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“ Our big things we look for interview day is students or potential students want - ing their lives to look different than how they look right now .” — DR . EMILY TUCKER
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“ Our big things we look for interview day is students or potential students want - ing their lives to look different than how they look right now .” — DR . EMILY TUCKER
“ Our big things we look for interview day is students or potential students wanting their lives to look different than how they look right now ,” Tucker said . “ I don ’ t want families and students to pay for college and move right back to where they are . When we do interviews , we ask , ‘ How does your life look right now and what would you like for it to look like ? And can we support you , in being a steppingstone to that or helping you gain the skills you need ?’”
One way OOS supports their students is through residential , academic , and engagement undergraduate partners , Gallus said . Partners work with each student to determine their goals and areas they may need help in , she added .
“ We want it to be individualized to each student and what those supports look like ,” Tucker said , “ For some of our students , that means their family members or their supporters from home play a bigger day-to-day role and for some of our students , they utilize our undergraduate partners more heavily .”
Aside from support from OOS faculty , university administrators and faculty have played a large role in getting this program to where it is now .
“ I ’ ve been a professor at OSU for 15 years and it was in the last year and a half watching my cowboy family come together for this program , to make it happen and to do it the right way that made me feel a lot prouder of being a cowboy than ever before ,” Gallus said .
Each university office and official who work with Gallus and the OOS faculty , display immense excitement and support for this program .
“ I have yet to go to a meeting where someone doesn ’ t want to help grow or support this program ,” Tucker said . “ Even people who may have never interacted with someone with intellectual disability before want to understand how they can best support our students .”
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OPPORTUNITY ORANGE SCHOLARS visit their website at https :// education . okstate . edu / departments-programs / human-development-family-science / opportunity-orange-scholars /

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COMMERCE | 2023 Profile Magazine of the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce