Hoffman, Pat

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:6837#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: Pat Hoffman grew up in Indiana, and graduated high school in West Lafayette, Indiana. She attended Purdue University for one year before switching to Carleton University, where she received her bachelor's degree in Psychology and Sociology, with a teaching major in English and History. After college, she married and had five children before deciding to return to school. She attended St. Cloud State University, where she received her master's degree in Counseling in 1964, and in 1982 received her doctorate in counseling psychology. Starting in 1963, she taught at St. Cloud State in the Sociology department for one year, then worked as a social worker for two years before being hired again by the university as a full-time counselor, a position she maintained until her retirement in 1990.

Transcript Summary: Hoffman described her upbringing and education, including some discussion on her life as a "change of life baby," a child born late in her parents' lives, and how that affected her life decisions. She talked about her college education, and how she moved from Indiana to Minnesota. Hoffman also discussed what led her to return to school after having five children, and how that led her to gain employment at St. Cloud State.

Hoffman described her career as a counselor at St. Cloud State, and how things changed in the 25 years that she worked at the university. She claimed that the faculty used to be much closer and familiar, and that there never used to be as much confrontation as she perceived there to be in the later years of her time at SCSU. Hoffman claimed that the students she counsels now tend to have much more serious problems than those students she worked with in her earlier years, citing drug use and institutionalization as frequent among those students. Hoffman explained her ideas about the relationship between St. Cloud and the university, stating that the college had a greater impact on the town than vice versa. She also discussed how during a time of rapid growth at the University, a lack of planning had a negative impact on the students.

Hoffman described the highs and lows of her counseling career. She claimed that the years during the Vietnam War were very difficult, as she would often talk to young men who were going to fight for something they did not believe in. She said that her favorite part of the job was working with and talking to her clients, the students.

Interview by Jerry Westby