For my informational interview, I spoke with Dr. Kathy Ralabate Doody, who is an assistant professor in the Special Education Graduate Department at Buffalo State. She has a number of degrees and certifications, including a B.A. in English from the University at Buffalo, a teaching certification for elementary and secondary English Education for New York State from Daemen College, a M.S. in Science in Special Education from Buffalo State with an early childhood concentration, and a Doctoral Degree in Special Education with a concentration in autism from UB.
“Dr. Kathy,” as her students call her, was refreshingly candid and was very welcoming, offering candy and advice in her all-pink office on campus at Buffalo State. One thing that Dr. Kathy stressed strongly to me, however, is that she wishes she had not switched from Communications to English for her undergrad and, additionally, the lack of experience offered to college students.
“College careers should definitely start with internships. I have seen so many good students, who get no experience early on, then end up being atrocious in real-life situations. No one tells you this and your professor is going hate me for saying it, but a liberal arts education qualifies you to do nothing. Guidance and advisement in college tells you that if you can read and write you can do anything. But that’s not the case. Accounting, journalism, engineering: when you are trained to a specific job, that’s much more valuable than political science or English or philosophy. They’re lying to you.” I feel relieved that I am not in any of these programs that are not as useful as the degree program I’m following now.
Dr. Kathy had many strong opinions, sharing with me many things that eased my mind, saying that “you can find your career anytime- it doesn’t really matter when. It took me twenty years.” The fact that someone who has found success after changing career paths “late and often” has given me a lot of hope and really relieved a lot of the pressure I’ve been feeling lately. All in all, I’m very grateful I had opportunity to speak with Dr. Kathy and I feel she will be a valuable and helpful contact.
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