Abstract in the Rough

Alumni of the Watauga College program at Appalachian State University are connected by the common experience of being a Wataugan. Through my short time at this university, I have realized that many former Wataugans want to remain connected to the program, usually with a desire to network with other graduated members of the program. I am an alumnus myself, and as I have designed an interdisciplinary concentration in 'Community Studies,' I have decided to do what work I can to establish a Watauga Alumni Organization.
This will be a challenging task, and I plan on drawing from various sources, such as existing alumni organizations, the alumni themselves, and such appropriate texts as Webb's "Handbook for Alumni Administration." My goals are two-fold, and that is to lay as much groundwork as possible into the establishment of an actual organization, and to provide significant insight into the process of community building within an organizational context.

Concerning Douglas

Greetings all. I look forward to an en entertaining and enlightening semester with all of you.

My concentration is individually designed, titled Community Studies. I focused on learning communities. What I'm really trying to say is I majored in Watauga College. No, seriously.

Well, a tale is better told from the beginning...

I had participated in Governor's School of North Carolina the summer before my senior year of High School. I was intoxicated by the process of residential learning communities, and wanted to find a similar program to participate in during college. Ideally, it would be at a university with a strong music program. I found both at Appalachian!

I came in a be-dreadlocked, naive, foggy-minded freshman with an intended major of Music Industry Studies. Well, Watauga College smacked me across the brain with a deep social conscience, forced me to re-evaulate what I was doing. I considered Sustainable Development, Appropriate Technology, or designing a concentration in 'Paradigmatic Intentionality.' Several classes and headaches later, I am now a be-dreadlocked, naive, foggy-minded senior with a major of Watauga College. Fuck.

I've taken a myriad of unrelated classes and attempted to smash them all into an incoherent concentration. After heavy advising, I began doing a lot of independent studies with Dr. Joe Gonzalez on Watauga College, and eventually a pattern arose. Those classes include:

* China's Changing Mentalities
* "Housework"/"Housekeeping"
* Intro to Sustainable Development
* Principles of Agroecology
* Learning Communities Research Seminar
* Poetry Workshop
* Bologna to Boone: 1200-Present
* Building Community: Hopi/Navajo
* Pedagogy of Problem Based Learning
* Ancient and Modern Chinese Culture

There are some others, but these are the principle courses, which are all well-argued and justifiable in my head. I also spent three years as part of the student government of the LLC, serving on the student judiciary council my first year, re-crafting the organizations into the PWC for the second year, and serving as a staff advisor to the PWC my third year. I was a staff member because I was a Community Guide at the LLC, giving me first hand experience of the trials of guiding a community.

Moving on to work history, I mentioned that I was a Community Guide; I was also a Student Manager of the LLC Great Hall Cafeteria Breakfast; as well as a Peer Leader for the Freshman Seminar Summer Preview program. These three positions gave me valuable insight into the different facets of learning communities, Wataugan or not.

Additionally, this past summer I had the opportunity to teach English classes in China, where I had the opportunity to try out some of what I had learned from studies and employment. For this position I was certified by Zhejiang University as a Foreign English Teacher.

I also minored in Music (Voice) and Chinese. I hope to combine my paths of Community Studies with Chinese, as I continue to travel Sinophonic centers and teach English. I'm curious as how an interdisciplinary, communal experience would affect language acquisition in the class room. I hope this mere curiosity develops into an academic career.

Well, that's my scholarly identity in a rambling, twisted nutshell.

What?