Bryan to teach university experience in the fall

Taylor Harrison

Kendrick Bryan has been part of the WKU community since 2005 as an undergrad, a graduate student and a student government representative.

This fall, Bryan will come full circle and teach a university experience course at WKU.

Bryan, executive vice president for the Student Government Association, said he would like to continue teaching university experience for a very long time, if he is given the chance.

Although he has experience teaching high school, Bryan said he always wanted to teach at the college level.

“Since I stepped foot on campus, I have always wanted to teach at WKU,” Bryan said. “I’ve always wanted to help kids complete their college goals, and I think that’s something I started in SGA.”

First-year college students need more help adjusting to a new routine than high school students, Bryan said of his reason for wanting to teach college classes.

“I think students need help staying in college as compared to high school,” Bryan said. “College is more complicated due to financial aid and the responsibility involved.

“I think first-year students need more help adapting to college as opposed to a middle-school student adapting to a high school.”

Bryan said he never even considered teaching at another university — he thinks WKU has the best undergraduate program in the state. It’s always a school he has highly recommended, he said.

 While he will still be a WKU graduate student while teaching, he is on track to graduate with a master’s degree in school counseling in December.

Bryan is doing an internship in school counseling at La Rue County High School, where he used to be a student teacher. He is also seeking a Rank 1 in school administration — a certification that will help with pay and allow him to be a principal.

Currently, Bryan substitute-teaches at the high school as well. He has substituted long-term in about seven or eight different classrooms for as long as one semester and two trimesters. He has taught English, science and social studies.

Dee Hutchins, a La Rue County teacher, was Bryan’s supervisor when he was a student teacher.

“He’s kind of a natural for working inside the school system,” Hutchins said. “Students liked him, and he’s got good knowledge of his subject matter, which is social studies, and he’ll make an outstanding teacher if he decides that’s what he wants to do.”

When Hutchins heard that Bryan would possibly teach a university experience class, Hutchins said that if they didn’t hire Bryan, he’d like to meet the person they thought was better for that job.

“He was born for it,” Hutchins said.