Advice Opinion Web Exclusive

Advice columnist’s introduction to readers

Editor’s Note: After a few weeks of working for The Daily Cougar as an advice columnist, we believe it to be beneficial to the reader to get to know whom they are being advised by.

To my readers,

I wanted to take time and really give my readers the opportunity to get to know me better. It recently came to my attention that one of the biggest issues I am facing in active participation of readers is that they don’t know me. I mean, why would you want to ask your problems to a guy whom you don’t know and feel is unqualified to give advice any better than another?

I guess the first thing I want to touch on is why I started the column. I wanted to provide the students on campus with a way to receive advice and guidance from a source that has experience in different areas and resources to gain perspective from professionals.

The next thing I wanted to do was provide readers with a little background on myself. I was raised 12 years with my mother, who then died when I was 12. A year before, I lost my grandmother to cancer whom I was very close to. After the loss of my mother, I moved in with my father whom I did not know my entire life. His home was not the ideal place to be, and I ended up in the state’s custody at 17. Along the way I have dealt with tragedies, heartaches, breakups, death, depression, family issues and much more. I feel that I have overcome all these and plan to help people by using my experiences.

Perhaps this answers the biggest question of what qualifies me to give advice. My answer is nothing over what you have been through. I give advice because I love to help people. It is one of the main reasons that I aspire to be a psychologist. I may not have the complete, well-rounded education of a professional, but I do have the experience to help along the way.

I hope that you can find yourself trusting me with your issues in life and know that everything between you and me is confidential. If you would like to submit to the column, email [email protected]. I want to thank all the readers and am excited to receive your questions.

Sincerely,

Ryan Thompson

Advice columnist Ryan Thompson is a psychology sophomore and may be reached at [email protected]

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