Andrea Walker can remember playing on the stairs of the LRC building as a little girl,
long before the campus of ORU looked like it does today. Several of her family members
have been associated with ORU over the years.
After graduating from ORU with a degree in psychology, Walker went on to obtain her
master’s degree and then her doctorate. “I’ve always been interested in psychology,”
she says of her chosen field. “I’m fascinated why people do the things they do, based
on context and environment.” Walker also comments that studying psychology is a great
way to learn about oneself. She has used it to aid in her own character development,
and it has been tremendously useful.
In her spare time, Walker is a self-professed running addict and also enjoys reading
books about self-growth and spirituality. “If you want the truth, my research has
become my hobby,” she says with a wry smile. “Teaching requires a huge amount of
commitment.”
One of the ways Walker says makes ORU different from other schools is the involvement
of faculty in students’ lives. “Of course, you can’t touch the lives of everybody,
but we certainly try our hardest.”
Since she began teaching at ORU, Walker says that the thing she’s learned most from
her students is patience and simply “go with the flow” more often. She’s also learning
to value people and relationships more, something of which she may not have fully
appreciative in the past.
Walker challenges students to be open during the learning process. “Use perspectives
outside your own. You just might be surprised.”
