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When I first started here at Plymouth State, I was an undeclared student. I really had no idea what major I wanted to be and it scared me. After over a year of being undeclared, I realized that I really need to choose a major soon. I thought of business and took a few business classes and quickly realized that that was not the major for me. I knew there was a Women's Studies minor, but i needed a major first. My dad did a lot of research for me because he knew I was struggling with trying to find a major. He told me to look into the Interdisciplinary Studies Program. I had never heard of it before, but looking into it I realized this was the program for me. I could create guidelines for a major that doesn't normally exist at Plymouth State and I thought that was amazing! I created my own Women's Studies Program and it's with all the classes I chose. I love all the classes I'm in because they're all geared towards my interests. It makes me want to learn and enjoy the program that I am in. With a few bumps in the road, (changing my contract last minute) I owe it to the Interdisciplinary Studies Program for helping me graduate on time in May!

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I transferred as an English major to PSU my sophomore year. I knew that I was going to be switching majors, but at the time all I cared about was Sports so I really never gave it a lot of thought. Even going into IDS I did not have a set idea of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Sport has always been an aspect of my life that nothing else can compete with. I ended up merging coaching classes with psychology classes to build a discipline that I named the Psychological Aspects of Sport, but you may know it better as Sport Psychology. I'm not going to lie, the IDS council can be hard to get through the first time, but they are very flexible they always let you revise your contract until your program is flawless. For instance, mine was rejected strictly because of my contract title. I like to think about my major as getting one step ahead of the game for graduate school. While other psychology majors are just learning the psychological aspects of that particular class, I am forced to think about every psych class in direct correlation with sport psychology. I know that when students who go through a course like IDS, they use an entire different mind set while going through their remaining years of college. Being able to relate the topics they learn in class to something they truly care about is going to revolutionize the way they think as students. A more engaged student is created that will only better this world by actively participating in formulating new knowledge.

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I transferred to Plymouth State as a junior and I changed my major three times before I found out about the Interdisciplinary Studies Program. I entered the IDS program as a senior with close to 100 credits, I definitely was in full panic mode because I wasn't sure how I was supposed to graduate on time. Well, I am very happy to say that I found a way to integrate my transfer credits with my PSU courses to create an IDS Expressive Arts degree. I ended up only having to take an extra semester, saving me a TON of money and I still graduated with a degree that I am proud of. I have learned a lot of great information from the IDS program that will benefit me in the future.

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I did not follow a traditional path of higher education after I graduated high school. I took a couple semesters off here and there, while I work full time in various occupations. I simply did not know what I wanted to do with my life. I was convinced that I could not have a career in something that I was passionate about. While I was trying out these miscellaneous jobs, I was taking classes full time online, since it has been harped on me since day one of school that you need a college degree to succeed in this world. I was simply just going to get my degree in Business Administration. Of course, nothing I was passionate about. Once I was close to obtaining my Associate's, and spending money on an education I wasn't passionate about, I started to look for better options to further my education in my passion of Event Management. Unfortunately, this is a degree that is not robust in NH or New England, as a region. IDS was my opportunity to take my passion and transform it into an education that was also beneficial for my financial and family life. I have gained more real world experience, and learned from more perspectives than I can count through my IDS program. I am now getting more excited for my career in the event's industry, since graduation is right around the corner!

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My Dad has this quote that he always used to recite whenever I got to talking about my future. He'd say, "set your internal compass to be true, and stick with it." I always thought he stole it from Gandhi, but now that I'm older, I realized that my Dad is just a wise, wise dude. This internal compass that he mentions was facing due south when I transferred to PSU my sophomore year. I had so many passions, and I wasn't being satisfied by my degree in Environmental Science. 3 years and a major change later, I'm graduating with a B.S. in Outdoor Environmental Education, thanks to IDS. This program has helped me grow much beyond the chalkboard; my way of thinking about the disciplines I engage in as well as the way I go about learning have both completely evolved. I see the need for participating in my education just as much as or more than my lecturers. I recognize the need for public engagement and networking with my ideas. I've completely changed the way I value education, and for an aspiring teacher, that's more than I could've ever asked for. This program has helped me set my internal compass to be true, and I'm sticking with it.

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"So what's your plan after graduation?" Man, the number of times I've heard that has just about made me crazy. Enter IDS... A once dreaded question has now become one I am proud to answer. IDS has allowed me to explore my passions, capture my interests, and expand on my potential. While I may not have a dream profession picked out or a secured plan upon graduation, the IDS program at Plymouth State has given me the courage to embrace the unknown and be proud that the degree I've fashioned has made me versatile in various skill sets and knowledge bases. "My plan after graduation? To take it one day at a time, to continue exploring my interests, and to be content with the process of growth.

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I think the greatest thing the IDS program ever gave me was a support system. I came to PSU because I didn't want to be just another face in a large crowd. Throughout my first two years I couldn't tell you one meaningful conversation or lesson I encountered with my advisor or professors. The first moment I ever stepped foot in the IDS office I had my next two years organized and a sense of worth I never knew I had. This program made me realize I had the potential to re-invent myself and have a multitude of peers to assure me along the way that I would be fine. I'm grateful for the support and motivation this program has given me.

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I use to devalue this kind of process; I thought IDS was completely an opt out program. I was two weeks away from becoming a college drop out. A teen mother, college drop out, oh how I was falling into the dreaded statistics; it was devastating mentally and emotionally. Nursing school, those two words became the devil to me after failing with one year left of college. I had no back up plan, no one in the nursing program or faculty prepared me as to what would happen if I did not get the prized 80 in a course. I felt completely betrayed and simply lost in life. I sulked all summer, but with two weeks left before fall semester a chain of emails led me to the Interdisciplinary program and Robin DeRosa (Robin said not to put her on a pedestal while adding input to her post, but ALL HAIL QUEEN ROBIN). I figured out what the program was about, learned I could make my own major and get the hell out of this institution I felt had done me wrong in many ways. I literally said to myself and out loud many times, that I am just going do "this thing", get my degree and run. I devalued my education because I was being allowed to just throw my past credits together and call it good. I never knew I would learn so much from IDS and the open pedagogy approach to learning. I honestly feel like my education came backwards to me which I did not understand when I first entered IDS. Of course, now I realize and completely value that I took so many wonderful courses and actually learned a lot which I was able to view in new perspectives based on true interests and goals. I found cohesion in my past courses in new ways, created an exciting portfolio that incorporated innovative learning styles, and learned what it means to be me.