Current Students
John Backus
Part One
I was pretty much successful in construction, but I also plateaued at a specific place. I needed more education to take the next step, and this program has allowed me to take some of what I haven’t had in my past and bring it into the future. Safety and risk control, for example, is a very lucrative field and the program is broad enough, and opportunities out there are broad enough, that you can go a lot of different ways. If I decide to be successful in the construction avenue, or construction safety, I will be. If I decide to go into insurance, that direction, I will be successful. It’s all very lucrative. But I am more excited about the opportunity to take a new step, to do something new and maybe taking advantage of the skills that I have always had, and applying them in a different way.
I can only speak of the risk control program, but I think it does an outstanding job of really kind of reaching broadly within the subjects with people from different angles, professions, job industries. It just completely opened my eyes to how much opportunity there is out there, while at the same time growing off your strengths -- obviously building upon the foundation that you come in with --- and taking the foundation and really applying it to a new future, to a new career. It is little unnerving doing something brand new, in a lot of different ways this will be for me. I feel prepared and I am excited, you know, always little butterflies in stomach that kind of stuff, but I do feel prepared to take that kind of step, and come June I will be an asset to the organization that gives me the opportunity to go with them.
Part 2
I really enjoy the fact that the professors at both the undergraduate and graduate level have always had that industry-related experience and it gives us good example that’s very applicable to what we are teaching. I have been in the work force for a while so I can relate to that, it has a lot of value. All of the professors have been very very open Brian finder, Elbert Sorrel, Brian Beamer, Gene Ruenger, they have all been open to new ideas and they have all been able to help me direct my passion towards a new topic, a new avenue and a new career I think they have all been very very helpful. I think I have enjoyed my time with Brian Finder, he is very positive he gets you pumped up and excited about what you are doing.
Mary Aderinto
My overall experience has been awesome -- it’s a very great experience talking about the UW-Stout community. They are a very nice community, they are loving, caring. I found out that whenever I need anything they are always there to support me -- like the Graduate School, always work together with the International Office and the Multicultural Office, finding things for me to need in the department and even the housing and residence life. Its awesome -- they have been nice to me and any time I need anything from my academics and my social experience they are always there to help me out.
In my department we have a lot of great mentors like my program director, Dr. Sorrell, is always there for us with our academic experience and my research experience. In the class they try to teach us the right thing and relate life experience with what is being taught in the class; like they give us advice on our research, like jobs and an internship. They tell us what to do and how we can apply it to the real world. My course is on safety, and safety is very important in the society today and in companies, so they are very concerned for us on how to be safe in everything we do, even in our personal lives and in our jobs. We have a lot of great mentors in our department like Dr. Finder and Dr. Beamer. They always work with us and make sure we do the right things.
During the weekends I kind of hang out with my friends and with some families, because I have some nice families at Stout that are ready to work with me and provide for some things that I need, so during weekends I kind of go out with friends to theaters sometimes to watch movies and sometimes we can go out to have some sporting events, some activities just to relax but most of the time am always around my department because we have a lot of things doing in the Risk Control department. So I also work with my classmates, we talk together its like one big family. So that’s what I do throughout all the whole semester. Sometimes I could visit with all other friends in the Stout community but the Stout community is a very nice community and they are always there to care for one whenever you need help.
I like to really comment on the Stout school the Graduate School in the University of Wisconsin-Stout because the way I came here was through the internet and I really appreciated the way they responded to me, the different staffs. I did not know anything about Menomonie, about Wisconsin. I did everything from Nigeria which was awesome to me and they were there, they did everything for me -- the dorm where I will stay, my department -- they were all running around and this shows that they work together as a team and this why I am here today.