She may only be finishing her second year at OSU, but Paige Sedgwick has already earned a reputation as someone who enjoys helping others.
As a campus tour guide, she gets to help students through one of the biggest decisions of their lives – where to go to college. For her, it’s the best job on campus.
“I love this school so much, and I love getting to share my excitement to help students make their college decision,” Paige says. “When it came to my own commitment to college a few years ago, I had a really hard time, so to be in a position to help students through that process feels really rewarding.”
She is also a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, the national honorary band fraternity. In this role, Paige volunteers for the music department in a variety of ways, helping usher at concerts, working at high school state band competitions, running bake sales – whatever she can do to help the program.
“It’s very versatile work. It all goes towards supporting band at Oregon State in any way we can.”
In her major – chemical engineering – Paige works as a learning assistant for the introductory course, but she also strives to develop support networks among her own peers. Her friends know her as a great collaborator, ready to work with them until everyone understands the necessary concepts for their classes.
“Study groups are amazing,” says Paige. “It is a two-way street. I help my friends, and they help me back.” Building connections with people in your major who are going through the same classes, she says, allows you to be around people who will build each other up and work together so everyone succeeds.
But helping others grow, learn and improve is hard to do if you aren’t working on growing, learning and improving yourself. That’s why Paige has been taking advantage of as many opportunities as she can.
Along with honors classes and colloquia, Paige enjoys attending Honors College lunches, events where guest speakers come to share their experience and expertise in specific subjects. She recalls one lunch that struck a chord within her, where Nora Cohen, an emeritus faculty member from the OSU College of Education, talked about writing picture books for rural communities in Latin America.
“I loved the idea that we could empower other communities through picture books written for them,” Paige says. “I got really interested in maybe writing my thesis around a children’s book about women in engineering.”
She recommends taking advantage of these lunches, as they are great opportunities to learn something new outside your major.
“It’s really cool to be able to hear from people in different industries,” she says. “And also there’s free food.”
Paige’s commitment to helping others has not gone unnoticed: her friends regard her as selfless, a great collaborator and a natural leader. For Paige, though, it’s all about making a difference.
“I do like helping people in whatever way I can.”
After the switch to remote learning in spring term 2020, we reached back out to Paige to see how things are going. She has stayed in Corvallis, Oregon.
For spring term 2020, Paige is doing most of her classwork from her bedroom desk or the dining room table. She has been patient with her classes, as she knows both professors and students alike are doing their best to adjust to a new method of education.
“I’ve found [my professors] are fairly accommodating and really open to student input on how class is run,” she says. “All of the honors classes I have taken have been very accommodating and open to student input, so this isn’t totally new for me, but having this happen in my larger classes shows that our professors really do want us to succeed.”
To stay sane and remain active, Paige has been going on bike rides and walks around Corvallis.
“I have really been missing those five-minute walks between classes on campus.”
By Lucas Yao: Student Writer, Honors College
CATEGORIES: All Stories HC Student Spotlights Uncategorized