Meet Professor Marinda Ashman

    

Professor Marinda Ashman     

(This is what I looked like a lot as I'm at the baseball field for over half the year!)

   Contact information

     Email: MAshman@uvu.edu 

     Office phone: 801-863-7727

    Office location: LC 407d

   Office hours:  If you need me, I want to meet with you! Email me and we'll make a time work!   

   Virtual Office (on MS Teams):  Email and we'll make a time work we can meet remotely using MS Teams ! 

    Welcome Statement

Where I Come From

I am number seven of eight children. My parents lived through WWII on the German side. My mom ran from the Nazi’s and the Russians while my dad was barely impacted by the war. The American soldiers were very kind to my mom’s family and she always spoke highly of them. My mom fell in love with my dad the day she met him in high school. She moved to the United States with her family shortly after her senior year in high school. She worked and saved money to bring my dad here so they could get married. They lived in the United States until just before my little sister and I were born. They moved to Canada and have lived there ever since. Needless to say, I am Canadian. I came to the United States to play volleyball at BYU. It is here that I met and married my husband, he too played athletics, he played on the football team. We have lived here since that time (31 years!) and we have five children. Four boys and only one daughter. 

We are an athletic family. Any time out of the workday I was in gyms or on fields cheering for my children.  This kept us busy for MANY years! But also brought me great joy! NOW....my youngest is heading to the U for baseball. 

My family growing up – 5 older brothers and 1 older sister – was always playing something and I’ve been a gym rat my whole life!  I always wanted to be “just like my brothers”.

We are also sometimes referred to as the “Giant Family”.  My husband is 6’7”, I am 6’1”, and our children are (in order of age) 6’6”, 6”3 (the little guy!), 6’6”, 5’11”, and our baby is 6'7" now.  We’re OK with the title of “giants”!

             May, 2021 - Just the "kids"          The WHOLE Ashman Clan - May 2021 

What I Care About

It could be because I grew up in British Columbia and Alberta and there are so many wonderful natural beauties, but I love nature. I love the colors, the sounds and even the smells. I value the beauty around me. I prefer to be outside than indoors anytime! My family and I spend time camping, fishing, and hiking. We also play all sorts of games in our front yard.

Here is a pic of me and my momma - I LOVE poutine - a TRUE Canadian! 😂

I care very much about my family. They are the most important thing to me and I am grateful that we all like each other. I always appreciated that my children would say to me when they were younger, “I like you, Mom”.  We HAVE to love each other, but the fact that we like each other really adds to the joy I feel.

This is the newest member of our family. We lost our sweet miniature schnauzer of 15 years. This is BOOG he is 11 months old! 

 

I care very much about my students (learners)– YOU! I am not in this profession for the money (ha ha!), I strive to get to know my learners and to help each learner individually. Your success is my goal.

Relationships of all kinds are important to me. I strive to help others feel valued, cared for, and important. I value fairness, hard work, and willingness to try.

What I Bring

I have taught almost every course we offer in our department. I find great value in all of our courses and have found each to be beneficial for my learners in helping them learn the skills needed to be successful in college and life. Stated above, I care about my learners. With that comes my passion to help learners succeed.  I am committed to helping you succeed in this class. The skills you will learn will help you succeed in all of your courses but also in many areas of your life as you implement these skills.  You're going to succeed in this course if you work hard. I'm going to be here for you. You can count on me to provide timely, meaningful, and constructive feedback on assignments. You can also count on me to respond promptly to your questions (usually within 24 hours, but always within 48 hours – NOT COUNTING WEEKENDS). And I'll connect you to campus resources if you let me know what your needs are. With the depth of success and leadership skills taught in all of our courses, I feel my experience in each of them helps me be a better teacher. I hope you will benefit from my experience.

How to Be Successful in this Course

Learners who are successful in this course develop a routine. They schedule days and times to focus on the coursework and stick to it. They read the textbook and readings as assigned. They complete every assignment and submit them on time.

One of the challenges of a hybrid course is the heightened requirement to be self-motivated and proactive. You will need to find a way to keep yourself consistently focused.  How can I help you with this?

Use It or What's the Point?

I encourage you to come to class ready to be challenged and courageous enough to make changes where needed. If you practice what we learn in this course by applying them in your other courses it will make all the difference. In fact, it's the best way to improve your effectiveness as a student. I encourage you to take each strategy or tool and adapt it, change it, make it your own. I want you to feel free to make it work for you!