Though fourth-year political science student Dylan Perfect considers himself a fairly “average” student, his work for the Oregon State University community has proven to be exceptional.
A native of Albany, Oregon, a town less than 15 miles from Corvallis, Dylan applied for the HC primarily because of its diverse opportunities for students.
“I decided to apply to the Honors College primarily because of the opportunity to explore different areas of interest, as well as the resources it provides its students,” Dylan says.
“I think a college education is foremost an opportunity to get a better understanding of the world, and the OSU Honors College helps students do just that.”
In addition to his studies, Dylan was recently elected as ASOSU vice president. In this role, he will be working alongside President Dhru Patel under the campaign #beavsforchange, which will focus on rebuilding after COVID-19, expanding student safety and wellbeing services, advocating for police accountability and mental health resources, fighting for a higher wage for student employees and more.
“We work on reaching out and trying to give a voice to student issues,” Dylan says about ASOSU.
As a political science major, Dylan has found working in student government engaging, and he’s pursued other opportunities in the political sphere.
In 2019, for example, Dylan had an internship with Representative Dan Rayfield for about six months: “I found that really fulfilling,” he says.
In fact, Dylan encourages anyone to do these types of internships.
“Even if public policy or political science isn’t someone’s major,” he says, “[internships with state officials] can be really interesting.”
Through classes and colloquia, Dylan has been able to further engage with both his interest in public policy and with topics that branch outside of his area of study. He recalls one class in particular, Plastics for Poets with Associate Professor Skip Rochefort, which gave him insight into the plastics industry and how it relates to everyday life.
“There’s things like that that you can really only get from the Honors College,” Dylan says, “and I’ve really been appreciative of those opportunities.”
Along with honors classes and colloquia, Dylan has also enjoyed the ability to connect with faculty through the Honors College. These connections have been helpful in beginning his thesis project, which is another part of the honors program that he loves.
“That would be my big pitch for the Honors College is being able to get a sense of what the opportunities are out there in the ‘real world,’ so to speak, to be able to kind of take things beyond the classroom,” Dylan says.
Dylan says he loves OSU because of its diversity of opportunities. The Honors College, according to Dylan, has only expanded the number of opportunities available, through colloquia and the thesis project.
Dylan isn’t completely sure about what’s next for him, but he feels like he’s been led in the right direction by OSU, the Honors College and his participation in ASOSU. He’s currently considering policy advocacy work as a future career.
For incoming HC students, Dylan has simple, yet sage advice: “Make sure to make time for what really is important to you.”
By Cara Nixon: Student Writer, Honors College
CATEGORIES: All Stories HC Student Spotlights