The Honor Roll: CEHS alumni speak about career success
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Media Contact: Christy Lang | Director, Marketing and Communications | 405-744-9740 | christy.lang@okstate.edu
Licensed professional counselor. AP world history teacher and coach. University professor. Architecture, engineering and construction firm project manager. Entrepreneur.
College of Education and Human Sciences alumni are thriving in a broad range of roles. Read directly from a few graduates about how their education prepared them for their current professional roles and what they loved most about their time at Oklahoma State University.
Albertaeve “Aeve” Abington-Pitre
Education - M.S. in Literacy, 1999 and Ed.D. in Curriculum and Leadership
Current Position: Associate professor of education and director of the University
of Louisiana Reading Institute
“My master's in literacy is my teaching focus on campus and my doctorate in curriculum and leadership has provided me with the tools to lead and assist preservice and veteran educators, preparing them for the field in which they will be teaching. The course where we assessed and tutored children in the community is exactly what we do at UL Reading Institute every semester. I match child-tutor and supervise their remediation.”
Elizabeth Allenbaugh
Aerospace administration and operations - B.S. 2009
Current Positions: Co-Owner and chief operating officer, Pusher Intakes Inc.
VP of Marketing Groom Aviation
“It was always my plan to be in the aviation industry, so my degree in aerospace administration and operations was a no-brainer, and it has served me well. I also earned my Private Pilot’s License and Instrument rating through the flight school. It was never my plan to also be an entrepreneur and own a business — but that's where the (general education) classes have really paid off; they've been an excellent foundation for both my aviation and entrepreneurship careers.”
Elizabeth Bert
Public health - B.S. 2022
Current Position: OSU Center for Rural Health program manager
"OSU helped me to discover my passion for working with rural and underserved communities and promoting health education through the undergraduate Public Health program. Rural and underserved communities face unique challenges, especially when access to health care resources may be limited. Each of my professors offered insight into the challenges that public health works to address and how to best serve these communities using a systems thinking approach. My career at the OSU Center for Rural Health focuses on addressing the projected primary care provider shortage within Oklahoma by 2025 by supporting medical student education and training activities. My education at OSU will always be highly valuable to me because it helped me turn my passion for working with rural and underserved communities into a reality!"
William Jones
Secondary education, social studies - B.S. 2005
Current Position: AP world history teacher and varsity assistant baseball coach, Stillwater
High School
“I left OSU well informed about the job expectations for a secondary social studies teacher, from working with students to working with administration and working with and learning from fellow teachers. I knew the challenges I'd face, and I was given the tools to navigate through them successfully. I also had a ton of professional development exposure before even entering the public school system (Holocaust Museum seminars, etc.). I learned how to advocate for students, their families, and for education itself.”
Lisa Schoelen
Human development and family science - B.S. 2005
Current Position: Licensed professional counselor in private practice in Oklahoma City
“My education at OSU prepared me with a deep understanding of development, from child and adolescent to across the lifespan, and how the fascinating balance between nature and nurture plays out in our lifetime. It plays out in how we see ourselves, how we interact with others, in our relationships, homes, work and in our beliefs and values. This rich understanding prepared me for my master’s degree. OSU also gave me community and me an anchoring sense of home in the uncertain landscape of young adulthood. My time at Oklahoma State reflected back to me what I was capable of and provided a pathway to see what was uniquely mine to own and live out.”
Rebekah Thompson
Design and merchandising – Interior design - B.S. 2011, M.S. 2013
Current Position: Project Manager at Cyntergy, an architecture, engineering and construction firm in Tulsa
“My time at OSU taught me the value of mentorship by giving me opportunities to both give and receive wisdom while forging lifelong relationships with faculty, staff and other students. I am proud to bring the culture of shared knowledge to my professional life. I loved the diversity of the OSU student body. Being able to meet people from all different cultures and countries without leaving campus was an incredible experience.”
Are you an Oklahoma State University College of Education and Human Sciences alumni? We’d love to hear from you!