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I think that for current matter students pursuing their education is vital especially in this day and age. We need to excel educationally. We need to learn. We have to remember that throughout life you don't stop learning. >> Hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest stories about life after Manor College. I am your host, Kelly Peiffer, vice president of marketing communications, and this is the best part of my day. My hope is that this podcast will encourage, inform, and inspire you, making you feel like at Manor College

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you belong here always. Before we get to today's guest, it is time for a segment of the show I like to call, did you know? Where we will share some fun facts about Manor College that you may or may not know. Did you know that Manor College has two advertisements right now on the ever so famous Wildwood boardwalk in New Jersey? Wildwood is the place where it seems Philly people gravitate towards during the summer months and it is where we at Manor College have been advertising since 2021 on the boardwalk as a poster

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in their sun shelters. This year we have two really great ads. One featuring two of our Manor College alumni, Marta and Vera Penkalskyj. They are Ukrainian sisters who are also graduates of our sister school, St. Basil's Academy. And in the ad, it says, "You belong here in English and also translated in Ukrainian." Wildwood attracts many Ukrainians every summer for its very popular Ukrainian week, which is later in the year in August. Our other Sun Shelter poster features Manor College

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student athlete and a recent graduate Ronise Exile who was a middle distance runner on our track and field team. She was a pre- N nursing student and she came from Samuel Fels High School. We love seeing selfies with these ads all summer long. Our president, Dr. Perry, has made his way to Wildwood and has taken a selfie or two with the posters as well. making sure that vacation goers are always keeping Manor in mind. Today's episode is sponsored by Manor College's bird feed. Did you know that

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some Manor College students struggle with food insecurity? Manor College is proud to be an official PA hunger-free campus. Our bird feed food pantry provides a vital lifeline offering non-p perishable food and toiletries to those in need. But we can't do it without you. Your donation of canned goods, dry goods, or financial contributions help us stock the shelves and ensure that no one on campus goes hungry. Learn how you can help by visiting manor.edu/birdfeed. That's manor.edu/birdfeed.

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We have a very special guest joining us today. A true northeast Philly native. She's a proud graduate of Archbishop Ryan for the girls. Go Rag dolls. After high school, she earned her associates degree in administrative secretarial from Manor College in 1986. While at Manor, she was an active student serving as the treasurer of Alpha Beta Gamma. She was also a first generation college student, making her achievements all the more impressive. After graduating from Manor, she continued her education, later earning

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her bachelor's from Holy Family University and a master's degree from LaSalle University. She's retaught here now and her new full-time job is being a caretaker for her beloved children. Her dedication to Manor College has continued to grow for years and we are so happy to announce that she is a current board member on our Manor College Board of Trustees. She was also the recipient of the 2023 Evening with Manor Gala Award. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Stasia Mento Maloney. Welcome Stasia.

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>> Hi, Kelly. How are you? >> I'm doing great. Thank you for joining us today and talking to me. It is always a pleasure anytime we get to spend time together. >> Oh, thank you for asking. >> So, can let's start off with why how did you hear about Manor and why did you choose to attend? >> I heard about Manor through ads. I did not want to go to a four-year college. I wanted to go into secretarial. Manor was the best fit for me >> because there weren't many schools that

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were two years and there weren't many schools that would go into the secretarial field. >> Mhm. >> So, and also my parents really wanted me to go to college. >> So, I decided that this it was either this or it was no college at all. >> Gotcha. Why do you think your parents really wanted you to go? Was it because they didn't have the same opportunity? >> Yes. Because neither one of them graduated from college. My father didn't graduate from high school. He went into

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the military >> um when he was 17. >> Wow. >> So, it was very important for him. >> Yeah. >> To see his children go off to college. >> Of course. Of course. And that makes perfect sense. Um, being first generation is so incredible because not only is it really meaningful for the person, but it's also for the entire family. You're setting a new trend in the family, a new standard. Um, so I could see how that would really be important and and you as the as the

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student or as the child or the daughter feels some kind of pressure like I gotta I gotta do this for my mom and dad, not just for me, you know. >> That's right. which is really impressive. Um 65% of our Manor students today are first generation college students. So that's still a really big population that we serve on campus. Um and I I just love that so much. I'm always so proud of our first gen students. Um, something that they do at graduation, which is fairly new, but it's really really cool, is

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that if you're a first generation college graduate, they wear these white like stools and they really pop against like the um black regalia that they wear. And it's just so cool to see, you know, students are processing in and you just see these white stoalls, you know, filtering through and you just think about like the people behind them, cheering them on, helping them pay for college, and just all the things that go into a family. And I often find that the first gen graduates as they walk across

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the stage, they get the loudest cheers. I feel like their parents, their families, there's a lot of them. They're loud. They're excited. And I I just love it. That's one of my favorite like times and days of um the entire year for us as like staff who kind of see these students day in and day out. >> Yes. And you saw them grow. >> Yeah. Oh gosh. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Saw them grow and you just see what it means for their families. It's really cool. >> Um so what was your Manor experience

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like and uh kind of take us back to what it was like to be a student when you were here? When I went to Manor, it was it was one of my best times in my life actually. It was I did my best in school. I got the best grades even from high school. Um the atmosphere was wonderful. The teachers, they could do nothing less than help you. Um there's two teachers in particular that really stand out which was Esther Goldman. She was my stenography teacher >> and my typing teacher and then Joe

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Stenberger and he was the um religion teacher and they just it was a great experience. >> Oh that's great. Um, I love it when when when alumni say that like they like thrived at Manor and they saw a difference between like their high school selves to their their Manor College selves and um why do you think that was? Why do you think it was your one of your best times and you really um just excelled academically? What do you attribute that to? >> It was a smaller school and you could be

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a little bit more yourself. you weren't in uni. I went to Archbishop Ryan and you had uniforms on and it was large when I went. Um I think our graduating class had over 500 kids at least >> and it was just smaller and you could have a better conversation with the teachers. I think there's a different level when you're in college than high school. You can have different conversations with teachers. >> Right. Right. The level of maturity, professionalism, but also that smaller atmosphere that

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really helps you get to know people and for them to know you. >> Um, that's great. It really kind of let you open up and kind of have that adult experience in a college setting, which is really cool to hear. I love that so much. >> So, tell us about your career. you um you went on and got a couple other degrees, but then you went into a career in in counseling. Kind of tell us why was that your path and what made you passionate about counseling? >> Well, I started out as a secretary for

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several years. Um I started out at a little firm and then I worked my way into general instrument as a secretary and then eventually worked my way up a little bit in general instrument and Motorola took them over. Um, then I just felt like I wanted to help people. And I guess one of those reasons was because everybody would come to my cube and sit down and tell me their problems. That was one of the reasons. And I'm like, >> I I guess I have that face. >> And they would just tell me all their

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problems and I would help them. And I'm like, I really think I want to go into psychology >> and be more of a helper to people. >> That's awesome. >> So, I guess it was several years after I graduated from Manor because I graduated from Holy Family in 2005. >> Mhm. >> And then in 2012, I graduated from Lel. >> Right. But you were working, you know, that whole time. >> I worked the whole time. >> Yeah. You know, and I find that um a lot of people are doing that. They're

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they're working and they're getting degrees and it's not really just like you're just doing one thing at a time. You're juggling wearing many hats, right? But I love that you said people were coming and telling me their problems and I was trying to help them and um kind of had a natural knack for that. So, >> I think that's really cool that you're able to kind of fulfill that in a in a career sense. That's wonderful. Um, so I mean today I know that you are a board member um for

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our trustees which is which is really special and wonderful and you are the alumni representative on the trustees which is I think extra extra special um kind of because you have that like 360 experience of like I was a student and now I'm I'm kind of on the other side of it which is pretty neat. Why did you decide to join the board? Um, and what has it been like being a board member? >> I decided to join the board after I spoke to President Perry uh several times and I felt that I could help the students. I could help

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the other board members. I could offer a perspective that was different from some of the typical board members that are in business. I come with a counseling background. I come with um an alumni background. >> And I can speak to more of the students. >> Yeah, >> definitely. I in knowing you for a number of years now, when I think of when I think of Stasia as a board member, the word advocate comes to mind, like you are certainly an advocate for um support services here at the college,

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whether that be counseling, whether that be mental health, whether that be um LGBTQ services, um our food pantry, and like the list goes on and on and on and like all the things that like we want to surround our students with um so it's not just like academics but we want to support them holistically. I think of you as like the advocate on the board to making sure that we're offering it, we're doing it properly and we're getting the support that we need and the resources to kind of pay it forward, you

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know. >> Yes. And I think that's important and I think that Manor offers that to their students. Mhm. >> You know, just when we receive emails from President Perry, I think to myself, what president does this? >> He's a very connected individual with the students and I see how they respect him >> and I'm proud to be a part of an institution like that. >> Yeah, that's great. Well, thank you so much for serving in that way. I know it's um it's a dedication. It's a

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service for sure. It takes time. It takes energy. You guys have long board meetings and discussions and you're on subcommittees and um it is work in a sense but I'm really grateful that you um are have chosen to give of yourself in that way to us because it's really it's really wonderful for us to have your support in in that. >> Yeah. Um so a question that I like to ask is um about like busting a myth about your career. So, you were a counselor. Um, what's something that

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maybe people assume about counseling or about um that profession that you're like, "No, that's not right. I want to I want to, you know, set the record straight." What's a myth that we can bust about counseling? >> I think a myth is the counselors give advice and we don't give advice. We try to help the client work out what they need to do to get to where they want to be because giving advice is not the right thing. >> It's it's you could lead them down the

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wrong path. >> Yeah. They need to come to their own conclusions and it's a balancing act of not giving them advice but having them find the advice inside themselves. >> Right. That's a good one for sure. Um that's really good. And helping people find the solutions like guiding them to solutions and opportunity as opposed to you just saying this is what you should do. Um, I have to admit I think I I had that wrong as well. I thought that counselors just

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like gave advice and told them what they should do opposed to what you're saying. So, thank you for straightening that out for me. Um, so, so Stacia, what would be some advice that you would give to current Manor students? Why um why is Manor a good option for them? But also if they're a current student, like why should they continue pursuing their education? >> I think that for current matter students, pursuing their education is vital, especially in this day and age. We need to excel

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educationally. We need to learn. We have to remember that throughout life, you don't stop learning. You know, I'm learning what my parents knew. My parents learned what their parents knew. So, it's a constant it's a revolving door. Mhm. >> And just if you decide that you want to go four years to Manor, look into going to another four years or two years at getting a master's degree. >> Mhm. >> And it will help you as a person, >> better yourself, and gain more knowledge

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>> because I think that's what we need to do. >> Yeah. I like what you said how education is vital. Um particularly in today's day and age, but you know even you know 30 40 years ago the education is vital. It's still changing family trees. Um >> you know and it's really it's powerful education something that people can't take away from you. Um you know you always will have it with you and it's something that really can can change

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your life. So I think that's really important. something that I I want to kind of ask as kind of a final question is um you you were honored from Manor College with um we have every year evening with Manor gala and every year we have a a recipient who's made a really large impact on our community and in 2023 you were the honored. Um what did that mean for you and kind of maybe take us back to what that what that kind of was for you? Honestly, I was blown away because I had no clue that I was going to be asked to

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be the the honored because I thought I don't I I think we don't think we do what we do >> and it was a wonderful experience and it brought me closer to wanting to do more for Manor. It was a very nice experience. >> Yeah, it was it was a beautiful it was a beautiful time. Um it was a um like a in-person event. There was, you know, food, drinks, music, speeches. Um what I remember the most and I was um the person who kind of produced most of the the event along with our marketing team

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and our advancement team, but uh was your family. We um we made this video of tributes of all of Stasia's kind of close family and friends and they shared a few words about Stasia and we went around filming them at their homes and at their workplaces. One of your friends was was going to on a flight somewhere and we grabbed her before she flew somewhere and um it was so cool to to see and meet all your friends kind of behind your back which was kind of kind of interesting. But then um we put

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together this big tribute video and to watch watch you and your husband Dan um watch this tribute to you and I mean like welling up with tears and it was so special to kind of like see the impact you've made not only on to Manor but to so many others. Um, that's something that I really remember well from that night and just how loving your family was and is. Um, and how much they admire and look up to you and um, it really shows what you do at Manor is not just in a silo here at Manor. It's it's

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spreading out to lots of other people, lots of other ways. Um, and I think that's important. You know, something that I I like to connect if and when I can is how our alumni and our graduates are really like embodying our mission and living out our mission. Um, and I think I I I know you stage certainly are. You know, the last line in our mission says that Manor graduates are prepared to serve society effectively and compassionately. And and I have no doubt in my mind that you are doing that and you will continue to do

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that. Um because that's just kind of who you are and I think that's a beautiful thing. >> Oh, thank you. I I had no clue that my family was going to say anything that they said >> that night. >> I just kind of get up and I do my thing every day, >> right? >> And that's it. >> Right. Well, little by little it has, you know, a big impact. You know, those little things every day kind of add up to a lot. So, um well, Stasia, thank you for joining us today. It's been

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wonderful to chat with you and hear more of your story. Um, and we wish you nothing but the best. >> Well, thank you so much for having me. I I enjoyed it. >> Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you heard, listen and subscribe on Spotify or YouTube and stay up to date with all new episodes by following Manor College on Instagram at Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of The Nest, Stories about life after Manor College. Remember Blue Jays, you belong here always.

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being first gen. Uh they were very proud. So am I. Uh just proud of myself that I was able to, you know, achieve that. It's probably my biggest achievement to this day. Hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest stories about life after Manor College. I am your host Kelly Peiffer, vice president of marketing communications, and this is the best part of my day. My hope is that this podcast will encourage, inform, and inspire you, making you feel like at Manor College, you belong here always. Before we get to

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today's guest, it is time for a segment of the show I like to call Did You Know? Where we will share some fun facts about Manor College that you may or may not know. Did you know that Manor College's men's soccer team will travel more than,200 miles during the 2025 season? 1,276 to be exact. The Blue Jays have just released their 2025 schedule this week, starting their season on the road in Virginia to play Patrick Henry College. They then return to Jenkintown for their home opener on September 3rd against

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Penn State Lehigh Valley. The Blue Jays are coming off of a back-to back ES sack championship appearances and looking to return to the USCAA National Championship Tournament. So, what can you do with 1,276 miles? How about travel across Pennsylvania four and a half times? The distance our team will travel in 2025 is longer than Louis and Clark's first expedition from St. Lewis to North Dakota and Ponce de Leon's first voyage in search of the fountain of youth. Thankfully, you don't have to

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travel all 1,200 miles to see your Blue Jays as they will play 14 home games right here at 700 Fox Chase Road in Jenkintown this season. Go Blue Jays. Today's episode is sponsored by Manor College's Career Closet. Help Manor College students put their best foot forward. Donate your gently used professional attire to the career closet. Suits, blazers, blouses, dresses, accessories. Your contributions empower our students and alumni for internships and those important interviews. Visit the career

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center to donate or find your perfect professional look. Open 9 to 4:30 Monday through Friday. Email careercenter@manor.edu and schedule your donation drop off today. We have a great show for you today. Our guest is a Philadelphia native and a first generation college student coming from Abraham Lincoln High School just six minutes away from Manor College's campus. He went on to earn an associates degree in liberal arts from Manor in 2013. While at Manor, he was a student ambassador and a member of the men's

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soccer team. After graduating, he transferred to Brin Athen College to study business administration. He today is working in transportation operations management and logistics at Amazon. It is my pleasure to welcome Mike Redondo to the show. Hi Mike. >> Hey, thanks Kelly. Quite the intro. Um glad to be on. >> Thanks for having me. >> So happy to talk to you. So Mike, if you don't mind, start us off by um why did you choose Manor? How did you hear about it? And kind of take us back to that

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decision. >> Sure. So, um, as you mentioned, I attended a Ram Lincoln High School, uh, in Northeast Philly. And I would say Manor kind of chose me in a sense. Uh, Manor showed up at a college fair one day. And at that time, the admissions counselor was John Dempster. Um, and I was undecided, uh, and didn't know, uh, what to do or what I wanted to study coming out of college. Um, however, I did want to play soccer at the collegiate level. um saying that my friend was getting highly recruited um by John Dempster. He

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was a goaltender um at my uh at high school and I just shared to him that hey I don't have an idea. I kind of do want to play at the next level but I'm undecided in which career path I want to go on. And again JD made that entrance. He kind of told me what a Manor was all about, what uh, you know, the two-year programs they offered at the time, and how many students um, coming out of high school are actually undecided. Um, but that this is a good a good way to, you know, get your, you know, your foot in

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the door, um, knock out those general education courses, you know, that will that will be needed no matter which career uh, you want to go on. So, um, and I'm very fortunate and glad that I did that. Um it's definitely a big impact on my life on people that I've met. Um uh career after, you know, graduating and things like that. I'm sure we'll move on. Um but yeah, Manor has been a very very big uh part of my life. >> Oh, I love that. Um, growing up in the Northeast and going to Lincoln High

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School, which I know we get a lot of students from that particular high school, had you already been familiar with Manor to some level, maybe heard of it or families or any kind of like familiarity with it? >> None at all. So, it's actually just going to the guidance counselor's office one day and I said, "Hey, I heard this, you know, school through the grapevine, very small." Um, and she actually mentioned that I might like uh like Manor also. um because of my situation

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and how undecided I was um and how small knit it was. Um but before that, no prior knowledge uh of Manor. Um but then it's funny like once I go there, all of a sudden I meet all these alumni that I actually knew that went to Manor. Um that's kind of how it works out. >> That's so funny we hear that. I think um I feel like when you're on an alumni from over 10 years ago, so hopefully our our branding has done a little bit of a better job that where you don't have that as any much anymore, but I think

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it's common for people to like you're not aware of it, but then once you become aware of it, you're like aware of it because it's, you know what I mean? Um, so that's really cool to hear and it's great that you had a friend who was being recruited to play here as well and you kind of could could have someone that you know and >> definitely >> I think I think John Dempster who was he was a counselor then he's now an athletic director. He's still the head

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men's soccer coach. I believe he also was from Lincoln High School, right? >> Yes. Or similar stories. It's >> similar stories, right? Rail splitters, right? Is that what >> Lincoln rail splitters? That's it. I >> can hear him saying that um loudly in my head. So that that's so cool to hear. So once you became a student, um what was your Manor experience like? What were you involved with? Kind of what were your classes like? And kind of take us back to like what life was like for you

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as a student. >> Okay. So yeah, around like 2011 2013, the manor was uh again very small but very welcoming. Um very friendly place. whether you're, you know, taking a stroll in the neighborhood, Alvelthopre Park, across the street, the neighbors, um, you know, you know, they wave a hello, things like that. But, um, kind of the stranger not knowing what to expect, um, at Manor, um, being from the Philadelphia public school system. Also, um, I'm also, you know, first generation, so as I'm at Manor, I'm

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learning all these new things, um, with life on, you know, financial aid and and all the things. Um, but again, very welcoming. Uh, the soccer team definitely makes it easier. Uh, you know, you meet some familiar faces and some, uh, some rivals that you that were in high school, you know, now they're on your team, which is, uh, definitely, uh, a nice, but like rude awakening kind of because you got to get along now, you know, and you're on the same team to try to win. >> Yeah. >> But, um,

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>> very fortunate that happened. Again, smooth transition. My friend, uh, that was the goalkeeper ended up coming also. you know, we go in August, we do our routines. Uh we had John Dempster and Dan Campbell at the time, my first year. They were the coaches. Um and I just remember practicing in hot 90° weather uh at 9:00 a.m. Um but again, some of the best moments of my life. Um getting to know those rivals. Uh actually became very good friends with them. um the one went to Washington

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where we couldn't get past the hump in high school but now you know being a teammate now he's my best friend and uh I'm the godfather of his daughter this day so it's very cool and then another one as you see this prominent scar I had >> um I had an injury and he ended up coming to man and uh becoming my teammate also so um everything was for the first month I would say while season was soccer. Um, but then going on from that, >> uh, teachers were very helpful. Um, Annie Kop was my adviser and put me in

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everything that, uh, I should have been, but also think >> put me in what I needed at the time, >> um, to kind of help me, uh, find what kind of career path I wanted to do. And >> she was >> kind of more con uh, she was in psychology and then I kind of grew a liking to that and kind of dove towards that with the liberal arts degree. um >> classes again really really small so good. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. That that's so great to hear that like you felt like your transition from

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high school to college was fairly smooth. Um and I I I always think that like freshmen in college do so much better when they are a part of a group like you came in and like your group was soccer and that was like a little built-in built-in connections built-in friends. Um even if some might have been rivals but now they're you know hopefully friends. on the same team. Yeah. >> You know that that's okay. And I also love what you said how like you're now the the godfather of one of your college

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friends daughters. Like that's college to me is really it's about making those lifelong connections with people that like these are going to be your people and they're going to be your people for life through marriages and births and deaths and buying homes and like going through the the hardships of life together. So, it's really important to kind of meet those people in college, and I'm so glad that it sounds like you were able to do that as well. Um, but I want to talk about being first gen

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because being first gen is a big deal. And, um, I I love celebrating our first gen students, our first gen graduates. Um, I'm not sure if you know this, but 65% of Manor students right now are first generation college students. So, it's a it's a large population of who our current students are, but it's also we have a long history of like we've always kind of had first gen students. Um, what did that mean to you? And and I guess when you graduated, what did that mean for

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your family? But also like was your family supportive of you going to college or were they like kind of like, well, I didn't go to college and I I I turned out okay, so like why do you need to go? Like what was the what was the feeling of Mike going to college? That's a big deal. >> Sure. I mean, they were definitely really excited for me. Um, they did want me to go to college and pretty much have my own path in life. Um, they didn't uh go to college as mentioned. Um, but uh they did support me uh on my decision to

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go um obviously housing um and any other ways you know cheering me on at the games and if you know asking me about my day, things of that sort. Um so I definitely had the support. Um the toughest part was of course you know learning uh you know the trying to get accepted and things like that. Um but now being first gen uh they were very proud so am I. Uh just proud of myself that I was able to you know achieve that. It's probably my biggest achievement to this day. And also um just where it's taken

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me in life. Uh you know I worked in admissions a little bit after Manor. So, I built those relationships, but I just stuff that I can take with me um in the work uh place have all been learned at Manor. >> Um >> Yeah. >> Well, that's that's awesome, Mike. And I mean, major kudos to you. It is not easy to go to college. It is not easy to like be the first of your family to do something that no one has done before. the process, all the higher ed like lingo and is, you know, certain

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isms that are just only in higher education. Um, so that's really cool that you've kind of paved a way for >> other people in your family, cousins that look up to you, just people are watching, you know what I mean? Um, and that's a cool thing that you've been able to set that stage for them. So, I I think it's amazing and I can't give you enough kudos. something that we do at graduation um which as you were talking made me think of this um they now students if you are graduate if you're a

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first gen graduate you have like a special stole that you can wear and they're white so they really pop against like the um black and gray regalia that they wear and it's so cool to see you know hundreds of kids walk by and you see so many white stolls and I feel like those cheers are the loudest cheers at graduation it's the first and graduates are up there and their whole family is just going crazy. >> Mine is pretty loud also. Yeah, >> I love that so much. >> I love that. So, let's get into your

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career a little bit. So, you graduated from Manor, you go to Bin Athen, you get a business degree. Um, and then I know you worked here actually in our admissions office for a few years, which is great. We love having alumni work in admissions and it's we have we have an alumni right now in admissions, Damian. Um, and it's just it's great. It's what's a great selling point to show that, you know, you know the school better because you you've been you've been a student. Um, but now you're at

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Amazon. Obviously, everyone knows Amazon for many reasons. Actually, today when I was driving in, there was a story about Amazon on um the radio and they said Amazon is an ecosystem. And I was like, that's a pretty large statement, but I don't I think I agree. It is really an ecosystem. It is not just like a retailer or a media company. It is a it is much more than that. But tell us kind of what is your role and um how is it working for Amazon and kind of what is it like?

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>> Sure. So Amazon has uh been good to me so far. Uh I've been there since 2020 around the co time and uh you know it's five years uh going in October. Um but I am part of the transportation operations management side of things. Um so Tom team for short uh it's mainly logistics um but we um do some computer work as associates and also have to be hands-on sometimes and um we call it customer facing which is you know it might impact certain delivery reaching our consumers. Um, so we'll receive a shipment from a

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vendor, whether they're selling through us, we'll prep it, you know, package it up the way they like, and once we have the orders, we'll load it into a trailer, and then we'll send it to a little delivery station where they'll sort it out, and then it'll reach the consumer. So, I don't um deal with, you know, direct consumers, but what we do definitely impacts the uh delivery or the logistics of it all pretty much. What has been like the craziest item you've seen? I'm assuming you've seen

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some crazy items. >> Um, in our facility, um, for the most part, everything has to fit in a gallon tote. Um, so we won't get like the big refrigerators or televisions or anything like that. >> Right. Right. >> Um, but we literally sell everything, >> I'm sure. >> Yeah. Everything. Even these new gadgets um that that come out and I don't even know what they do yet, but >> Right. Literally everything. >> Do you ever look at stuff and you're

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like, "What is this?" >> Yeah, exactly. All the time. Yep. It'll fall out the trailer, too. And you're just like, "Uh, okay. Put that back in there. Don't know what it is." But definitely. Yeah. It's everything. >> That's cool. What is like um like a a myth or maybe a misconception about like working for Amazon or working in your role that you're like people might think it's this, but actually I can set the story straight. It's actually this. was

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like a myth we can we can debunk. >> Uh maybe that I have something to do with uh their package or me knowing when their package comes but other than that uh yeah nothing comes to mind right now but uh I don't know maybe have you heard of any myths maybe and then >> I mean I think people are always assuming that like the people who are packaging stuff are like so careless and just like you know throwing it all together and that kind of stuff. No, they're definitely um definitely

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well trained uh employees. I'm sure one can have a bad day here and there. Um but we also have robots. There you go. It is a myth. So sometimes >> um the person that's packaging uh the box might not be a human. It's actually a robot. >> You robots? >> Yes. >> So would you say that some of your co-workers are robots? >> Um no, not my my co-workers to say I guess. Yeah. Right. If they're the ones packaging and giving us an easier >> Yeah. >> uh transition on getting things out of

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the warehouse, then Yeah. Yeah. >> Do you find that are Yeah, that's crazy. >> Do you find that are you using AI at all in in your role or or not yet? >> They're starting not yet. >> Um it is a little how I say weird. They're not used to it. >> Oh, you can say weird. the the uh the truck some of them like the cell sometimes we get the semi-truck and they pretty much you know assist you in driving at all times we have cameras everywhere things that

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>> so they're like self the self-driving trucks >> in a way not like not like full Tesla mode >> right right you're not like falling asleep because like the okay but that's wild >> but like it'll stay in the lane for you >> and things like that so yeah I mean the technology is advancing they are going electric also Um they're still working on it. Um you can see probably most of the delivery vans are electric now and things like that. So they are definitely

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uh investing in technology and uh more robotics. Um so it is the future. We'll see. >> Yeah, that's that's cool. Um, would you say that I guess what value do you feel that like your Manor education gave you that you can kind of relate to what you're doing in your career today? >> I would say just working together as a group, you know, when you're in a such a small classroom. Um, we're pretty much all there to help each other succeed and pass the course. Um, and that's

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something I think you do at Manor. A lot of sure, you know, a lot of uh people learn, you know, in different ways and want to do it on their own. Um but I felt like when my time uh at Manor, you know, being in a classroom with 16, we would uh you know, take notes for each other if someone was missing that day. Um and pretty much just fill you, you know, get you up to par, get you up to speed so that you can succeed. Um, and I think I bring that to Amazon. Um, because say co-worker missed a meeting last week

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and, uh, now we're running a new destination with a trailer. I'm like, "Hey, like this is a new destination that we're going to, um, we can work together. If you have, you know, any questions maybe on a route to take, uh, I can help you with those things." And it's basically just being more communicative, >> um, with my peers, um, in a work setting. um doing things like uh podcast, Zoom meetings also when we at work um and even working at Manor helped me um you know in admissions when I did

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those uh fancy presentations during open houses >> in front of a group of people um they definitely helped me be more comfortable where I am today um and being able to approach anyone in a room pretty much whether you're you know the general manager or um you know someone that's um making sure the boxes get to where they need to That's great. So, feeling like Manor gave you some really good skills that you could take really anywhere. Communication, teamwork, um service. A lot of what you're talking

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about is like helping and serving others. And that's something that's really core to our mission. Um our mission, the last line in it in it says we prepare graduates to serve society effectively and compassionately. And sometimes you think like, oh well that's going to be someone's like a teacher or who works for a nonprofit, you know, someone who's doing pastoral work or something that's kind of more um like service to the community. But >> working at Amazon certainly is a service

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to the community. >> Um there are plenty of times where, you know, I I I maybe I just had a baby and I need something that next day for my baby to help her sleep or to help me as a new mom. and Amazon, you're like, "Thank God for Amazon." Um, you know what I mean? Like, so it is certainly it is a service. So, I I thank you, Mike, for kind of finding ways to keep um instilling those values in your work because I think that's really cool that you're doing that. Okay. >> So, my my last question for you is what

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advice would you give current college students who are they're in it, they're in their classes. Um maybe they took summer classes. We have, you know, the fall semester starts up in just a few weeks here. What advice would you have for them as a as an a proud alumni who's kind of been through it? >> Sure. So, my uh my biggest one looking back at it now would probably be um procrastination and prioritizing. Most definitely. Um, during my Manor time, I also worked full-time. Um, so sometimes

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I feel like my job got in the way of me, you know, getting my homework. Um, but what I can say is Manor has the facilities and the help uh, you know, to get you on track. Make a schedule, grab that planner, you have a little hour, two hour break. Definitely use the library, which is where I spend most of my time, if not there, the cafeteria. Um so prioritizing um also making sure um you know get out of your comfort zone a little bit. Um me I was a little bit more outgoing my time. So um

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just welcome others into the community. But that's what that's what Manor is all about. So whether um you kind of put yourself out there and you'll kind of you'll definitely gravitate towards it and feel it. But yeah, definitely procrastination for one. Um, and it will set you up a lot better in life like I'm talking about today, you know, with work and career-wise. >> Yeah, that's great. Well, Mike, thank you so much for sharing your story about

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your career with us. I know I found it really encouraging and inspiring. Um, and we wish you we wish you nothing but the best. >> Thank you, Kelly. >> You're welcome. Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you heard, listen and subscribe on Spotify or YouTube. Stay up to date with all new episodes by following Manor College on Instagram at Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of The Nest. Stories about life after Manor College. Remember Blue Jays, you belong here

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always.

00:00:00
[Music] Hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest stories about life after Manor College. I am your host Kelly Peiffer vice president of marketing communications and this is the best part of my day. My hope is that this podcast will encourage, inform and inspire you, making you feel like at Manor College you belong here always. Before we get to today's guest, it is time for a segment of the show I like to call did you know? where we will share some fun facts about Manor College that you may or may not know.

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Did you know that Mary Sims, a professor and longtime beloved faculty, has officially retired? After 33 years of dedicated teaching at Manor College, this past spring, we celebrated Professor Sims's legacy and had a retirement party for her. Mary's journey at Manor College began as an adjunct professor in 1992. Having after tragically lost her first husband, Manor College became a sanctuary, a place where she could pour her passion for law back into teaching, she found that something was missing

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from her work as a litigator. And it was in the classroom that she was rediscovered her true calling. Her impact on students is truly remarkable. Students have shared that Professor Sims would focus on we instead of I, helping them navigate college together. It's not just the students who will miss her. Her colleagues who hold her high in regard shared at her retirement party. Many, many stories and many, many lessons that they have learned over the years from Mary. Mary's dedication to her students,

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particularly those facing challenges, is a defining characteristics. Even in retirement, her commitment continues as she plans on to continue writing recommendation letters, empowering the next generation, helping her students and graduates find jobs while also spending time with her husband Rich, her dog, Sammy, and enjoying her home down at the Jersey Shore. We wish her all the best in her retirement. Congratulations, Professor Sims. Are you looking for affordable, high quality dental care? The dental

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health center at Manor College has you covered. Get the care that you need for up to 50% less than private practices. The dental health center at Manor College also offers Invisalign. You'll even help train the next generation of dental professionals. Visit manor.edu/dhc today and get your appointment scheduled. Today we are thrilled to welcome a proud graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School. She's a true testament to dedication, having earned not one but two degrees from Manor College, an associates in paralegal

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studies in 2009 and a bachelor of science and public policy in 2022. As a first generation college student, her journey is particularly inspiring. She's currently making an impact as a structured settlement specialist at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Helene Brooks. Welcome, Helene. Hi, Kelly. Thank you for having me. Yes, thank you for joining us today on the nest. So, can you start us off by sharing how did you choose Manor College? How did you hear about Manor

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and kind of take us back to that time? So I graduated high school in 1982 and at that time a friend of mine who was a year older went was going to Manor and you know I knew of the school. I met her there a couple times. We went out afterward. She didn't live there but you know it would be a meeting place. I went to a different school and did not have a great experience my own doing. um always knew that one day I wanted to go back. Well, it took till I was 40 in 2004. I was looking for a school and I loved

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what Manor had to offer in the sense of courses, you know, degrees and that that at that time they really catered to their older students. And I like that cuz I was definitely afraid of failure. I didn't want to be a two-time dropout. Sure. So that's how I got to man. Oh, that's neat. Um so so many times we hear stories about um an influential friend or family member who kind of got a student to Manor because they, you know, showed it to them or encouraged them. So, I love that that's part of your journey as

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well. So, what was it like being a student in their 40s and what was it like for you um in your first degree experience here back in um you know the early 2000s? So, it was it again it was very scary at first um but I felt welcomed. It was from Diane Pevar was my advisor and she just made it so I wanted to continue to go and all of the instructors and forgive me I don't remember half of their names. That's okay. Uh it just it just was welcoming and then I sort of relaxed and then lost

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that feeling of failure. I knew I could do it once I got through the first semester. And I just, you know, my biggest fear was uh composition because I could not write or I did not feel I could write and I learned how to write and I not only loved the class, that's what made me go back for a second semester is English comp. And I wish I could remember who I had because she was amazing. She used to come dressed as Shakespearean characters and she would handle class from the perspective of that character

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if we were when we would read um Shakespeare. And for the first time in my life, I understood it. Right. So she was great. And then I ended up taking a summer class with for English comp 2 and I was like, "This is great." Yeah. So there were like moments um early on that convinced me that I could continue to go and I did and I feel like I did pretty well. Um and I when I graduated, I always knew I wanted to go on for my bachelors, but you know how that is. You know, I tripped over life. I tripped over

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myself. um had some personal issues and but it eventually happened. So, I'm grateful. Yeah. Oh, that's great. And you know what I mean? So so many people think that you have to follow this like straight little arrow that's going to be like point and it's just not true. That is just not life. Life is this curve hills and valleys. Um so I think that's great to hear and I loved that story about your English professor. Um, so you were a paralegal student. Why? And and how did

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you know you wanted to study paralegal? Um, and like what where does that passion come from? Okay. I can't really say there was a passion in 2000. I was a I had just left a job. Um, it was a a hostile work environment. That's all you know. So, I sold my house and I moved back home with my parents and I said, "I'll be out in six months. I just need to, you know, find another place." And that's when I decided to go to school. Mhm. So, I thought insurance, medicine, or law. There are three things

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that no matter what the economy is going through, if you need them, you need them. So, I felt it would be the safest way to go. Insurance seemed boring. Ironically, I'm in insurance now. Um, I'm too emotional for medicine, though. I did go back to Manor and get my medical coding certificate. Oh, you did? Interesting. Yeah. So, I settled on law and I thought I can do this, you know, I can I didn't want to be a lawyer, but I knew I there was there were there was a place for me. Sure. And that's how I got to paralegal. I

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like that strategic thinking you had like one, two, three. Okay, let's narrow it down and let's just stick with one of these. Um, and you're right. I mean, those are three things that are never going away, never going out of style, always going to be in business. So, that's really neat to hear. What is something about um being a paralegal that's like a myth that like everyone thinks this thing and you're like, "No, it is not true." What's like

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a something you could debunk about being a paralegal? So, I'm not a traditional paralegal. Most paralegals have to build their time, which is I can honestly tell you I did do it for a while. It is not pleasant. Having to keep time of your day in six minute increments. Oh gosh. With everything you do. And if you don't track something, it affects your billable hours. And there are requirements. So that as much as I do, as much as people I think have always thought that paralegals do all

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the work and the attorney just signs their name, part of that is true. Part of that, you know, absolutely is true, but we're nobody without the attorneys and they're a little lost without us. So I think that's, you know, it's we feed off each other, right? It's this symbiotic relationship between the two where maybe the myth is like, oh, paralegals, they do it all and the lawyer just gets the credit. Um, but you're saying it's not. It's really a relationship and like a team,

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right? So with like what I do, I deal directly with my clients. I manage uh attorneys all over the United States that I work with. So, it's not all I I don't do all the work, but I'm definitely a an important part of the team. Sure. That's great. That's good. That's a good myth to debunk. So, you um you came to Manor and you were kind of an adult student and then you went out in the workforce and then you you came back to get a bachelor's and you said you always

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kind of wanted a bachelor's. Was the motivation for that just like I always wanted this degree and I better get one now or was there other things in the background that kind of motivated you to go get that bachelor's? So I I met my wife in 2012 and she always said from the time I met you, you said you wanted to go back to school and get your bachelor's degree. But you know, I had stumbled after I graduated from Manor. My dad died while I was in Ma getting my associates. I graduated and a year later my brother

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died and my mother lived with me and I kind of cared for her. She was capable, but emotionally and mentally, you know, you lose a spouse and then you lose a even my brother was an adult, but still as a parent, um it's not the way it's supposed to be. So, I just kept tripping over life. And a friend of mine sent me an email in 2017, I guess it was, and said, "Hey, did you see the Manor went to a four-year added four-year um degrees to the school?" And I was like, "No, I hadn't seen that."

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So, I went online, checked it out, and that was it. It was like the stars aligned and it was time. Oh, how cool. Yeah. In um in 20 2018 we launched bachelor degrees and that was we had a bunch of alumni who kind of were like finally here I go I'm going to come you know and that was so cool to have you back and now you joined us as a as a student and then COVID hit. um what was it like being a student and and also being a working professional in COVID kind of what was that experience like? So it actually it actually helped me co

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because I didn't have you know I work full-time and I work in the city so I didn't I no longer had that hour and a half commute every day 45 minutes each way. Yeah. So I get a little bit more sleep in the morning. Yeah. Because I sort of roll out of bed and world with the desk. Sure. Um I didn't have the travel after work. Um and then coming home having dinner and Yeah. I have a home to take care of also. Sure. Um at the time my wife traveled for work. So when COVID hit stopped her traveling too.

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So I'm at one end of the dining room table and she's at the other. Right. So we worked and then her she works better at night. So it was sort of like support in that I'm sitting there after work continuing to work with school and she's still sitting there also working. So it was it was nice. It was it gave me that we were to be able to be together and still be productive in what we both needed to accomplish. Yeah, that's that that's great. That's such a good like you don't often hear

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people share like positive things about the COVID era, right? Usually it's pretty negative for and for good reason sometimes, but that was a really good um positive kind of take on that situation. Um I remember you specifically Helene at your graduation in 2022. you were one of the last ones to get called up for your diploma because you were getting a bachelor's degree and that's just the nature of the processional. And I remember you turned to like the audience or maybe our

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photographer Anthony or one of our photographers was there and you were so excited. You were like so excited and you just had this great big smile on your face and it was just pure joy. Um, and that's exactly what, you know, we who work on planning graduation and these big ceremonial days. Like we just, that's why we do it. We want to see students just have that moment of like, I'm so proud of myself and I'm just so joyous that it's over, but I did it. And you like encapsulated that perfectly in

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that day. And I still remember that so vividly. You were right there, right in front of me. And I was like, look how happy she is. That's awesome. So major kudos to you for pursuing because it's not easy. It's not easy working full-time, getting a degree, and just living life. It's hard. It really is hard. It was so worth every moment of, "Oh my goodness, I'm never going to get this assignment in on time. Oh my goodness, how am I going to get all this done?" I was really proud of I still am

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very proud of myself. Um I overcame a very big personal issue also. Um and I believe that I'm a recovering alcoholic. I overcame I am in recovery for 10 years now. So I did I you know I got my associates degree through my addiction. M I had a 36 and I thought look at that through my addiction I had a 36. Wow. In recovery I had a 40 for my bachelors and my reason for sharing that because I don't share it often. I I you know it has to have meaning when I share it outside of um my recovery group. Mhm.

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If I can overcome something like that, so can everybody else. And you can move forward. It's never too late to get an education. Mhm. I'm 61 and I am starting my master's program in two week in four weeks. Wow. Five weeks. I'm blown away first of all that I was accepted. Um, and that I'm doing it. It's I amaze myself on a daily basis. And I'm very fortunate. My wife is my biggest supporter. Here we are looking towards retirement, making sure we're doing everything right

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because we're getting close and here I am taking out loans so I can go to school. Um, but in her eyes, she said it's education. It's good debt. It's not. We don't not educate ourselves because we're afraid of money. If we want it bad enough, there are ways. Right. Right. Wow. Well, that's so encouraging. My goodness. Thank you for sharing. And congratulations on 10 years of recovery. I mean, that's amazing. And I love you said I had a 3.6, then I had a 4.0. So, um, sounds like you were

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just, you know, definitely someone who is certainly capable, but, you know, really excelling in in a higher education environment. Um, so talk to us a little bit about what you currently are doing in your career and in your role and at the firm that you're at. So, I am what is called a structured settlement specialist. I work um in our insurance group and I work with uh structured settlements and annuities. Anybody that's ever watched late night TV has seen the commercials for JG Wentworth. You want your money now

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called JG Wentworth. The difference being that JG Wentworth is what is called a factoring company. So they're not the owner of the annuity. They're just a middleman. They're a third party who's getting involved. I work directly for the insurance companies, the owners of the annuity who as a courtesy to their clients will buy back their payments. So, it's one two there. There's no third party in there. And I, as I shared earlier, I deal with attorneys all over the United States,

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which is one of my favorite parts of my job. Mhm. I have met so many people that today I honestly call them my friends. Drinker has 13 offices I believe. It might be more and I might have really messed that up but that's okay. I work with people in almost all of them. Wow. You know and I manage seven projects for seven different clients. I have three attorneys on the team that I work for or work with because we are a team and I'm busy all the time there. If there's downtime, I have work that I push to the

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side that doesn't have to be done right away that I catch up on. Um, but so that's what I do. I I and I am the only person in the firm that does what I do. So which is kind of special and right right specialized and um unique unique very much so and and stressful you know when I Yes. you know, it's not like I can say, "Well, you know, I'm going away for two weeks. Can somebody who's going to back me?" You know, so that's always a struggle when I go on vacation. How to

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handle it? Because the attorneys don't there's only one attorney that knows how my job, right? She's the only other person in the firm that knows my job start to finish. She's too busy to do it and her job. So, um, you know, I'm more than willing to take my laptop with me on vacation and when there's an emergency or something that somebody I can't talk somebody through. If I have to do it, I do it, right? I'm I'm willing to do that. I was taught at a very young age from my

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father, you never say no if you're asked to do something on your job. Period. Right. Well, that is that is great. It's cool to hear that. like you are essentially like irreplaceable at in what you do, but also that your um you know, your career has been pretty fulfilling. It sounds like it's been something that um really like fills you up. This position has. Um I've been doing this now for 10 years. Uh I've had many other jobs. I had other positions in the firm. I've had I

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managed a hearing aid um company. Um I worked in manufacturing. Uh I worked in banking. I've done a lot of different things. I have now been with the firm for uh I can't add uh since 2008. 2006 actually. So 19 years. Yeah. Almost 20 years. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. It's the longest I've ever been anywhere, any one place. So obviously it's it you know was the right decision for me back in 2005 to get a paralegal cert uh associates degree in paralegal studies. Yeah. Take take you back to your three options

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insurance medicine law. I think you picked the out of those three you know pathways you picked the right one for you. That that's so cool to hear and thank you again for sharing so much of your story with us. I mean, the goal of this podcast is to um encourage, inform, and inspire our audiences, particularly our students, and then any prospective students who are thinking about coming to Manor. And I I really I I hope that they resonate with your story and feel encouraged by it. I know I certainly do.

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As we kind of wrap up our episode here, um I always ask our guests for any advice that they have for current Manor students who are in it. and you know just um living the college life and it it's it's hard sometimes depending on what you're doing and whether you're working or taking care of a family or you know just taking classes. So what advice would you give them as someone who's been there done that and kind of can see it from another angle? Well, first and foremost, it's never too

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late to get an education. So if you have to take a break between high school and college, so be it. I want I wanted to work. So I did. Um and at any age we can be taught, we can learn every day. We should learn something. Um and do something you love. Just absolutely do something you love. And I will say the I guess the caveat to going later in life because every time I take a class I say I should have done this when I was younger and had the stamina. There's something to be said for going on my terms, not my parents' terms and

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not, oh, I'm right out of high school. I should go to college. Right. I went when it was time when I was ready and I'm still benefiting from it every day. my master's degree. I pro I'm not going to work in at my current job past the age of 70 probably. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But what it affords me to do is teach and I can continue to give back that way. So just never give up. Just keep going. And if you want more schooling, get it. It's if there's a will, there's a way.

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Yeah. No, that's great. I love um I I love all that you said, but particularly what stands out to me is like go when you're ready and that there's some really good benefits to to having that mindset and like you want it, like you're more motivated because like it's what I want. It's I'm mature enough to understand that I'm not doing this for someone else. I'm doing this for me. I think there's some really good um things that come out of that when you have that

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mindset for college. I I do want to point out, Helene, you know, I was as you're sharing your story and kind of talking through um your own perspective on things, so much of what you've shared aligns very very well with the Manor College mission. And I I I say this sometimes to guests who I just feel that they align really well. But in our mission, we talk about um how manner we believe when you're a manor student, graduation is just the beginning of a a a life of lifelong learning. And I feel

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like for you that's very true. Um but then also, you know, we want to prepare students to graduate to serve society effectively and compassionately. And those are the two words that we use, effectively and compassionately. And it just feels like that's something that you're definitely much aligned with. and even your future goals to give back and teach. Um, that's a service and I just want to thank you so much for being such a great testament to our mission at Manor College and really just being a

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really I'm really proud to call you an alumni. I'm really proud to call myself an alumni of Manor College. That's great. Well, thank you Helene so much for joining us today. It has been a true pleasure to talk to you and we wish you nothing but the best. Thank you Kelly. It was my pleasure to be here. Thank you. I am honored. Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you heard, listen and subscribe on Spotify or YouTube. And stay up to date with all new episodes by following Manor College on Instagram,

00:27:05
Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of the nest, stories about life after Manor College. Remember, Blue Jays, you belong here always. [Music]

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[Music] Hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest stories about life after Manor College. I'm your host Kelly Peiffer, vice president of marketing communications and this is the best part of my day. My hope is that this podcast will encourage, inform, and inspire you, making you feel like at Manor College, you belong here always. Before we get to today's guest, it is time for a segment of the show I like to call did you know? Did you know that for the for the past 20 years, Mayor College had a Civil War

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institute which offered individuals the chance to explore the complexities of the American Civil War through a series of engaging courses often taught by experts from the Delaware Valley Civil War Roundtable. It delved beyond basic facts, aiming to provide a new perspective on the error's pivotal events, key figures, societal impacts with topics ranging from specific campaigns, prominent generals to lesser known incidents and aspects like Civil War medicine or the horses of the Civil War. The institute has since expanded to

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the broader the history institute at Manor College and classes are taught all year long. You can see what is being offered right now by going to manor.edu/coned. Today's episode is sponsored by Manor College's certificate program in religious studies. The world is changing fast. Want to truly understand cultures and bring a fresh perspective to your career? Dive into Manor College's certificate in religious studies for less than $250 per credit for 12 credits. You too can explore world

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religions, bridge gap of neuroscience and religion, and unlock new insights. This is your moment. Register today with just a 10% deposit. Learn more at manorcol.edu/certificates. We have a truly special guest today. We are chatting with someone who's inspiring and proves that the path to success isn't always in a straight line. Our guest started their academic journey right here studying liberal arts, not only excelling but graduating as the valedictorian in 2005 with a unique connection to the

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institution. Her own mom was a beloved professor. That foundational experience helped her build a robust set of skills providing the clarity and confidence to transfer to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. Now today they are applying that diverse expertise in a really fascinating role managing the brand advertising program at a Fortune 500 company Troric. Please join me in welcoming a Manor College alumni EJ McNiff. Hi EJ. Hi Kelly. Thanks for being with us today. Thanks so much for having me. This is

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really exciting. It is. So, can you start us off by sharing obviously I usually ask people like why did you choose Manor and how did you learn about it but for you um your mom worked at the institution so I'm assuming you heard about it maybe even too much at the dinner table at home every night. Yeah. Every night. So why then did you choose Manor? Because you could have gone somewhere else I assume. Um, and what made it for you like, okay, I'm gonna go to the school even though my mom works

00:03:19
there. Kind of. What was that like for you? Yeah. Um, well, definitely I knew about Manor and I heard a lot about the offerings. I got I kind of got an inside scoop to see the teachers. I knew the teachers. I knew the programs. I knew what they were offering. So, I saw how much work went into the program and I knew the school had a lot of good offerings. But to be honest, when I was in high school, I did not have a clue what to do with my life after high school. Um, I knew I liked art, but I know that that's a challenging one to

00:03:54
figure out how to pay the bills on. Um, and I didn't really know what to do with that. Uh, I had a few dabblings in I worked at a real estate company and I worked at a restaurant. um but didn't really have a clear direction on what do I want to do for my entire rest of my life. Um and I did apply to several different schools, but really at the end of the day knowing that Manor was somewhere that I was familiar with. I knew that they had the broad offerings of liberal art. So I could dabble. I

00:04:29
could explore a lot of different things and try to make sense of that and make connections through the two years I was there. Um, it became a pretty clear decision that that would allow me to one live at home and save a lot of money um and also the benefits of uh the tuition and my mom working there. Um, but that gave me two years to be able to save up some money um before transitioning to a a four-year school with really stellar grades that allowed me to get in um once I had that time to make a more solid decision of where I

00:05:09
wanted to go. I love that. I love um that you were like, "Yeah, I don't know what I want." And I that is so true. So many college students still they come in and they don't know um I think the the average college student changes their major two or three times in a in a normal like four to five years of their experience. So like it's hard it's hard to know what to do but I mean major kudos to you for being like I don't know what I want to do but this is a good opportunity I have

00:05:40
to like be okay with that and like try to figure it out. Obviously, it's a good economic decision. Save some money, live at home, and and try to kind of get those steps into transferring, and then also like use that time to like get really good grades, go into that transfer opportunity as a top candidate. Um, I think that's awesome. We see so many students coming to Manor to either get their grades up because they didn't do too well in high school or because they want to come here. I see pre- N nursing

00:06:10
a lot. students will come here for pre- n nursing because they're not ready to go right into a nursing program whether it's financial or grades or something else and then they they do really well in our pre- N nursing program and then they get they finally get to go to like Roxborough or Jefferson or wherever they wanted to go. So I think that's a really smart strategy for um students coming right from high school. It kind of gives them a bit of a you know like a lead way to like take time. It's okay. kind of also takes

00:06:41
the pressure off a little bit. So, um I love that. I love that that's part of part of your story. And so, when you were a student, what was what was Manor like for you? Were you involved with different activities? Um any classes that you can recall or any professors that you can recall that kind of stood out to you? Yeah. So, um I at at the top of our call, we were talking about Mike Landis, um and Mattie Seltzer, and um that was my very first class coming into the school as a nerdy freshman, not knowing

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what to do or where to really really go, no friends. Um, but that that was a an English class, English literature, and I just remember, you know, we watched movies and then we dissected the heck out of them. And I had never thought about something as simple as just a movie that I was watching every day in those different ways. And it pushed me to write and learn how to write about things, you know, in a way that I hadn't done in high school. But just the challenge, like the fun of being in a class of people that had

00:07:56
totally different backgrounds for me and pushing these different ways of thinking that I had never explored. That was definitely a theme while I was at Manor that I I loved so much. like being in a room of people and challenging each other and you know just being okay to say the wrong thing and and not knowing really what you're talking about but you know we had uh Mattie Seltzer and Mike Landis to kind of guide us and say hey did you think about this and I think that was that process through that class

00:08:32
and also um Frank Frell my religion classes I I didn't really have a desire to go into the religion space, but it was a requirement for the course and that those classes were some of the ones I enjoyed the most just because of the you know the thought process of thinking through things different ways and you know world religions and um connecting dots I had never thought about before. The whole experience of a lot of the classes was kind of opening up this new curiosity of if there's something that

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is interesting, I don't have to memorize everything and just go through the motions. I can just be curious about it and go about learning it in my own way. And that's what I think the the real benefit of not knowing what I wanted to do coming out of high school and just being open to, you know, explore and try my best and realizing that as a fresh start. I think having those good teachers when I started was the right footing to get me motivated. But that in combination of realizing this is a clean slate. this is my

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opportunity. No one knows me. You know, the schools that I may want to go to in the future don't know me. The career opportunities, you know, don't know anything about me. Like, this is my clean slate. And when I got like those first A's, it suddenly became this like self-competition that I I wanted to know as much as I possibly could and keep it going, you know? Yeah, that's so cool. I love I love that clean slate perspective. And that's what college is for. You know,

00:10:18
you can leave your baggage behind. We're going to going to be here to support you and help you um create, you know, what you want it to make out of. You know, you want it to be that that top tier student who kind of like takes it all in and like does all those things. And that's really I think that's really cool to hear. And I think a lot of students come in with that perspective that they're like, "Yeah, you know, I don't want to bring the high school baggage with me or the transfer baggage.

00:10:43
I want this to be my new home. And I think that kind of is a testament to our tagline, you belong here, is kind of like that that is kind of what we try to do and make our students feel that way. So that's awesome to hear. What was it like um being a student and seeing your mom kind of around and what was that like? Uh we've had a few students whose parents work here. I one right now I can think of. Um, so it's it's fairly common year to year, but kind of what was that

00:11:16
like for you? Yeah, it's funny thinking back. Um, I definitely did run into my mom. Um, sure. It's a small campus. No, I knew where the offices were, so I would go up and see my mom and I knew a lot of the other teachers because she was very close with them. Um, but I think that was the nice thing about that time in my life is she very much kind of let me go and figure it out on my own. And I had the benefit of if I was looking at something or I didn't understand how to to pick something or

00:11:55
how the credits worked or, you know, that definitely was a huge perk that she knew it in and out and she could say, "You're really going to like this. you may struggle with this. Um, so that was a huge perk that I definitely owe her a debt of gratitude for helping me to navigate. But, um, she really let me let me explore on my own and participate in things like, um, Rotoak. She was very very involved in Roak and kind of showed me, um, the opportunities with that. We got to do a lot of uh community activity

00:12:29
and um we even ended up going to my boss's house and painting his basement. He was a quadriplegic uh designer and we got all these activities that one looked good on our college resume, but also like we were meeting people, we were doing things as college students with these other students in our class and it really brought us together. There there's two students in particular, Marshall and Brian. You know who you are. They haven't been on the podcast. They've got incredible stories as well.

00:13:04
Um but having that experience through Rotto but then also through school um you know really really helped us bond and I think I I was able to have the full college experience um without feeling you know too too sheltered or too overshadowed with my mom over my shoulder. She was really good about letting me figure out fall move forward however I I could. Yeah. What what good what good like boundaries because that's I think that'd be hard as I um and I'm thinking about like I'm a parent and I'm I'm far from

00:13:45
the college years thankfully. like that would be hard to, you know, not want to kind of like keep your kids protected and but it sounds like she found a really good balance of like being there when you needed her for like advising and like the kind of advice part, but then also like let EJ do her thing and um I'll be a mom and not, you know, a college professor, but I'll be I'll be her mom. So really good for her doing that. That's that's really cool. Um, so EJ, kind of tell us about your career

00:14:15
path and kind of what you um have have been working in and working on. Um, kind of obviously it's been a while since graduating from Manor, so you don't have to go go that whole journey, but kind of tell us about what are what are you doing today in your career? Yeah. Yeah. So, um, uh, today I'm working as an advertising manager for Tever Price. Um, and so what that means is Tier Price is an asset manager. People invest money and Tier Price manages that money to hopefully make you money. Um, and they they do a really

00:14:54
good job at that. So, it's good working for a company that has a solid brand. Um, and I have the opportunity focusing on advertising and promoting to people to make people aware of that, but also managing our creative partners. We work with partners outside of Torric um to build the stories that will convince people um that what we have to offer is interesting and relevant to their lives. So, right now we have some spots on TV that uh we created. Uh I think it's the beginning of 2024. Can't believe it's been that long. Um

00:15:38
got to go out to LA and shoot these ads at Universal. And um it's a whole story about how uh the power of curiosity can help deliver better outcomes and better insights. And through asking questions, you're able to uh get a better understanding of the right decisions to make in life instead of just freezing out of fear, you know, or jumping to conclusions. So it's a really fun job. I really love my job because we get to make these cool creative stories. Um, and then we get to bring forward the visuals that

00:16:21
represent that and study audiences and understand what they um are interested in, what uh gets them motivated, what is likely to make them engage with our brand. Um, so it's a really fun job. Uh it has been a long process getting here. I started um uh in graphic design. I after Manor I went to graphic design school uh Rodan School of Design and you know that fully blew up my mind on the creative process and thinking outside of the box. Mhm. Um then spent three years as a designer in Baltimore and then when 2008 hit and

00:17:05
the markets did terrible and we saw a lot of layoffs in our company, that's when I realized there's all these other sides of the business that I'm curious about. I'm really interested in like social media was suddenly becoming a big thing. Um business development and how do we get new people to want to use our services as a design firm? Um, there were all these other sides of the being a designer that I didn't formally have a degree for, but I did have this liberal arts experience for Manor

00:17:38
that I was seeing being tapped for that. Um, basic business communications that was one of the courses that had a huge impact. Mhm. Um, so I realized there was sort of this niche of being a creative problem solver um that other people didn't have. So I had the creative context from going to Rhode Island School Design, but also being able to think about business and strategy and how we could engage with different audiences. And it's definitely been a unique angle that I've been able to craft through my experience

00:18:21
moving on from being a designer to then becoming um a brand strategist for a university and then moving on to Tro Price to do brand advertising. Um like you said in the beginning, not a clear path. Um, but all these different experiences have been things that, you know, as I've been working, I've been seeing these things. I think I'm good at this. I think there's something there. I don't know what it is. I'm going to check it out. I'm going to explore it. And some of those explorations have been

00:18:56
giant leaps that are terrifying. Um, but I've definitely embraced the feeling that you don't ever have to be decisive that this is the only path and you can explore those things. It's going to take a lot of work and you have to commit that you're going to put in the work to explore those things. But I remember when I applied for tier, I applied for like over 40 companies. I had a spreadsheet and it's a hard process figuring out where's the right place to apply your skills. But

00:19:35
through that process, you know, I was really able to to refine what my story was and understand what I was really good at and where it could apply or not. And I think that's really paid off hugely because I absolutely love my job at Tro now. Oh, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much for kind of sharing that with us. And I think it's so cool how like a liberal arts degree can go so many different ways. No, like no two people who went and got a liberal arts degree are the same like ever. It's always

00:20:10
unique. It's never this like cookie cutter career or cookie cutter journey. It's just not it's not the way it is. But it's so cool that you were able to like start piece mailing together almost like all cart like I have these skills. I have these skills, I have this passion, I have this interest. And then it's like you're building um kind of your own, you know, journey, your own career. Um as someone who studied design and and is a creative person, I'm just curious

00:20:40
what's like what's like a brand that you really love their their design and their their brand right now? I'm just curious because I'm someone who also finds these things fascinating and um works in marketing and just looks at this kind of stuff a lot. Um design wise, I'm trying to think um I mean there there's a lot of different design brands. I've been more um interested in their like marketing tactics and um like the Barbie movie. That's the the big one that was just

00:21:20
so blown out of the water with they hit the world with every possible thing you could think of. And it was just so smart how they, you know, were in every conversation. They were in every experience. Like anywhere that you were, Barbie was. And yeah, and their branding was so good. I mean, every red carpet appearance was a different version of Barbie through the years in Margot Robbie's outfits. Like that was like that's branding actually continuing the brand just in a different form. Like how that that's a great

00:21:54
example. I love that. Yeah, we saw that in like Wicked. Wicked did the same formula where they took that pink and green and they've just blown it up and put it everywhere. Yep. And um not so much a brand example, but Yeah. No, but still. Yeah. But just like the smart approach of the strategy behind it. I think I've loved kind of learning about the different way of thinking about how to how to engage with people. And it's not always just about the design. I think when I started, I felt all this

00:22:28
pressure that the design had to be the perfect thing and that's such a subjective thing. So I was so worried. Mhm. But as I've kind of moved beyond just design and added on this layer of business strategy and audience profiling, it's understanding, you know, different things resonate with different people. Y and you know, it's funny. I had a boss who worked for AOL and he would say he if you remember like those CDs you would get in the mail Mhm. all the time. Yep. He was the one sending those out.

00:23:08
And he said what they learned is they could put any picture on that CD and it didn't matter. It was the message that they had to get the message right and the message had to go to the right houses. And I do think that the design does matter because if you put some ridiculous thing with a really good message, it might make people a little confused. But the power of a message is so important. It is. It's so important. I agree. you know, in 2016, I was part of the Manor team that redid our our branding, our

00:23:41
logo, and and I was I was lucky enough to lead that. Um, and we spent so much time on the design of our logo, on the design of our shield, and on the design of our athletic uh blue J bird. And I stand by it, and it's I think it's great. almost 10 years later, it's still holding up well. Yeah. But the thing that people talk to me about and constantly tell me is the you belong here is what they take away from it. Like the logo, they're like, "Oh, I didn't even notice

00:24:12
like all that symbolism and there's like all these little buildings like, oh, that looks cute." Like they that doesn't But it's so funny even doesn't matter if they're an 18-year-old or a 60-year-old or it doesn't matter what where they come from. It's like you belong here makes me feel something. Yeah. So that so it's like okay messaging and stories. Stories are what we find. Stories just every stories is everything. People want to connect with something or someone that makes

00:24:42
them feel something. So stories are the thing. Yeah. I get hit by your social media ads a lot or your organic posts and I love it. Yeah. You're doing that so well at Banner. We are we are trying um to do it really well and we have a really great team here who kind of we all understand that like the stu our our our motto in the marketing team is that like the students are the hero of our story. We are not. We are just like the vessel that gets the students to where they need to go.

00:25:11
But like we want to make sure the students are truly the ones that are being the hero being painted in the picture. And that's kind of our method. Um but EJ kind of one final question here for you. Like what advice would you give to current Manor College students um to kind of inspire them and encourage them to keep on their studies. Yeah. Uh you don't have to settle. This isn't the end all be all. Be curious. Um and you know be open to anything. Take in what you can. Not every class is

00:25:49
going to be the most interesting. Um, but there are little nuggets of excitement and inspiration that you can take out of that that could have relevance in something else in your life. And I think looking for those things is really what kept me motivated and making those connections. Um, I have gone full hog on all things AI and I just love how, you know, I'm I'm using that as basically a consultant to say like, how should I think about this? You you guys have so much access to AI now and using AI as a tool to think

00:26:29
through when you see something, how could I think about this? How could I do this differently? It's a great opportunity to just brainstorm all your possibilities and you know there's so much access today. Um so you know the options are limitless. Don't be afraid to feel locked into one thing. You can explore. Your path can change and you're fully in control of that if you're willing to put in the work. Oh, thank you so much. which I love. I love anytime people encourage others to

00:27:02
like stay curious and to stay um kind of open to possibilities. I think that's really really important. Something that I like to end out our episodes with is just referring back to our mission. You know, our mission at the college here is to really prepare students to graduate to serve so society effectively and compassionately. And in that we want students to always be lifelong learners. We say that in our mission and I think um whether it's AI, whether it's other technology that we don't even know

00:27:30
about, but like staying hungry to learn more is really important um to have like a human experience. So, I'm really glad that you said that because I think that's really true to what we're trying to do here with our students and I'm really I'm so proud of you as an alumni. You are certainly living out our mission. Um and I wish you nothing but the best, EJ. Thank you so much for spending time with me today. Thank you so much. Thanks for doing this podcast. Thank you for tuning in today. If you

00:27:57
like what you heard, listen and subscribe on Spotify or YouTube. And stay up to date with all new episodes by following Manor College on Instagram at Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of The Nest Stories about life after Manor College. Remember Blue Jays, you belong here always. [Music]

00:00:00
[Music] Hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest stories about life after Manor College. I am your host Kelly Peiffer vice president of marketing communications and this is the best part of my day. My hope is that this podcast will encourage, inform, and inspire you, making you feel like at Manor College you belong here always. Before we get to today's guest, it is time for a segment of the show I like to call did you know? Betsy Ross is known for sewing the first American flag and Betsy Ross spent some

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time here on Manor's campus. So Betsy Ross was married three times and had seven daughters between those three marriages. Most interesting to Manor College is that Betsy Ross was connected to the Satterwhite family through her daughter Susanna. Susanna married William Satterwhite and the Satterwhite's property stood on where the future of the mother house for the sisters of St. Basil the Great would eventually be. A mother house is essentially like the convent of where the sisters live. So Betsy Ross lived

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with her married daughter Susanna right here in Jenkintown in what we call the Yellow House. The Yellow House is still a current standing building today. It is just a few hundred feet away from where I'm sitting. It's on the sister's property. The yellow house is where Manor College initially started in 1947 with 11 students taking classes right in that yellow house. So, back to Betsy Ross. In 1827, when Betsy Ross was 75 years old, she moved in with her daughter Susanna in this yellow house.

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And it is believed that Betsy Ross spent the remainder of her life here in Jenkintown in the Yellow House. She passed at the age of 84 in 1836. So there you go. Manor College has some connection to an American icon. Pretty cool. Philly fans, get ready. Join Manor College alumni and friends night at Citizens Bank Park. July 19th, Saturday night, 2025. We are cheering on the Phillies against the Los Angeles Angels. Plus, kids 14 and under get a free Brandon Marsh jersey giveaway. All friends and family of Manor College are

00:02:23
invited. Get your tickets at manor.edu/alumni/phillies. Go Phils. Today we have a truly special guest. We are thrilled to welcome Hatboro PA native having attended Upper Moreland High School before coming to Manor College. Our guest today earned an associate of science degree in business medical secretarial from Manor in 1987 after transferring from a community college. While at Manor, they were an active member of the Pacers Club. After graduating, they continued their education at Gwynedd Mercy University

00:02:58
and today they are the proud executive director of the St. Raymond Nonnatus Foundation. Please give a warm welcome to an Anne DeSantis. Hi Anne. Hi, Kelly. It's great to be here with you. Thank you for inviting me. Well, thank you for being with us. It's always good to see you and to talk to you and kind of hear about what's going on in your life. You're always pretty busy and doing a lot of different things. So, it's good to hear that we'll hear about that a little bit later on.

00:03:26
But, can you start me off with how did you first find Manor College? How did you hear about it? I have to give my mother the credit. She was the one that told me about Manor. As you said during the intro, I was attending a community college in the area and I was thinking about transferring because I I was basically wanting to get into a different career aside from what I had originally started the community college for. And so that's how it all came about. I love that. Give mom the credit. That's

00:04:00
that's awesome. It's so funny. the more alumni I talk to, the more that like that similar um story comes up. A lot of moms particularly are really influential in the college search and the college decision. So, shout out to all the moms out there who um are kind of helping their their kids find their way. So, what was it like being a Manor student and kind of take us back, what were you involved with? Can can you explain what the Pacers Club was and um just kind of what was your Manor time

00:04:33
like? My Manor time was amazing and what I liked the most about it was the community and my classes were just amazing. Wonderful professors, wonderful instructors. And at the time it's a program that's not one that you're offering anymore because it's kind of an obsolete one. I guess it was a medical secretarial but a business degree really an associate degree in business and I was one of those students who did work as well. So I was there during the day but I had a job in the evening because I

00:05:08
was a commuter. I live in the I lived in the area. I lived as you said in Hatboro Pennsylvania and I was involved in the Pacers club. I didn't have a whole lot of extra time to be involved in lots of other clubs and activities, but the Pacers club was fun and exciting. I got to meet some great people and we helped to organize some wonderful events on campus. So, that that was really a great memory for me. Oh, that's cool. So, it was like um like a student activities club almost. It was an activities club for sure.

00:05:41
You know what? We still have I mean that still exists today. We still have um it's called CAB. It's campus activities board and they're a group of students who get together and they help plan student activities like um every year in February we have like a blue jay ball. It's like a dance. They help plan the dance and they decorate and they promote and sell tickets and um they sell concessions at our basketball games which I know is pretty popular but like the same idea students planning events

00:06:11
and having like the business aspects in it. Um that's really cool. That's really awesome. I also loved how you said that, you know, Manor was like this kind of like small small community for you and it was really embraced you and you came from a community college so that you know that was different. Community colleges are bigger and um tend to be overwhelming. So, I'm glad that you found Manor to be kind of what you're looking for. But it's so funny. You know, your story is is very relatable

00:06:42
today. I mean, most of our students work, most of them work full-time, they commute. A lot of them come from other institutions and they transfer to Manor. So, like those kind of same pathways to college are still very, very relevant. Where did you work when you were a student? I worked in offices. is there were a couple different offices that I worked in, doctor's offices, and it really lined right up with what I was in school for, because what I was interested in was getting involved in working in uh

00:07:13
the medical field and medical offices. And so, it really just lined right up with what my mission was at the time. But, of course, it grew over time. And uh as you said, I did go on to get the bachelor's degree from uh another university and continue my education actually which is a beautiful thing. Uh in 2021 I got a master's degree and then believe it or not this past year I actually finished with a doctoral degree in Catholic theology which really helps with what I do now as an executive

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director for a nonprofit. Yeah. Oh my goodness. I love that. I love it when I hear about alumni who like got their foundational start at Manor and then kept going. Um, education is such a powerful tool. No one can ever take it from you. So, it's just so great when I hear stories about. So, congratulations to you, Ann. That's awesome. What an achievement and what a what just like great perseverance like I'm going to keep going. I'm going to get a doctorate. the the stats of people

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who have doctorates, particularly women, is is pretty low still. So, it's always really impressive when you see anyone getting a doctorate, especially women. So, congratulations to you. That's wonderful. Thank you very much. Yeah. Can you kind of tell us what was so after you graduated um with your bachelor's kind of what was your career path and what did what did you go into? Well, thank you. I was very inspired by my instructors at Manor and also at the university I went to after I was

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finished there with my bachelor's degree and I became interested in teaching. I've always loved people. I've always loved instructing. It was something that really was an interest of mine and I loved my classes and I really learned a lot by observing some of my teachers. Uh one of my teachers at Manor was just amazing and she was one of my primary instructors when I was there was Esther Goldman. So, make a shout out to Esther. She's retired at this point, but uh she really did have a big impact on me. Uh

00:09:17
and then at there was also at the time the guidance counselor at Manor, her name was I believe it was Marylou Delysia. She was also amazing and she was the one that she could see in me that I wasn't finished with schooling when I finished at Manor that I had this thirst and desire to want to go on to get the bachelor's degree. Um I I was able to get a scholarship from Manor, which was amazing that Manor gave me a scholarship to attend um the next university that I went to and and I was successful and

00:09:48
finished there. Got the bachelor's degree and I was teaching. I in fact um to make a long story short, I was an instructor right across the street at what is no longer there, but St. Basil Academy. I was a business instructor there for a few years and after that time I wound up uh having a family. I have two wonderful daughters now a grandmother as well and uh I was home for a number of years. In fact um I actually was a homeschooling mother. I homeschooled my kids and got back into the workforce once they were around in

00:10:23
high school. and I've been working for this uh Catholic nonprofit now as the executive director for almost eight years where we make pastoral outreach to families in crisis. It's called the St. Raymond Nonnatus Foundation for Freedom, Family, and Faith. And so that's what I've been doing over the years, over these last, you know, eight years or more um involved in in in that nonprofit world and doing some other things, too, because I'm actually a Catholic author and speaker. I'm with

00:10:53
the Catholic Speakers Organization. Uh I've written some books. In fact, uh if anyone wants to learn about some of the books that I've written, you can just go to my website. It's andantis.com. Learn a little bit more about what I've done in addition to working for the nonprofit. Oh wow. Well, thank you so much for what a like a rich um description of you and your career. And I mean, what great like the word that comes to mind was service. like what great service to your community, to your family. I mean,

00:11:26
staying home and being a working, you know, a homeschool mom, and that is service all over the place. Um, and then getting back into the career field, working at a nonprofit, helping pastors, helping families in crisis. I mean, that it's so wonderful to hear that, um, you're giving, you're just giving back in so many ways, and I think that's really encouraging and inspiring. Um, can you tell me a little bit about the foundation and what are maybe some of the um, you know, things that you would

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like to share about it or what's maybe some projects you're currently working on right now? Oh, I really appreciate that and thank you so much for your kind words. I really do owe so much to Manor and those beginnings because uh, I think that what I learned at Manor just was such a foundation for everything in my life. So I just thank Manor in so many ways. My instructors, it just of the sisters, the staff, it was just fantastic. Um the foundation that I work for actually it's called as again St. Raymond Nonnatus

00:12:30
Foundation. It was founded by a Catholic religious order. They're called the Mercedarian Religious Order located in West Philadelphia. And what we do is we make free pastoral outreach to as I mentioned uh individuals and families in crisis. So, it could be anything from a relationship crisis, maybe something to do with um a a divorce or separation, job loss, trauma, loss of a loved one, health crisis, all those things that people go through. People can reach out to us and get a free appointment with

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one of our priests. We also have a prayer intention line where people can go to the website. The website is nois.org. We have a a confidential prayer intention page that people can send those in and our priests and brothers are always praying just as I know the sisters at St. Basil always keeping everyone in their prayers too. And that was another part of Manor that I really love was just the interaction with the sisters as well. And uh and so that's what I do. I I I try to help people help people who are going through

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challenging times through the work at the foundation and we do a lot of retreats in the area. Um, another thing we're doing which I'm really excited about is we have an Italy pilgrimage coming up in November. You asked about projects or things that are going on. Um, that's an exciting thing that we're doing at the end of this year, November 3rd to 13th. Somebody wants to learn about that. It's on my website andantis.com or the other website that I just mentioned, nonazis.org. Thanks for

00:14:00
asking. Oh, wow. That that's great. So, it sounds like you help people then help people. you know what I mean? You're giving um as a foundation executive director, you're giving tools and resources to those who then can go out and actually serve and help. Um what a great gift. What a what a great mission that is. I love that. Um a question that I've been asking our guests as of lately is asking for them to like debunk a myth or a misconception about um something that they're involved

00:14:31
with. And I think for for you a a good one might be like what is a myth or misconception about um people of the Catholic faith and and something that you want to debunk that maybe people assume is true but you are someone who obviously um knows the Catholic faith very very well um that you can kind of debunk for us. Well, let's look at what the word Catholic means. it means universal and the Catholic faith is concerned for not just Catholics, for everyone. Um so those prayer requests that we get, you

00:15:08
know, could be for anybody that's watching or listening right now. Um we care. Um as we as we know, I mean, we just lost Pope Francis, but we have new Pope, Pope Leo I 14th. Um already I'm just very excited about his charism and what he offers. And uh Pope Francis was also wonderful. So many of us just love him and miss him. Um but uh Pope I think Pope Leo the 14th is also doing an amazing job so far. I mean he's brand new. We're getting to know him day by day. Um but just keep in mind, you know, that

00:15:40
the church is there for the world. The human family, we're all part of the human family. Uh I think the Sisters of St. Basil, the way that they opened their doors um in a way of offering education in the community both at the college level and when St. Basil Academy was in existence for so many years. It was amazing for me to be involved in working there and uh and also a graduate of Manor. I'm just so proud of both. Um, and looking forward to the future and and also just I I love to

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continue to tell people about Manor and and what Manor has done for me in my life and and thank the Sisters of St. Basil, which actually they really did help me in so many ways, even with my faith as well. So grateful to them. Yeah. Oh, that's great. I love I love kind of the idea of like it's part of the human family. It's universal. It's not just for quote unquote Catholics. It's for everybody. Is there any um any plans in any of your works to meet Pope Leo I 14th? Is that going to

00:16:43
happen at some point, do you think, or not sure? Well, you're giving me a chance to say this publicly. I want to meet Pope Leo the 14th. I'd absolutely love to. The good news is when we go to Italy at the end of this year, November 3rd to 13th through Trinity Tour travels, by the way, if you want to look that up, um we will be in the Wednesday audience of Pope Leo the 14th, meaning that every Wednesday the Pope, you know, has an audience where people can go and get a blessing, listen um listen to his

00:17:12
homily. So, I think that uh or whatever he's offering that day, his he gives a speech in front of thousands of people. So really looking forward to that. And I won't be meeting him in person, but um I sure hope I do someday. It would be a wonderful experience. Oh yeah. And he's uh you know he's got some Philadelphia roots that you know everyone knows being a Villanova Villanova guy. So it's really cool. Really cool. I hope that happens for you an and um certainly we'll be following

00:17:42
along closely if and if and when it does. Um I just want to touch on you know you talked about you taught over at St. Basil's Academy, which every day, um, you know, our campus sits directly across the street from it. And every day they're getting construction. It looks like a, you know, complete construction scene, huge, you know, bulldozers and excavators and things. And it's sad. It's it's sad to to see something that was um such a core to our mission, the sister's mission, um,

00:18:17
being gone. But at the same time, you know, you think about it, you reflect upon it, and you think what a great legacy it had. It was it was there for a very long time. It served and and taught so many um young women, and they're all out in the world still living through that that mission that they learned at SBA. So, I I have hope and faith that those girls are out there doing awesome things in the world and they they stay in touch with each other and it's just always good to um connect

00:18:46
with anyone from SBA and kind of hear their their stories as well. Um and then, you know, it is also good to know that the sisters are going to be okay because they are able to um they're able to sell, you know, part of their their their property and that's going to drive their mission longer and forward and they're going to be okay because of that. So that does give me some peace um when we're seeing, you know, buildings being bulldozed and um they took out all their beautiful ch they used to have

00:19:15
cherry blossoms lining this entire walkway and they they pulled those out as like one of the first things they did and a bunch of us were out there watching it and taking pictures and it was it was sad, you know. It was really sad. Oh, I I understand. And in fact, I want to make a shout out for anybody who might be watching. I'm still connected with quite a few of my students when I was there on Facebook and that's a real joy to watch them and see them grow over the years. Um, and there is a

00:19:43
Facebook group too for those who attended. I'm part of that group even though I wasn't a student but I'll tell you when you're a teacher there it's you get that experience a full experience of the school and it the close-knit um celebrating our faith together. It was just a absolutely fantastic experience for me. I will never forget u and I know that the people who are connected those different classes you know I was there in the early 90s and I can tell you that I can see that they

00:20:14
are still a lot of them are still in touch and that's really what's important isn't it? They're just keeping those f those bonds. It's like a family bond that they have together as a graduate of St. Basil Academy or as an instructor like I was. Yeah. Yeah. It's cool. I I had the opportunity to coach over at St. Basil's for a few years for field hockey and lacrosse and it was a great it was a great gig for me. I got to I got to leave work, you know, at 3:00 or 3:30 every day and go coach for a few

00:20:44
hours and it was really really cool and unique um for me to be able to to do that and and meet the girls and and work with them. So that was really special. So definitely holds a special place in my heart as well. Um, Ann, I guess I want to ask you, you know, what what advice would you have for um college students of today who are, you know, maybe hopefully they're at Manor or maybe they're high school students thinking about college and where they should go? Um, what advice would you

00:21:13
share with them kind of from what you've learned in your in your life? Well, from what I've learned in my life is that it's not where you start, it's where you end. But that that start that I had at Manor really contributed to where I am today. Um when I was in high school and by bringing up that little quote there, I'm talking about when I was in high school, I honestly wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. I was one of those kids and that happens quite a quite a lot I

00:21:41
think in life is that uh did I want to go straight to work? Um I went to community college but I was very unsure of myself. I was not really convinced that the direction that I was taking at the very beginning at community college was where I belonged. And I know that one of your taglines is that that that you belong here, right? There's something to that effect. And that is exactly what Manor did for me. It really gave me that um foundation as I use that word before because like I said, it's

00:22:13
not where you start, it's where you end. When I was in high school, I didn't know where I was going. And I never would have guessed that decades later that I'd be where I am today, that I'd finish a a PhD, a doctoral degree in theology, and doing what I'm doing now. And being an author and a speaker, and being able to help people the way that I do through this Catholic nonprofit that I work for, I never would have dreamed that. So I would just say that Manor is a wonderful place to start to give you

00:22:43
that foundation and gosh you just never know where you'll end up meaning in terms of following whatever god's will is for your life because he he has good plans for all of us and that's for sure and I never would have guessed that at the very beginning but it's not just for me it's for everyone so I think manor is just an amazing institution that I highly recommend to anyone both inside this greater Philadelphia area and even those who are watching this podcast who don't live in the area, come to

00:23:14
Pennsylvania. Come to the Philadelphia area. It's a great place. Manor's, a wonderful institution and I think you'll be very happy with your decision. Well, thank you for the shameless plug. I appreciate it. Um, but I think what I think what you said about it's like it's not where you start, it's where you end. But like kind of tying that back to like but your foundation is still like your base, your root. You build off of your foundation. So it's really important to um have a strong foundation and one that

00:23:44
can help guide and direct you to where you want to go. Um something that I as we're talking and I'm hearing your story and you and I have chatted quite a bit before so I'm familiar with it. But when I when I think about you I think about service. I think about um and how like you are a global like person. You are a global um you have a global reach. I feel like someone I don't think you're just helping like a a neighborhood or an area. You are touching people all over the world. Um and I think that's really

00:24:18
really cool. But it ties back to our mission and this is kind of what I want to hit on. You know, in our mission, we say that we provide personalized education and then that education is going to foster a commitment to a peaceful world and empower students to develop as individuals and as a global citizen. Like those are exact words. I'm going off memory here, but that's pretty much what it says. And I feel like that's you. Thank you. Um, so thank you so much for being just

00:24:51
a true testament to what we're trying to do here at Manor and a true testament to our mission and and finding just finding people that you can help and serve through your ministries and through your work. Um, and being really dedicated to that. It's really inspiring. Well, Kelly, I have to say you're inspiring to me as well with the work that you do at Manor and also just as a human being, a mom raising three kids. um just a a great person to know. I'm I'm so glad to know you and also the

00:25:21
connection that we have through the place that we love so much, right, Manor College. Yeah, I know. It's a great place. And thank you, Ann, for being with us today. It's truly been a joy and a blessing to talk to you and I wish you wish you nothing but the best. And as we like to say to our alumni, you belong here always. So, thank you, Ann, so much. Thank you. And to everyone, God bless you and wish you the best with your future endeavors. Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you heard, listen and

00:25:49
subscribe on Spotify or YouTube and stay up to date with all new episodes by following Manor College on Instagram at Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of The Nest, stories about life after Manor College. Remember, Blue Jays, you belong here always. [Music]

00:00:00
[Music] Hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest stories about life after Manor College. I am your host Kelly Peiffer vice president of marketing communications and this is the best part of my day. My hope is that this podcast will encourage, inform, and inspire you, making you feel like at Manor College you belong here always. Before we get to today's guest, it is time for a segment of the show I like to call Did You Know? Where we will share some fun facts about Manor College that you may or may not

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know. So, did you know that Manor College is currently enrolling students for our fall semester? And we're offering a program called the You Belong Here Advantage. Now, this program was designed to help students launch into college without the usual headaches and worries that might come with starting into a college experience. So, when students enroll as a new full-time first time student, they get some free really great, incredible perks at no extra cost. One, they get a free laptop filled with Microsoft Office 365 ready

00:01:08
to roll. They get free textbooks for all of their courses. There's a few exceptions for some of our allied health programs, but for the most part, if you're a student at Manor College, you're not going to have to pay for textbooks. They also get free four meals a week at our dining hall. So they get a meal plan that students can use for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Up to four free meals a week in our dining hall. And the last benefit they get with this you belong here advantage is they get to utilize tuition free summer classes for

00:01:40
the following summer. So students can take summer classes in the summer of 2026 to kind of keep their college degree moving, get caught up on maybe classes they need to, and still not lose any time and really at and really a very minimal tuition free cost. This is a great benefit. I'm really encouraging people to check it out. It's called the You Belong Here Advantage. You can go to manor.edu edu and look under our admissions area and you can learn more about it and get your application started today. Today's episode is

00:02:11
sponsored by Manor College's School of Continuing Education. Elevate your career with a professional development certificate from Manor College. Boost your skills in business, cyber crime, child development, or leadership. Affordable, flexible, and designed for working professionals. Certificates can be completed in as little as 9 months. Learn more at manner.edu. edu/certificates and advance your future. Today we have a truly special guest today. We are thrilled to welcome a dedicated educator making a real difference in our

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community. Coming from Philadelphia, attending Agora Cyber Charter School, then going to earn her associates degree in liberal arts from Manor College in 2016. From there, she continued her academic journey earning a dual degree in special education K through2 and general education from Western Governor's University. Today she is shaping young minds at Cherry Hill public schools, specifically at the Malberg preschool. She also serves as a school's representative for access and opportunity. Please give a warm welcome

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to Mariah Carol. Hi Mariah, thanks for joining us today. Hi, thanks for having me. So can you start us off by sharing how did you hear about Manor College and what made you decide to attend Manor? Well, I was homeschooled growing up and I wanted a nice transition into college life. Manor seemed like a nice cute quaint little school family community. I thought that it would be like a good transitioning step for me. That's great. I've never heard anyone describe Manor as cute. So, I really love that. Um,

00:03:53
personally, I think that I think it I think it's cute. I think it's cute. I think it's cute. Sure. Cute, quaint. But right, that transitional that foundation before you were going to go other places and do other things and back when you attended it was before we launched our bachelor degrees. So most of our students, they either got a career right away or they transferred to get more education. So that's really important, I think, to note there that we didn't offer bachelor degrees um back in 2016.

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So you're an OG according to, you know, us. That's pretty neat. Um, so kind of what was your Manor experience like? Were you involved in any activities? And kind of what did you think of your classes? Um, I wasn't really involved in any activities. Um, again, I was kind of just getting my feet wet with being out of the house and doing my education. Um, my classes were great. Uh, being a liberal arts major, I took so many different types of classes which helped me narrow down exactly what I wanted to

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do. I met great people, great professors. Um, Professor Small Arts has been I mean to this day my favorite professor. He just gave me a love for learning and when he taught it was as if he was telling a story. So it didn't feel like I was in class. It felt like I was like listening to a podcast or watching a movie. And I love that. Yeah. Um Dr. Smalars, he was a history professor. Um who's now at a different institution and we wish him nothing but the best and he telling a story is a good really good description

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for how he taught. It was definitely he is so knowledgeable about so many historical things particularly like Philadelphia history. Um he actually wrote a book for Manor um a number of years ago maybe know it was around our 75th anniversary which was back in 2021 and um he wrote like our Manor College history book um like one of those like historical books that you see in like you know Walgreens and about like different towns. He wrote one about Manor. Um, and it was really cool to kind of watch him go through this

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process of learning about the sisters and and Manor and kind of our our really like hyper local area. That's great. And I I think it's great that you talked about how like being a liberal arts student gave you a little taste of lots of different things so you could kind of narrow in on what you like. Um, so when know you were here for two years and then you decided to transfer. What were your next steps and what was kind of your next plan after transferring? Um, my next plan was to really figure

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out what it was I wanted to do with my liberal arts, what direction I wanted to go in indefinitely. Um, ultimately I decided nursing and I applied and I was accepted into Um, however, I had an experience there um with racism that kind of changed my career paths. Um, meeting with my advisor, I explained to her the importance of me wanting to become a nurse and that was the major that I wanted to do. And she looked at me and said, "People like you have a hard time in the sciences." And um I kind of just stood there for a

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minute, you know, just to make sure I was hearing her correctly. And I said, "What do you mean by that?" And then she shows a picture. She pulls up a picture on the computer of this black man and say, "People that look like you two have a hard time with the sciences." So at that point, I kind of just like got up and left. Um, it was really sad that I had to experience that because I never had the best experience with teachers or school or education in general. So that was just like another kind of like fuel

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to the fire which ultimately helped me shape my I it helped me shape who I wanted to be in the future and it helped me realize who I didn't want to be and I wanted to be someone who inspired people and gave them a love for learning and a place of safety and fulfillment other than maybe breaking someone down and making them feel sad about themselves. So that's basically how I got into education. Um again, like I've never had the best experience with education, teachers, bullying, with just anything. and the Westchester thing kind

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of just added fuel to the fire and I knew exactly what kind of educator I didn't want to be. Wow. I'm so sorry you had that experience. Um it's just hard to really understand where that advisor was coming from and like just it's so wrong on so many levels. We all know that. Um, but I think it says so much about you and your character in that like you took that situation to say like, okay, this is actually what my passion is. I need to become an educator. I need to help others feel not this way, you know, and

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change change this narrative because frankly it's not true and I'm going to be part of the solution. Um, absolutely. And I mean that was that's incredible that you were able to kind of like pick yourself up and let's get on this path to becoming an educator. Um and I mean you you've become an educator. You're working at as a preschool teacher. Um and I I saw that you got an award a best of exceptional educators from South Jersey magazine. I mean so not only have you become an educator, you've become an exceptional

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educator that's getting awards in magazines. What does that what does that mean to you to have that kind of recognition particularly this early in your career too? It means the world to me. Like I am so honored to have gotten that award. Um it makes me feel seen. It makes me feel heard. It makes me um I know this is going to be cut. Sorry. Yeah. I'm like stumbling on my words. It's fine. You're good. Um, I'm looking for the word that I want to say. It makes me feel seen. It makes me feel

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heard. Um, and it definitely makes me happy that I chose to be an educator, right? It just it like gives you that reassurance that like, oh yeah, I picked the right thing. I did the right thing. I decided to do preschool because like with school you start young with if you like education or not. Yeah. So my whole thing was if I can get kids to love education and going to school and learning at an early age that will be the foundation for their learning moving forward. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um,

00:11:35
just as like a personal note, you know, I have I have three small children, 6, four, and one. So, I'm very much into the preschool age. My oldest is just finished kindergarten. My middle is going she's been in little preschool. She's going to like real preschool next year. And my one-year-old is just she's just one. She's just having fun. But like, I fully as a parent see so much value in like elementary educators, particularly preschool educators. I mean, it is it is hard because you're trying to teach them like school stuff.

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You're also trying to like teach them social skills, personal space, bottle body things, you know, about your own body and going to the bathroom and tying your shoes and, you know, like blowing your nose. Like, it's not just teaching curriculum. It is a holistic. It is everything. 100%. So, thank you so much for what you're doing. Oh, absolutely. I mean, I get exhausted at the end of the day, but that's okay. I fully understand that 100%. Um, but that that is so cool that you are able to kind of like see

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your own like educational journey and now kind of like almost like a full circle moment like being able to do this as a career. Feel like a full circle. Yeah, that's beautiful. Um so Mariah as we kind of like wrap up our time together, what advice would you give to like current Manor students who are um you know taking classes and you know being a college student is challenging and you might have moments where you're doubting yourself and those kind of things. What advice would you give them to encourage them?

00:13:16
Um my advice would be to just go with it. Honestly, if you mess up, you mess up. You learn from the experience. If you decide that whatever you're majoring in, you don't want to do. You still have time. You're really young. Um, do what you want. Follow your heart. Don't do something that you think is going to make you a lot of money. Even though money is important, but do something that you'll love to do because if you love to do it, you're not really going to work. Right. Right. Keep going. Do what you love to do. It's simple, but

00:13:48
it's tried and true. True. Yeah. Oh, that's great. And then kind of I I like asking this question, too. What's like um a misconception or a myth about teachers that you want to kind of like debunk? I like asking this question. Oh my gosh. That we get the whole summer off and yeah, that that whole thing. We earned that summer off and it's not even the whole summer if you do summer school, which I'm starting next week. So, yes. Oh my goodness. Yes. Yes. So, like it takes a while for us to kind of like get back into that teaching

00:14:25
mode for September. Like we need that summer to get our minds right. Right. Right. That is such a that is such a good one. Summer's off really isn't summers off and it is well deserved. I love that so much. 100%. Oh, well that's great. Well, Mariah, thank you so much for being with us today. It has truly been a joy talking to you, hearing your story, and I always like to share with alumni who particularly I feel like are really living out the Manor mission. In in our mission, we talk about, you

00:14:56
know, our goal is to prepare students to graduate to serve society effectively and compassionately and and it's I mean, everything that you're doing is hitting that to a tea. So, thank you so much for just really embodying the Manor College mission and going out there and preparing others to be good human beings and to like, you know, just the world needs that. Philadelphia needs that. New Jersey needs that. So, I'm just so grateful that you're doing that. Um, and you're doing it exceptionally

00:15:26
well. So, we're so proud of you and wishing you nothing but the best. Thank you so much. Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you heard, listen and subscribe on Spotify or YouTube and stay up to date with all new episodes by following Manor College on Instagram at Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of The Nest, stories about life after Manor College. Remember, Blue Jays, you belong here always. [Music]