Kara Sydnor | Photo by Patric Simon
Kara Sydnor transferred to Portland State from Portland Community College (PCC) during the pandemic. She’s earning her bachelor’s degree in public health with a focus on community health promotions.
Despite pandemic challenges, Sydnor really enjoyed her remote classes last year.
“I think everyone should take a public health course at PSU,” she says. “It is such an affirming empowering place where I feel like every instructor has met me with curiosity, provided space for me to express my unique lived experience, and really values what I bring to the class.”
But Sydnor says she’s looking forward to a different experience this fall.
“I’m just excited to sit at an actual desk, to be on campus, to be in the buildings,” says Sydnor who so far has only visited the Transfer Center in Fariborz Maseeh Hall. “Being around other students and actually feeling a connection to the university is something that I'm really looking forward to.”
While taking classes remotely, Sydnor learned the importance of self-compassion and taking time for self-care, which for her included drawing boundaries between her school work and home life. She hopes to continue to apply these lessons when she returns to school this fall.
“I think that my biggest takeaway is that it's very important to take time to decompress, to clear your head,” she says. “I know that my academic performance is at its best when I can make sure I'm penciling in time to go for a walk, to call a friend, to do small things to actively give a bit of some distance — it can't just all be school school school school school,” she says.
Sydnor is set to graduate in fall 2022 and then plans to earn a master’s of public health — ideally at PSU, she says. With her MPH, she wants to continue her work on community health with a focus on empowering marginalized populations.