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[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 definitely 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 I like to call did you know did you know that Ukraine's first president Leonid Kravchuk visited Manor College's campus on Mother's Day May

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10th 1992 the world remembers president Kravchuk as the man who led Ukraine to Independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union he served as Ukraine's president from 1991 to 1994 following his election in 1991 Kravchuk visited Manor College campus as part of a larger tour of Philadelphia on Mother's Day May 10th Kravchuk's visit was organized by Dr Leonid Rudnytzky a then Lasalle University professor and father of Manor College's dean of academic Services Nicholas Rudnytzky recently this past December Dr Rudnytzky

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passed away at the age of 89 and he is remembered very fondly here at Manor so this was really an exciting day an exciting time for Manor having such a pronounced and um just really important person in the world come to Manor's campus so here's kind of what happened following Ukraine's Independence on December 8th 1991 Dr Rudnytzky thought that it would be really good if we could have Kravchuk President Kravchuk visit Philadelphia and in the academic community that surrounds Philadelphia that is Ukrainian

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so as a professor teaching Ukrainian literature over at Lasalle um Dr Rudnytzky had contacts with some Ukrainian diplomats so three weeks before Lasalle's 1992 commencement Dr Rudnytzky spoke to brother Patrick Ellis and he received a go ahead to confirm an honorary degree to Kravchuk and then that left Dr Rudnytzky to organize a tour of Philadelphia in just three weeks because the president was going to come to Philadelphia so on this multi-day tour Kravchuk would see the Ukrainian cathedral in Center City he had traffic stopped for him on the

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Schuylkill to watch the boats on the river and um Dr Rudnytzky said that President Kravchuk left most Amazed by Manor College we are the only institution in the United States founded by Ukrainian sisters and that has such Rich Ukrainian Heritage Kravchuk's visit was well attended with an estimated over a thousand people here on campus to welcome him um he toured our Ukrainian Heritage Center which is currently called the Ukrainian Heritage Museum and he sat for a meeting with the Sisters of St basil the great um the entire tour

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received a lot of international press coverage Publications from even China and Japan covered the event so it was really an exciting time for Manor College um to have him on campus and we will always remember that now I am honored to welcome today's alumni guests someone who embodied is a spirit of hard work and continuous learning today's guest comes from Lviv Ukraine and then made their way to Manor College they pursued their passion for business focusing on Business Administration and general management they started studying

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towards their associate degree but the moment Manor College launched our bachelor's program they were right back in the classroom demonstrating their unwavering commitment to education and pursued a bachelor's degree graduating from Manor in 2020 today's alumni guest is currently a software developer Aztec Inc a software company in Bucks County PA please join me in welcoming to the show a proud alumni Zoryana Kaspryak Hi Zoryana how are you hi I'm good how are you I'm good thank you so much for being with us

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today can you start us off by sharing with us why did you choose Manor and how did you first learn about Manor College uh sure um so I got here like 15 years ago when I didn't understand the um college system like how it works like where do I start so my friend she recommended Manor College and I was like I wasn't sure at the beginning I was like I don't know if I can actually do it it was too complicated for me I didn't know how would I start like in like like just like studying in in the United States you know uh but she was

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like yeah Manor is like really good also because Manor has like Ukrainian Heritage like there are a lot of people who will be able to help you and explain you if you don't understand anything and I was like okay because like it's like we have too many nuances from the financial perspective from the transferring perspective so of course I didn't know any of this um so when I got to the manor the first time and I actually remember it I was like oh my God it's so so complicated it's it's it's probably way too much so I started

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like slowly um I remember I got like just one class my first class because I wasn't sure how it's going to go um uh because the even the the system is too different so I just didn't know and to be honest I enjoy it I was enjoying like every class and I was like wow it's so interesting like this is my favorite part to be honest because because I never knew that like to be a college student can be so interesting like every class you're learning like some real life examples like like real life it's

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not like something that you just like okay it was like 50 years ago and I just enjoy it and this is how I started oh that's great that's so cool I'm so I'm so grateful to that friend who knew us and recommended us and was like hey they're they're Ukrainian and you're Ukrainian and might you might fit in there and and and not be so complicated because I I mean I can't imagine moving from another country and then having to navigate the higher education process or any education process it's complicated

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enough when you've grown up here your whole life frankly um so major major Kudos and and really impressed with how how you did that so you started studying foreign Associates in business where does that passion for business come from and kind of why would you want to study business uh because I have associate degree from L Ukraine and it's in finance so I was a kind of like business person at that point and um like I said because I didn't understand like how does it work and what should I proceed

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actually I changed my major like two times uh because my friend she recommended me like maybe you can start like in like from like marketing degree and I was like okay and then um to be honest like I was I remember my class and even if I enjoyed so much like I don't know like I can just say like for every like Professor like teacher that I had I learned so much that I'm still using it like it's literally like that and but I was like I was scared to be honest like at that be like at that time I was like marketing like how can I do

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it and business administration was like okay it's like I have multiple path that I can go so maybe it's G it's just going to be like easier for me sure sure and that that makes perfect sense you know I didn't you didn't want to like narrow your focus you want to something more broad so then you can kind of get a general sense and then go eventually choose a pathway um makes makes perfect sense and that's really good I think strategic planning on your part to to look at it look at things like that um

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that that's so cool so it sounds like you really were enjoying your time as a college student um enjoying your classes that that's so cool so take me through um so you started doing Associates and then you stayed for a bachelor's degree kind of talk me through that and um we we became bachelor's granting in 2018 you started your journey in 2015 so you were kind of right in there when we first launched men I think you were one of our first students ever to get a bachelor's degree from Manor what when

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did you find out that we were going to offer bachelors and what kind of what was your reaction I remember as today like because it was so funny I was to be honest sad when I graduated um and and I got my associates I was like oh my God like I don't want to leave like I was I remember because I know my adviser he was the best and even when it was a time when I had to go to another one I actually asked Mark Minnick if I can stay with him and I returned back to him I'm like I don't want to change you you know

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and I was like I was I remember I was keep asking uh Mark I was like Mark I I knew that you were like guys like working on it like to get that like uh to launch the um bachelor's degree and I was like when is going to happen and he was like it's going to be soon believe me and I remember I was like I saw like probably on Facebook or I don't remember and I saw that you launched like the the bachelor's program I was like what so I was working and I was like actually I asked my manager I said like I have to

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go to like manner because I was so worried that I can't get you know what I mean in time and just like just to start like right away um I don't even remember what months it was but I was like I was like I have to be right now because if they GNA start without me this is not how it works you know so I got there and I was like Yay finally and Mark was like oh you got back I'm like yeah because I was so excited like to to continue with you guys I'm not just like I just can't explain how much how much I love and how

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much I enjoyed like saying in manner so it was just like so surprisingly I was like yes finally I can go so I to be honest like I knew that I want to get like Bachelors but I didn't even like look at any other colleges like I applied because I was the I remember the process and it was like oh you have to apply and I applied I got some scholarships but because I knew that like manner is gonna launch that this program I just decided like to wait like I was like just give me like couple months because I just graduated maybe I

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just can have like a little you know what I mean break from this and as soon as I heard that news I was like I'm in I'm gonna yes I like it I like it that that's so funny um wow I like how you were like dedicated and you were on the ball you're like I gotta I gotta leave work I gotta go I gotta go so really um wow how what what good perseverance you have there thank you for for doing that and my gosh we really appreciate that so much um so you graduated in 2020 with your bachelors in in business um talk to me about what has

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your career Journey been like and and kind of where have you found yourself out in in the career world uh it it to be honest it all starts from manner anyway uh because actually when I started like my bachelor's I got into business analytics and I enjoyed again every class to be honest and my last semester it was like with the president Perry and we had like it was like I don't remember the name it was like organizational leadership leadership something like and we had like multiple speakers and like I don't know like I to

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be honest it was pretty complicated for me because I was working full-time and I would take my my lunch to get to um Manor College to get my class with Dr Perry because I knew that it's like he had like just one class in this like uh from one to two I don't remember the time and I was like I I I enjoy it like to be like just a business person and from the perspective of business analytics I really enjoy it but when I started like looking into um job market I noticed that they knew they wanted a

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lot of companies they wanted like to have like me to have some a programming language language and I was like okay so how do I move what's what's my next step like should I just get like I was a little bit confused about that again I talked to my adviser and Mark was like okay you can you can get like business administration with the business analytics certificate so you're going to be like here and there and I also wanted to get um you have some it program I don't remember the name so I was ready

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to get this at program but at that time Co hits and I'm like okay it's like like all the stuff it was just on a pause and we were like we didn't know what to do how to move like what's going on what's going to be next and that's why it was like also because I literally graduated in like May 2020 it was just that Spike that nobody like just like knew what's was going to happen tomorrow to be honest you know what I mean and this is how I just actually at that time I contacted uh president Perry and I asked

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I was like okay what should I do like can you give me some advices and and by that I got my business analytics internship with John Krebs remember yeah yeah yeah I stayed from July 2020 to December 2020 as a business analyst um like this like internship program and again I enjoy it so much that like I just can't like express my feelings because it was like it was very interesting to be honest like working on it I would like work on I would help because at that time I I had like again my full-time job and I

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remember I was doing like different like um graphics and like just different like analytical just like using like analytical tools for the students like blah blah blah so I would do this like until 2 pm 2 am and my husband would be like like are you tired I'm like no I have to finish it I was like just so impressed and I just enjoy it so much um and after that right after that I just uh my friend she just introduced me to the it school and they were like it wasn't like even it school it was like

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software developer uh school so it was like super deep into like programming and when I started like I I was just like to be honest like I never like was thinking to leave like business analytics um you know what I mean I was just like okay since I got all this knowledge let me try to be a software developer so this is how I ended up but my backup is like always to be a business analyst since like manner that's awesome wow I I thank you for all of that backstory and I also think it's so cool how um you're you're

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name dropping lots of manner people and that's kind of what I always want to I always want to impress upon others like when you're a student at manner if you want to seize opportunities we have folks here who are are very open and very willing to pour into you like but students have to just kind of kind of let themselves let others help you you know so you mentioned Mark Minnick who is a former faculty and um Dean um you mentioned Dr Peri our current president you mentioned John Krebs our um current

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um director of institutional research and like you found opportunities to let people find you help you serve you and and and then then it serves you later on in life so that's really really cool to hear that those folks were influential with you and and kind of acting as mentors and advisers for you because I I always recommend students like get involved talk to people network with people we want to help that's why we're here it doesn't always just have to be your professors it could be staff members it could be others others here

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so that's so cool to hear and my gosh I don't know Zoryana I don't how you did it like working full-time being a student being a wife like all those things having a social life like that's just um you must not sleep a whole lot or you just have you have such an energy about you it's really it's infectious for sure so um So currently you're a software developer um what is that like kind of what are you working on and do you see is that an area where um you would recommend Manor students look into this

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as a career I would say it's definitely challenging it's not that easy um because usually you have to know like multiple languages and this field it's like it's it's it's you have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow you have to be super like Fast learn learner and you have to learn every single day it's a lot but I really enjoy it all also because my company uh we are like um working on the Epro tablet so what do we do it's like when it um Clinic they have a study for example they study like some um medication

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medicine whatever it is we like um basically developing the tablet or right now we have it's like app on the like mobile app so basically those patients can take the medicine and then they can fill out the journey like survey and after that the we they just like it goes back to the clinic and they know if the that medicine works or not so I'm literally helping people it's not like just like just like usually people saying like what's programming what does it mean what what like how does it work

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yes you do have like some weird like words and you've seen like some like screens yeah it is but the end product what you see that you actually can help people and usually this is what you do in like most of the cases it's like I don't know it's so exciting for me because some people for example okay they can develop games again it's so cool that you can actually because usually games they can just like teach something you know this and that you actually help it always you know and this is what like my like priority I

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don't know like I this is what I enjoy so I would definitely say like yes you like it's a great journey that you can just learn a lot you just like it's so much opportunities it's like we have so many this programming languangues it's just like whatever the person like would like to be and they can proceed that Journey that that's so cool and I think I think what you said about like how there can be misconception around people who work in programming or in um just computer science and just how like

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you're you're doing it maybe for a business or to make money um and you're saying like no actually I'm helping people yes obviously it's a business yes I'm I'm able to make money because it's a job but like it's serving others it's helping people you're helping with their medical um and there's tons of applications out there for that and it's really cool that you you've kind of aligned like a mission with it um something that I I always like to talk about when I when I find alumni who are out there doing really just great work

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is that you know Manor's Mission the last line of our mission says that we um we educate students to be prepared to serve Society effectively and compassionately and I feel like as you're talking as you're sharing about what you're doing in the world you definitely are doing that so just thank you so much for being a living breathing walking Testament to the mission of Manor College that is exactly what um you know when we have students here that we're they're going through their programs and education we

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want them to see them five years 10 years 20 years out of college serving Society serving others um and kind of just living that mission so it's really cool to see you doing that and I'm just super impressed with everything that you have you have going on um kind of as a final go ahead go ahead it's to be honest it it goes from manner because every my every Professor they were so like motivated people they would like motivate me to be a better person I I would like every after like especially because like uh Dr Perry he had like

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just my last class and I was like so impressed because we had like multiple speakers but when I like just like heard those people like speaking how they like would help like people and stuff it was all about like motivation like to make this like world like better I was impressed I literally like it was like I remember it was even a day when I talked to my HR in my credit union and I was like oh what can we do for like our employees like like it was like that that's why he just like led me to right

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now to this position and it's still because like yes my mission is to help people I'm enjoying like to make this work like better you know yeah that that's that's beautiful to hear and such a great Testament to to you um I'm often reminded of uh there's a proverb Proverbs 277 and it says as iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another so like as as you are out there serving others and helping people that'll encourage others to do the same you know so I think it's really cool to to see you doing that so as we kind of

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wrap up my final question that I I ask our alumni is what advice would you give to Manor students um or even high school students who are considering you know their college options what advice would you give them about um preparing going to college preparing for the college search and what you've learned to be honest I would say just do it what I mean by that uh it's impossible to know like right away what do you want to do it's impossible to know like what do where do you want to go like what like

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Ma it's impossible it's like sometimes yeah there are people that can do this and it's like I don't know they have some some like inner world that is like okay I I want to be a doctor or I want to be this or that it doesn't matter you know what I mean but usually we just like so confused and we have no idea where to go and yes we should proceed to college we should go there and those people would be like amazed and impressed that every like if I'm talking about manner because this is my experience every person every employee

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and I mean like Financial ad advisors like every person like even this my advisor it was like every person just impacted me with like some little like puzzle you know what I mean just some piece of the puzzle and after that I got my whole picture this is only after that after I proceeded after I was listening my like professors and teachers and I was like oh wow wow they just impressed me so much that it was just like led me basically to where I am right now that's great yeah definitely and like just do

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it is always a good and simple advice but how you expanded upon um why just to do it and that every little person at an institution at a college played a piece of that larger puzzle which is you you're the puzzle putting it together and your career um and I I always I always tell other people this I know our missions team lives by this our marketing team um our Administration but like the students are really the hero in our story Manor we're just kind of the guide but the students are the hero um we're

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we're not necessarily the hero but we want to be obviously helping the heroes along in their journey and and be a part of that story so I I love talking to you today Zoryana thank you so much for being with us today and I wish you nothing but the best thank you so watching thank you for tuning in today if you like what you heard listen on Spotify and YouTube and make make sure you subscribe to never miss an episode stay up to date with all episodes and all things happening around Manor College by following Manor College

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on Instagram at Manor College that's a wrap on another episode of The Nest stories about life after Manor College remember Blue Jays you belong here always [Music]