Wayne State College has welcomed a list of new staff. On that list is graduate assistant Sidney Truman. She graduated from WSC with an undergraduate in Communication Studies and Sociology with a minor in psychology. She is currently in the graduate program for organizational management with a focus in public relations.
“I’d go around to different companies when their employees have issues communicating with each other, they have a big project coming up and they just need an outside, that third-party kind of perspective,” Truman said. “That’s when I would come in and use all my background knowledge and everything I’ve learned to address the situation and how to figure it out.”
Truman has taken on the role of the college’s speech team’s main coach, an extracurricular she only became familiar with last school year as the assistant speech coach under former coach Jonathan Laner.
“It’s been a very big learning experience,” Truman said. “Growing up in high school I was in marching band, jazz band, concert band, pep band. Despite me not having background in speech before college and coming here, just the musical experience and thinking that way and the performance aspect of it has definitely helped.”
Despite it being Truman’s first semester as the speech coach, she has gained notoriety among her students for the work she puts into the program.
“The way it’s different [with Sidney] is there’s boundaries, there’s respect and Sidney wants to build us up and to make us better,’” Faatimah Kouatli, senior and president of Pi Kappa Delta as well as student speech assistant said. “For example, my previous coach never heard my speeches throughout all of my years here. [The] Only time he heard my speech was the night before nationals when everyone was forced to hear our speeches. I was a top contender at every meet, I’d place every meet, never heard, never supported me, whereas this year, Sidney has heard my speech, works with me twice a week, supports me, always giving me new ideas to incorporate, she’s always there for me.”
“I would say, just having that leadership and being able to have someone that… is willing to help however she can,” Mycah Bell, first time WSC speech student said. “She is always very communicative, always has a sense of sympathy. I feel like that’s something in a coach that isn’t always just there.”The transfer into the speech program has not been a smooth journey, but Truman has not let that stop her from helping her students. Even going as far as reaching out to former speech students and other coaches with questions and recruiting Faatimah Kouatli.
“The biggest thing is trying to make sure that everyone is as successful as possible while not overstepping as a coach,” Truman said. “If students are having trouble writing their scripts or memorizing their scripts, I’m there to support them. I can’t do it for them and trying to balance that with what my responsibilities as a coach are, has definitely been difficult.”
“It’s just about showing them my experiences, cause having a coach is amazing,” Kouatli said. “She’s never participated in speech herself she’s only coached. So, my experiences in being a student and participating is also helpful, showing them that.”
Truman and the speech students travel often on weekends to attend speech tournaments while they prepare for Pi Kappa Delta Nationals in Springfield, Missouri next semester with the National Forensics Association in Nashville, Tennessee following a month after.
“The biggest thing is having the kids learn for themselves on how they want their performance to go and how they want the audience to respond,” Truman said. “So, all these tournaments, we may not be placing the highest, but we look at the comments and all the feedback that the judges give us.”
Truman hopes the students can take as much from her coaching as she has learned from them.
“It’s a learning experience,” Truman said. “It’s not just, ‘oh were here to win and that’s that’. It’s learn as you go, have fun, make the memories, and just grow as a person overall.”
