Episode 8: A Student's Perspective: Attending The Rural Summit

The Rural College Student Experience

Welcome to the first episode of Season 2 of the Rural College Student Experience podcast. After a successful first season, we are thrilled to continue featuring conversations with and about rural students in college. On this episode, creator/host Dr. Matt Newlin is joined by co-host Chase Carson and guest Dreama Gentry from Partners for Rural Impact (PRI). In this roundtable-style conversation we discuss each of our experiences at The Rural Summit which was co-presented by PRI and Education Forward Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona in April 2022. Chase shares his perspective as a rural student attending the conference, as well as his thoughts on the work being done by institutions and organizations around the country. Dreama shares some background on PRI, their future goals, and the major needs of rural students.

Chase Carson graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in May 2022 with a bachelor’s of business administration in Accounting. Chase was born and raised in Laurel County, Kentucky and graduated from South Laurel High School. In addition to being a recent graduate, Chase is also the founder and CEO of Unity Allies. His goal is to educate and lead his community forward in welcoming all groups of diversity to areas across the nation. Please follow Chase and Unity Allies on Instagram (@kingcarsonn, @unity_allies) or visit the Unity Allies Facebook page.

In the second half of the episode, Chase and Matt are joined by Dreama Gentry, president and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact. Dreama founded the organization to ensure rural students have the opportunity to fulfill their educational aspirations, and the national dialogue around educational success includes rural voices. A first-generation college graduate from Appalachia, Gentry is an Annie E. Casey Children and Family Fellow and a Prichard Committee Equity Coalition member, among other honors. To learn more about PRI’s work, follow Dreama on Twitter (@dreaminky).

Please be sure to subscribe to the Rural College Student Experience wherever you download your podcasts so you’ll be notified when a new episode is available. Also, follow us on Twitter (@rcsepod) and our partners Believe in Students (@believestudents).