Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Happy Sunday, y'all. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7, the capstone. And goodness gracious, we're in April.
[00:00:16] Speaker C: Can you believe it?
[00:00:17] Speaker B: No, I can't. And it's so strange because again, you know, April is that weird. Wild carm. Wild card month. Excuse me, with the weather. Are we going to have a tornado? We've had some coldness, you know, is it going to be hot as blazes? What is happening? So I don't really. I'm not very organized with my clothing anyways. Like, I hear people say, like, oh, I'm going to switch out my seasonal stuff and then put things up. It's just very haphazard in my closet. I feel like you're probably more organized and you do have a system. How do you cope during the month of April, Nika?
[00:00:52] Speaker C: Yeah, it's hard. I do switch out clothes for my kids. Yes.
Because their closets are smaller.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:01:01] Speaker C: So, you know, can't fit all seasons in there. But, you know, I had heard we were gonna have one more cold snap, so I, I kept a couple of sweatshirts out for them to wear. So this morning they, you know, wanted to default to the. The hot clothes. And I'm like, it's cold, guys. You're gonna have to reach back for a sweatshirt one more time. Hopefully we're already done after.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: I know.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: And then I already had a game plan for school picture day. So just as an acknowledgement, y'all, like, mine and Nika's kids, they conveniently all go to the same school. So, you know, picture day's coming up. So in my head I was like, oh, nice spring outfit. And I'm like, oh, I got a dress for a blizzard. Really? It's me being dramatic. They just need a fleece jacket for the morning.
[00:01:51] Speaker C: But still bright. I know, It's.
Come on, Alabama.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:01:57] Speaker C: @ least the mosquitoes are not out today for a hot minute.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: I know. Well, you know, and then there's the pollen. There's just lots of things. There's lots of battles to be fought during the month of April, whether it is work wise, in an academic environment, it's the actual weather outside, just all of the things. So I don't know, but.
[00:02:16] Speaker C: And it's tax month.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Oh, yes, it is.
[00:02:19] Speaker C: The financial health as well.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Oh, yes. You know, so just all of the things I think, you know, and also too, as it warms up in April, it does open the door for people to be more active outdoors. So we've got the physical wellness. You. You can get that sunshine that you need to really just kind of balance your circadian rhythm.
[00:02:38] Speaker C: And Cadbury eggs are on the shelf.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:41] Speaker C: You know, your protein. I'm just playing because they are just Cadbury eggs. I mean, you're a little happy, you know.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Yes. No, I mean, all of the festive candies. I really do enjoy that, too. You know, that's something appreciate about both of us is that we do have a love of candy. You know, we've had past guests that shall remain nameless, that we're not fans of candy or cheese. That still blew my mind.
[00:03:11] Speaker C: Cheese hurts my heart a little bit.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: But you know what? But it's okay, you know, we.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: Or for me. Yeah, or cheese for me.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Absolutely. So, okay, so it's April. Where. Where's your head space these days?
[00:03:24] Speaker C: Do I have a head?
[00:03:26] Speaker B: I don't know. You have been telling me. It's been.
[00:03:28] Speaker C: Sometimes I tell myself, you know, if I ever get to see the Wizard, I'm going to ask him for a brain because I can't ever find mine.
Yeah. My headspace right now is just. I'm excited about the warmer weather coming up. I can see, you know, summer just on the horizon, but there's still a lot of loose ends to be tied up.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:48] Speaker C: You know, with doing your taxes or switching out your clothes or school picture day. But, you know, in a university setting, we're still registering for classes.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:58] Speaker C: We are still, you know, getting ready for finals. So there's a lot. It's very busy right now. I think that is April, to me is kind of like December where there's lots of balls up in the air and you're trying not to drop any of them.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Yes. No. And that's actually a. I love the way you articulated that because that's a nice segue for the rest of our show today. You know, ua, traditionally, I feel like we have a fairly early spring break. And in a lot of ways, I think for both faculty, staff and students, it's like, oh, man, I can't believe it's here. This is great. But then afterwards, it's like, oh, dang, there's still work to be done.
[00:04:36] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:04:36] Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, the great thing about today's show is that we will have an additional faculty member on today, and we'll be talking about how do we support our health and well being for our students and UA community as a whole from a faculty perspective. But with that said, y'all we have got to take a quick break. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena And Nika on 90.7, the Capstone.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: WVUAFM, Tuscaloosa.
[00:05:11] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena And Neeka on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: That's right. And if you have just now joined us, then you got to avoid our commentary about the of April. Now, if you are curious about our. Our thoughts and feelings on that, then we definitely encourage you to rewind back and listen to that. But now we are in the meat and potatoes of today's show. We're very excited to have Dr. Demetrius Barksdale, faculty member in the department of psychology, who I have learned his students lovingly call him Dr. D. So, Dr. D, thank you so much for being on the show today and kind of share a little bit about yourself with us.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, Nika and Sheena, I really do appreciate you both for having me here. This space is awesome and this opportunity is awesome. So I'm really, really glad to be here with you all. So thank you for sharing this with me. So as mentioned, I am Dr. Demetrius Bark. So my students call me Dr. D for various reasons. But one of the reasons is I used to work for a psychologist. His name was Dr. D. My friends started calling me Dr. D. And that's how we. We got here. So I am originally from a very small town called Brewton, Alabama, which is about 45 minutes north of Pensacola, Florida. So I grew up on the beach and close. Nice shopping a lot in Pensacola. So that was always very fun for me and my upbringing, my academic background. So I did my undergrad in math education here at UA until I got into my junior year, second semester, and I ran into an identity crisis and really didn't really know what I wanted to do or how that was gonna look. And so I consulted with my advisors and other professors on campus. And then from my life, spiritually praying through kind of like who I am to be and what I'm supposed to give back to the community, I realized that I love education, but wellness health was really more so kind of my thing. And so that's how I got into psychology. And so I did my undergrad in psychology, graduated in 2012. My master's degree is in mental health counseling. So I am a counselor. I'm a clinician at heart. I love being able to walk life with people.
[00:07:17] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: And help them through their various crises or transitional moments in life. And then I got my doctorate degree last spring 2024. It's been a year.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: Congrats.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: It's been a year now. And I've loved the journey. And that's my doctorate degree is in higher education administration. And so my dissertation or my research focuses on how people develop holistically. So looking at the different aspects of wellness and development, financial, physical, social, spiritual, mental, emotional, is really what my world is in. So I'm really big on like self care and helping people get from point A to point B. I gotcha.
[00:07:57] Speaker C: Love it.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, you know, I know I mentioned that you are currently a faculty member in psychology. However, Dr. D, when we first started kind of collaborating professionally, you are not in within that department. Tell us about other professional roles you've had at UA.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: Yeah, so, Sheena, I've been at UA for 16 years now. So I did my first year after graduating high school from WSNIL High School in Bruton, Alabama. I transitioned to community college, Coastal Alabama school system, which is pretty cool because now I have a partnership with them with my business. So we'll talk. Hopefully we'll talk about that a little bit later. Kind of full circle moment. But I did my first year at Coastal Alabama. Then I transitioned to UA in 2009. And so 2009 was a really, really tough period for me.
Then when I came back in 2010, I decided to challenge myself on a greater level as far as like, wellness because I wasn't really experiencing a good time on campus at UA the first year when I transitioned here. And so I said, you know what? I'm going to lean into what my mom challenged me to do. My mom challenged me to lean into my resources at ua. So that's what I did. My the next year I came back to UA and I started off as an RA over at Bryant Hall. I was excited about being an ra and my friends were like, dude, you got selected to go to Bryant Hall. And I was like, what is Bryant Hall? And I later learned that that was athletic residence hall and engineering hall, which was an amazing experience and blessing for me. So I started off in housing. Then that's where I got really got my feet wet. I can attribute a lot of my success to my experiences within housing. Then I came back to the university and worked as senior admissions recruiter in the admissions department here at ua. So I used to help recruit students there. And I was over the group tours process where we had various groups come to campus. Then from there I became an academic advisor through early college. I did that for like two and a half Years, and I used to help out with their summer camps with Wendy and the team that's there. Then I went to the College of Business. I was there for two and a half years. I was the assistant director for personal and professional development, called the lead program. And so I was there for two and a half years and instituted a wellness initiative and model there for the college and seen a lot of success in that. And then shortly after that, here recently, I transitioned into my faculty role with the Department of Psychology, teaching developmental psychology seminar courses and introduction psychology. But this fall, I will be transitioning into a. A new director role in clinical assistant professorship over in the College of Education, my home college, where I got my master's and my doctorate degree. So I'm really, really excited about serving as a clinical assistant professor in the fall and the director of community and school partnerships. So that was a lot.
[00:11:03] Speaker C: But I love that because, you know, we have guests on this show that we try to reiterate to our students. Not everything is linear. You don't just wake up one day and go, I think this is what I want to do. For a lot of people, it saying yes to opportunities that you have no idea are going to be a blessing or stepping stone to something else. I love that you shared all that because that helps people understand that sometimes you might bounce around.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: Yes. No. And I mean, and I know we're going to get this into this further in the show, but even just your. Your candor with saying, like, hey, like my first time around at ua, like, it started off not, you know, sunshine and roses. And I think that that's important for students to hear that because I think sometimes when we are correlating our.
That means that, you know, we had to have had this, like, golden path set up for us. But, you know, I think really with what you've shared, there's a lot of resiliency there. And that's led to you having multiple footprints on campus.
[00:12:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: Which is really cool.
[00:12:01] Speaker C: You were not scared to stop, restart again?
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Yeah, most definitely. And when I started my doctorate journey, my doctoral journey, that was actually my life's mantra at the time, was do it scared.
You know, you don't have to have all the answers. And sometimes fear is a driver. It is.
Fear can be an incentive to, you know, for you to experience life better. Right. So you're motivated to, you know, not be fearful or whatever it may be. Right. And so I use that fear as a driving force that got me to where I am.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Oh, man, I hope you have that on a coffee mug somewhere. If not, I will, I'll make it and order it for you. But Dr. D, you know, you did mention being at UA and for as a student. So I'm curious, what led you to pursuing your college journey at ua?
[00:12:54] Speaker A: Yeah, so that's a great question, Sheena. So I am a first gen student through and through.
No one on my mom's side of the family, nor on my dad's side of the family went to college.
And so I knew at a very young age there was something different about me. I just didn't know exactly what it was. And when I was in middle school, I remember the late Carolyn Brown, who was a huge mentor in my life. She's my school counselor. She pulled me in her office one day and she said, demetrius, there's something different about you. And in my mind I was like, yeah, Ms. Brown, I know that. I don't know what it is. I didn't tell her that. And as I was sitting there tapping my hands on my legs, I didn't know what Ms. Brown was gonna say, but she gave me the answer to a lot of the cognitive dissonance and a lot of the friction I was feeling within myself. She said, you're a leader.
And I was like, wow, what does that mean? And so what she did was she encouraged me to get into the sga and from there I just began to lean into development. And that's what my life is all about, development now. And I knew that college was the next developmental step for me, but it was also very challenging because no one in my family had ever done it before. And so really just wanting to pursue my develop my ideal self was a part of it. But also for me, I am here today because of. I believe it's a calling. I really do believe that my faith in Jesus has placed me here and has led me on this path because I was originally wanted to go to Auburn University and didn't get in.
[00:14:37] Speaker C: Didn't get in.
That is just my protection.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: I was just like.
[00:14:43] Speaker C: We do, but roll tide, Roll tide.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: Roll tide. And so when I had faced that early on adversity of not getting into Auburn, originally I went to junior college and my mom was like, hey, let's see what this year holds. And I went to junior college for a year. I thrived at such a high level in junior college and it was in that developmental explorative phase of my life where I felt like I had been denied opportunity. I actually, that denial was actually eye opening, redirection, redirection. And that's when I realized, like, you know, my dreams and aspirations and learned a lot about myself. And then that's when my mom was like, apply for the University of Alabama. I was like, mom, first of all, I'm not an Alabama fan. I wasn't at that time. But I told her, I said, if I didn't get into Auburn, what makes you think I'm gonna get into Alabama? And so she's like, just continue in faith and let's see what happens. And here I am. I've been here since 2009, so that's how I got here.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. Well, I mean, with that said, y'all, we have to take a break. But, like, we just. Yeah, we gotta breathe for a second and process that because I, you know, again, really just you initially sharing your journey has been incredibly help to us as co hosts, and I know for our listeners. But, y'all, we gotta take a quick break, get hydrated. Go get yourself a drink of water. We will be back in just a moment. You are listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheena and N on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: WVUA FM, Tuscaloosa.
[00:16:26] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the Capstone. And we are joined today with my Dr. Demetrius Barksdale, who is a faculty member in UA's Department of Psychology.
And Dr. D sounds like a really sick DJ name.
We're doing the throwback lunch hour with Dr. D on the ones and twos.
But all kidding aside, how was life like for you as an undergraduate student? I know you told us in the segment prior that it was not, you know, sunshine and rainbows, your first go round, but you hit pause, you recollected, you started again, and then once you found, you know, your footing, how was that for you?
[00:17:18] Speaker A: Undergrad experience for me was two things. It was revolutionary and evolutionary. And the reason I say those two things is because I grew up in a small town, small community, high school, went to a small junior college before I transitioned to the university.
I was honestly a big fish in a small pond. I was very well connected.
I finished within the top percentages of my graduating class, class president, community club president, went to junior college, excelled on that level, that type of thing. And I came to UA first year, and I just felt like another number right is really what it. What it felt like. And I find it very interesting because I was sharing with Sheena earlier today that I got a Facebook reminder that it was like what, 15, 14, 15 years ago, it was me crossing the bridge to come over to your studio today. And I stopped and took another picture. And I was like, what a full circle moment of me coming back to the same. Because I lived in Riverside my first year here on campus, so. But it was my first year where I now, I now know that I experienced major depression my first year. So my routine as an undergrad first year looked like going to class, eating at the student center. And this is when Fresh Foods was inside of the student center on second floor. My students always get a kick out of that.
But then going back to my dorm room, crying, trying to figure out who I am, what's my purpose, what's my calling. At that time, I was majoring in math, failing all of my math classes, withdrawing from math classes, not knowing what to do. And I remember that first year, I had one friend, her name is Brittany Bradley. She's a counselor now, actually, in Birmingham. She used to text me.
Kidding. No lie. Every single day saying, hey, Dee, come hang out with us. Hey, Dee, come to Bible study. All these different things. And I intentionally. Sorry. Brittany ignored her for a year. And I kid you not, the last day of classes in 2010, I believe she text me and said, hey, we're going to meet together for a Bible study. Please come. And for whatever reason that day I decided to go and my life changed forever. And so I. So that played into who I am today and why I got involved in, which is why I'm really big on psychology and emotional development and mental development and then holistic development in general, because there are so many resources that UA offers that oftentimes our students, they don't know are here or if they are aware of it, there's some type of barrier or conflict or whatever it may be. And that's what I love about this type of show, is because you're talking to faculty and staff at the University of Alabama, they're sharing their experiences and hopefully it normal. Normalizes students and their experiences so they know that, hey, Dr. D or Sheena or Nico went through this. We are experiencing this. There's hope for us too.
[00:20:28] Speaker C: Right? And I love that because I was going to ask you, the next question was if you could go back to your younger self.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:33] Speaker C: What would you want them to know?
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, that's a good one.
[00:20:38] Speaker C: So you see yourself walking on campus right now. You identify somebody. You're like, that was me.
[00:20:45] Speaker A: I would say it's okay.
It's okay that you may be frustrated right now. It's okay that you may be sad right now. It may be okay that you just walked out of a from taking an exam and you. You bombed the test, right? I tell students all the time. I came to UA with a 4.0 GPA for my bachelor's degree. I didn't graduate with a 4.0. I graduated with a 2.9, but that didn't stop me. I came back, got a master's, and now have a doctorate degree.
[00:21:22] Speaker C: Right.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: So it's okay.
[00:21:24] Speaker C: It's okay.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: It's okay for you to have those hurdles and those hiccups. And that's why I got into the space that I'm in now. Because now my life's motto and mantra is this is that life is all about how do you respond to yourself and others when life happens?
[00:21:42] Speaker C: Right.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: Right. So what resources are available to you to help you respond to yourself and to others or to life when life happens? Because one thing we know this is if your house is built on sand, if it's built on gravel, if it's bent, built on. Built on cement, whatever foundation is built on, everyone's house is going to experience some type of storm. So what resources are you using to build to shelter you from the storm when the storm does happen? Because we can't stop, we oftentimes like to live life in this euphoric place of, I don't ever want it to rain or storm. But I once heard a leader say, seed only matters to the person who has seed in the ground. So rain is discouraging for people who don't have anything planted.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: Man, what a mic drop moment. No, I appreciate you sharing that because I think that that's a really nice sound bite for our listeners. And again, you know, what you've talked about in your journey, you know, I think students could probably see themselves as who you were during that experience. And also for our students or our listeners in general who may identify with the Britney that you just mentioned, like, hey, you know, I've been reaching out to a friend. I continue to be diligent with that. You know, I may have radio silence on the end. Just know that that still is going to be a fruitful outreach, you know, whether, you know, they get to, you know, see what that looks like or not. So, again, I think, you know, with what you've just shared there, you know, that I think that that is so helpful for our listeners. And, you know, when we think about really leaning into the resources on campus, I feel like that is something that's been a recurring Theme with what you've.
How would you suggest students go about finding mentors, whether it's upperclassmen, faculty, or staff, to help them thrive and build resilience like you have?
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the first step to finding a mentor is to realize that you need a mentor, that you need some type of big brother or big sister or a partner or faculty or staff member.
I think it just starts with that realization, and I want to be clear here, that for you to seek out mentorship or help doesn't necessarily mean that you need to hit rock bottom. Because there were plenty of moments within that first year where I knew that I needed to go seek help. But for me, it took me hitting flat on my face for me to just realize it was pride. For myself, it was just really pride is what it was. And pride very blinding in me pursuing help. But I think it just starts with realizing you need a mentor, you need help. And then the other thing with that is if you know you need help, Some people are afraid to say that they need help.
So it has a lot to do with, like, comparison or perception of other people. Right. And I often tell my students that you may need help, but part of your fear from getting help is what you think other people are going to think about you. And I tell them all the time. It's called, in psychology, it's called the imaginary audience. Right? So the imaginary audience is an example of where you think people are always thinking about you or noticing you. So another example is like, you go to the gym, right? You're walking in the gym. You're like, everybody's looking at me in the gym. But the truth of the matter is everyone else in the gym is thinking. Everyone else is looking at them.
So a chance is people are not even really necessarily watching you or noticing you, Right. Unless you do something to draw their attention. So the point with that is this, is that everyone at some point in life is going to need help.
That's just a human thing. And so if we can get over that, then we were able to lean into our resources. And from there, what I did was I just started with talking to my friends and just asking around. Now you can just do general Google searches. And one thing I love about UA is there's so many resources. But I like for students to know that resources at the core, resources. Resources are people.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:26:04] Speaker A: So behind the counseling center, there are counselors, there are tangible people. Right. It's not just materials and information. These are actually human beings who can empathize with you and help you navigate your challenges in life. So I like for them to know that, like, hey, you're not just walking into a world where there's a bunch of literature and text and information. There's someone who has a listening ear. Right. And so that's usually why I tell students, just start off realizing that it's okay that you need help. What is not okay is you recognizing that you need help and you never do anything about it.
[00:26:40] Speaker C: Right. And I, like, you said something while ago about it made me think, like, they don't. You don't have to have it all figured out right now.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:26:50] Speaker C: Just take that first step, go to somebody and go, I need your help. I don't even know where. I love that. You know, as an advisor, they're like, I don't. I know that I don't know, but I don't know what I don't know. I'm hoping you can tell me what I don't know.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:27:02] Speaker C: They're just. That first step of just asking, can I get some help on this? Don't be scared to do it.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, man. No, I just. The, like, the fact that you are reinforcing, like, if there are, like, actual humans out there, you know, as crazy as it sounds to have to, like, explicitly say that in this world of technology and apps. And while I do love the support that it can provide people, to know that there are actual humans that can empathize and support and provide those resources that are needed. I mean, just so incredible. But y'all, like, we keep having to take a dagum break. We have such good conversation, but we gotta take a break. But trust that we are going to revisit this conversation with Dr. D. But for now, you have been listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheena and N on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: WVUAFM Tuscaloosa.
[00:28:03] Speaker C: Happy Sunday, listeners. You are listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7, the capstone. And we are joined today with Dr. Demetrius Barksdale, who is a faculty member in the Department of psychology at UA. And I'm loving that it's Dr. D to his students. Like, I just love it. But tell me, Dr. D, as you were dissertating to become a doctor, tell me about your dissertation and how that has shaped you and the lens in which you work with students today.
[00:28:36] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you, Nigel, for that question. So when I started my doctoral program, one of the first things that they talk about is your dissertation. That's the culminating moment that's your research, that's your brand, that's your baby. That's who you are. And so I could not think about all the other students or not just students, because my research and work is foundational to students and their development, but community health and development to from a holistic wellness lens. And so every class session I sat in and as I was reading literature and thinking about different topics, I could not help but remember my own experiences. And so my research is titled Leading well. And so Leading well is all about people learning how to lead themselves well through wellness resources. And so what I did was I talked to Dr. Perez and so we talked about the Alabama model and I talked about the resources that are held here for students on campus.
And I know the Alabama model really was instituted and started in 2017, but prior to that, from 2009 all the way up until that point, I was an undergrad in my master's program here at ua. I just really went and cherry picked a lot of different resources. Counseling, student rec center.
Sheena was actually a dietitian for me at one point. Like a lot of different things that I just leaned into throughout my journey.
And I look back and I'm like, man, like it would been so awesome if something like the Alabama model would have existed Even back in 2009, right on the level in which it is now. And I was like, let me just look at the resources the University of Alabama offers to our students and how their self efficacy, their knowledge of that builds their confidence to be able to self care. And so that's what my research was in, is looking at the resources that were offered at the University of Alabama, primarily resources that are offered within the College of business, working with business students at that time, looking at the impact of those resources on their ability to self care, take care of themselves while they're in college. And so that's where it really started, was just looking at data that was already collected in secondary analysis. And so that's where. And we found out that students, and I know you all are in the same vein of work with health and wellness as I am, but we found that the resources that students were leaning into their self care was positively impacted because they were gaining confidence and knowledge on not only what self care was and what the resources were, but how to implement those.
[00:31:34] Speaker C: Yeah. Take action.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: Take action.
[00:31:36] Speaker B: Well, you know, I think so with my next question, I'm going to preface this for any of our listeners who are faculty who are thinking like, man, this guy is really passionate. Like, I don't Know if I have like the same bandwidth like in my life or schedule or like mental capacity to support students in the way that he currently is. But what would you think are some practical ways that faculty can be more intentional and really help support the holistic well being of their students? And again, you know, not through this lens of like, oh, here's one more, you know, big ask we have of you because you know, our faculty, you know, both of you are so.
There's just so, so many expectations. And so then it's like, oh man, and I gotta make sure that my students are okay. So what would be some practical ways? And I'll, you know, let both of you guys chime in with that in terms like, what are some like, low hanging fruit opportunities where faculty can be intentional with their students?
[00:32:35] Speaker A: When I got into the space of higher education, I just stumbled into this space.
The one thing that I always remind myself of is my former self.
You never know what a person is dealing with. And I never want to be at a point in my career where I'm too busy or I'm too high in a level of leadership or position to where I forget people.
People are our greatest currency commodity here on earth. And I never want to. So every day I come to work, it's for my students. Because the truth of the matter is, if they were not here on campus, I'm not sure the institution would exist. Right. Because we're here to help them reach their own personal goals as well as to give back to society nationally, locally, globally and so forth. So practically, what I do every day, even when I am not in the best mood, I literally, I sit in my car and I get myself together because I know someone's daughter, someone's son is in that classroom 200, 300, a thousand miles away from their parents. And their parents are entrusting us to take care of them and help them develop. And they're paying for this. So every day, practically, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do my best for them. And so that's literally where it starts for me. Yeah, they're not an inconvenience.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nika, how about for you? You know, I know you've been a faculty member for a while and have, have also had a journey of, you know, serving students in different colleges and in different capacities. What is the most practical for you in, in your season of life too?
[00:34:21] Speaker C: Yeah, so I'm thinking about my advisor role. Like when I sit down, a lot of people think unless they've had an Advisor before they'll think, oh, you just tell me what classes to take, what day and times they are, what section numbers they are, sign off on it by. And for me it's, it's almost life coaching.
[00:34:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:41] Speaker C: A lot of them, you know, what do you want to do in life? What do you feel called today? What do you love and enjoying or passionate about? And then we, I try from a holistic point of view, I'll always ask the question, like, do you really want to take this class during football season?
And it's like, oh yeah. Because I'm thinking that's full of a lot of opportunities. We've got Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, Halloween, football games. Like it's a lot of life to be lived in the fall for the social aspect. And I'm thinking, I always say I want to pretend protect your gpa, but I want to protect your mental health.
I do understand that you want to continue going on because you can't afford an extra semester because then that's now going to impact your financial health. And so there's a lot of moving pieces. But when I, to me, I see being able to, to do the holistic approach more as an advisor. Now. Faculty, yes, but faculty a lot of times, unless they come to you during office hours, you just see them in the classroom. How's everybody doing?
[00:35:40] Speaker A: Good.
[00:35:41] Speaker C: And you may not know anything because they don't want to share, but advisor role, you're just one on one and they'll open up to you.
[00:35:49] Speaker B: So yeah, no, I appreciate both of your perspectives because you know, again, I think that speaks to the different types of interactions that y'all are having with students for sure. And then, you know, with my role primarily being within like programming and student life, you know, my interactions with them are, are, are different. Also meaningful, but, but different as well. So I, I love that we have these varying perspectives and as interact with students. But Dr. D, you're probably going to notice me jumping around in questions. I do want to ask you. Where would you like to see yourself 10 years from now?
[00:36:26] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:36:27] Speaker B: And it could be like, what is, what does that look like for you, like right now, if you were to project 10 years? Because you know, if I see you in 10 years, it could be completely different.
[00:36:36] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. In the space, in the world. I mean, I'm always asking people this question, but then when I'm asked 10 years from now, I would say.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: At.
[00:36:48] Speaker A: The very core of me, I'm an educator.
So I would love to always in some capacity have my hand in higher education, but more so community education.
[00:37:00] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:37:01] Speaker A: Because that's really where my original dissertation idea started, was wanting to look at how higher education institutions impact the holistic health and development of community members. But that was a large pill to swallow. So I was like, let me do something a little more specific. So I'll always be an educator, a developer, a listening ear, a counselor, whatever it may be. But I want to be able to do it on a larger scale beyond just colleges and universities, but within the community. And that's not only just my local community, but global communities, which is why I've leaned into opportunities with like study abroad here on campus and those type of things.
[00:37:41] Speaker B: That's amazing. I, I know we've got to take a quick break and actually, y'all, we're going to take that break now because I feel like we could go in a lot of really great places with our next questions. But y'all, we've got one more segment. I think Dr. D is willing to stay on with us a little bit longer. But for now we're going to take a quick break. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:38:07] Speaker A: WVUAFM Tuscaloosa.
[00:38:16] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. Thank you so much for joining us on fit to be tied with Sheena and Nneka on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:38:23] Speaker B: Yes, if you are just now joining us. Oh my lanta, you need to go back and listen to this fantastic show that we've had with Dr. Demetrius Barksdale, faculty member in the department of psychology here at ua. He has been throwing down the truth bombs, the life lessons, all of the things. And we have had such a wonderful time. And you know, in this last five minutes, I did want to ask you, Dr. D, you know, you mentioned this earlier at the beginning of the show, actually having some work outside of the university. I think you mentioned it was a business. What, what is that exactly?
[00:39:00] Speaker A: Yeah. So I have a wellness holistic wellness leadership and development nonprofit. It's called Leading well.
And so it is the foundation of Leading well is it's a Christian faith based nonprofit organization where we look at loving your neighbor as yourself. And I often found that people tend to try to give out what they don't have.
And a lot of people try to fill themselves up by giving things out. And so I just really, just from my own spiritual journey, I realized like, man, like I have really just been trying to pour into other people in areas and places that I didn't really have anything to pour. And so that's when I began to look at the dichotomy, dichotomous relationship between loving other people and also loving yourself. Right. And so that's where leading well really comes from, is like being able to be a brother, be a friend, be a husband, be a business person, be all these different things that you are to people, but at your best capacity. And so what we do is every summer and on weekends and then on holidays, we have different events, seminars.
Every year we have a conference. This is our third year conference. We have a partnership. Going back to what I mentioned earlier when I went to coastal Alabama, when I was thinking about when I got my doctorate degree, what can we do during the summer, during the months that I'm off work as a faculty, I was like, what can we do and where can we do it? And rightfully so. Brewton, Alabama, my hometown, came up to mind and heart. And coastal Alabama, where I went to school there, they entered a partnership with us to where we're able to go back every summer and offer a free conference to people in the community. So it's free. They come and we talk about different wellness topics, and we have different people within the community and around lower Alabama who come and just talk about their different specific areas of interest within wellness. And so that's what we do. And we have a leadership cohort where we do small group with people in the community, where people just come together and just do life together. But it's really based on learning to lead yourself. Well, lead yourself in love. But being able to pour in yourself first before you can actually pour into.
[00:41:18] Speaker C: Other people, man, it's not selfish.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Not selfish.
[00:41:22] Speaker C: It is. I always tell people that it's the oxygen mask. It is on the airplane, you have to get some oxygen in your lungs before you can turn to the person next to you and help them.
[00:41:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Like, are we serving from the overflow? Are we serving out of fumes? You know, and. And I. Again, I think that's so relevant for our listeners where we're in this culture of go, go, go. But then. And Dr. D. I think I mentioned this in one of the classes that I spoke at for your students that, you know, you can, like, be involved in all these things, and then there's that one opportunity that you actually, like, are really interested in that you signed up for, but then because your schedule is so busy, you're starting to resent even that one fun thing that you signed up for.
It. It's so crazy. And so, you know, the fact that you' shared your wisdom today with our students. I know Nika and I are so grateful, and I foresee you being on our show again in the future.
[00:42:20] Speaker C: Oh, yes.
[00:42:21] Speaker A: I would love it. Yeah. This has been amazing. This has actually opened my eyes to a lot of different things. And I'm so grateful for you all and so blessed to be here with you because you all are having an impact and a reach beyond what you could think. And so I just hope and pray that you keep it up because this is needed. Our students need to hear your voices. And so I think this is such an appointed time. So thank you.
[00:42:42] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you so much. You were a blessing to us today and hopefully to all of our listeners out there.
[00:42:48] Speaker B: Absolutely. And with that said, y'all, we hope that you have the most fabulous week. It has been a pleasure and a joy. And you all have been listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone. And we will catch you next week.
[00:43:08] Speaker A: WVUAFM, Tuscaloosa.
