Vikki Ritts expands on life as a college student
By: REDWAN SAEED
Staff Writer
Psychology professor Vikki Ritts teaches full time at Meramec and has for 22 years.
Ritts can relate to many of the students who attend STLCC because she was born and raised in St. Louis.
With Ritts having that connection with the students, it ultimately gives her a better look into what the students go through and face daily, whether that entails studying for finals, working multiple jobs or staying up late to finish assignments.
Before she set her sights on becoming a pyschology major and going to college, Ritts said she served pizza at Pizza Hut.
“I had a fabulous psychology professor that got me thinking that’s what I want, I want to do that, I want to teach psychology,” Ritts said.
Her psychology professor had such an enormous impact on her that even after 22 years, she still feels passionate about teaching, Ritts said.
She enjoys her career, appreciates the little things in life and is living the dream in her own terms, Ritts said.
Growing up she did not have much aspiration to go to college.
“Neither of my parents graduated from high school. My dad had an eighth grade education and my mom started high school but didn’t finish. So their goal was for their kid to get a high school education,” Ritts said.
Ritts wants her students to understand that the field of pysology is more important than just receiving a good grade.
“To recognize that psychology is a very applied field, even if you are not being a psychologist, you can look and think about a first impression and how important that is,” Ritts said.
Psychology is something that helped her become more aware of her mind and body.
“I really think that being negative or being around a lot of negativity is just not healthy either physically or mentally,” said Ritts.
Ritts tries to apply psychology to her life as often as possible.
“Always look at both sides and even realize when things are not good and how often they can be worse” said Ritts.
Ritts’s biggest advice for students is to stay tolerant with life’s struggles and being a college sudent.
“Be patient because it takes a while, but it pays big dividends because it seems like you are in school for so long, you will be in the work force for even longer,” said Ritts.
