Jaccob Childs
"I have loved the time I’ve spent at OSU in the past three years. Most of my great memories are from off campus time spent with friends, but I have a lot of good memories from my time in class as well. Corvallis is one of the better “small towns” that I have experienced for activities and bars, but it could definitely use more 24 hour food places."
What’s your name, major and where are you from?
I'm Jaccob Childs from Albany, Oregon. Currently studying Supply Chain & Logistics Management.
Tell us about your time at Oregon State so far?
This current year is my 3rd year here at OSU, and before that I had spent 3 years at LBCC through the degree partnership program that the two schools have set up. I have changed my degree a few times since starting college, because who hasn’t changed a few times. I started out in Computer Science, then Finance, then settled on Supply Chain Management with a Minor in Communications.
I have loved the time I’ve spent at OSU in the past three years. Most of my great memories are from off campus time spent with friends, but I have a lot of good memories from my time in class as well. Corvallis is one of the better “small towns” that I have experienced for activities and bars, but it could definitely use more 24 hour food places.
Are you a part of any clubs, sports, or student organizations?
The only club I’m really kind-of a part of is the Supply Chain Management club. I have only been to a few meetings, which I probably shouldn’t admit on this form. On the sports end I haven’t really been into sports as much since football in middle school. Between school and work, I generally like to preserve what free time I have left.
What kind of work do you do currently?
Currently I work at Allan’s Coffee & Tea on Monroe near campus. I have worked there for a little over 3 years now since it was the first job I picked up when I moved to Corvallis. Like any job it has its ups and downs, but I have made a lot of good friends there and met a lot of different cool people through the customers coming into the store. By the way the white mocha is probably our best drink if anyone is looking to stop by.
Do you have any dreams after college?
As vanilla as it sounds, my dream after college is to find a career that I really feel at home in and am passionate about. I’m really passionate about my work ethic and enjoy putting in the time required to do a good job, but I’ve worked at a few different companies that try and take advantage of that work ethic without giving back. Really looking forward to exploring the job market and finding a position that I can work towards long term.
Another dream would simply be to travel more with the free time I will have after graduating. I would really like to go to Japan and experience all they have to offer. At this point, I am just waiting for the country to reopen, whenever that may be.
How do you want to make a difference in our community? This could be current or in the future.
This honestly isn't something I have put a lot of thought into before, specifically the Corvallis community. I think that there is a lot of work that could be done in the college textbook space. It's crazy to me that the market for textbooks is still what it is when we can deliver pdfs to students for free, but I know you can’t just eliminate an entire industry overnight. It’s a complicated issue for sure, I just don’t know if I’m the right one to tackle it.
Is there anything you're passionate about? How does this apply to your work or impact in your community?
I'm passionate about my work and the fulfillment that comes with it. I don't think that work should be something you have to be passionate about at all like every employer makes it seem, but if it’s something you love doing there isn't a better feeling than when you just nail the target and can stand back to observe just how far you’ve come. I’m also passionate about getting rid of matcha drinks. It tastes like chalk, and everyone acts like it doesn’t. It’s time to move on.
You've overcome many challenges to get to this point. If comfortable, please share a challenge and briefly comment on what you learned from it or how you got through it.
A big challenge for me getting through college was one that I think everyone who goes to college deals with at some point. The idea of going away to a new school and socially starting from scratch. I didn’t have to go far to attend OSU, but I was in a place when I moved to Corvallis where I didn’t have many of my old friends still. It made me take a hard look at what I wanted from college, but also gave me a chance to define who I wanted to be moving forward from that point.
Being honest with yourself is really freeing, and it’s something that I feel like most people don’t even attempt to do until they are outside of college. It helped me learn that being someone else for somebody else’s sake is pointless because you’re building a false foundation. I learned you need to be okay being truly alone to be able to make the most out of all relationships in your life.
In the next year of your life, what do you look forward to most? Do you have any dreams after college?
In the next year I am looking forward to seeing what the start of my career holds for me, even with the ups and downs. Probably a lot of downs, but might as well get the ball rolling and see where it goes. I’m also looking forward to watching my cat Moozie grow up. Little dude is only 6 months old, so he is still feeling everything out right now.
If you could give one message to incoming students, what would you say? (Any type of message, inspiration, sappy, funny, whatever your heart desires)
I think people could do more to embrace the good and the bad experiences in their lives. You have to reflect and take both of them into account, because they both equally formed who you are today. If you like the person you are today, then you have the bad experiences to thank just as much as the good experiences. You’re gonna always carry the weight of both of them with you.