a Masters in Television, Radio, & Film Production. Then I ended up working as a freelance producer, then a news producer, and then I came back to academics. So, there wasn’t a clear path [but] I feel like the other two other careers I had before here helped me understand what I think is important and gave me an appreciation for academia, the research that I’m able to do here, and the impact [I can have] on students.”
What challenges did you face with being a first-generation college student?
“I think being a first-generation [college student] is both a blessing and a curse. I think you are forced to be much more independent and figure things out [since] you don’t have someone suggesting things or understanding general education requirements or financial aid. When I had decided that I was going to go to college, my dad [told me] I could only go to a school where the cost is something that I can afford or that they could afford to help me. We didn’t talk about student loans because my parents never had debt [since] they never bought beyond their means. When I was applying to colleges [I looked for places that had] tuition that was around $5,000 or $6,000 a year because that’s probably what I can come up with and I didn’t really know about scholarships or that I could have gotten better aid. So, I went to this state school in Pennsylvania and it was a challenge because I worked 30 hours a week and had to juggle that with keeping up my grades. Finances always created a challenge; I wanted to study abroad but couldn’t afford to, and I wanted to do an internship, but I had to work. [Another challenge was] not knowing things about scholarships or subsidized and unsubsidized loans and things like that. I am still to this day the only person that graduated from Bloomsburg University’s Department of Sociology that has a PhD, so I didn’t have a model, but I did know I was going to reach high because I had this great advisor who was very invested in me and helped push me. For example, when I went to Syracuse [I thought] there’s no way I can afford it but they’re a private university, so my entire cohort of doctoral students were fully funded, and I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t established this relationship with my supervisor. [Another] challenge is that you have people who have these other opportunities and you don’t, yet you have to still live up to that and compete with that in terms of getting jobs. So, there were challenges but being forced to figure it out also means that I probably wouldn’t have made some of the choices or taken some of the risks [that I did].”
Being a woman in the workforce, how do you maintain balance between your professional and family life?
“A couple years ago, after my daughter was born, I made myself a promise that I’m not working on weekends. If it meant that maybe on Monday I’m working here until two in the morning, then I’m going to do that, but I need to have days where my kids and my partner know that they’re not second to something. A lot of people thought I was crazy; it’s such a foreign concept for professors to not work on the weekends. Then you realize, when you don’t work on the weekends, nothing happens – people don’t die, the world doesn’t end. You manage your time differently and become more efficient with your time. I’m much more deliberate with what I do and when I do it, and I’m more honest with [the fact that] everything doesn’t have to be perfect. I feel like that’s a better model, too, for students because to think that we’re on top of things all the time can also be really daunting, so I always try to be honest about that. There are times where you feel overwhelmed and you’re not going to be your best version, and that’s okay. You don’t have to be the best version of yourself all the time [at work], and if you try to do that you’re probably going to be unhappy and sacrifice the things that really matter the most to you.”
Thank you to Dr. Waldron for coming out to our 3C’s event this month and for allowing us to Profile her!