The Lion's Roundtable (Guest: Lorelei Brewer)
Download MP3Good day. This is Amber Narro on KSLU's ninety point nine FM, The Lion. I am here at today's Lion's Roundtable with my friend and student and honors student association president Lorelei Brewer, who also triples and quadruples as the Southeastern number one applicant for the Truman Scholarship, the one and only, first time we've done this. Congratulations, Lorelei. So glad to have you.
Lorelei Brewer:Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
Dr. Amber Naro:Indeed. Indeed. Okay. So Truman Scholarship. One of the things, you know, that's very interesting about this this Truman Scholarship is that I don't know that a lot of people on Southeastern's campus, particularly the students, know about this opportunity for students, number one.
Dr. Amber Naro:And certainly, we haven't had a Truman Scholarship applicant that we know of at the very least, and I'll explain why we don't we we know we don't know and things like that and whatever. Right? So, Lorela, tell me about the Truman Truman Scholarship.
Lorelei Brewer:So the Truman Scholarship is a federal scholarship that students can apply for in their junior year. It is geared towards people with a career a planned career in public service. So this includes things like government work, medical field, education, and all those good things where you're serving others. And it's a very lengthy application process.
Dr. Amber Naro:Right.
Lorelei Brewer:Letters of recommendation, essay questions, policy proposal, all the things. And, you know, then you go on to an interview if you get selected. And if you get selected, they pay for grad school pretty much in its entirety.
Dr. Amber Naro:Oh, wow. So this is big. Yes. This is massive. So this falls under the heading of prestigious national scholarship, right, or national prestigious scholarship.
Dr. Amber Naro:We are you are one of the founding members of the scholarship accountability meetings that happen on Southeastern's campus at 04:30 on the 3rd Floor of the library in the Honors Den every Wednesday. And, you guys meet, talk about what you've done in the last week, give yourself an assignment for the next week, and it really kinda kept yourself on task for this. How important has it been to have accountability partners in this process?
Lorelei Brewer:It's been very important. When you're working on big things like this, it can be very easy to get distracted or get discouraged from doing the work because it it is a lot of work and it can be very overwhelming. But when you have these meetings every week, you know that you're coming to people who are working towards a lot of the same things even if it's not in the same format that you are. And you know that you have people who will remind you of the things that need to get done if you drop the ball.
Dr. Amber Naro:Very good. I'm gonna ask you a question that is probably has an obvious answer. You are obviously getting a lot out of this. What do you think you're pouring into the into this Sam's meeting every week? We call it the Sam's meeting because scholarship accountability meetings.
Lorelei Brewer:I mean, I definitely one of the things that I've really enjoyed seeing, especially in the last couple weeks, is seeing how many more people are coming and wanting to learn about the opportunities that they have because a lot of people are coming in as freshmen not even knowing that things like Truman are out there
Dr. Amber Naro:and they're Well, did you know as a freshman?
Lorelei Brewer:No, I didn't know till November.
Dr. Amber Naro:Right. Right.
Lorelei Brewer:And so, they're coming in and they're getting to learn about these scholarships early and it's kinda cool to, like, see them here and realize, like, oh, like, I could work towards something like this. Even if it's not Truman, it could be Goldwater or many of the other opportunities. They might even find something that we don't know about yet. Mhmm. And so that's been cool to see, but it's also, you know, just it's good for me to, like, have an outlet to come and, like, make sure there are people there who can hold me accountable through everything that I'm working on.
Dr. Amber Naro:Indeed. And this is a brand new effort that we've put together and a lot of it came out of our trip to the National Collegiate Honors Conference in San Diego, which I've talked to to Aidan and Avery on this show before about their research that they presented there. But Aidan found out about the Goldwater Scholarship there, which is more geared towards science y folks. Right? And she will actually be on the show tomorrow talking about that and her experience applying there.
Dr. Amber Naro:But she, found out about this, came to me, and said, can I apply? Was like, yeah. Sure. Apply. Right?
Dr. Amber Naro:I didn't know what I was getting myself into for that because we have to have a campus representative for this. And this is how we found out that we probably had never applied for a Truman scholarship before because we had no campus representative Right. At that point. Yeah. You have to have a campus representative to wrangle all the applications and to, ensure that they get in on time and remind people of of deadlines and whatnot.
Dr. Amber Naro:And, I'm that campus representative, so I had to sign up for it. I had to ask permission. There was nobody assigned to us before this that I know of or they had dropped off as as any kind of sort of contact at Southeastern. We we weren't on the website to to be sure. And so, you know, naturally, I was like, yeah.
Dr. Amber Naro:Of course, I'll do it. I didn't realize that there's a lot of work in that campus representative part of it too and a lot of anxiety that goes along with that because
Lorelei Brewer:That's a lot.
Dr. Amber Naro:You know, don't wanna make the wrong move for you guys, and I certainly don't wanna let the university down. It was pretty easy for me. Okay? You guys did all the hard work. I did some proofing.
Dr. Amber Naro:I hit the word the the button at the end of it, but you guys were really the ones that really put toward put forth the effort. And I gotta hand this all back to Avery, who I said we'll talk to you tomorrow because she and Aiden were very excited about this. Aiden didn't qualify for a Goldwater because he's gonna graduate too early Yeah. To take it to take advantage of that. But Aiden will be sticking around for a little bit.
Dr. Amber Naro:I mean, Avery will be sticking around for a little bit longer of a time so that she can actually have that benefit of the Goldwater Scholarship. So really exciting stuff there, but, Aiden's looking into some undergraduate research opportunities and going to he literally was in my office today talking about how important it is for him to do that. You will be joining us at the Southern Regional Honors Conference
Lorelei Brewer:Yes.
Dr. Amber Naro:In ape in March. And the reason why I'm saying all of these things that these travel experiences that students are getting off the backs of our Strawberry Festival fundraiser where you too, Tangier Spojo Parish, can buy a straw snowball at the festival or anywhere you see honor students. We're sending our honor students out on these awesome conferences where they're bringing these opportunities back to Southeastern and to other students. Lorelai didn't go to the National Collegiate Honors Conference, but she learned about the Truman through the experience of Aiden and Avery. They're bringing these things back.
Dr. Amber Naro:They're sharing them, and now we have our first Truman applicant, and she didn't even go on that trip. You're gonna go to some things in at Southern Regional Honors Conference that you're gonna bring back as well. So this is really pouring into our university. I love it, and that's what this show is about. This the Lions Roundtable is recognizing how we all are in this together and really kinda working to to better this parish and this area and, and and really kinda lift up Southeastern too.
Dr. Amber Naro:So tell me what this experience has done for you along the way because, like you said, it was very lengthy. Right? You had to answer lots of questions. What did you realize or learn going through this process? Having just found out about the Truman in November, what you learned about yourself?
Lorelei Brewer:So one of the biggest benefits that I found that I got from the application was actually just kind of figuring out where I might wanna go for graduate school. Because one of the questions that they ask you, well, three of the questions that they ask you are about your future plans. You have to outline where do you wanna go to grad school and what do you want to gain from your master's program. You have to learn, like, where do you see yourself upon graduation? Where do you see yourself in five years?
Lorelei Brewer:And you have to lay out that whole trajectory for the application. So that was one of the biggest things that I learned because although I, like, had thought about grad school, like, I never really sat down and made a plan just because it was it was something that I always saw as a possibility. But with something like Truman being out there, if I can, you know, kind of remove that financial restraint from grad school, then there's no reason not to go. And so that was one of the biggest things that I gained. I also learned about, how to talk good, because a lot of what you have to do when you apply for these scholarships is really make everything you've done sound like the greatest thing you've ever done in your entire life.
Lorelei Brewer:And I talk good. Yeah. Yes. And even even part of that is, like, sometimes when I was going through the application
Dr. Amber Naro:Jess for all of you English folk out there. She knows how she needs to speak well. Right? Yes.
Lorelei Brewer:Yes. But, you know, talking good, like, making yourself elevating yourself and really making it clear that your accomplishments are important, and they're very good things. One of the things that I really struggled with on the application was that I felt that a lot of my, a lot of my activities weren't quite fitting. So it was like, the things that I've done are very important. So how can I make them fit?
Lorelei Brewer:How can I frame them in a way that demonstrates all the work that I've done towards public service without discounting that, oh, maybe it's not what they're looking for?
Dr. Amber Naro:Right. And I think we had this conversation Yes. Just a couple of weeks ago. Did. You were really getting nervous that you were not going to level up.
Lorelei Brewer:Yeah. Right? It was a hard thing for me because I I've done a lot, and I've been working in I've worked with kids for a very long time. I've worked in the dance studio or volunteered in the dance studio since I was 13 years old. And so I've worked with kids, and that's part of public service.
Lorelei Brewer:But I when I saw the way that things were phrased on the application, it it got very intimidating. And so I kind of had to learn to reframe my experiences in a positive way rather than trying to fit a mold.
Dr. Amber Naro:Right. Now you've had to be very intentional in those those, in those thoughts and to really understand what you've done to contribute to the public space, as well as, what you've done in your education in that space because you're going toward being a school teacher Yes. At early elementary school teacher as well. You're gonna work with the babies. And and the reason that I started talking to you about Truman, and why you came to mind as the person who we would nominate to be our first Truman applicant is because and we didn't put pressure on you.
Dr. Amber Naro:We said, what do you think? Go take a look at it. See what you think. And then you said I might, and we pushed a little. Right?
Dr. Amber Naro:And then I'm gonna say it didn't take a shove. It was certainly just a vote of confidence because we knew that you you were gonna be awesome. You got three letters of recommendation, one from your department, one from the dean of the college of honors and and excellence. You also got one from me, and you also got one from, I think, another one from your area. Yes?
Lorelei Brewer:I got one from my studio director back at home who I do. I work with middle schoolers on podcast. Mhmm. Yeah.
Dr. Amber Naro:And and that, we were able to say, you work with middle schoolers. Okay. And that's a podcast, and you're speaking you're talking teaching them public speaking skills and how to how how to speak well and to talk good. Right? Yes.
Dr. Amber Naro:And to elevate themselves on on what their achievements are so that they can articulate this. One of the things I said when I was writing your letter of recommendation, and I can truly say that there was no I AI involved in in the writing of that letter because I wrote it straight off the top of my head. It was very easy. It was a very easy two page letter of recommendation to write. But one of the things that I did say was that you it it is so obvious that you will be passing the baton onto these individuals through your mentorship.
Dr. Amber Naro:And one thing that I think that you're really good at, Lorelei, is paving the way for other people and showing that, you know, we're not only gonna do it in this minute, but we're thinking about what's happening in the future as well. You're very forward thinking Yes. As I think that that came through in that application. And I wanna challenge other people who might be thinking about applying for these these prestigious scholarships. Number one, come to our Sam's meetings at 04:30 in the library on the 3rd Floor on Wednesdays.
Dr. Amber Naro:That's that's thing one. Thing two is to to try to see the things that you're doing right now that can be applicable and then challenge yourself to go get the things that you think that you are not as strong with in your application and make those things come together as freshmen and sophomores. So it's a little easier than it was for Lorelai, and she's already paving that way by sharing those messages with our freshmen that they need to start thinking about it now. Yes? Yes.
Dr. Amber Naro:Definitely. Alright. Lorelei, talk to me about the project that you're trying to put forward for this f for your research in the public space.
Lorelei Brewer:Okay. Well, a lot of my research both for my honors thesis and for my policy proposal on the Truman application focus on Honors thesis.
Dr. Amber Naro:What is an honors thesis?
Lorelei Brewer:Oh, an honors thesis, it's this great thing that you can do where you work with a professor in your discipline and you, it's a year long project. You research. You, in any way that fits whatever you're doing. If you're biology, you could do lab work. If you're in education, you could interview.
Lorelei Brewer:There's a lot of different ways that you can go about it. You can do a creative project if you're in the arts, but it's this year long project that you pour a whole lot of hard work into to work towards the honors diploma.
Dr. Amber Naro:Alright. And then you get to sit on the front row at graduation. You wear a gold hood. We braid you in around in front of everybody because we're super proud of you, and you are well on your way to do that.
Lorelei Brewer:Yes.
Dr. Amber Naro:And you are going to let that research double as your research that you're gonna do toward this this effort for the Truman scholarship. Yes?
Lorelei Brewer:Yes. Yes. And that research focuses primarily on technology in the classroom, specifically in the early childhood setting. So, when I was in my methods class last semester, I we had a day
Dr. Amber Naro:That would be teaching methods.
Lorelei Brewer:Right? Methods. Yes. Education, early childhood. This specifically was pre k kindergarten method.
Lorelei Brewer:So all the work we did was with pre k and kindergarten students. And we had a day where we had some current educators come into our class and talk to us about it was about, like, an observation system for teachers, but we learned a lot of other valuable things from them. And one of the things from this conversation that's really stuck in my mind is that they said for the first couple months of the school year, they really had to, like, teach their kids how to play because kids were coming into their classroom not knowing how to play. Mhmm. The example I always use is you give them a can of Play Doh and they ask you how to turn it on.
Lorelei Brewer:And instead of when you think about, when a lot of people think about their childhood, they think about, you know, those hands on activities. Those you get a a can of Play Doh and you sometimes you put it in your mouth or you, you know, you start molding it. You do all these things because the goal is exploration. And that's a big part of early childhood education is that hands on exploration, working with materials, doing all those things, and kids are coming into the classroom now and they don't know how to do those things because they're losing out on those experiences. And part of the reason for that is the prevalence of technology.
Lorelei Brewer:Technology has become very big in our society, and it's become, like, just this this massive epidemic almost where it's every person has access to a cell phone or to a TV. A lot of young kids have iPads. And so my research focuses on what this screen time does to their brains and how it impacts the way they learn in the classroom. So what I did for my Truman application was I wrote up a policy talking about the screen time, talking about recommended limits, talking about all the important skills that young kids in the classroom have to learn and how they may be missing out on these skills because of the increase in their time on technology.
Dr. Amber Naro:Okay. And what do you expect that the results of implementing a policy such as this are going to be? Because you have a good world view on this, and and understanding the impact it might have on kids.
Lorelei Brewer:Yeah. I mean, I definitely think, my policy kind of limits screen time in the classroom, and I definitely think that that would be incredibly beneficial especially in an early childhood setting. I do, of course, see the benefits. We are in a society that is changing, that is becoming very tech oriented. And, of course, it's very important for kids to kind of understand how technology works so that they know how to use it effectively.
Lorelei Brewer:However, when they're four or five years old, they need to be focused more on those socio emotional skills, how to communicate with people, how to order their food at a restaurant, how to, you know, move their bodies, walk with their two feet, skip, hop, how to write with a pencil. And with your
Dr. Amber Naro:Be good citizens for four and five so that you translate that to adult.
Lorelei Brewer:Because those little skills that you learn when you're four pave the way for the rest of your life. If you don't learn how to take turns when you're four, you grow up and you end up in a situation where you still can't take turns. So those skills are
Dr. Amber Naro:not gonna be very happy with you.
Lorelei Brewer:Yes. And those skills are those skills are incredibly important for the rest of your life. So implementing something like a technology limit in the early childhood classroom where you give them more time to focus on hands on activities and to focus on exploration and on learning how to how to learn, how to talk to people, how to write with a pencil, you're allowing them to pave skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
Dr. Amber Naro:Mhmm. Laura, so well articulated for sure. Talk to me about the next step in this in this process. Now we've look. We have we have gone above and beyond getting this application and it looks good.
Dr. Amber Naro:If I if I have to say so myself, you had three strong letters of recommendation. You wrote a powerful, impactful, tear jerking application for the Truman scholarship, you have made Southeastern proud, number one, as our first applicant. Hands down done. Right? Yes.
Dr. Amber Naro:Now the next thing is we hope we get it. No. You know, obviously, that would be wonderful, and we're gonna know about that in a couple of weeks. And your stomach's gotta be turdent in some sort of way for it.
Lorelei Brewer:Yeah. For sure. I mean, I'm right now, I'm just glad I got it submitted. I mean, I'm really at a point now where I'm just like, okay. I can breathe for a second, and then I can start thinking about next steps.
Lorelei Brewer:So I'll know if I proceed to finalist by February 16. And from there, if I get finalist, then I will travel to Austin, Texas where I will do a interview in front of these panelists who will ask me questions about my application, and, yeah, go from there.
Dr. Amber Naro:Wonderful. And if you, hopefully, you go all the way. Right, we want you at least to go to the interview process. That's the next step. You know, that's what we'd love to do because that's selective in and of itself.
Dr. Amber Naro:But like I said, I I I don't wanna dismiss your chances because you've got them. I mean, saw the application. I have seen sample applications from others. I think you I think you match up. So I'm I'm excited about that, and I am excited about our applicant here.
Dr. Amber Naro:But I I gotta imagine that you would encourage people even, you know, I'm asking you a a kind of another one of those obvious questions. If you don't receive it, was the process still worth it?
Lorelei Brewer:Absolutely. Like I said, I was able to get kind of a idea of my trajectory of where I'm going. I was able to strengthen my research that I was already planning on doing from a policy perspective that I probably wouldn't have even thought to look for otherwise. So there
Dr. Amber Naro:were definitely a lot of benefits to going through the process even if I don't get the award. So if we're sitting in an interview in a couple in just a few weeks here, right, in Austin, hopefully, let's let's go ahead and project that into the future if we if we can, if we have any power at all. Let's let's say you're sitting in the interview and they ask you, you know, should you not be selected for this? We've we've, you know, you're among a lot of fantastic candidates for this. The people who have made it here are the strongest candidates in the nation for this for this scholarship.
Dr. Amber Naro:Right. Should you not be selected, what would you advise of others who would come behind you that would maybe even make their application stronger?
Lorelei Brewer:I mean, I would definitely advise starting early if you can. It's very once you're aware of the opportunities that are out there and you're able to kind of reach out to different, you can kind of strengthen your case by starting early, looking for internship opportunities, looking for things that you may not have otherwise. And I definitely think that that's a big help. But also just if you go are going to through this process to never discount yourself. Even if you don't get the award, it's very important.
Dr. Amber Naro:It's not for them. It's for you. Yeah.
Lorelei Brewer:Right? It's very important that you take everything that you can out of the process the entire time you're going through it. Even if you start two months before the deadline, even if you start in, you know, November when the deadline's in February, like, take that time to really reflect on the things that you've done and see the positive impacts that they've made even if you don't get the final award.
Dr. Amber Naro:Love it. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that Yes. Wisdom and your experience as well as your talent with us at Southeastern. Thank you for picking Southeastern number one and and letting us borrow you for a little bit and pour into you.
Dr. Amber Naro:And I will tell you, you need to put on your resume that you are a Truman scholar
Lorelei Brewer:Absolutely.
Dr. Amber Naro:Applicant from Southeastern Louisiana University and definitely put your co cover letter that, you know, we entrusted our first one to you. So Okay.
Lorelei Brewer:Thank you.
Dr. Amber Naro:You so much.
Lorelei Brewer:Thank you for having me.
Dr. Amber Naro:Thank you. And thank you for listening here on 90.9, The Lion. This is Amber Narro. We've been at the Lion's Roundtable today with Lorelei Brewer. She is the first applicant from Southeastern from for the Truman scholarship that we know of at all, but definitely in recent history.
Dr. Amber Naro:So we're so glad to have her. We're proud of her. We're wishing her all the luck as we send you off today. Listen on Thursdays and Fridays at 9AM. Y'all have a great day.
