Episode #2: Social Class Issues for Rural Students Artwork

The Rural College Student Experience

The Rural College Student Experience is the only podcast dedicated exclusively to centering rural college student voices in broader conversations about higher education access and equity. Hosted by Dr. Matt Newlin (www.mattnewlin.com), each episode will feature a co-host who is a currently enrolled student from a rural community. Co-hosts will share their perspectives on higher education and the needs of students from rural backgrounds. Each episode will also feature a guest who will bring additional insight and perspectives to the rural college student experience. Guests are researchers, scholars, practitioners, or counselors whose work focuses primarily on rural students in college. Follow RCSE on Twitter at @rcsepod. The Rural College Student Experience is presented in partnership with Believe in Students (www.believeinstudents.org). Believe in Students is the nation’s only non-profit organization focused exclusively on helping college students to meet their basic needs.

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The Rural College Student Experience

Episode #2: Social Class Issues for Rural Students

September 29, 2021 • Matt Newlin • Season 1 • Episode 2

The Rural College Student Experience is back! In Episode 2, host Dr. Matt Newlin is joined by co-host Clayton Land to discuss social class issues for rural students in college. Clayton is a senior at Yale University pursuing a double major in Global Affairs and History. Clayton is from a small town in central Kentucky called Lawrenceburg and is one of the first people from his community to attend an Ivy League institution. Being from a small town has shaped much of his involvement on campus and career aspirations which includes rural international development in Latin America.

In the second part of the episode, Clayton and Matt are joined by Dr. Sonja Ardoin, an associate professor and the Student Affairs Administration program director at Appalachian State University. Among her many research interests, Sonja studies social class identity and college access and success for rural and first-generation college students. Sonja discusses her roots as a first-generation college student from a working class background in rural Louisiana and how it informed her college student to Ph.D. journey. MORE

The Rural College Student Experience is proud to partner with Believe in Students to recognize and uplift rural student voices. Believe in Students is dedicated to ensuring that all students have their basic needs met so that they can learn and thrive. They also engage individuals in telling their stories and advocating for change, so that higher education can better serve today’s real college students.