Anna Cox

Key Explore
Nov 15, 2016
Caitlin Kotnik
HDFS Interview with Dr. Aimee Walker
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Aimee Walker, my Human Development and
Family Sciences professor. I interviewed Dr. Walker with Cassandra Chavez, who is also in my
HDFS 101 class. HDFS is probably my favorite class so far, and after getting to interview her
and knowing how she got started made it so much more appealing to me.
For an HDFS major, Dr. Walker talked about how HDFS 101 is the first class you have
to take. It mainly focuses on life and the development through stages. HDFS 217 and 310 are
more about infants. Dr. Walker says this is her favorite class to teach. HDFS 318 is more about
older care, 439 is a capstone class and anything above that is a TA class.
Aimee Walker mainly teaches lectures, but her other classes have small amounts of
lectures with more group and paired work that apply scenarios. She likes those classes more
because they are more hands on. She got involved in HDFS because she said I have always
been drawn to early childhood education because I was able to witness something bigger when I
work with children, something I couldnt get anywhere else. Dr. Walker was able to use
working with children to get in touch with something that was really important to her and allow
her to have more social justice focus and being a child advocate.
Cassandra and I asked Mrs. Walker about some paths students could take after
graduation? She talked about becoming a teacher, social worker, therapist, or work with
parents/families and advocacy with children and families. But, this doesnt always mean with
schools. She also mentioned going further with other or more degrees, but she didnt get very

specific. She talked about internships and volunteer experiences such as social services agencies
and on-campus wellness collaborative positions.
Dr. Walker said this major really involves working with children and you should really
love to work with children to be in this field. She mentioned skills that you would gain after
going into this major, such as creating a meaningful and social change. She also talked about
focusing on mastering the content of HDFS and not so much on the grades. She said, you need
to be mentally and physically involved with your work.
We asked her Is this a growing field? She replied with a big YES! It is a huge
motivation for preschool education especially after this election. You cant get to another
lifespan without this. Cassandra and I also asked if there were many opportunities to study
abroad because we are both very interested in taking a semester somewhere else. She told us that
a lot of students go to Mexico for learning internships and service learning projects. She has
gotten a lot of feedback about how students didnt want to come back because they fell in love
with many students they got to interact with.
The last question we asked was What is one piece of advice you would give to someone
considering HDFS as a major? She talked about finding a way to engage by becoming
motivated by passion. She said You need to have goal directed choices to get more out of your
education and dont miss out on any key information.

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Key Explore Major interview: HDFS

What are all the classes you teach at Colorado State University?
a. HDFS 101: Mainly focuses on the life and development through stages, 217 , 310:
Focuses mainly on infants, and she said this is her favorite class to teach,
318:Focuses mostly on toddler care, 439: Focuses on early childhood , 434, 410:
Focuses on a more advanced child development, 492: She said this was a capstone
class, 484(TA), 350, 311: Focuses on adolescence, and EDUC: She teaches this
one education class that mainly focuses on early education
How are your courses generally taught? (lecture/lab/seminar?
a. Mainly lectures, but others are usually with small or paired groups that use what
the lecture said and applying it in scenarios
How did you get interested in this field?
a. She was drawn to early childhood education because she is able to witness
something bigger when she works with children that she couldnt get anywhere
else. It helps her to get back in touch with what is really important. It allows her
to have a more social justice focus and be a child advocate.
What are some of the paths students in this field take after graduation?
a. Teachers, Social workers, therapists, work with parents/families, paths on
policies, advocacy with children and families; not always with schools.
b. You can go further with more/ other degrees
What types of internships or volunteer experiences do students in this field
complete?
a. Some of the careers that she mentioned offer internships that she has seen some
students do, or there are social service agencies, on-campus wellness
collaborative, and there is also campus connections
Are there specific skills its important for me to gain while Im in school for this
field? How might I gain those?
a. You should already love working with children to be in this field, but skills to
gain while in this field would be creating a meaningful social change. She said to
focus on mastering the content and to not focus too much on the grade
It this a growing field? Is there a need for graduates with this degree?
a. Yes! Huge motivation for preschool education especially after election. You cant
get to another lifespan without this.
Do many students in this major study abroad? Are there limitations about where I
can go or when? Are there popular destinations?
a. Developing language skills for service learning internships with Mexico. Service
learning project

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Hard to come back

Harder ECE (early childhood education) or ECP (early childhood
professions) is easier
* Find way to engage in course content, not in grades but in engagement and what
we want
9. What is one piece of advice you would give to someone considering HDFS as a
major?
a. Find a way to engage motivation by passion. Have goal-directed choices to get more out
of your education and to not miss out on key information