Tyler Swanson

Community-Academic Scholar: Tyler Swanson (he/him)

Project: Tyler worked with Prof. Chung-Yi Chiu and Illinois Joining Forces to conduct interviews with rural Veterans, military members and their families (RVM), and wellness service providers, and develop evaluations and educational materials aimed to diagnose and optimize their mutual interaction and partnership. Learn more about the project.

Mentor reflection: Prof. Chiu was impressed with Tyler's extraordinary capability during his work on the project this summer. "Tyler has an amazing learning mind and demonstrated patience and resilience to improve the project over time. He aims to understand what, why, and how we have worked with the Veteran community," said Chiu. "After working on this project, I hope sees how research can improve people's live and that he is inspired to continue his research career plan."

Do you have a personal story or path that led to your interest in this research project? 
Many of my friends have joined the military after high school and having grown up in a rural community I wanted to help develop resources that will help them.

What was the most meaningful part of this experience? 
Learning how to code with qualitative data.

What advice do you have for future scholars or to those who are interested in applying for the program?
Pick a project that has deep personal meaning as it will help you stay motivated.