My First Year Story

S1E7. Dr. Thomas Long

"Faculty should always be willing to challenge students but also not...overwhelm them," says Dr. Thomas Long, Professor in Residence for the UConn School of Nursing and Director of the Nursing Learning Community. With our host Tomaso, Dr. Long transports us back to his early years of college as he reminisces about difficulty in finding a parking space while Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” played on the radio. He also talks about how one of his own professors “shaped the trajectory of [his] thinking and teaching for the last 50 years.” Throughout the conversation, Tomaso and Dr. Long discuss the importance of connections while acknowledging the difficulties both faculty and students are experiencing in forming those connections in today's reality of so much remote working, learning, and teaching. Tune in and learn more about how “students and faculty are much more alike than they are dissimilar” and how faculty-student dynamics greatly impact student success.

S1E6. Damani Douglas

Join Tomaso as he sits down with Damani Douglas, the first Chief Diversity Officer in UConn’s Undergraduate Student Government history, to talk about his journey and involvement in student government. In this episode, Damani explains his beginnings as a member of the ScHOLA²RS Learning Community that inspired him to explore different leadership roles. Throughout the discussion, Damani reaffirms the “cliché that there really is a club or organization at UConn for everyone”, no matter what their passion is. The conversation then shifts to the importance of the new Chief Diversity Officer position in USG and how it came to fruition. Listen to learn more about satisfying your need for involvement in important dialogue and activism while on campus and beyond.

S1E5. Professor Jamelia Morgan

This episode features Associate Professor of Law at UConn, Jamelia Morgan. Through her education at Stanford University and Yale Law School, Professor Morgan gained expertise in criminal law, critical race theory, equality law, disability law and policy, prison law and policy, and policing. Professor Morgan talks about how she supported creating the 'U.S. Anti-Black Racism Course' at UConn alongside other faculty because of student demand for the course. Although she began her career as a paralegal, teaching was important for her to explore because she believes education is the key to changing structural racism which still exists today.  Our host Tomaso echoes how important it is to have conversations like theirs in university settings.

S1E4. David Ouimette

In this episode, Tomaso sits down with the Executive Director of UConn's Office of First Year Programs and Learning Communities, David Ouimette. David shares his own experiences as a first-year student at Gettysburg College, and as the conversation continues, listeners will hear about how David's strong passion for “student success from the start” helped to pave the way for the development of UConn's First Year Experience Program, Learning Communities, the Academic Achievement Center, and the LCIZ Makerspace. Under David’s leadership, these innovative initiatives strive to provide holistic guidance, opportunities, and resources to enable students to actively engage and thrive at UConn.

S1E3. Allison Determan

On this episode, we sit down with published author, vlogger, and first-year UConn student Allison Determan. Tomaso talks with Allison about her book, "Goat on the Lam," and how the (soon to be famous) novel came to be. Tomaso and Allison also discuss how their shared first semester at UConn has differed from past years, how the past has an important impact on the future, and how learning experiences can inform future success, in whatever form it takes for each person. This episode calls to all students looking for motivation to blaze a new path during their first year of college and beyond.

S1E2. Destiny Cruz

In this episode, Tomaso sits down with UConn senior Destiny Cruz, an Allied Health Sciences major with a minor in Psychology. Through their discussion, we learn more about Destiny's first-year experience as a FirstGen student, and how her personal experiences informed her peer mentoring philosophy in her roles as an FYE mentor and Academic Achievement Center coach. This episode offers great perspective and insight about UConn's culture of support for every student.

S1E1. UConn President, Thomas Katsouleas

On this inaugural episode of My First Year Story, the 16th president of the University of Connecticut, Thomas C. Katsouleas, walks our listeners through his first year as a student at UCLA “way back in the day”. Tomaso and President Katsouleas bond over their shared love for the “small things” at UConn and delve into the close-knit, unique community that is UConn Nation.

Introducing- My First Year Story

My First Year Story will follow the journey of Tomaso Scotti, a first-year student at UConn and the host of this podcast, as he has insightful conversations with members of UConn Nation about their first years of college.  Witty and engaging, this podcast will provide a snapshot of what it is like to be a first-year student at UConn and how we are connected by the shared experience of going to college, learning, growing, and making mistakes along the way.