{"id":1003,"date":"2017-05-17T13:27:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T20:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/?page_id=1003"},"modified":"2018-05-17T15:14:03","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T22:14:03","slug":"2018-undergraduate-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/2018-undergraduate-news\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Undergraduate News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Undergraduate Student Spotlight<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Jordan Frost, student body president, waves goodbye as his journey continues
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History was made in the office of the WSU student body president this past academic year\u2014literally.<\/p>\n

History major Jordan Frost completed his term as ASWSU president in May 2018, finalizing a journey that began in the fall of 2013. President Frost’s academic story is one that could rival the best Horatio Alger yarns.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span>Jordan admits his academic journey got off to a \u201cshaky\u201d start, but five years later, he now finds himself in possession of a WSU diploma with a degree in history. And just because Jordan completed his undergraduate degree, it doesn\u2019t mean his academic career is over. Beginning this month, he will continue his education toward a master’s degree in teaching social studies. His goal: to return home and teach history and\/or social studies at his high school alma mater, Kent-Meridian in Kent, Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know his will sound corny,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I want to give back to the community, and being a teacher is one of the best ways to achieve this. I have met and worked with so many wonderful people as president; I know how important developing people skills and academics really are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The skills Jordan learned and developed as a WSU history major served him well while he was president.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical thinking,\u201d Jordan said, was among the top learned \u201chistory skills\u201d he employed as president. \u201cBeing able to know which information is valuable is really key. Just like in history, being able to evaluate a source is really important.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical thinking taught me that, when looking at an issue, no one\u2019s evil or good. People just have different positions. For me, looking at evidence, looking at primary sources\u2014all kinds of documents and data\u2014helps me to determine what is the best approach on a topic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan\u2019s history-major approach to being president also added to a bit of clutter in his desk. \u201cWe had all sorts of reports on shelves, going back years and years,\u201d he said. \u201cMany of my predecessors looked at it as \u2018old stuff\u2019 and they didn\u2019t take much value from it. But I knew how to evaluate it. I took the reports down and put them in the drawer of my desk where I could consult them. It was just like doing a history report, like in History 300 or History 469.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreparation on a topic leads to greater depth and understanding. Believe me, when I go into a meeting, nobody can up me on the facts. Sometimes an administrator might say, \u2018No, we can\u2019t do that, we\u2019ve never done that,\u2019 and I\u2019ll respond, \u2018Uh, no, we can do that’ because I have the data to show what\u2019s been tried before. If understanding history has taught me nothing else, it has taught me to be more deliberate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Jacee Thompson’s summer abroad<\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for WSU students to bring back souvenirs from summer travels abroad, but junior Jacee Thompson may have taken the \u201cbring-back-a souvenir\u201d concept to another level.<\/p>\n

\"Jaycee<\/a>When the chance arose last summer to travel with family members to Africa, it was an opportunity too good to pass up. A history major, Thompson, 21, knew traveling abroad would expand her knowledge of the world and help strengthen her foundation for success in the classroom.<\/p>\n

While in South Africa, Thompson learned about the South African Boer War, “which was the major disassociation from the British Empire,\u201d she said. \u201cThey mostly spoke of the brutality of the war and the organized concentration camps with the attacks on many of the farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the subject of poaching is the major topic of discussion, she said. \u201cThe poaching of all animals is taken very seriously\u2014most of all rhinos, for the value of their horns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culturally, Thompson enjoyed how the people of South Africa are \u201csuper close.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are big into having people over for social gatherings,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have a thing over there called \u2018braiing\u2019 [Afrikaans for \u201croasted meat\u201d]. It\u2019s kind of like a big barbeque, and people gather and sit around an open fire. It\u2019s really fun. It\u2019s kind of like a large family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson’s two weeks in South Africa included flying into Johannesburg, traveling to the judicial capital Bloemfontein, and visiting the famous South African game reserve, Kruger National Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems we were traveling all the time,\u201d she said. \u201cI never got to Cape Town, but Kruger Park was really cool. Being \u2018head on\u2019 with an elephant is really fun. The giraffes were so amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While on the continent, Thompson also joined her uncle Brett Thompson on safari. The result: Thompson bagged herself a kudu\u2014a curly-horned African antelope. \u201cIt\u2019ll cost something like $1,000 to stuff it and ship back here,\u201d the Colfax, Washington, native said. \u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure where I\u2019m going to hang it in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jaycee<\/a>Thompson, who by her own admission is a \u201cpretty good shot,\u201d has hunted deer locally near Kamiak Butte for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hunting was really fun,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I\u2019ve never been around a country where so many people didn\u2019t speak English as their first language. The people there are very accommodating to you. I mean, when they see you, they hug you, offer you something to drink, carry your bags.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all, Thompson came to appreciate the educational experience her South African trip provided. \u201cIt gave me more of an appreciation for my coursework, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can learn so much. It\u2019s interesting to hear about other people\u2019s historical backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Undergraduate Student Spotlight Jordan Frost, student body president, waves goodbye as his journey continues History was made in the office of the WSU student body president this past academic year\u2014literally. History major Jordan Frost completed his term as ASWSU president in May 2018, finalizing a journey that began in the fall of 2013. President Frost’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-builder.php","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1656,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1003\/revisions\/1656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/history-newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}