The Importance of Goals

My name is Tyler Shore! I am a second year in a two-year program called the Scholars with Diverse Abilities Program (SDAP). My favorite thing that I like to do in SDAP is work on goals. The goals that I work on in SDAP have four categories. The categories are social, career, academic, and personal.

Personal Goals: The personal goal that I have currently is how to track when I am stressed. Other personal goals I have had in the past were doing yoga poses; riding the AppalCART, which is a free bus system that runs throughout Boone, by myself; forming healthy habits (e.g., drinking water); being flexible when there are changes in my schedule; and creating a budget/spending plan for shopping.

Social Goals: The social goal that I have currently is getting to know more people. Other social goals I have had in the past were being with Best Buddies, engaging in clubs (e.g., App Chorale), hanging out with people that were in clubs with me as well as other people (e.g., my peer support group for my Beyond Normal class with Rebekah Cummings that I took my first year in SDAP). I have also gone to Awesome Squad, talked with friends through FaceTime, and researched the radio station club.

Career Goals: The career goal that I have currently is studying libraries. Other career goals that I have had in the past were being a radio DJ, training at different jobs at the library, being a librarian, and working on library stuff from home (e.g., looking for dead links on the library’s website).

Academic Goals: The academic goal that I currently have is researching libraries. Other academic goals that I have had in the past were researching music, learning about autism (my disability), working in the workbook Autism: What Does It Mean to Me? by Catherine Faherty, thinking of specific music and drama classes I would like to take, being a strong student and completing assignments, and doing an assignment called “Common Reading Homework.”

Common Reading Book: The common reading book I read was called Just Mercy. It is about court cases (e.g., the Walter McMillian case). That assignment was for my Beyond Normal class. I also had to attend a talk from the author of that book at the Appalachian State University Convocation Center (where my high school graduation was and where my college graduation will be). His name is Bryan Stevenson. My favorite part of the book was when Walter McMillian went to Montgomery, Alabama.

Work/Internship Goals: The work/internship goals and skills that I have at Belk Library are collecting, strengthening, and picking up library materials, arranging library materials on book carts or in reshelving areas, responding to requests (customer service), putting books and DVDs in the right order, learning how to take direction from my supervisor Kyle McFarland, communication, independent navigation, using the Library of Congress classification system (nothing comes before something), and filling out my timesheet. “Nothing comes before something” is a saying that helps remind me how to place library books in the correct order. The work/internship goals and skills that I have in Literacy-Cast (online in Zoom and also an internship where people read books and are teachers in the program) are working with reading clinic assistants (e.g., Devery Ward or Beth Frye) to plan and prepare for Literacy-Cast sessions with K–12 students, reading to the K–12 students, sharing stories from my life experiences during Literacy-Cast, communicating with others, planning with partners, reading, advocating, and leadership. The work/internship goals that I have at WASU (radio station at Appalachian State University, also called the Beasley Media Complex) are following directions for what is given during my hour at WASU, communicating with WASU staff, using hand sanitizer to clean my hands before touching the equipment, cleaning the equipment after using it, bringing and using headphones, bringing and using a windscreen, communicating with others, and radio station operations. I also did an internship at Beans 2 Brew (a coffee shop on App State’s campus) the first half of spring 2020. My goals and skills for that job were telling customers to donate purchases through SDAP, making it to scheduled shifts on time, preparing and serving orders to customers, performing multiple tasks at the same time, communicating clearly, and adhering to proper food-handling techniques. My favorite job to work at is Belk Library because I like to shelve books. Internships are important because they help you to prepare for getting a real job later in life.

Supports I Have Had: I worked on WASU stuff with my support for my Mass Communication class. I have had three person-centered planning (PCP) advisers as of now. PCP advisers are also called graduate assistants. I did the PCP meetings in person at the College of Education building and online in Zoom. I have also had other supports for different classes. They are called in-class supports. I also have college life fellows helping me in the dorms. I also had three supports who went to Washington, D.C., with me and my SDAP friends. These supports helped me with homework and classwork for different classes that they supported me in. Supports are helpful because they can show you where classes take place and help you do a good job in classes.

Classes That Are Helping Me with My Goals: College and Beyond class helps me with my personal, social, career, and academic goals. Career and Practical Living helps me with my work/internship goals. I have also taken classes that have helped me with my communication goals. A couple of them are Public Speaking and Mass Communication.

Coffee Talk: The building that Coffee Talk was in was also the College of Education building. I also did Coffee Talk when I was in fifth and sixth grade at Hardin Park School and freshman through senior years at Watauga High School. Coffee Talk is an event that happens once a month on Fridays. We get to make breakfast items like cheesy eggs and hash brown casserole. My favorite thing about Coffee Talk is serving people their food.

My D.C. Trip with SDAP: I went to D.C. with SDAP last year. The Multicultural Department led the trip. The leaders were Kendall Rankin and Jerisha Farrer. I toured different museums like the Mexican Cultural Institute, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the American History Museum. I also got to spend time with my aunt JoEllen Carpenter and my uncle Mike Carpenter while I was there. I got to stay in a hotel called Courtyard by Marriott. My roommates in the hotel were two guys named Redeate Sisay and Sequan Patterson. I mostly learned about historic people like Adolf Hitler. This trip was important because we also got to learn about different cultures.

Awesome Squad: Awesome Squad was an event where people met twice a month on Fridays. It was at the Wesley Foundation. We would mostly watch movies, have snacks, and play cornhole during those events.

My SDAP Friends: I have a lot of friends that are in SDAP with me. Their names are Makayla Adkins, Taylor Ruppe, Micah Gray, Grace Carroll, and Bri Silva. When I first started SDAP, there was Emma Miller, Clay Medlock, Allen Thomas, Elizabeth Droessler, Daniel Rudasill, and Keiron Dyck.

I am so excited for my future after SDAP moving forward. SDAP has really helped me with getting through college life and life after college. I hope to live in an apartment in Boone, North Carolina, and work at the Watauga County Public Library in the future. My favorite things that I did at that library when I was a volunteer there were shelving DVDs and cleaning books. The apartment I hope to live in is through a nonprofit called LIFE Village. It is where adults with disabilities live. I also hope to do more radio DJ stuff as a hobby.