Faculty Profile profile for pjyoung

Balance. That’s what I needed to round out my life when I worked for Tektronix, a high tech company. I have a BA in Anthropology and a BA in Journalism. Before coming to Portland, I was a photojournalist in South Carolina. So, working for a high tech company as a technical writer and then a manager was like being in a foreign culture. I started taking U.S. History classes at Portland State University as a way to bring balance into my life. It never occurred to me that I would actually put my Masters in History to use. I graduated in 1997. I walked away from the high tech world in 1998 and worked as a free-lance writer for Just Out, the gay newspaper in Portland. My goal was to learn more about gay history. Most of my writing assignments were about gay history. I was fortunate to make lots of good contacts, which has made it easier to find people for the students to interview in the capstone class. I have also been a member of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN) since the group started in 1994. GLAPN is the community partner for my capstone class. When the opportunity came along to teach this class, I said yes. I bring to the class the knowledge of local gay history, plus the skills as a historian to do research with original sources. While at Tektronix, I developed skills in project management, setting goals and objectives, working in groups, and evaluating performance.