How senior Lillian Goodyear created a path towards law school through her interests in computer science, digital communication arts, and history
Lillian Goodyear | Photo credit: Julia Wood
By Ellie Webb-Bowen, CLA Student Writer - May 28, 2025
Growing up in Southern California, Northern California, and Utah, Lillian Goodyear moved around a lot due to her dad’s job in the aeronautics industry. Following in her father’s engineering footsteps, Goodyear loved computer programming and UX design, but her interests laid more than just what was on a computer screen. Goodyear loved photography, physics, history, and was also on her high school’s water polo and swimming teams.
When Goodyear enrolled at Oregon State, she chose to major in the College of Engineering’s nuclear science program. While on campus, she also became immediately involved in KBVR-FM as a student disc jockey. Not long after, Goodyear discovered KBVR-TV through a mutual connection and began working as a camera operator for Locals Live, KBVR-TV’s long-running live music program.
"I showed up one day and never left. I think I kind of fell in love,” said Goodyear. “I started working at KBVR as a student volunteer, then I got a job as a producer during my sophomore year."
Goodyear’s interest in nuclear science began to wane during sophomore year. She was drawn to the digital communication arts (DCA) major through her time at KBVR, but also missed the computer coding she had grown up with and continued to utilize. She decided to double major in both computer science and DCA (and minor in history and physics).
“I saw changing to my double major as the best of both worlds,” Goodyear described. “I had been programming and designing websites for people on the side all along and wanted to continue exploring my creative side through DCA.”
The DCA curriculum provided Goodyear with the creative skills in video and audio production, as well as media theory, ethics, and law. It was Dan Faltesek’s class during her junior year, New Media Futures (NMC 260), that sparked Goodyear’s interest in law school.
Goodyear continued to work for KBVR-TV throughout her time at OSU, including producing Locals Live and The Way Too Late Show. During her senior year, she became a freelance technical assistant for both FOX Sports and the Pac-12 Networks, helping to produce OSU sporting events on campus. She also was elected to Orange Media Network’s advisory board, the student-run umbrella organization that manages both KBVR-TV and FM, as well as publications including The Daily Barometer, Beaver’s Digest, DamChic, and PRISM.
During her senior year, Goodyear continued to branch out. She became a Reser Creative Scholar at PRAx, and was appointed vice chair of the ASOSU Student Fee Committee.
“The work I did on the committee was almost entirely behind the scenes, but it was so influential,” said Goodyear. “Our committee was tasked with managing the distribution of student fees to organizations around campus. As vice chair, I met with leaders around campus to hear how an increase or decrease in funding from student fees would impact their work. Being on this committee was a huge step out of my comfort zone, but it was a challenge that I took to heart. I believe I was one of the first students to ever work at KBVR to also work in student government.”
Goodyear is hoping to attend UCLA School of Law after graduating this spring, with the particular interest in applying her DCA knowledge to law. "In the age of A.I.,” Goodyear explained, “I wanted to protect artists from their work being stolen. It's really important to have lawyers who have both a technical knowledge of A.I. and media background."