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Well, first and foremost, Manor doesn't allow you to be an introvert here. So, like that's something I learned quick. >> 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

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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 offers new state-of-the-art laptops for first time full-time students? These laptops are part of Manor College's You Belong Here advantage, and they come to us through the Pennsylvania Broadband Authorities's digital connectivity technology program. Manor College received the first 200 laptops through this grant in April of 2025.

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The program seeks to place leading edge technology in the hands of people who might not have access. They help to bridge the technology gap that exists in the neighborhoods that Manor serves. This is the second year that students were offered laptops as part of the you belong here advantage. The laptops belong to students as long as they remain a student at Manor College. They come preloaded with Office 365 and students are able to put personal applications on their own laptops. In the year priors to having access to this

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technology, I've seen students write papers and complete assignments on their phones, on our library laptops, or just not complete them at all. Now, students are able to write a paper for Professor Dan Morrison's English class or complete an assignment for Dr. Stephanie Marks Vet tech classes using new technology at their ease of doing it from their home or from wherever they're working without any cost prohibiting them. It has truly been a joy of mine to see the excitement in students as they pick up their new

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laptops every August before new student orientation. Today's episode is sponsored by Manor College. We believe you deserve an education that feels like home. We offer associate and bachelor degrees in high demand fields like business, psychology, and practical nursing. Our small class sizes means that your professors know more than just your name. You get the personalized attention you need to truly thrive. Discover a supportive environment just outside of Philadelphia where success is built one student at a time. It is more

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than just a college. It is a community. Ready to find your place? Visit manor.edu today to explore your options and see why you belong here. Today we are thrilled to welcome a true member of the Manor College community. Coming from East Oak Lane, a neighborhood in North Philly, and a graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School, having studied computer information systems at Manor, this guest earned a bachelor's degree in business, graduating just six months ago in May. During their time as a student, they

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were highly involved on campus, dedicating time to track and field, basketball, and serving as a peer mentor. After graduation, they have stayed close to the nest because our guest now works right here at Manor as a systems administrator on our IT team. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Kareem Haines. Hi, Kareem. >> Hey, thanks for having me. >> Thanks for joining us. It's such an honor to talk to you. So, Kareem, start us off by sharing. How did you hear about Manor College and why did you

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ultimate ultimately choose to attend? >> Well, it's kind of a funny story. Um, my mom, she worked here in the registrar's office. Uh, I'm not sure what her position was, but she worked here. And, um, as a kid, I remember being here in the parking lot, and I'm like, "One day, I'm I'm I'm come I'm come I'm going to come here one day, right?" And then like my grandfather in the car, he was like, "No, you're not. just a two-year school, yada yada yada.

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And then I end up applying here. I got in and then um yeah. >> Okay. Uh so many times when I ask that question to alumni, it starts with well my mom and then moms are just so influential in a in a person's life. And I I love that. Um so there you go. you thought that you might come here one day and even though your grandfather was a naysayer um you were right and as always mother knows best right so that that's >> mother's intuition >> mother knows best so describe for us it

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wasn't that long ago but describe for us what was your Manor experience like what was it like being Kareem at Manor college as a student >> well first and foremost Manor doesn't allow you to be an introvert here so like that's something I learned quick cuz I'm coming out of high school I was usually um quiet to myself and um here they kind of forced me to get out my shell be where I'll go and join events around campus and I think a funny story of mine is u in the dorms my first year

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here um I wanted to try for the basketball team but not I didn't want to cuz I didn't think I had the skills to do it but a buddy of mine knocked on my dorm door and he was like let's go try out I'm like dude I don't feel like doing it I can yada yada yada he kept knocking on my door knocking on my door and I end up trying out and I made the team as a walk on so it was pretty Good. Um, I did some volunteering events with Dr. Crosby as well for the breathing room. So, I've been a little bit

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everywhere I saw. >> Yeah, I I I love two things that stand out from what you just said to me. One, Manor doesn't let you be an introvert. I I really love that because it's kind of like um college is what you make of it, right? you can just go to class, go home, and and kind of particularly with a commuter school, you could kind of fall under the radar, but at Manor, we really try to um be a community, be a family, and in a family, we know your business. We know your name. We know

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what's going on in your life, and for better or for worse, we're we're trying to really get you involved and get you help and just like be that support. So, I love that. And then I love that your um friend in the res hall was kind of nagging you a little bit like come on let's go try it out. And then you made it and you got to have like a college athlete experience which is >> which not everyone gets to have that. So that's pretty special that you were able to do that.

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>> Yeah, it's pretty cool. Um that experience is Yeah. So what um so you studied computer information systems for us non-tech non-computer people. Can you explain like where did where did that passion come from? How did you know you wanted to study computer CIS I guess we'll call it? >> Um well two things part back to mother's intuition. She was always like you're a good you're a good problem solver. You always help your outside with the um the tech issues in the family should look

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into that. So um and another other part too is that I kind of always wanted to know like what how how does a computer work what's more there's more to behind this so I wanted to know more about that um and then uh computer systems allows you to learn more about networking databases um security and different systems stuff like that so give me like a a bigger picture of how everything works in a business so it combined computers and business so it allowed me to um to pivot myself into different careers

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>> yeah it's flexible It's super um usable like everyone I always say in meetings and when we're talking about different things at the college particularly in administration I always say all roads lead to finance and all roads lead to IT. So it's I mean it isn't everything. Um I can totally see you being like the Hannes family IT person where everyone's calling you like I got a got a virus. What do I do? And you're like all right I have to fix it. >> Can totally see that. And again, mother

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knows best. So that's really cool. So when you were a student at Manor, were there any people during your time that just really like supported you or influenced you um to either get involved or in your studies and kind of anyone that comes to mind that you want to kind of give a shout out to? >> Um it's a lot of people actually. Um first and foremost, I'll say Dr. curiosity because like there were some times I would go like through like a rough stint and that and she was always like a rock

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for me to lean on and talk to stuff like that. Um and she kept pushing me to go on um I'd say Ilia because he helped me be in this position today to have a career in it. So and he's been a really good mentor for me as well in my growing career. Um it's a lot of people. Um, I don't want to just right go on a tangent, but um, also kind of you actually too cuz like how how you get things done like you're efficient, you're precise on things, and like um, I always want to ask like what

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what's your like what's your reasoning behind that? How are you so like such like such a good like a a go-getter? >> Well, first let's give let's give kudos to Dr. Crosby weeks because she certainly is a mentor to so many and I love that even though like you you're not you know she's an early childhood education director of that you're not even in that program and yet you're naming her I think that's pretty cool. You probably never even had her as a professor right I'm assuming as like a

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teacher but just like being that support and that's kind of the beauty of Manor is that like people are not just siloed into like their program or their like sports team. people can kind of support each other like so diversely outside of um like inner mix, which is so neat. Um and yeah, you know, I I've always really been a really um a go-getter type of person. Um that's kind of just my nature of things. I've always been really involved. Even as a kid, I was in I wanted to do all the activities. I

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wanted to be in the band and play sports and do arts and crafts. And I I didn't like picking one thing. I wanted to just like try them all. Um, and I think that's kind of trickled over into my work life where I like being um, a jack of all trades, you know, and I think that's just part of my personality and Manor really lends itself well to that because we're so small. You do need jack of all trades because, you know, so many times we joke like, well, that wasn't in the job description. Um, and that's just

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the way kind of Manor keeps itself going is people who are willing to step up and um, run different events or get different programs going or have an innovation on something. And I think that's one of my favorite parts about working here is that you get to kind of do that and stretch that. And I can think of so many people who um are examples of that, too. I'll use one for example, Anthony Machcinski, our director of photography and content. you know, he's a writer, he's a social media

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person, he's a photographer, he's a videographer, and now he helps out with athletics. Like, he can do so many different things because of his skill set and his passion. So, it's kind of cool that, and I've seen that with you as well. You certainly make your way around campus and can help so many people. Um, something that I often think about with IT folks is that like it is everywhere. Everyone needs it, but it sometimes gets a bad rap. Sometimes IT people are kind of in like a stigma.

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People kind of think like they're one type. What's something that you've learned since being um interning with IT and now working in an IT team? What's like a myth about it that you're like, you know what, that's actually not true. That I want to set the record straight. >> I think you kind of know what it is that um they think we're like basement dwellers. Like we know we can't socialize. We can't talk to people. But like as you can see, most of our job is

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going out there talking to the user, helping them out and trying to get them to the solution of the problem. >> That was such an IT answer, Kareem. Calling users and solutions to problems. >> But no, you're right. The social You're right. The social aspect is certainly I think customer service for you guys is a huge part of it. Like you have to be able to and also I think like having the skill set to talk to a variety of different people. like you could be talking to another 20some year old who

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like is very tech-savvy or you could be training someone who's you know a senior citizen or a different generation who totally are like no clue what you're talking about. So, I think having the versatility of being like kind of social butterflies is something that I know our IT team is really grateful that you're on it. And I know people um when there's problems oftentimes the thought or the reaction is I'm just going to call Kareem or I'm going to Kareem. So, definitely the first first

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line of defense. Um and just so our audience knows, Kareem interned with our IT team as a student. So, the transition for you from student, intern to now full-time employee was pretty consistent. You kind of just jumped right into it. But how was that for you? And kind of you're still on campus. You still see friends and students that like you knew as like student Kareem and now you have to have this hat of like employee Kareem. How has that been? >> It's kind of weird honestly. It's like I

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I since I never left, it's like I'm still I still feel like a student, but it's different cuz like I'm staff, right? >> Um even I go around and help out staff members, they still think I'm a student. So, it's just like >> you're what like what are you doing here? Like, but it's just I'm here to help you out. So, um outside of that, it's kind of like a full circle moment, too, cuz like ever since being a kid and now I'm working here, it's just like a

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it's just surreal. >> Yeah. Oh, I love that. I mean, it's pretty common for other institutions and Manor. We've had alumni and we do have other alumni working here. So, that's fairly common. But, I think you're right. It's always a little funny when you work at a place where there's people the same age as you and like in the same generation as you, but they're doing something different. Um, I started working at Manor in 2012 when I was 22 years old. So, I was like the same age

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as the students. um you know and there is like you know it's good to keep boundaries and it's good to try to become you know but at the same time like we're a community we're a family um so I'm a little I am personally grateful that I'm a little bit older now than the students because for those first few years it is a little funny and it's just something you kind of have to like kind of just you know deal with and figure it out. Um but at the same time it's really

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cool because you have such a good perspective on like what our students are thinking, feeling, needing and you can share that with administration with us at the college so that we can be better servants to the students. So I would just encourage you to like use your voice and speak up if you feel like hey Manor could really be doing XYZ to support the students and like you have such a unique lens into that that >> others just don't because of just generational you know changes. So, um I

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find that that's a a unique factor and I always encourage young alumni who are around to like use that for the good because it can really help us just make sure we're helping students as much as we possibly can. Um, but Kareem, what what advice would you give current students um who are kind of like, you know, in the we're kind of at the part of the semester where it's it's like not quite home stretch just yet, but it's like we're starting to see the home stretch. Um, it's a it's a hard part of

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the semester, I would say, right about now. What advice would you give current students to like keep persisting? >> I guess be patient with yourself. Like right now may seem like a um a difficult challenge challenging time. It could be a good time too, but just be patient. Take it easy. Um make sure that you're in alignment with your goals. Don't stay don't stray away from the goals you want to accomplish as a student as a goal. The end goal is to graduate. So stay focused, stay consistent, and be patient

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with yourself. >> I love that. Be patient with yourself. I always think that's really important. Students get frustrated that maybe their grades aren't what they are. >> They just they just want it to be over. Um, but college is really a special time in a young person's life. You when you're in it, it feels like it's never going to end and you're like, I'm never going to graduate or I'm never going to finish this semester. But then hindsight's 2020. You know, you

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graduate, you look back and you think, oh wow, that was actually a pretty short stint in my life. And, you know, you have the rest of your life to still lead and look forward to. So, I think that's great. Be patient. That's people can always be more patient. I in many phases of life. >> Well, Kareem, thank you so much for joining us today. It has been truly an honor to talk to you and we wish you nothing but the best. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. >> Thank you for tuning in today. If you

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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, 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.