McNair Program Scholar

Luna Coen (She/Her/They/Them) is working toward their Bachelor of Arts degree in English as well as certificates in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL); Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (GSWS); Transgender Studies; and Applied Learning and Essential Skills; and a micro-credential in Conversational American Sign Language. Luna is graduating cum laude in spring 2026.

Luna is interested in research within the education discipline surrounding marginalized student experiences, specifically queer student experiences as well as the effects of holistic education within the classroom. They are interested in doing both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Since starting college in 2019, Luna has received various honors and awards that speak to her academic excellence. These include being on Southern Oregon University’s (SOU’s) Provost’s List, being accepted into the NEW Leadership Oregon 2024 cohort, going to Phi Theta Kappa’s (PTK’s) Catalyst, and being a part of Lane Community College’s (LCC) All Oregon Academic Team. They also value giving back to their community, which they continue to do while at SOU. This is shown through her being a Pride Foundation and ME & Virginia Abbott Scholar as well as her time abroad in Thailand where she got the opportunity to co-teach at Roong Aroon, a pre-k-12th Buddhist school for a week. While there, they got to see first-hand the benefits of holistic education at the elementary school level while getting hands-on experience working with twenty first grade students. They also got the opportunity to lead their own activities with the students that they worked with. Luna has also engaged in various practica where she got field experience working with different students. These practica have ranged from preschool aged students to high school classrooms. One of these practica was at Territorial Elementary School working in a kindergarten classroom where they got the opportunity to work one-on-one with a student who was significantly behind in reading and writing to help the student make improvements. By the end of their time with this student, Luna saw great strides of improvement. Another practicum of significance was their time at Elmira Elementary School where they spent five months working with fourth and fifth grade students, taking on various leadership roles and making connections with the students that Luna worked with. During her time at Elmira, she got the opportunity to help students with papers that they worked on, attend parent-teacher conferences, and co-teach a creative writing lesson with one of the teachers that they got the opportunity to work with.

After completion of their undergraduate degree, Luna is excited to continue her educational journey through a Master of Arts in Teaching program where she hopes to further her knowledge of the benefits of holistic education and queer student experiences.

McNair Faculty Mentor: Dr. Amanda Casto, Assistant Professor of Education in the School of Education, Leadership, Health, & Humanities.