An Influential Education: Fall 2020 Graduate Clyde Miedema

Clyde Miedema (left) pictured with his aunt (right).

Clyde Miedema, ‘20, aspires to use his history degree to one day help shape history curriculum.

During his time at PNW Miedema is grateful to have had so many memorable professors. One of those being Wendy St. Jean, whom he found to be an excellent listener.

Early into his education Miedema expressed to St. Jean his concern about the lack of history courses related to LGBT studies and she worked to create them. Her efforts opened him up to this course of study.

Additionally, Miedema cites Kenneth Kincaid as being influential during his time at PNW. Kincaid’s passion and knowledge of Latin American studies provided Miedema with the opportunity to more fully understand his own Hispanic heritage in ways he had not previously thought of before.

Originally, Miedema had planned to stay at PNW for two years and transfer to another university. However, the exceptional faculty and the ability to attain a quality education so close to home made it easy for him to make the decision to stay at PNW to complete his undergraduate degree.

Of his decision to stay at PNW he stated,

“I felt all the needs for my education were met at PNW and being able to stay local allowed me to work and go to school, while also staying close to loved ones.”

One of Miedema’s goals after graduation is working to shape curriculum. He feels he can make a difference by helping to fill the missing history gaps that have been overlooked in textbooks and literature.

He stated, “There’s a lot of history ignored by academia and I hope to someday see that change.”