Interview with Tawan Perry | Sound Authors Radio

December 30, 2008

Dr. Kent: Welcome to Sound Authors! Today is Friday, September 19th, we’re in the thick of political season and it’s a blast for me and a little bit of fall is in the air. Its good to see outside that the weather is getting a little bit cooler and we’re all happy for that. I have three guests on the show today; one special guest in the middle is taking two slots. Galway Kinnell who is a poet is here for half an hour. The musician at the end of the show wrote a book actually called Anti-Bushism and his audio book is more musical than bookish so he’s on as a musician and my first guest, his name is Tawan Perry. He is the author of College Sense, what High School and College Advisors don’t tell you about college. So welcome to the show Tawan Perry.

Tawan Perry: Thank you, thank you. How are you?

Dr. Kent: Pretty good. Tell me a little bit, how did you get into this whole business, this college sense?

Tawan Perry: Well I currently work at ### College in Ashtabula as the assistant dean of student life and since I graduated from high school; I’m sorry college; my life has been really working in higher education. I’ve been at three different institutions prior to coming to this one so it’s really been my life and I decided to write the book because part of the work that I do, I really didn’t want people to make the same mistakes that I made. I mean I worked in the kitchen and giving the students an environment that is conducive to academics so to keep students from making the same mistakes that I did I thought what can I do about this issue and I decided to write a book.

Dr. Kent: So tell me about the book itself. What college and high school advisors don’t tell you about college?

Tawan Perry: Well it starts out talking about the application process and the different types of colleges that are available, things like that. Starting with the third chapter of the book, it really tells you what you need to know once you get there. So many of the issues students’ face once they get to college, nobody told them really what to expect. Usually it’s not what they had in mind. So the book covers much of that sort of thing and at the end of the book it tells my life story and how I got to be where I am.

Dr. Kent: Tell us about you a little bit more. What did you do when you applied for college?

Tawan Perry: Well I started out in community college so my path was a little different than starting off at a four-year college, living on their own. I went to college because I was going to go into the Marine Corps but it didn’t quite work out and I decided to make a statement at the local community college and from there I did what I had to do to get a degree, I filed for a scholarship and eventually I graduated and transferred to a four year institution and started living on campus. So my situation was a little different because I wasn’t going in as an 18-year old on campus, I was a 22-year old.

Dr. Kent: So this book College Sense, now its out on the market, what inspired you to go into this arena and become a writer and all of that? Have you written other things or is this the beginning of that?

Tawan Perry: I’ve published a few things in some journals but I hadn’t written a book so this is my first book I’ve ever written. So for me again it was really trying to get to something that was really simple that would help them in ways that I felt other books wouldn’t because I read from the perspective ###. For the last six years of my life I’ve been working with students as an area coordinator so seeing it from that perspective; I didn’t just see it as an academic facility I also saw it through the student life perspective.

Dr. Kent: You are also a speaker along with your regular job so tell us about what you do at these universities?

Tawan Perry: When I get invited out and when I get opportunities I really try to get out and try to talk to high school age students and first year students of the importance of how to apply to colleges. For me personally I was a first generation college student and a lot of my audience is that’s who it’s a target for, someone whose never had a family member who had the opportunity for going to college and what I try to stress to them is that college is definitely a possibility and this is how you get into college. I can’t be there with them obviously but this is a way I can give them advice about some of the mistakes that I made or other students have made during their college years.

Dr. Kent: So what I’m curious about is when I went to college and I imagine when you went to college it was easier than nowadays, every year it gets harder. What do students say about it? Is it more stressful than it used to be?

Tawan Perry: I think in many ways it is more stressful because one so much information comes in at one time, you know, while you have a lot of choices, sometimes you have too many choices and it can become downright confusing. I think the other issue is students are facing a lot more tests than they were previously and a lot of older people tell me that when they first went to college they were just dropped off and they go see their family maybe on a break or something but now the students have a very close relationship with their parents so it creates a separation anxiety initially when they first come to campus. The other thing I think and I was reading an article about this the other day was that some students in K through 12 aren’t really adequately prepared.

A good example of that is let’s say a student has a 3.0 in high school. I mean a 3.0 is usually the honor roll so that means that they’re more than capable of doing well in college or should be. But the study actually suggested they are still unprepared because more students are going through remedial courses when they get to college. As a matter of fact, I think the entire higher ed industry is spending about 2.9 billion dollars on just remedial courses.

So it is something to consider. I think when you don’t have the proper foundation and grounding when you first go to college it shows down the road. I think in that way it’s definitely a little more difficult. Their expectations are a lot higher than what it used to be. The expectation used to be graduate from high school, get a job and get by. Nowadays you have to get a higher education and sometimes you need to get either a professional degree or some type of graduate degree. So I think in that way it’s a lot more difficult.

Dr. Kent: You have a masters degree in education; how do you use that information in your life everyday and how does that sort of end up in your book?

Tawan Perry: I attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and how I apply it to my real life is I thought about my objectives and diversity in a whole different light prior to going into that program. I believe with that program I was really able to think about impression and ways that I was prior to that. How I work with it everyday because I had my masters in higher administration, I’m really learning how to manage a college. At least in my position. I mean I have a department here. So it taught me a lot of management techniques and leadership styles and how to really work with students also. I think my degree and my education really prepared me for the position I’m in now.

Dr. Kent: Well the book is called College Sense: What the high school and college advisors don’t tell you about college. I’d like to ask you a couple of questions since you brought up the topic a little bit about the politics right now. I’m really game on watching it as it progresses, we’re down to less than two months, what do you think about the politics that are happening?

Tawan Perry: I think I feel like a lot of people. I mean this is probably the most important election in our lifetimes because of the economic situation we’re in. It’s very important that we as American people make the best decisions for our country. I think both parties obviously are choosing the people who represent them really well and just waiting like everyone else to see what will happen. I think no matter who is chosen things are about to change.

Dr. Kent: Yep; I’m excited to see what happens. I sure hope that Obama wins but I can’t imagine that it can be as bad with either candidate as its been lately so for educations sake lets hope for change. Tawan Perry it’s been great chatting with you. The book is called College Sense: What the high school and college advisors don’t tell you about college. Where can we find out about you?

Tawan Perry: The book can be purchased or previewed at my website, which is www.tawanperry.com or you can purchase it at Amazon or my publisher, which is iuniverse.com.

Dr. Kent: Wonderful! Well it’s been a real pleasure speaking with you and I wish you all the best with the book.

Tawan Perry: Thank you.

Dr. Kent: Now my next guest is the legendary poet Galway Kinnell speaking to us from Vermont. So come on back in a couple of minutes and we will be speaking with him.

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