VT Stories Oral History with Apryl Alexander, April 21, 2016 (Ms2016-015)

Jenny Nehrt: Okay. Great. You can start by telling me your name, where you

were born, and what today is.

Apryl Alexander: Okay. My name is Apryl Alexander. I was born in Alexandria,

Louisiana. Today is April 21, 2016.

Nehrt: What years did you go to Tech?

Alexander: I was here from 2001 and graduated in 2005.

Nehrt: Wonderful. So you were born in Alexandria?

Alexander: Louisiana.

Nehrt: Louisiana.

Alexander: Yes. [Laughs]

Nehrt: How was that growing up there?

Alexander: Actually I didn't even grow up there. I stayed there until 2. Both of

my parents were in the Air Force, so we moved around frequently growing up, so I

was born there and lived there until 2, then we moved to Ramstein Air Force Base

in Germany.

Nehrt: Oh wow.

Alexander: Hmm. And then we moved to Panama City, Florida for another three

years and then moved to Berlin, Germany and then our 00:01:00final base was in Dover,

Delaware and that's where I graduated high school.

Nehrt: Were both your parents in the Air Force?

Alexander: Yes. Both were air traffic controllers.

Nehrt: Did you have a favorite place that you lived?

Alexander: Berlin, definitely, yeah. It's just nice, the culture and the food,

so I loved it a lot, yeah.

Nehrt: You lived on base there though, but did you get to travel the city?

Alexander: Yes. Actually kind of where we lived the base housing was still close

to the city, so you had German stores nearby. Our ice cream man was German and

things like that. Some of our friends even went to like the bilingual school,

which was actually John F. Kennedy Elementary School, so there was a lot of kind

of intermingling between the two cultures.

Nehrt: Neat. Did you pick up any German while you were there?

Alexander: We actually did take German in elementary school, so I had in and

then when I got back to the States and took Spanish I lost it, and so I know a

little here and 00:02:00there, but not fluent by any means.

Nehrt: What was your family like? Do you have brothers and sisters?

Alexander: Yes. I do have one younger brother who is two years younger, and so

we were kind of together during all the moves and things like that and we're

really close still.

Nehrt: Oh that's nice. When did you first start thinking about college?

Alexander: I think I kind of always knew I was going to go to college. Very

early on I wanted to be a veterinarian and that's kind of what I was committed

to all through elementary school, all through high school, and so I knew that

one day I would be looking for a vet school. I just knew from early that that

was going to be the trajectory for me.

Nehrt: How did you find Virginia Tech when you're hopping all over the globe?

Alexander: Well it was because of their animal science program, so I was looking

for programs mostly on the east coast with strong animal science programs and

Virginia Tech had like one of the best. So when it came down to 00:03:00making my

decision I went for it knowing that they had the animal science program, and

then also the vet school later on I thought that that's where I would stay.

Nehrt: Neat. That's really neat. So did you get to visit campus before?

Alexander: I did. I believe I was accepted and then me and my mom drove down to

kind of tour the campus, get a look at facilities. I think there was some

scholarship kind of banquet, so I was interviewed for scholarships at that time,

and just really liked the campus and it felt like a really kind of home

close-knit environment, and so that's when I knew that I was going to select

Virginia Tech.

Nehrt: Did it seem really different from all the other places that you lived

being like a small rural area?

Alexander: Yeah, a small town, the mountains were here. You come onto campus and

you see the cows is the first thing you see and so it's like oh that's a little

different. But knowing that they had an animal science program and things like

that it made sense, but having kind of that farm rural agricultural environment

was a little different.

Nehrt: What made you 00:04:00want to do veterinary science?

Alexander: I just was always in love with animals. I had a passion for that. We

had animals growing up, whether it was dogs, hamsters, fish, one cat until I

found out I was allergic, and so was the whole family, and so animals were just

a big part of our life. They are a part of your family, especially when you are

having those transitions, and so that's like kind of the reason I made that

choice, initially.

Nehrt: Yeah, very neat. What was your first memory of Tech?

Alexander: Well actually I was in a program called the Student Transition

Program known as STP, and it was a program aimed at kind of recruiting and

retaining minority students. So I actually started Virginia Tech like two weeks

after I graduated high school, and some of the people in the program had less

time than that, that had just graduated high school the weekend before or

something like that. 00:05:00And so I came back to campus for that second time and it

was kind of the same move in process. We all moved into a dorm and we lived

there for the summer. And so I just remember it being real that you were

actually in college. You were kind of sitting down and had an orientation with

all the people who were in the program. It was like oh wait, this is a big deal.

I'm finally here in college, and so I just remember that.

Nehrt: No recoup time from high school.

Alexander: No, no, no. It was mid-June and I graduated May 30th from high

school, so it was right away. You were taking classes, so you took nine credit

hours, your English, Math, and another transition program like study skills and

things like that, and so you were in college that summer.

Nehrt: Did you find it rewarding and helpful for the rest of the year?

Alexander: Oh absolutely. One, you built that social network, so when I did come

for our first day of classes in August I knew people, so 00:06:00that was really helpful

and having that kind of support system there.

Nehrt: Yeah. Was the program very big or was it like a close-knit group of people?

Alexander: I think it was like 20-something people in that program, and so we

spent the whole summer together. We had like field trips in addition to being in

classes and things like that, different social activities. And so a couple of

other people in there became my best friends all through the college and the

rest I still have some communication with via social media and things like that,

so I kind of keep up with them.

Nehrt: That's so cool. What was the campus like back then from your memories? It

wasn't that long ago.

Alexander: No, it wasn't that long ago. A little…and a lot has changed. I just

drove around a few minutes ago and there were a lot of new buildings. I see that

both Blacksburg and Christiansburg has now way more. I was up there [00:07:00].

In 00:07:00Christiansburg we didn't have that, and things like that and so just very

similar. Still have like the same you come in and you see the Hokie Stone again

and you get nostalgic and all of that, so pretty similar.

Nehrt: Great. When you were here for your first year and during that summer were

there any notable professors, anybody who you would have considered a mentorship

during your time?

Alexander: Not then. I don't think I got somebody who I considered my mentor

until my sophomore year of school when I actually changed majors. Not somebody

really early on, but I had people I could kind of connect with via the Student

Transition Program and things like that, and then just the support system from

the friends, so nobody immediately. I think part of it is sometimes you don't

know what a mentor is early on in college or to seek for one and things like

that, so I wasn't even thinking about a mentor at that point.

Nehrt: Just kind of getting your footing.

Alexander: Right, 00:08:00 right.

Nehrt: So you changed majors from veterinary science to…?

Alexander: To psychology.

Nehrt: Oh, a leap.

Alexander: It was a big leap. I was taking an Intro to Psychology class as well

as volunteering at the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley in

Radford. And also kind of struggling during that time with the animal science.

Organic chemistry kind of came into play, some of those harder classes. Also

during that field training experience, that internship experience I really

connected with the individuals who were in the transition living home or the

shelter, and shifted kind of my wanting to work from animals to people and

working with victims of interpersonal violence. And so that kind of experience

and just working at the Women's Resource Center kind of changed things for me,

as well as taking the Intro to Psych class with I believe it's Dr. 00:09:00Gellar, who

is still here and very well-known. He was just a very dynamic person, very

engaging. The material he made it kind of connect with you and applied it to the

real world and it was just so attracting. And so all that together I made the

decision to change majors which was really scary at the time. I remember just

such a big change and something I was thinking I wanted to do my whole life and

all of that, and so it's very different.

Nehrt: Did you have a support system that was like, "It's okay?"

Alexander: [Laughs] No. Everybody said, "What are you doing? That makes no

sense, but we are going to support you. This sounds weird, but we are going to

support you," so I think everybody was worried for a period of time.

Nehrt: …it's okay.

Alexander: Yeah, it's all worked out now.

Nehrt: So within the Psychology Department you found mentors and professors who

were important to you?

Alexander: Yeah. I switched majors and had to catch 00:10:00up and get to know

psychology more, and so I was taking an Abnormal Psychology class with Dr.

Russell Jones. I'm a bit of an introvert so I was kind of quiet and laid back

and just kind of listening to the material, but he's another one that was very

engaging. He would call on you during lectures and things like that to kind of

get to know you. And I think we were about to go into the summer semester. I was

sitting like in the hallway studying. He said, "What are you doing this summer?

I was like, "Oh you know, taking some psychology classes to kind of get me

caught up," and he was like, "You're working for my lab. Come to the meeting

this Friday," or something like that, and I was like, "Oh okay." And so he took

me into his lab and really gave me support and helped me later on when I was

applying to graduate schools and things like that.

Nehrt: Neat. What were you doing in his lab?

Alexander: Most of his research looks at disaster related trauma, so he has a 00:11:00residential fire lab. He looks at kind of big projects involving other disasters

like hurricanes and tornadoes, tsunamis, and things like that. So I was doing a

lot of work working with his grad on lit reviews and just analyzing data. And

then my senior year he invited me to help collaborate in writing a book chapter

on working with underrepresented populations who are [battling 00:11:30] trauma

and things like that, and so that was a big deal to be collaborating with these

well-known professors on this book chapter as an undergrad, and it opened so

many opportunities for me later on.

Nehrt: Wow. That's fantastic. I'm excited about that, because I'm talking about,

I'm a history MA, so I'm doing 1878 Yellow Fever in Memphis and how it affected

the community. That's so cool.

Alexander: Yeah.

Nehrt: Do you have any favorite 00:12:00memories or experiences from your time at Tech?

Alexander: Oh goodness.

Nehrt: I know.

Alexander: So many. Obviously Hokie football. If you weren't a football fan you

are now. [Laughs] So coming in with all those kind of good experiences. That was

right when we switched to ACC. We won that first ACC Championship, so I remember

the football players coming and going to the stadium and having a celebration.

Also we had a lot of great speakers brought here. Spike Lee came while I was

here. Aaron McGruder who did the cartoon the Boondocks, the comic strip and the

cartoon the Boondocks he came for a speech. Also the step shows were a big deal.

It was once a year we had the big Overton step show. Everybody got dressed up

and came up and did that, so all those kind of little social experiences kind of

stuck out for me, as well as kind of the friendships I built and they were there

with me during all those experiences.

Nehrt: 00:13:00Did you participate in the step shows?

Alexander: Oh now.

Nehrt: You just watched?

Alexander: No. I watched. I'll leave that to the professionals. [Laughs]

Nehrt: That's cool. Were you in any of the on-campus organizations?

Alexander: I was actively involved. I did a lot in terms of kind of volunteer

experiences. I did have a scholarship program that got me involved in a lot of

campus activities with regard to kind of volunteerism and things like that, and

a few kind of leadership opportunities and just learning how to kind of build

leadership skills and things like that. Then I stayed with the Women's Resource

Center for a long time, even when I was graduated and was at Radford University

for my master's, stayed there. So not necessarily on-campus organizations but

involved in different community opportunities.

Nehrt: What were you doing at the Women's Center?

Alexander: Initially when you're serving as an intern you get 40 hours of

training, kind of crisis intervention and then just 00:14:00learning about interpersonal

violence and things like that and so you spent time working at the shelter.

While there they had like a children's program, so I spent a lot of time just

playing with the kids who had been pulled away from these kind of messy violent

situations and things like that, offering them support, tutoring and things like

that. Also worked the hotlines, so when individuals called in and needed

assistance with that, those issues of leaving, guide them through that, provide

them resources and all of that.

Later on, I think more when I was at Radford I was a CARE companion, which stood

for Crisis Advocates Responding Effectively, so you would actually go to like

the hospitals and police stations and be kind of a support system for

individuals who had recently been victimized. And again, that all kind of

collaborated with my psychology experience as an undergrad to really motivate me

to pursue it more.

Nehrt: Those sound like very intense experiences.

Alexander: Hmm, but it was so 00:15:00helpful, so helpful when just working with people

in the community, also kind of fine-tuning kind of what I wanted to do. It gave

kind of meaning to what I was studying as well.

Nehrt: So did you have any overall difficult experiences while at Tech?

Alexander: Just the changing majors was a struggle for me, so that was kind of a

difficult experience and kind of navigating that. Nothing sticks to my mind as

something that was just really difficult for me. There was a lot of positive

experiences just coming back and even driving around now, I was remembering kind

of things that happened or places and situations. Again, I had a good support

group and then built friends later on, and so having that support system was

helpful during college.

Nehrt: Yeah. What was there to do around 00:16:00Tech around that time? We're pretty

isolated here.

Alexander: Right. So we had like a lot of house parties and things like that, so

gatherings among friends. I lived off campus from software year on through

graduation, so I had a lot of gatherings at my house. There were a couple of

places downtown that we would go and go dancing and things like that, nothing

big, but you had enough people in a community and people just had fun. You made

your way. Even if it is isolating you were able to find something on campus to do.

Nehrt: Plus the area is so beautiful.

Alexander: Right, right.

Nehrt: After you graduated Tech you went to Radford?

Alexander: Yes.

Nehrt: Have you got a master's?

Alexander: Yes, a master's in clinical psychology. Like I said, I switched

majors so I was a little I guess late in kind of…psychology and not sure kind

of what I want to do, so I thought kind of a master's route would be helpful

instead of 00:17:00jumping to a PhD program. Also I wasn't sure if I would be as

competitive having switched and didn't have enough time to maybe get involved in

more research. So I looked at master's programs and also wanted to stay near

Virginia Tech, and so I decided to go to Radford and there was a professor there

who had similar interests as me. And so that was kind of really helpful, and

just staying in the area, getting more involved, getting more research

experience, and so I attended Radford for my two years.

Nehrt: Cool. What was that like? Was it different? It's a bit smaller.

Alexander: Yeah, it was different. It was a lot smaller. The friends I built

there we were coming to Tech often. Actually three or four of us actually

graduated from Virginia Tech, so I knew one of the girls really well, and then

the three others I had seen them in classes at Virginia Tech, maybe not had

spoken to them, but I was like, "Wait, I know you. We were in Developmental

Psychology together."And so we were able to 00:18:00connect then and we often came back

to Virginia Tech for a kind of social life and things like that.

Nehrt: Cool. That's really cool. My master's program. They are small.

Alexander: Right, yeah. There was only like six of us, six or seven of us, so yeah.

Nehrt: Cool. Was the course work over there really rewarding as well?

Alexander: Oh, very much so. They do have a really strong curriculum in the area

of psychology. They had two master's programs then like a clinical and a

counseling, and since I graduated they've gotten a doctoral program in

psychology, so their curriculum is really good and a lot of their students go on

to get their doctorates if they choose that route, so they become competitive.

Nehrt: Cool. So you graduated in 2005.

Alexander: Yes.

Nehrt: Not too long ago. Do you come back to Tech a lot?

Alexander: No. After I graduated Radford I hadn't been 00:19:00 back.

Nehrt: Really? This is the first time?

Alexander: Yeah, so this is my first time back, yeah. It's been really

overwhelming. I ended up going to get my doctorate in Clinical Psychology, so I

was busy with that. You have to complete an internship so I moved across country

for a year, just some of the moving, and so I hadn't had time to come back. I

think I went to one game in DC. My parents were in Delaware so I went to a game

at the Redskins Stadium one year, but that was as close as I've gotten back to

Virginia Tech.

Nehrt: Cool. Where did you do your doctorate at?

Alexander: I went to the Fuller Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida.

They have a doctoral program in Clinical Psychology. It's an even smaller school

and that they are mostly engineering, kind of Nassau producing school, but they

also have a psychology program over on the side, so I went there for my doctorate.

Nehrt: Are you 00:20:00still working with interpersonal violence?

Alexander: Yes. My main areas of interest are violence and victimization, and so

at Radford I did have a professor who was interested in forensic psychology. And

through my experiences at the Women's Resource Center I became more interested

in the legal side of things, so I took that course, became really interested, so

FIT had a forensic psychology concentration, so I continued on with that. They

also had a marriage and family concentration, so I wanted to get that balance

because I knew I wanted to work with families as well, so yeah, I went on to do

like a post [doc] in forensic psychology and things like that, so that's kind of

my area still of interest.

Nehrt: Awesome. Have you had very rewarding experiences since you've completed

your doctorate?

Alexander: Oh yes. As a part of my doctorate you have to go on an internship for

a year to get kind of additional experience and training, so I went to Patton

State 00:21:00Hospital, which is the largest forensic psychiatric facility in the nation

and got to do a bunch of cool stuff. Everything you hear on television with

insanity evaluations, competency to stand trial, risk assessments. I do therapy

and assessment with sex offenders and things like that, and that experience led

me to a post doc. And so I've had a bunch of these fun kind of experiences from

kind of all my training experiences from Virginia Tech on that have been so rewarding.

Nehrt: Wow. Your life sounds really cool and like intense. I don't think I'm

hard enough for it.

Alexander: It's fun. No, it's fun. [Laughs]

Nehrt: Yeah?

Alexander: Yes, yes.

Nehrt: Do people usually give you this reaction?

Alexander: Yes.

Nehrt: They do?

Alexander: Yeah. You kind of kill conversations every now and then. People are

intrigued but they are also like, "That's terrifying in some ways. How do you do

it?" So.

Nehrt: It's so cool though.

Alexander: Yeah, yeah.

Nehrt: Wow. You're going to continue to do that, 00:22:00 right?

Alexander: Hmm. Currently I'm an assistant clinical professor at Auburn

University, and so most of my work is at a juvenile detention facility. The

Department of Psychology has had a long-standing contract with the Department of

Youth Services to provide a juvenile sex offender treatment program. So I kind

of work within that program doing a lot of administrative work. I also supervise

graduate students who are working on their PhDs, work with undergrads on

research and things like that. Kind of peeked my forensic interest and I'm still

kind of going with that in my current position.

Nehrt: How do you like working with students? Is it fun?

Alexander: It is fun. I think because I've had so many positive mentors from

Virginia Tech again on through FIT that made me want to give back, because my

mentors have given me so many 00:23:00opportunities. They have been so supportive. I

talk to most of them still to this day, whether it's like an email here and

there every few months, and so I wanted to make sure I kind of replicated that.

So my students I kind of give the same investment that my mentors gave me and I

think that's important to me and something I want to continue doing.

Nehrt: I'm sure they really appreciate it.

Alexander: Yes. They get a lot of cool experiences, but again, it was the same

thing I had and I have to kind of give back.

Nehrt: What makes you want to come to the alumni weekend this weekend?

Alexander: Well, initially I heard…I knew it was [spring game 00:23:44]. I

said I have to go back to Virginia Tech. I have not been back. I said this is

going to be the year I just go back, and so I had planned that knowing I was

going to go to [spring game 00:23:52] this year. Then I found out it was black

alumni weekend the same weekend and it was like okay, I have to go back 00:24:00 because

again, the mentorship, the connections I built here, I wanted to be among that

community and really just absorb things and kind of reflect on my time here and

how important it was to me. So all of that kind of combined together is why I

decided I needed to come back this year and get kind of reconnected with my University.

Nehrt: Cool, really cool. Yeah. One of the reasons this project got started is

because there was a gallup poll that got sent around to various alums from

different universities to I guess measure… How should I phrase this, measure

how connected alums feel with the University.

Alexander: I saw that.

Nehrt: Yeah. Virginia Tech is like crazy ahead.

Alexander: Yeah, way beyond anybody else.

Nehrt: So President Sands actually his wife got really interested in this

project and they wanted to find out why, why Virginia Tech has this appeal. Why

do you 00:25:00think so? I can ask.

Alexander: You know I've been thinking about that a lot lately, even being at

Auburn University and seeing kind of their students. I actually attended their

black alumni weekend last year as faculty, and noting kind of the differences

and experiences between myself and them, in that we just had a kind of good

connection and good network. Despite being a still unrepresented population here

at Virginia Tech we still built a good network, so we were going to all those

step shows. We were going to the speakers and things like that. Any time there

was an event or a party we showed up and we were all there together. You know

people at other universities just don't have that experience all the time. Even

at Auburn right now we're going through, 00:26:00we just had this big kind of diversity

inclusion climate survey and there were some worrisome things with regard to how

students felt, even the lack of faculty that looked like them or similar to

them, the lack of mentorship. And the results of that survey just like came out

yesterday of kind of things that they want to do to kind of improve upon the

climate. I'm not saying we didn't have that at Virginia Tech. There probably

could be some things that could evolve from that, but I think I had a much more

positive experience than the students I'm talking to there.

Nehrt: Yeah.

Alexander: One of the things I say is Virginia Tech is a community, it's a

family. Still I've done all this traveling and I haven't been back, but if I'm

an airport and I have my Virginia Tech shirt on somebody is going to say

something to me, some alum. Me and my mom were on a cruise two years ago, there

were three other alumni on there and we all watched the Bowl game together on

the cruise. You know without having to know each 00:27:00other and get to know each

other you knew you were a Hokie and you were going to come to the bar and have

that drink with each other. I don't know if other universities are like that. I

just don't know, and so that's just our experience here, for whatever reason it is.

Nehrt: Very cool. So are there any changes do you think Virginia Tech could make?

Alexander: I'm not sure. You know part of what I want to do this weekend is

really get to kind of come back and see the climate. Going to other universities

and hearing some concerns that they have I want to know kind of what Virginia

Tech is doing now too, because we did have the programs like STP. Unfortunately,

it was cut because of the budget cuts. We were the last class actually, and I

talk about that experience often on how important that was. I think I told our

administration at Auburn I said, "I want that for our students because it was

really important to have that 00:28:00program." And there was another one for black

engineers right down in the next dorm over, so we had two communities next to

each other to support. So yeah, I do want to spend this time to kind of see what

needs to be done, how can I even support as an alumni, that desire to get back

here and even give back is important to me. And so I know there's changes that

probably could be made, but I'm just not sure what yet.

Nehrt: Is there anything I haven't asked you or story you would like to tell? It

could be anything. It's okay if there isn't.

Alexander: I don't think there is. My one thing I need to do while here is go to

West End. I miss West End so bad. [Laughs]

Nehrt: I always joke, my boyfriend's little brother is a freshman here and he

knows everything way better than I do, because I'm like what's West End?

Alexander: You have not been to West End?

Nehrt: No. What is that?

Alexander: You haven't been to West end?

Nehrt: I live in [Major Williams] and sometimes I get bagels at 00:29:00 Turner…

Alexander: No, okay. [Laughs] One of the things that probably stands out, we

probably did miss this, is the food at Virginia Tech. We are #1 always in the

food polls as well.

Nehrt: That's true.

Alexander: Because they had the best, and I had friends that worked at those

facilities so you would get hooked up, but West End is way missed. Actually

specifically me and my mom were talking about going tonight, is their London

broil and their garlic mashed potatoes.

Nehrt: On campus, that's campus food?

Alexander: They have, I don't know if it started around my time or it was

before, they have a lobster tank in there. You can get lobster, or students can

get lobster. You can't get that at any other university that I know of. [Laughs]

Nehrt: Oh that's hilarious.

Alexander: West End Market is the best, their cheese fries. [Laughs] Yes, so

memories around food on the campus, because we did have the best and that was

kind of edible and we gathered around the different food places on 00:30:00campus as

friends too. You would meet at Dietrich's Ice Cream Shoppe late at night and

have you a Sunday or a milkshake. Yeah, that just came back to me.

Nehrt: I need to explore, I really do.

Alexander: It's a must-see before you leave here. You've been to the stadium?

Nehrt: Yes. I have been to the Hokie games.

Alexander: You've been to a Hokie game, go to West End.

Nehrt: Okay. And that's the experience?

Alexander: Those are my top two. [Laughs]

Nehrt: So you brought your mom with you?

Alexander: Yes.

Nehrt: Is she like an honorary Hokie?

Alexander: Yes she is. Actually while I was here there was Hokie Mama t-shirts

that were going around, so she did have a Hokie Mama t-shirt. Also the students

nominated me for an award at the black alumni reunion. It was the outstanding

recent alumni award and I received it.

Nehrt: Oh congratulations.

Alexander: Yes, thank you, and so I invited my mom. Obviously she was the 00:31:00 first

one who I came here with when we did a tour and so it was only fitting.

Nehrt: Yeah, that's great.

Alexander: Yes.

Nehrt: Well if there isn't anything else you would like to add.

Alexander: No, but thank you so much.

Nehrt: Thank you for meeting with me.

Alexander: This was so much fun and rethinking about things is so good.

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