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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.