Katherine: Welcome to the Transfer Talks Podcast. My name is Katherine Lawlor. I serve as the Transfer Jacks Coordinator at Northern Arizona University, and I'm going to allow my guest to introduce themselves today.

Sharon: Hi, my name is Sharon Singer Doctor. I currently work as the Director for the Office of Indigenous Student Success, and I earned several degrees at Northern Arizona University. Before I get into that, I would also like to mention that I identify with the she, her pronouns. I'm also a member of the Navajo Nation as an enrolled citizen, and my hometown is in Kaibito, Arizona, which is an hour and a half north of Flagstaff on the Navajo Nation. And the school that I transferred from is Yavapai College at the Clarkdale Verde Valley campus. And the degrees I earned at the Yavapai College, I actually only attended three semesters, and I didn't finish my Associate, but I was able to transfer most of my credit hours to NAU. And in 1993, I earned a Bachelor of General Studies degree. And then in 2002, I earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Business Management. And in the last degree in 2009, also from NAU was a Master's degree in Counseling with a Student Affairs emphasis.

Katherine: Wonderful. Thank you for introducing yourself. Well, what did you enjoy about your NAU experience?

Sharon: I would say I really enjoyed the campus environment, the way it looked. I knew that it was one mile from north to south, but just the physical environment was appealing with the trees, the landscape, as well as meeting a wide range of diverse students. I was focused in the Franke College of Business. And so I met friends there. I met other Indigenous students. And there was actually opportunities for engaging in student clubs and organizations. And one of them was the American Indian Business Leaders, which became later Native American Business Organization, and now it's renamed to American Indigenous Business Leaders. So I was part of that club all the years I was at NAU in 1990 to 1993 and later became their Staff Advisor as well.

Katherine: Wonderful. Well, what was your experience like at Yavapai College compared to NAU?

Sharon: I would say I kind of went back up to my high school. I graduated from Camp Verde High School. And at the time, I was looking to go to college. That was something my parents had wanted me to do. That was something that my paternal grandfather, really valued education, particularly higher education. And so I already knew that I was going to college but I liked these small high schools that I was, I attended. And so I thought, you know what, I think I'd like to try Yavapai College. It's a small campus, there was no campus living or student housing. So I had to find a place within the community of Cottonwood, which I did. Back in the early 1990s or late 1980s, I should say, cost of living wasn't so high, and so I was able to find a job, pay for my apartment that I had a roommate. Tuition was relatively low. The class size, of course, was small, which I really liked. I was able to get to know my instructors. And really, when I needed help, I knew which office I needed to go to because it was a small campus. I think what I also liked was that I really got to learn from my peers because they tended to be a little older than me because some of them already had families or they already had jobs. And so it was really nice to find mentors and some of the faculty there. But yeah, that's what I liked from that experience. I got some college credits under my belt and then I took a year break. I returned home to the Navajo Nation. And then in the summer of 2000, or excuse me, 1980, or excuse me, 1990, NAU had a program for new incoming transfer students and it was NAU Previews for transfers. And so I was able to visit the Flagstaff campus that Summer. And they were offered transportation with a bus, so I was able to get on the bus, come to Flagstaff, spend one or two nights in McConnell Hall. And then during those two days, got to meet with an advisor, got to know resources on campus, how to engage on campus and student organizations. I was really interested in finding a campus employment. So yes, it was a bigger campus. I knew the classrooms were going to be much larger. But by that time, I built enough confidence in myself that I knew I was ready to come here. And so I did that in August of 1990, I came in as a transfer student.

Katherine: Wonderful. Well, let's see. So when you think back on that first semester, what is a favorite memory you have?

Sharon: The first semester, I made a lot of new friends. And because I was maybe a little bit older than a traditional age incoming freshman student, I was able to be confident enough to say, hi, I'm Sharon. And where are you from? You know, so I was able to engage with other peers. That was also the semester that I found a campus employment with a department, right now it's called Student Affairs but back then we were part of an Educational Support Program. And within that program, they had a high school academy called Nishan Academy. And I got a job with them as a Student Receptionist or Clerk. And so that's, so all three years that I took to earn my Bachelor, I worked for that department. So I think that was really nice to know that I was able to find employment, get involved in the student clubs, make friends. All of this at the same time on the weekends, I went home to visit my mom. I had lost my father the year before, so it was still a hard year for my mom. And so, but she really wanted me to come to NAU, finish my, get to earn a Bachelor's degree. But usually every other weekend, I would go home to help her out. And then finding good mentors, I think that was a really good thing to have. And not only my supervisor, but my other department staff that were also became my mentors.

Katherine: One of the typical transfer experiences is sometimes we may change your major between one place to another, or it may take us longer to finish our degree than we were expecting. And so did you have any of those types of experiences? And how did you connect that to what you wanted to do with your future?

Sharon: Sure. So at Yavapai College, I was taking classes to be like an Office Assistant or to like clerical classes, and then I knew I wanted to work in maybe in a business arena. I liked computers. At the time, we had brand new Apple computers and learned what a mouse was. And this was the way before when internet was finally slowly being introduced. And so when I came to NAU, I really wanted to focus in maybe Computer Information Systems or CIS at the time. But within that first year, I changed my major to maybe more of a Business Management type. And eventually, I ended up doing a General Studies because my tribal funding only could pay for 10 semesters. And that was already in my 11th semester. So nowadays that might be called a Bachelor of University Studies, it's a comparable degree today. But back then, so I did a minor in Business is what I ended up doing with that Bachelor of Graduate Studies. So I think, you know, it was really good I had those introductory courses in my Yavapai College days, like my English and some other Liberal Studies. I think if I could go back in time, I would have done my Math and Science at the Yavapai College. But that's all right. I ended up finishing those, of course, here at NAU. So I think the setting myself up for the units I transferred in was still helpful. It's still helpful. I ended up graduating in December of 1993. So this took me about five semesters to be here. Maybe a little over five, maybe six semesters almost, to finish my degree. So I, that was something that I always appreciated. And I try to encourage students now who are thinking of higher ed, maybe try a community college first or a tribal college, and then you can transfer in.

Katherine: And part of what we do is we normalize that experience because we know many people may start one place and find a fit at a different place too.

Sharon: Yes. And always finding out and asking questions and looking at your undergraduate catalog. Back in my day, it used to be like an inch-thick or inch-and-a-half-thick booklet. Nowadays, the undergrad catalog, you can look it up online. You can kind of do a what-if scenario, like if this degree is what you want, but you're thinking of this, it's all on the computer. And then it shows you what kind of courses you might need or don't need.

Katherine: Yeah, that definitely sounds helpful. Well, when you think about the transfer experience, whether it's interacting with transfer students here at NAU or your own experience, what do you wish people understood? Because sometimes people compare it to the first-year experience and there are some differences.

Sharon: Right. I would say that being a new transfer student is a little bit different than first year, but then also at the same time, there's some similarities in that both types of students are coming to the university brand new. And I think the advantage to being a transfer student is, hopefully, one has established study, good study habits, good time management habits, are able to maybe be more focused with their Bachelor's program, degree program, being confident in asking for help, seeking out resources, asking questions, raising your hand in class, versus maybe a freshman, may or may not have some of those same skillset yet that they're still growing into them and they're still learning.

Katherine: Makes sense. Is there any specific advice that you'd like to give to incoming transfer students?

Sharon: I would say, you know, as new incoming student, as a transfer student, you have so much knowledge that you've gained and all you have to do is maybe maneuver them in a way that will make it advantageous for you to succeed in a university environment, taking part in programs, events where you meet other transfer students, taking advantage of all the resources available to you. That's something that I think you can still do. You can still do those things like when you did at your community college or tribal college that you transfer from. Just knowing that it's maybe a bigger environment here at the Flagstaff Mountain Campus or if you're an online student, you know, learning about the resources, finding out, taking notes, keeping track of, I know now you have cell phones so the NAU Go app, being aware of what's happening, checking out the key offices for information, who to contact. I think asking for assistance because otherwise the staff and the support people here will not know. And that's what I tell my students all the time. You have to let me know how I can help you if you're struggling and not to wait until Reading Week, you know, that you need help. Making sure that you read your emails, granted, you might get a lot of emails, but sort them out, see what's applicable to you, and you can save them, cell phones nowadays, you can take photos of things. And really enriching your experience here is really up to you, you know, how you want, what do you want out of it? Because you're paying a lot of money to go to school or someone's paying for your school and you want to take the, the most advantage of it because you're setting yourself up for the next step, which might be, you know, a graduate program or career somewhere, or maybe you want to do an internship or so yeah, so you really want to enjoy your time here at the university.

Katherine: Wonderful. Well, this is more of a fun question. So do you have any favorite place to eat in Flagstaff?

Sharon: I try to eat at places that are locally owned. So I like either Chinese food, Mexican food. So I like the Hunan West, I also like Kachina Mexican restaurant. So yeah, I like the small, small restaurants where people, you know, some places I've known people there for a long time. I know there is Burrito’s Fiesta, next to Sprouts that I know the owner since they first opened over 10 years ago.

Katherine: Well, you know, we actually are in a unique space right now, we're in the Native American Cultural Center and so I do want to acknowledge that. Is there anything that you would want our audience to know when it comes to either coming to events that NACC offers or Office of Indigenous Student Success? And I ask that because we do have overlap between our two programs, transfers can also be Indigenous and Indigenous students may have friends that are transfers. So any type of event or shout-out that you want to give to what you all are doing here?

Sharon: Sure. So our department is housed in the West Wing inside the Native American Cultural Center, Building 14. We do partner a lot together with our colleagues with the building. And so some of these events will be posted on our social media, Instagram or Facebook. Most likely it's going to be Instagram because there are a lot of our students following us on that page. It could be a cultural event, it could be a social event. We do have Indige-Peer mentors who work for us, who plan a lot of different events. So some of the key ones in the Fall would be our Welcome Event in August. We do have an Indigenous Connections to Success Program the week before school starts for about two or three days that includes a field day. Every month I think our students try to host some kind of fun crafting activity or they might have basketball volleyball nights at the South Gym at the HLC. We do have a November Stew Fest, where we partner with Sodexo to provide different stews and fresh fry bread. And so we also are part of the Lumberjack of Inclusion Ceremony as well as the different convocation ceremonies coming up this semester in May. But I think the best way is for students to check out our social media for not only OISS, but also for the Native American Cultural Center, it's a building that's open to any NAU student. The building is open Monday to Thursday, 8 am to 8 pm Friday, 8 to 5, and that's the same hours for our department now. Great place to study, the building does provide free coffee and hot water for tea, there's a Jacks Print station in the student lounge with Apple and Dell PC computers for students to use, and right now, since we have all these snowstorms, our fireplace has been going so if you want to sit by the fireplace, you can. Our gathering room has large round tables so students can study in there, spread out their stuff if they want to. On the West Wing, we do have a little lounge area and there's a charging station for cell phones and other equipment.

Katherine: Wonderful. Well, I do certainly appreciate your time and being a guest on the Transfer Talks Podcast.

Sharon: Yes, thank you for inviting me, Katherine. It has been nice to share a little bit about myself and brings back really good memories and I hope you all are enjoying the year and wish you the best.

Katherine: Thank you.