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I'm Michael Waller. I majored in social science at Western Oregon University.  

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I knew that at some point in my life I always wanted to help people.

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I just didn't know in what capacity. I didn't even know the age.

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Just kinda going through Western Oregon and kinda going through the different majors, 

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once I was told that, hey like, you can do a multitude of things. 

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Whether that's working in hospitals, schools or the criminal justice system.  

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I also knew that mental health was a really big thing.

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Today, I'm a school social worker here at McDaniel High School in Portland, Oregon.  

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My daily duties is, it's, it's a lot! 

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Doing a lot of consultation work with our school counselors. 

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Doing in classroom presentations with our teachers. 

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There's also staff trainings. 

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Coordinating with administrators around our climate and what we need to do as a school. 

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I do a lot of mental health and counseling here.

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Today, I'll be presenting the signs of suicide for high schools. 

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Western introduced me to two of my passions, acting and to the world of sociology. 

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One of the biggest things that I learned from that was to take chances.

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I did not believe that I could get into some of the things that I'm into today. 

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I was introduced to some staff that really challenged me.

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They challenged me to have critical thinking.

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They challenged me that hey, as a black man going through this university 

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and into the world, definitely you got to think about things a little bit different.  

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You got to maneuver through things a little bit different. 

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I absolutely recommend Western Oregon. 

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I wouldn't be where I'm at without it. 

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To me, Western Oregon, what makes it special is the sense of community

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with so many different backgrounds and all that stuff. 

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It just makes you feel welcome. 

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What I usually tell students that I work with

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or anyone that I come across and they're feeling down.

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This too shall pass.

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Be kind to yourself.

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music