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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 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 guests, it's time for a segment of the show I like to call Did You Know? Did you know the story behind Nevel's Hall? Neville's Hall is the main space on our campus where the Vet

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program eats, breathes, lives, studies. Neville's Hall includes a radiology suite, a cat ward, a small animal clinical lab, a surgical suite, our faculty offices, and much more. So, our veterinary technology program at Manor College has been around and accredited since 1992. This is one of our flagship programs here at the college. This program has a three-year pass rate at 82% on the VTNE, which is the big standardized test that all vets have to take that really assesses the competency of that person. And it's a

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requirement to become a licensed vet for certification. And actually last year's pass rate climbed up to more than 90%. So our Manor College vets are really prepared to go out and become vet tech. So back to the hall. So back in 2021, we dedicated the name of the Vet hallway as Neville's Hall after Jim and Lorine Neville had been really really generous to Manor College over the years and particularly they have a heart for our Vet program. A little backstory about Jim and Lorine. They are friends of the

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college. Jim has been serving as a Manor College trustee on our board of trustees since 2019 and they really love animals. It is because of their love of animals and nature that they really felt drawn to Manor's Vet program that Neville's family really enjoys spending time at a at their home in Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania, where they do fly fishing and a lot of outdoors things. Loren has written a book about one of their dogs and for the last two decades. Um, Lorine has been a doesn't at the Philadelphia

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Zoo. So, a really big heart for animals. So, while Neville's Hall is truly a special place and it's really cool that it's a one whole hallway that kind of encompasses everything in that Vet program, the day that we did its ribbon cutting is kind of a funny story. So, it was mid July back in 2021 and it was just one of those like summer storms where it was like super humid and you could just feel in the air that like it's going to storm. And we had a ribbon cutting ceremony planned for that afternoon with a little um little like

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late afternoon reception with some appetizers and a little ceremony. and the entire campus lost power around 3:30 p.m. Guests were already here to be part of the ceremony. The Nevilles, Jim and Lorine were already here. So, with the help of some lights that were running off an extension cord from a nearby minivan and some candles, we grabbed from our chapel upstairs to provide some ambiance and so that we could see um we had a little script prepared to read. the ribbon cutting ceremony commenced

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without power and it was a really kind of special day and kind of just always remembered remembered that in my mind. Today we have an awesome guest on the show. Our first Vet alumni coming from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, a graduate of Upper Maran High School. She pursued her passion for animals right here at Manor College back in 2014, having earned her associate of science degree in veterinary technology in 2016. After graduation, she started building an impressive career working at internal

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medicine and anesthesia veterinary technician at Blue Pearl Langhorn. She is now back at her alma mater today as an instructor of Vet. Please give a warm welcome to Dominica Hathcock. Welcome Dominica. Thank you so much for being on the show today. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Of course. I was so excited that we finally have a vet on the show. Um we have done about 15 or 16 of these now and it's about time we have a vet on the show I think. So, I'm really excited to have you particularly because you have

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such a great story and I think it'll be one that resonates with a lot of of listeners and other alumni out there who are Vets and maybe inspire them to also want to share their story. Absolutely. If you don't mind, kind of start us off by like how did you hear about Manor? Why did you choose to come to Manor to study vet? Um I this is my second career. Um, so I had graduated uh from college and I was working in laboratory and I wanted to do um like veterinary work and I had tried doing some of that um going to vet

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school and it was not for me and so I really loved what I had done in preparation for that is working as a technician. Um, a friend of mine had been here at Manor and had raved about it and I had learned about them allowing us to choose uh where we got to do our externships unlike some other programs and I was like, "Yes, that is definitely what I want." Um, so I was like, "All right, let's try this instead." And so I applied and actually really loved the program and how it went. So definitely one that uh I would recommend for anyone

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who's looking into Vet. Oh, that's so cool. I love that you said like this is a second career and that you tried other paths maybe and they just kind of weren't working out for you and like that's okay. You know, that's part of everyone's journey. I feel like especially in college, people feel like I have to have it all figured out and no, you don't. You know, that's totally fine. Um and frankly, sometimes you're better off if you don't have it all figured out. Absolutely. So what was it like? So you came in 2014

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um to be a student. What was it like being a college student and were you older? What were you like was that a different kind of sense for you and kind of what was that like? Yeah, you know, it was it was kind of the same and different from what it was before. Like this time I was a commuter student since I lived close enough and I was working to help, you know, pay bills and support. Um but it was fun because I had a great group of friends like orientation time I met these people like hey we're friends we're in the same

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program um so we got to get really close and so you had that you know close friend group you could study like inside Manor and around in between classes and then outside and hang out and so it was kind of fun a little different because I again wasn't living on campus and would go home at the end of the day but it was never a you know oh you're a commuter student, so you're not the same as everyone else. It was really much different, I feel like, than any other place because everyone was so welcome no matter like what type of

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student you were, right? And I think obviously because like we're not predominantly residential. Like it affects the campus culture. You know, only 10% of our campus body live in the res hall. So actually the majority are commuters. Um and you were you working full-time? Yeah, actually I was. So that's crazy to me. How do How do college kids do that? How do you work full-time and go to school and like get some sleep and like eat some food? Like that's just crazy to me. How do you guys pull that off? But

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um a lot of manor students do that. About 85% of our student body are working and we believe about half of them are working full-time while they're a student. So like it's kind of the norm now. Um, I always tell people like college is not the only thing happening in our students lives anymore. Like it's just not the predominant thing anymore. Um, it's something else in addition to like raising a family, taking care of bills, and like doing other things. So, we have to keep that in mind when we

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think about like student flexibility and schedules and stuff. Um, but kind of getting back to your story. So, like why animals? Why vet? where does that passion come from? Um, and kind of talk to me about like your love of animal and animal care. Yeah. Um, basically since I was born, my parents had dogs and we've always had pets and so I was like raised around all of that. Um, so it was definitely, you know, a passion in the beginning and then, you know, even from the like my earliest memories,

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it's like, oh yeah, I want to be a veterinarian. I want to work with animals. I love that my dogs, you know, our pets. And as you get older and you get to experience more, you know, I started riding horses and, you know, branching out and I was like, "Wow, this is so cool." The all the different animals, all the care, everything that's involved with it. And so it was like, "Oh, yeah. This is definitely the path for me to be able to work with everything and anything out there. If it's an animal, it's like, yeah, I want

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to be around it. I want to be with it. I want to touch it. I want to do stuff with it." And so it was a natural path for me I feel like. Oh, that's so cool. I I always love talking to Vet students. Um, and usually their passion is very clear to them. Like usually they're not like I don't know. Like sometimes other students in other majors aren't sure what they want to go into, but like usually vet it's like no, I love animals. And it's not just dogs and cats. It's I love all animals. I want to help all animals. Um, and

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they're just they're so passionate about what they're going to do and it's it's so cool to see. So, I'm glad to hear that was kind of your experience as well. What has it been like? Um, like going from like I'm a child and I love taking care of animals in my home to like I'm a working adult and I have to take care of animals for a career. Like sometimes like when play becomes work, it's you know what I mean? It's no longer fun. What was that like for you when you started actually working with animals for a job? Did it become

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less fun to have animals at home because it's like I'm just working all the time now or you know what I mean? Like is there that division of like a boundary almost? A little bit. Um and I feel like my animals test me all the time with this cuz of course you go home and it's like oh I did something stupid so now you have to take care of them. Um but you know what? I I don't mind. Um, I think I shut down the other side of it, the people side of it. Like if I'm not at work, like this is this part of it is a little different. Like when

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I'm in the um in the field like in the hospital, it's like I will, you know, I'm not going to answer my email. I'm going to set that part aside and, you know, have that balance. Uh, but it's fine. I mean, I have dogs and I have horses and right now and every one of them likes to uh my horse has lots of allergies and eye problems. My dogs, you know, do silly things and so I you know, you constantly take care of them at home, too. It kind of almost never stops. But I feel like it's a little lighter of a

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side. Like you're not it's not somebody else's animal that you're like, "Oh my gosh, I want to make sure that they have the best experience that they're taking care of the best." And like there it's yours. It's a little more relaxed. You're like, "Okay, it's fine." Like I'm not on edge as much, I guess, right? And you have those like instincts with your own like, "Okay, well I I kind of know what they do or don't need. What would And you're taking care of it in a clinical setting is a little different,

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obviously." Um Oh, that's so cool. So, kind of what was what was the Manor Vet program like for you? It's a two-year program. It's pretty intense. Um, you know, before you joined on, I I was talking about the Vet program and how the the pass rate for the VTNE is is pretty high and that like it's a rigorous program, but that's because we want students to pass that VTNE um, you know, quickly after graduation. What was the experience like for you as a student? and then we'll talk about what it's now like being on the other

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side as an instructor. Uh coming in as a student, uh you know, for me coming in as a like a secondary student, already having degrees, it wasn't too bad. Like I was used to having high class work. Uh when I graduated college, I technically have three degrees that I did in four years. Um so I was used to taking over 18, usually 21 or 22 credits a semester. So, I was very used to the workload. So, like that didn't bother me a lot. I was used to studying um and working hard, but this is also something I really

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wanted to do. So, I really wanted to put in the time and effort to get that end goal and to pass. Um, but I actually found it to be like a lot of fun. So, like there was all those labs and you're touching the animals and you're doing things and you're doing it with your friends. Um, and then we did have I remember I did have one day uh one of my semesters where I had a class in the morning and a class in the evening and it's like this huge break in between, but it wasn't long enough that I could go home and do stuff. So, my

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friend and I just stayed and we played games in the cafeteria and hung out. And so, like it was a lot of fun being around with my friends and being able to do this hands-on stuff and learn at the same time. Yeah, that that so helps. And I think that's a huge part of college, right? is like obviously you're here to get a degree and you're here to be serious about that and like move your career forward, but you're also here to make friends and build relationships and do all those like fun things and go to

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events and that's a big part of it as well. So, um, sometimes I feel like the Vet program, the the students in those programs like get a reputation that like they are just so focused on Vet, they don't join clubs, they don't join sports, but like there is time to do that and there is time, you know, and they should they should get involved and especially with each other because you're kind of with each other so much. It's hard not to form bonds obviously with your classmates. So, I'm so glad

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you got to have that experience. How cool. Um, so I saw on your Facebook when before I was doing my pre-show research, I saw there is a a picture of you in a wedding dress with a giraffe. Can you explain this? Did you have your wedding at a zoo or what was this? And I would love to hear just more about this. Yeah. So, um, we did we actually got married at the Elwood Park Zoo in Norristown. Um, oh my gosh. So, we we had rented out the zoo um to have our wedding and to have everybody have these animal

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experiences and um it it unfortunately was raining and hurricaning that day. Um so, people couldn't experience as much. Um but part of the experience, they allowed us to do a giraffe feeding after the fact. Um, so we got to go behind the scenes since it was raining and go into their enclosure and feed them and interact with them and get the pictures. So that was like probably the highlight. It was so cool. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I saw the picture and I was like, I need to ask about this. That is so

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cool. How many brides can say that they like fed a giraffe at their wedding? I mean, there's a lot of crazy things I think weddings nowadays can do, but that is probably one of the coolest ones. Um, so that kind of leads me into my next question. What has been like one of your craziest like animal interactions that you've had? Um, any good stories from that? Let's see. Um, you know, I did actually do a lot of my work in large animals. Um, not as much as those like now it's small, but most of it has been large animal. Um, so

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I've definitely done, you know, work on some high-level expensive animals. I think the one thing that stands out to me was um I do large animal anesthesia and so I was on call and they asked me to come in um and to do this procedure. I was like, "Okay, sure." And I went in and it turned out to be an emu that I had to anesthetize that had eaten chlorine tablets. And so we had to get the chlorine tablets out um out of its throat. I was like, I I don't really do birds. I'm not sure what I'm doing here.

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So, it was a little like a Oh my gosh. A little Did it work? Did you get it out? Okay, go ahead. Oh, yeah. Everything came out. The bird was fine. It was just one of those like, "Oh my gosh, now I I have to put all this knowledge that I like put way put in the back of my brain to test." I was like, "Oh gosh, what do I know about birds?" Oh my. And emus are big. Those are like bigger than you think. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Oh my gosh, that's crazy. So um so today you are a instructor for the Mayor College Vet program. Kind of

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tell us how did how did that happen and what has that experience been like now being on the other side on the faculty side of things. Uh so this actually started years ago. Um I was probably at a school maybe a year or two um when I had seen I think it was on Facebook and they were asking for um TAs for the labs to help out and at the time I had been an overnight supervisor and I had been training um technicians under me and not Manor graduates you know um some of from the other programs or some that didn't have any schooling

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whatsoever. And I was like, okay, we really need some consistency. And you know, the people that are coming are just not having the right amount of experience and I really want to change that. So I reached back out and I was like, "Hey, I'd love to TA." And they were like, "Yeah, great. Let's do this." Um, so I started as a TAI and then I think it was a year or two after I started TA, they're like, "Hey, do you want to start teaching classes?" Um, so then I became an adjunct and I started teaching classes. And then when this

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full-time opportunity came about, I was like, "Absolutely." Like I really love being here. I love teaching these students. I like giving them the experience that they need for the real world since I've been on both sides of it. And it really helps the people on the other side who are hiring. So, I was like, "Absolutely, let's do this." Oh, that's so cool. I I love how like you saw a need in like the workforce, in the field of like, hey, these students are not as prepared as they should be and then you had a link back like to Manor

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like, oh wait, I could help bridge that. Um, and have you seen that like what you did and really help getting those students prepared? Are they better in the workforce when they first start? Is that like helping out now? Yeah, I think so. Um, definitely. Right before as I was just adjunct, like I would be full-time at Blue Pearl and I would have, you know, our students on externships and I was like, I know you know this. I taught it to you. Like, come on, think about it. They're like, oh yeah, I remember. I remember. So, it

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definitely, you know, it's starting to show that they are paying attention and starting to learn all this material. So, it's definitely cool, right? holding them like holding students accountable like I know you know this cuz I was the one who taught it to you or I I know the program you know I went through it myself um what's something that is like a mythbuster for like the either animal care or like as a Vet I feel like this is a field that like if you're in the animal world you know what Vets are

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but if you're not you you just hear the word and maybe you don't realize um I I don't I I never knew what a Vet was personally until I started working at Manor College I just didn't grow up with animals. So, what's like a myth that you could, you know, kind of debunk for us about um being a Vet? Yeah. Uh probably I think the biggest one is like it's not just being the person who like just holds the dog and cats for vaccines. Like there's so much more to it. Um especially like when I worked overnights, I would have to um be

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in the barn. I do all the treatments and care for the horses and the cows and the pigs and the things that are in the barn. Come in and do the same thing for the cats and dogs. be in the ICU doing the math and making sure that everything's okay. You do anesthesia. You do the lab work. You answer the phone calls. You deal with the clients. You know, I have to go and demonstrate um you know, medications and uh how to give and do. And there's so much more that I don't think people see behind the scenes than just, you know, oh, I'm

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going to, you know, hold play with your little kitty and give it a shot. So, it's way more I think than people realize. Yeah, that that sounds like way more. And um Right. And also, I think it's a hard job for sure. It seems like a hard job and it seems like one that maybe doesn't garner as much as respect as it should. Um have you seen any of that? Is there is there work is there work being done towards that or is the industry changing at all and hopefully for the better? I would like to say yes. Um definitely a

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job that demands way more respect than I think people give it. Um I mostly because I don't think people understand really what goes into it. We're definitely seeing a change now um with our doctors and like um they're definitely with the general public like oh no that's our nurse's job. They do all this like please give them respect like you don't talk to them like that. Um, and so they're really starting to utilize us more in our skills, but also like, hey, you can't just disrespect them. You know, you can't just treat

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them the way that you do. Um, I know the industry is trying to, you know, get more awareness out there so that people do understand like everything that we do so that we can demand some of the same respect that people give maybe like even a human nurse. Right. Exactly. Yeah, that that's good. And I think it's good to hear that like kind of coming from like top down like it's coming from the doctors and the vets themselves saying no no no that's that's that's those are the techs and they do this and they give

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the they get the credit. Um that's great. Well, thank you so much for Dominica for spending time with us today. I felt like I learned a ton about uh you and your story and also the industry as a whole. What would be some advice that you would share with Manor uh students either Vet students or just a Manor student um to kind of encourage them to continue and pursue their education? Yeah, definitely. I think the biggest thing is, you know, kind of put yourself out there. Um whether it's you want to

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try something new, join a club, even just talk to somebody and become friends. Like just really putting yourself out there kind of gets you seen um not just by your peers but kind of everybody. And it also will give you a better experience. You'll have a lot more fun, discover more about yourself um and you know have a better time. I think it's the really important to just put yourself out there and go for it. If you that's what you want to do, go for it. I love that. That's great. Um I have a bonus question. As you were talking, I

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was Oh, I want to ask this. Um was there anyone at Manor either when you were a student or when you were TAing or kind of now who was just really influential in your your own experience and kind of you want to give a shout out to? Yeah, definitely. I' I'd definitely say Dr. Marx. uh she was brand new to the program when I started as a student and I've kind of, you know, been with her ever since, but she really, you know, I know it comes off sometimes as being like she's very, you know, really hard

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um on you, but it's only cuz she wants you to, you know, do better and she knows that everyone has the potential to do what they need to do. And she really did like inspire me and push me to become better and to do more. And that really I think helped me learn and to pass my testing and to be a better technician. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Dr. Mark, let's see. When did she join the program? Was it right around when you started as a student? 2015. Right. Mhm. Okay. Right. So about 10 years ago. So remember we just celebrated her 10 years

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I think at the Christmas party this past year. So that's great. That's great to hear. and how cool for her to like see you as a student and then you know kind of watch your own trajectory and write as as a faculty or a staff member at a college like you want to see students kind of grow in that. So I'm sure um I'm sure she's super proud of you and just seeing your own growth in that. But thank you so much Dominica for spending time with us today and we look forward to kind of having you have an impact on

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Manor Vet coming up and in the future. Oh thank you so much. It was a pleasure. 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]

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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 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's time for a segment of the show I like to call did you know? So, did you know that this past week we held our 72nd commencement ceremony? We

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celebrated the class of 2025 with over a 100 graduates walking proudly across the stage to receive their diplomas from President Dr. Peri. But Manor's first commencement was held in 1953 where Mother Jerome Roman, who was the president at the time, awarded degrees to six graduating students. That's right. 67 years ago, Manor College held its first commencement indoors in our auditorium. So for all of those years, Manor always had graduation inside in our auditorium. But when COVID hit in March of 2020, we moved our May

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2020 commencement to the parking lot. And this was one of my most favorite graduation ceremonies that we've had. Everyone came in their car. They parked like it was a drive-in movie theater. Graduates would get out of their car wearing a mask when it was time for their name to be called and they received their diploma. And we all on the planning team who, you know, were in charge of planning commencement. We were really disappointed that obviously graduation had to be in a parking lot in your car. We felt like people were going

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to be like sad and like disconnected and I was really concerned that like there wouldn't be enough energy. graduation is all about like big energy and just having that like feeling. But something really cool happened when it was the COVID year during the ceremony whenever somebody would normally clap. So like after a speech or clapping for your graduates, instead of clapping because it was so spread out over this big parking lot, you really couldn't hear the clapping. Cars would honk their horns. And it was such a cool and loud

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feeling to just hear all these cars horns honking crazy. All the different tones of the car horns. Um that was really really special. And I remember being on stage. Um I had to say something I think about our alumni and I remember being on stage and after I got done talking all the car horns are going and I was like wow that is really cool. So graduates got to be with their families. They got to pack as many people into their cars as they could. I remember some graduates came up with like 15 passenger vans. They decorated

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the cars. They really made it special and unique. So for two years we did this outdoor kind of car parking lot ceremony. That was the COVID years. But then that made us realize how special and how grand it is to have an outdoor ceremony. So we changed to having commencement always being outside. So, for the last 5 years, we have been outside, but this past week, last Thursday. Um, we were all set to be outside. It was going to be a beautiful day, but the weather had other plans. So, we um had to pivot. We went back

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inside for graduation, back into the auditorium where we used to be for so many decades. And it definitely felt a little nostalgic going back into the gym for those of us who've been here for a while and have kind of planned both different formats. Um the thing that I didn't realize that was kind of missing when we went outside is that we kind of missed the volume of cheers from the families and the audience. So in the auditorium last Thursday, it got loud. Um, I don't know if it's just because

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I'm now a mother myself and my perspective on life has certainly changed, but the thing that I when I think about last Thursday and and kind of our commencement and reflection, I just can't shake how um loud and how proud the families were of the people in the audience. There was so much cheering, so much clapping and yelling. Um, one of my favorite things that someone yelled was, "She's got four kids." I just love that. Someone was just so proud that like that girl walking across the stage is a mom of

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four kids getting her degree. Someone else yelled out really loud, "That's my sister." Um, I just love the pride from these family members. And it just kept reminding me that, you know, while a college degree is a huge milestone in anyone's life, um, and while it might be a singular thing for that person getting it, like yes, you can put it on your resume, you can frame it in a room, you can change your LinkedIn profile to now say, you know, I have a degree. It's also an entire family um, extension. you

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know, having one person in your family obtain a college degree changes everything for that family's legacy. I think it changes um things for the parents who now like you supported your child getting a college degree for your grandparents and just and it opens up a next chapter for that family. So, it symbolizes growth and progress. So, I was just thinking like anytime you hear like those loud cheers at a graduation and you might laugh because it's funny or you might, you know, think like, "Wow, they're they're really loud." Um,

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it's not just someone cheering and and kind of trying to get attention. It's a deep rooted like pride of a family tree being changed. So, that was kind of my takeaway from a really special commencement last Thursday. Today we've got a fantastic guest who truly embodies the spirit of Philadelphia. He is a Philly native through and through. Originally coming from right around the corner, Fox Chase neighborhood, having attended LaSalle College High School, he went on to Manor, earning his associates in early childhood education. Graduating

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from Manor in 2006, he continued his studies at Arcadia University to get a BA in communications and he is the first in his family to earn a master's degree. Our guest currently works as a certified orientation and mobility specialist at the Overbrook School for the Blind. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Tevis Weir. Tevis, welcome to the show. Thank you for having us. Thanks for having me. I appreciate Um I'm excited to talk to you today. So kind of start us off by why did you choose Manor College? How did you find

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Manor College back in um the 2000s? Um pretty much my options were even though I went to LA, I was not a good student at all. I was pretty bad. I got all right grades, but then one year I did nothing and almost failed out. So my prospects were limited. Um, the one counselor I had at LSL said, "Oh, why don't you apply to Manor and check it out?" And at the time, I didn't realize where Manor was, but a lot of my friends went to St. Basel Academy, which was right across the street. Is it anymore? Um, so I checked it out. I thought it

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was neat. Thought it'd be a good step for me and yeah, I uh signed up and enrolled and started my career there. Education. Oh, that's great. Yeah. I I mean I obviously, you know, we want students who are performing well in high school, but also I think it speaks to like if you're not doing so hot in high school and you find yourself with not a lot of options, um Manor is a great stepping stone for for that, you know. Um so tell me what was your Manor experience like? What were classes like? And why did you choose to study um early

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childhood education? Um well I chose education because my mother was a teacher um and a principal and I was not sure what to do but I worked summer camps at her school. I worked I volunteered at other schools and a lot of people said want to become a teacher. So I was like okay I'll go into education. Um my time at Manor was great. Um I made a lot of friends most who I still talk to. I'm best friends with two or three of them still. We hang out a couple times a year and we talk all the time because everybody's busy with life

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and stuff. Um, and yeah, I mean the education classes at Manor were great. I uh met Dr. Crosby there as well. Um, yeah. Oh, that's cool. I love I love that you're still in touch with some of your um fellow classmates. That's so special when you can meet people who become like a lifelong friends and you can go through, you know, getting married and growing families together and that's really really cool and that's kind of like a a perk to college, you know what I mean? You don't always you hope for that. You don't always get

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that, but you kind of hope for that. Um, I also find it really ironic how you open up by saying, "I admittedly didn't do too well in high school, but I wanted to be a teacher." Usually those two things don't go hand in hand. No, I mean it's it's it's different. I mean, I wasn't I was I was a poor student because I didn't apply myself. I didn't try. That's the main thing, right? You were unmotivated. Yeah. I got motivated and I did really well. Um, and Manor helped me get to where I'm at now because at I'm not sure

09:23
if they still do, but at the time they had a uh an agreement with some some other university so we can do two years there and transfer over and what I ended up doing um to go from Manor to Arcadia. But then at Arcadia things went sideways a little bit. So I switched majors because I wanted to be done school. Yeah. So yeah, we um those are called articulation agreements. We still have a a wide number of those and lots of different programs even though we still offer we have associate and bachelor's

09:52
degrees. So some students stay for all four years here and some you know they do two years here and they do two years at Arcadia, Chestnut Hill, Holy Family, lots of different schools we have them. So like your credits transfer seamlessly. You're not going to like lose time to like retake classes. They kind of work hand in hand which I'm glad you're able to take advantage of that. So you went to Arcadia, you switched over to communications, which that's what my um undergrad and masters are in. So I I certainly see value in that.

10:23
And then you went and got a master's in what? Uh orientation mobility therapy. So Okay. So how did we jump from those things? Yeah. When I finished at Arcadia, I was interning at Channel 10, NBC 10, and they offered me a job as a production assistant, which I applied for. Um my internship I think ended that fall and I was pretty much done at Arcadia and then the '08 bank bailouts happened. So that job disappeared. The entire uh career field for communication just dropped out. So then

10:57
I had no job prospects. Um so then I went back uh to working with at the time I was working at a daycare center and I was working as a one-on-one for behavior kids. Um, and then one of my students who was uh, you know, had behavior issues, he had low vision as well. And so I met a fellow orientation mobility therapist there and I beca became friends and I said, "I don't know what to do with my life anymore. I don't know what to do." Like I went to school, nothing's working out. What should I do?

11:26
And she said, "Why don't just do what I do?" And I was like, "What is it exactly you do?" So then I actually came here to Overbrook because she worked here at the time. Oh, how funny. Yeah. Yeah. And I fell in love with the job and the school and everything. And um so then she talked me into applying for my master's degree program at Salus and that's how it came full circle. Oh, that's so cool. I mean I I love it how sometimes people like come into your life who just like kind of give you that like next step to

11:54
that next ch you know what I mean? That's so cool. Like she entered your life and then kind of led you to this path. Um which happens to be where you are today. But also, you know, like if the door didn't close at NBCT10, it wouldn't have opened for other opportunities. So, you know, it's cliche, but you know, when a door closes, a window opens. Like, it's really cool to see um how that happened. And yeah, I mean, 2008 when the you know, financial crisis recession hit, yeah, communications jobs were were not

12:27
um were not easy to find. So, I think certainly Yeah. So, so how do you feel that um you know getting going from an associates to a bachelor's to a master's and thinking that you were going to be um on like an a teacher you know did you think you were going to be a certified teacher at some point or were you kind of not sure when I was at Manor I thought I would but I was also not sure because I went to classroom like I had student teach and things like that and I didn't really care for it that much

12:56
being a room with 30 some kids and me trying to be excited about a subject like math which I hated or you know some other English class which I hated at the time. It made it hard and I was like maybe this isn't really for me but I still did it because I didn't know what else to do. Um so it was great that I found my friend and she introduced me to this field because I love what I do. Like not everybody can say that I love my job. Oh that's great. So tell us what do you do? Um you know and and how

13:24
does it you know why do you love it so much? Um well I get to be outside pretty much all the time. That's the one thing. So, what's nice up like today, it's great. Um, I get to teach kids from, well, Edbrook, it's about three years old till up to 22 years old. So, I got a wide range of ages that I work with. And I teach the students how to use the long cane, how to travel independently on campus, how to travel apparently on SEPTA, in the city, in their home environment, at their work sites. Um, a

13:52
lot of times we'll take trips to restaurants, museums, um, things like that. Mhm. And so I get to experience a lot of things I usually don't get to do. Uh now CO kind of messed up a lot of that. But before CO I would do a lot more trips like we went to the art museum institute. U if you call and say that you have a special trip planned whether you're low vision students for blind students. They put all these special tactile things out for you to try. You get access to areas that are closed off to everybody else. Uh so

14:22
we went to Franklin one time. We got all this private um what I want to call them like just fossils and things like that that nobody that they don't they only put out for like when they have their big events. They brought those out for us to try out. We went to the uh what's it called? The Masonic Temple off Broad Street. We had private access to that the one time. That was very cool. So it's neat. I get to do a lot of different things that people don't get to do. My job is challenging at times.

14:46
It is dangerous because I'd teach someone blind across the street by themselves and hope they don't get hurt. Um, yeah. Oh my goodness. Um, but how I mean h what a great way to serve others. Like that's what I'm thinking. Like it's such a cool, neat, unique way to truly give people like independence and freedom and like confidence, you know? That's so neat that you get to do that. And also, but what a what a huge age range. You said age 3 to 22. Yeah. at Overbrook. That's what it is. But I've worked other

15:23
places from six months or nine months old up to I've had clients who are like in their 70s and 80s that needed cane training because their vision just disappeared because they got glaucoma or retinal detachment or diabetic retinopathy which the diabetes affects your eyes. Um so I've had a wide age range. I've worked at a prison with some clients before at great prison years ago. That was interesting and stressful at the same time. Sure. But it was a very unique and cool experience. Oh wow. Well, that that is so cool. I I mean I

15:55
love talking to alumni, but I I really love talking to alumni who are like giving back in a way and like through their jobs. And I feel like so many particularly of our uh ECE degree alumni like they're all serving somehow some way whether they're teachers or they're working in um you know like administrators. But this is something I I've never really heard about frankly and I've never really thought about thought about it, but it's a great resource. Um, so do you feel like thinking back to your Manor

16:28
education, like how do you see how your Manor education kind of set you up or impacted kind of what you're doing today? It showed me different ways to teach. So like Mike and Maddie, they the way they ran their classes, laidback, relaxed, talk to you as you know, personal not from a hierarchy thing. Um that's why I try to do all my lessons with most of my students. You know, just try to be more empathetic, calm voices, things like that. Um and at Manor, it taught me to, you know, embrace different people,

17:01
different ideals because I work with, you know, all these age ranges, people from all different countries, all different cultures. So Manor was good at developing that because there was, when I went there was a wide range of people from everywhere. um at Manor. So, it really opened my eyes to that. Oh, that's great. Yeah, we still we still today um you know, you graduated almost 20 years ago and today we still have um you know, definitely diversity is huge and and it's so cool to like walk it through the cafeteria and you just see

17:31
different cultures, different ethnicities, different backgrounds all over. I think we have students representing over 48 different countries um around the world. So it's really really cool that Manor you can say like it played a part in you understanding diversity and cultures and how you can have that today. That that's really special. What's like a common misconception about um working with people who are um blind and that that you want to like you know a mythbuster um they'll never ask to touch your face.

18:05
I know that's been in movies where they want to feel your face or that's not a thing. Okay. They don't they barely want they don't I mean they want it tactile. Most kids want to touch things but they don't want to do that and you don't want them touching you anyway. The thing is they're blind or low vision but they hear very well. So, a lot of times when we're around public, people just stand there and be all quiet and I'm like, "They can still hear you. Please say hello. Say good morning. Say something."

18:29
Right? Weird standing there looking at them, right? Um, which I'm going to tell you right now, it makes my older students very upset. People just stand there and they can tell they can tell when someone's staring at them, right? You can feel that presence. Yeah. Like, hello, I'm here. You know, if I'm in your way, please say something. I'll move over. Right. Um, and also the other thing is don't just approach them and, you know, try to help without talking to them first. Most people they're visually impaired. If

18:56
they're standing still, they could be processing, you know, trying to figure out where they are in the store or on the sidewalk like because they're trying to locate either a business or an aisle. Yeah. If they want help, they'll call out for help. I've seen people go up to some of my students who are in stores and just grab their hands, start taking them somewhere to like a counter or something and they're like, "What are you, you know, why why are you touching me for one?" Right. Right. And two, I'm an

19:19
individual. Ask me if I need your help. Don't just grow up and force yourself on me. Right. Right. Seek permission first. That that's that's good because maybe people just think, oh, like they must need help, but yeah, actually they're they're learning to not need help in some ways or to ask for it. Yeah, those are good. Those are good. um things that maybe people aren't thinking about. So, it's a good like PSA right there. Um so, so Tevis, what would be some advice that you have for current

19:48
Manor students who are kind of, you know, in their studying in their degrees and, you know, it's it's hard. It's it feels like long days, long hours and sometimes it feels like h the goal is never going to come. But as someone who's on the other side of things, what's what would be some advice you give? Don't give up. Keep trying. Um, it might seem like it's far away, but you will eventually reach your goal if you just work at it. Now, you might not always get where you want to be, which is where I was. I didn't get to where I

20:15
wanted to be, but then that means, as you said, one door closes, a window opens, whatever. Um, but keep trying. If you need help, ask for help. That's one big issue I think a lot of people don't understand. It's okay to need help. It's okay to ask for assistance. There's nothing wrong with that. Um, and just keep trying, you know. Um, goal, if you have a goal, try to reach it. you know, set a plan of some kind, right? Have a plan, have a goal, but ask for help to get there, you know? I think that's

20:42
great. And I think at Manor especially, we want to be really, really helpful for our students. Like, we want to give them resources. We want to help them. And not just in the classroom, but like for a holistic experience. So, if you need help with food, if you need help with a job, if you need help with paying a bill, if you need help with something else going on in your life, we offer counseling, um you know, you need help with your health, like we try to really embrace the whole student because we

21:11
realize like students are are busy, they work, they have families, um college is not the only thing on their on their plate right now. So, um I think I think you said that you did work when you were a student, right? Yeah, I worked non-stop. I never had I always had a job from the time I left high school till now. Even in grad school, I was working all the time, too. Yeah. Not the best idea at the time. It made it very hard. Yeah, I know. And it's hard to do. It's hard to juggle. Did you feel like any

21:41
things particularly really helped you manage and balance working and being a college student? Um, not really. Just caffeine and the drive to get it done. When when I was in grad school for my internship, I probably drank like five or six cups of coffee every day just because I was so exhausted between good driving places because I my internship wasn't center-based. We went everywhere over Montgomery County. So I had to go everywhere. Then I had to do my courses, then I had to go to work and I had to

22:11
file stuff in by deadlines every night. And yeah, so I was I was I didn't get a break till I was done and then I slept like three days straight. Oh my goodness. Well, uh, Tevis, it's been awesome hearing your story. I think it's one that talks about how like you can have maybe a rocky start and and not really not really be clear on what you want to do, but then like come to Manor and like people will support you and give you help and show you empathy and then you can go on to other things. And you know, you went from not being a

22:43
great high school student to having now three college degrees. I mean, that's pretty impressive when you kind of just like take a step back and look at it. So, major kudos to you. Um, you know, trying to follow in like your mom's footsteps with education and um and doing it in such a cool and meaningful way. And I always love trying to find alumni who are really living out our mission. You know, our the last statement in our mission says that we want to prepare students and graduates to serve society effectively and

23:13
compassionately. And it feels like you are you are doing that. So thank you so much for No, you are. I mean definitely have to be celebrated for that. And I know that you you've given back to the college in some ways by dedicating your time and talents um talking to uh Dr. Crosby week's class. So thank you so much for doing that. That's really important. Um we love it when alumni come back and visit and can kind of share their wisdom with the next generation. So thank you for doing that. And who knows, maybe we'll find

23:44
another um orientation and mobility specialist at Manor in the future. Um but thank you so much for spending time with us today and I wish you nothing but the best. Thank you very much for having me. 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

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always. [Music]

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 at Manor College 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? Today is a did you know segment that I really enjoyed researching and learning

00:37
um because it is about one of our most popular programs here on campus, our dental hygiene program. So did you know that Manor College dental hygiene program went through its planning accreditation and facility construction in 1995 and then the very first class started in the fall of 1996 almost 29 years ago. A real strength of the program has that it's always had really low faculty to student ratio. So the number of faculty maybe are one or two and then the class is 12 or 14. The program is ranked in the top

01:13
five dental hygiene program in Pennsylvania. Currently we are ranked as the number three spot of the best dental hygiene programs in Pennsylvania. One of our main goals of the program since the 96 has always been for graduates to pass their dental hygiene board exams within six months of graduating. So currently the dental hygiene program has a 100% pass rate of all three board exams in that six-month time frame. So it's a really good program. um prep really prepares students for success in getting

01:50
their boards and then moving on to become a dental hygiene. Something that I really love and that's unique to Manor about the dental hygiene program is that the dental hygiene program is kind of under the umbrella of the dental health center. And the dental health center is a full on operating health clinic um that benefits the community. So, it's a great benefit that our program provides low cost and affordable preventative pre-dental procedures for the patients of the dental health center as well as

02:22
people in the local community. Anyone can walk in and get a teeth cleaning for $20. They take insurance if you need x-rays and other things. They do all sorts of work. And um it's neat because you can kind of give back to students in that way who need to work on so many different types um to complete their hours of clinical work. It might take a little bit longer than you going to a non college related health center because you have students working on you. They're being overseen by a licensed dentist and an instructor. But

02:58
for 20 bucks, you really can't can't beat the price. So today we have a truly inspiring guest hailing from Feasterville Trevose, a proud Neshaminy High School alum. Our guest journey is a testament to perseverance and a passion for helping others. She kicked off her higher education with an associates degree in dental hygiene from Manor College, graduating in 2002. A true scholar, her path included stops at the Community College of Philadelphia and even took a class at Bucks County before she found her stride at Manor

03:30
College and proving that it's never too late to pursue your dreams. She went on to earn her bachelor's degree from Waldorf University in 2019 and is currently pursuing a master's degree as well. While at Manor, she was deeply involved in a volunteer club showcasing an early commitment to service. This dedication shines through in her current roles as a dental program coordinator at the Anne Silverman Community Health Clinic and a clinical instructor at Montco County Community College where she's shaping the next generation of

04:03
dental professionals. Our guest is a proud first generation college graduate breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations in her family. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Manor College alumni and guest Crystal Esmond. Hi, Crystal. Hi. Wow, that was quite an introduction. Well, you have quite the story and we want to make sure we give it credit. How are you doing? I'm good, thanks. How are you? Yeah, good. Happy to be here. Like I was telling you a little bit when we talked in the pre-show. Um, I'm so

04:37
excited to finally have someone from our dental program on the show. We just haven't had one yet. So, I felt like it was a little bit overdue. So, I'm happy that we're doing this. Yeah. I'm glad to be here. I'm glad I get to be the one to represent. So, yes. Be the trailblazer. Yeah. For more dental hygiene to come on. So, kind of start me off by why did you choose Manor and how did you find out about Manor? So, uh in my journey as a late teenager wanting to be a dental hygienist, I kind

05:07
of had to look and see what colleges offered the program and there's not that many. you know, it was pretty select um a select few. So, I went and visited each of the campuses that were the closest by um me and I honestly I fell in love with Manor's campus. I really liked a small community feel as where Montgomery was much bigger. Um Philadelphia Community College, their campus was much bigger, a little bit more intimidating and I really liked that small family feel of Manor's campus. So, that was it for me.

05:43
Oh, that's great. Yeah, I think I think the small campus feel still to this day remains as one of our top reasons why students choose Manor. We actually just ran a graduation survey just a few weeks ago because our our commencement is next week and we want to get feedback from those who are graduating and the number one reason why they chose Manor was small classes, small um pro, you know, small program sizes and that really resonates with people. So, I'm glad to hear that that resonated with you, you

06:14
know, 20 20 years ago. So, talk to us. What was the program like and what was kind of your college experience like at Manor? Um, the program was, like I said, small. We started out with 15 students, so it was very small. Your professors, they knew us by name. They knew you really got to know your professors. They really got to know you. Um, the program's intense. You know, you're not there. You're if you are in that program, you are career bound. You are not there to have fun in college. You are there to earn a to learn a skill,

06:48
earn an education, and really get out there and work. So, it was an intense program, but it definitely prepared me for what I was going into. So, it was a great program, but it's intense. So, it's not the program that you're going into if you want to go to college, party, and have fun. you're there to learn a skill and be prepared. So, yeah, I I definitely I definitely think that's still absolutely true today. Um I think the way you phrased it that like it's a great program, but it's intense is really a

07:21
good description of it. Um it's definitely career focused and you need to have that mindset of like I'm going to get in here. I'm going to work really hard and kind of like grind it out for two years, but then I'll be prepared to have a career. Um, which is which is kind of amazing if you think about it. Like it's not not a lot of career programs are like that or even just, you know, if you study and not to knock on other programs, but if you study like business or um, you know, other degrees, it usually takes longer than two years

07:53
and they're not as like direct. Mhm. Dental hygiene is like direct like you are very um niche you know in that sense. So you you talked about how like the professors really knew you and you knew them and um were there any people in the program professors or or other um instructors that you can remember were like really kind of like a game changer for you and kind of gave you that attention and like level of care. I don't know if I would say there was a spec I mean they were all good and they all had their strengths. You know, Donna

08:31
Easterbrooks going back to years ago. Um I know she's no longer with the program, but she was very intense and almost a little bit scary. I think we were all a little afraid of her, but in clinic she re in clinic and in the classroom, you learned you learned from her. Sometimes, you know, the scarier instructors, the ones that seem the most intense are the ones that you learn the most from. Um, Dr. Caldwell, which I know she's still there, she was awesome. She was I remember her being awesome 20 years ago,

09:01
and when I talk to students now that are graduating from Manor, they're still saying the same things how great she is. She's very encouraging. She's very uplifting. She wants you to succeed. Um, Mrs. Cups, I can't even remember her first name. I know she's no longer with the program, but she was awesome, too. Just a good They were all just really good. You know, you could I remember in clinic, you could ask for help easily. Like, you weren't afraid to ask for help. You could be like, I you know, I'm

09:30
working on this. I can't figure this out. Can you help me? What am I missing? So, it was just a really good encouraging place to grow and to learn the skills that we needed. So, they were good. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, I remember Don at East Brooks and obviously Vicky Caldwell is still here um as an instructor, but that that's great to hear that they were encouraging, maybe a little scary and intimidating, but that's also kind of good sometimes, you know, to kind of Yeah. Um not everyone. It can't all be

09:59
warm and fuzzy, right? Sometimes you need someone that's going to bring you down to reality and be like, "This is what we need to do. This is what you this is where the expectation is and you need to meet it." So yeah, oftentimes those are the professors when you reflect back that actually, you know, maybe taught you the most because of that kind of experience. Yeah. So um tell us why like how did you know you wanted to be a dental hygienist and like where does that passion of yours come from and do you really love teeth that

10:28
much or is there like a story behind it? So there is a story behind it and when I tell that story people are always like wait what? So, I grew up going to a pediatric dentist and I hated going to the dentist. I used to cry every time before I went. I would beg my mom not to take me. I asked her to take me to a different dentist. It was very much run like a factory. Like they just pumped kids in and pumped kids out. I remember the hygienists and the assistants were not exactly the nicest or um yeah, it

11:00
was just a a not great experience growing up. So, as I got a little bit older, as I was like later in my childhood, like 10, 11, 12, I was like, I'm going to be a dentist and I'm going to get all the tools and do my own dentistry so I never have to go to the to the dentist again. And uh, you know, obviously the reality sets in of that doesn't work. Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to be a dentist to yourself. Yes. So, I started um looking into different career paths and dental hygiene came up. It was a great um career for women. it had a

11:33
lot of flexibility. You made decent money to survive. You know, my I came from a divorced family, so I felt like if I should end up as a single parent, you know, I'll be able to support my kids. And um so I thought I was going to work in pediatric dentistry. I thought, I'm going to make this an amazing experience for every kid that I see. They're going to love coming to the dentist. And I did a pediatric rotation while I was in the program. And I was like, "This is not for me." Like I'm like, "This really takes a

12:07
special person to work with children, you know, 10 hours a day." And I thought, "It's not me." Um, but that did not stop my love. I still love dentistry. I loved being able to work with adults that were nervous. I feel like it kind of made me a better hygienist because I understood where they were coming from. A lot of people that go into dentistry, I think they go in because they loved going to the dentist. They loved their orthodontist. They love they had such a great experience. So when they see nervous

12:34
patients, it's like what is their problem? It's not a big deal. As where I felt like, I get it. I know the anxiety that you're feeling. We're going to get through this together and you're going to you're going to turn around and you're going to like this. So that was kind of how I ended up getting into it. Oh wow. That that is a great story. And I I love how you're right. Oftentimes when I talk to even our students like why are you in this program? It's because like they love teeth. They love

13:00
cleaning that clean feeling of teeth and and they love the dentist. You rarely hear someone who had kind of the opposite. But for you that means you have such great empathy with probably the majority of people that they feel about the dentist. So that's such a like a leg up on you and I think a really unique factor. Um, and I I don't know how people work in I actually just yesterday I took my my middle child, she's four, to her pediatric dentist and they have, you know, um, fish fish on the ceilings and the big submarine, you

13:35
know, I mean, all those things. So, it looks really fun and I have to say the dentists there are fantastic. Um, so far we're still pretty pretty new in going to the practice, but and she likes it, you know, but I can certainly it would be so hard I know from a parent point of view to get your kid to go to the dentist if they didn't like it. So I'm very grateful so far so good, but um I can see how that would be really hard to like you got to you got to go. So, um, that's so cool that you were

14:06
motivated to to kind of pursue this as a career because of something that you had as a kind of a negative experience and you wanted to change it for good. What great like service-minded heart that you were coming from. So, kind of take us through um your career path and currently I know you're currently at like two different places. Can you just kind of explain what those are and kind of um kind of what your career looks like now? So, I started out in private practice. I worked at one office after I graduated.

14:38
I lasted there about 10 months. Um, they were kind of just getting started into a sales driven model, which was just not for me. And I switched to a private another private practice where I stayed for 21 years. It was a great office. I loved it there. Um, I worked with great women. I worked for a great doctor. And after 21 years, I was ready for a change. It's a long time in one place. And I thought, you know what? I want to work in public health. So, I ended up getting this great position at the

15:07
Insman Community Health Clinic. We're a free clinic. We provide free dental services. There's medical services, mental health services, social services. It's just an incredible community and it totally revived my love for dentistry. I mean, the patients are just so thankful and we just get to do such great stuff for the families that come. Um, my other role is I work as a clinical instructor in Montgomery County Community College program. I started that last year and that role I mean I could not love a

15:42
position more than I love that. It's just it's so great being able to work with adult students that are there because they want to learn. They're there because they picked to learn. And I get to do the fun part. I'm in the clinic with them. So, I'm teaching them their instrumentation and all the day-to-day stuff that you do, you know, in clinic. And I I just love it. I love working with the students. It's so cool getting to see them kind of grow. You know, they come in, they don't know anything how to hold their mirror or any

16:11
of their instruments, and by the end of the year, they've seen patients, and they've really gone through the whole process, and it it's awesome. Oh, that's so cool. I love how um obviously like you stayed at the same practice for 21 years. I mean, that's such a great testament to a lot of really good things. But then you were like, you know what, I want to work in public health and I'm going to make this change and um what a brave and confident move on on your behalf from a career point, but I'm

16:39
so glad that it's kind of paying it forward um um for you and kind of like fulfillment of that. That's really cool. And I know that you currently are serving on our dental advisory board here at the college, right? what how did that come about and kind of what made you want to give back in that way and thank you so much for giving back. Yeah. So, it was it's kind of interesting what a small world it is. Stephanie Parker, who is now the director of the hygiene program there, I worked with her at Montgomery County

17:08
Community College and we didn't work in the same class, but I had met her a couple times here and there. And when Virginia Saunders had retired, I was talking to someone else and um they said, "Oh, the woman that's taking that position at Steph Parker and I went," I know Stephanie Parker. I said, "This is great." Because actually at the clinic we've been having Manor students come and do rotations at the clinic, which has just been incredible. And Stephanie had reached out one day and said, "Hey,

17:38
any chance you'd have an interest in in being a part of our board?" And absolutely put me on. So that was how that came about and I'm glad to do it. I'm excited. Yeah. Oh, I love that. I love that so much. I always love hearing stories when like the manor world and circle like kind of comes back around, you know? I feel I don't know. I always feel like especially in Montgomery County like everyone kind of knows someone connected to Manor at some point. Um especially probably in the dental world. I imagine that's that's

18:11
pretty common. Yeah. like walk into a practice and like someone some there either work went to Manor or had someone go to you know what I mean? Um so that's really cool and and tell us about I know you're pursuing a master's degree. Tell us kind of like why are you pursuing that and kind of what are you pursuing? Uh so I'm working on a master's in public health and it's interesting. I always thought I'll go back for my masters when my kids are done college because I thought I can't spend the money on myself. I have to, you know,

18:40
they're my daughter's turning 18 this actually next week and my son's 14 and I'm like, okay, nothing for me. When they're done college, I'm going back for my masters, right? The true mother the true mother me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me mentality right there, it sounds like. Well, yeah, but I took it back because now I'm in school for myself. So good. Good for you. Good for you. So yeah, um last year once I

19:02
started taking the teaching position at Montgomery and I really fell in love with it and I thought, you know what, I might want to do this full-time. I, you know, I'm loving this so much. And I know full-time teaching positions, you need a master's degree. I knew I was always going to do it. I wasn't 100% sure, do I want to go the education route? Do I want to go the public health route? And um over the last spring, last spring, I started thinking, I thought, you know what? what am I waiting for? I

19:29
can do this now, you know, let let's just jump in. We'll start it now. We'll see. I'll take one class. Let's see where it goes. So, you know, I started looking at different schools and I had to start thinking, okay, where do I want to focus? And I decided on public health and then it was last summer that I took the position in public health. So, it just kind of all came together and I liked the public health curriculum. I love learning about disease. I love learning about disaster preparedness.

19:59
I'm like a doomsdayer. I I don't quite have a basement full of water and food supplies, but that stuff, it kind of fascinates me. And I love learning about prevention and all of that is wrapped up in a public health degree. So, I I feel like I I picked the right degree and I'm about halfway through. So, it's been going good. Well, congrats. That's awesome. And how has it been being back in college? You know, is it different? Is it kind of feels the same in some ways? Kind of how

20:30
if you can compare and contrast. So, it's funny because I finished my bachelors as an adult with young children. It doesn't feel much different than that because I had done that part as an adult. Um, so yeah, it it's it's definitely I will say this, it is not as difficult as the hygiene program because that and the reason I say that is because the hygiene program has clinical hours and those clinical hours, it's a lot. I mean, at one point, I think you're up to 30 hours. So, you're doing 30 hours of clinical and

21:05
your class time. So, it's, you know, thankfully it's not like that. Um, but it's college, so it's still stressful. There's still assignments. There's big things. It's you got to be good with time management, so you know, sometimes I am up at two trying to finish stuff off and get it submitted. But make it work. You're back. You're a college student again. That's Yeah. Well, that's awesome. You know, Crystal, in hearing hearing your story and hearing kind of kind of where you started, but then also where you are are

21:37
today. I'm I'm often I'm well I'm so impressed. I'm often really impressed with our alumni and just how they have such a heart to help people and I feel like a lot of our alumni really do and they end up working in these careers where you really are service focused. But um something that I I particularly was thinking about you was that you know in our mission we have a fairly long mission statement but there's there kind of like two things that I like to kind of focus in our mission. One is that like Manor College

22:07
we believe that graduation begins a chapter of lifelong learning and we want to instill in our students that Manor is not the end of of your learning journey. we want our students to continue to learn whether it's Coned, whether it's um master's degrees and so on. So hearing that, you know, you've gone on and you've gotten a bachelor's, you've gotten you're getting a master's, um really is a testament, I think, to kind of just align with our mission. And then the last part of our mission talks about

22:36
how um matter graduates are prepared to serve society effectively and compassionately. And just hearing your story, I'm like spot on. Crystal is doing that. Um, you're serving society obviously very compassionately by your work in public health and your desire. You're giving back by being a member of our board and that's helping our own program grow and thrive. Um, and you're doing it effectively because you're doing it all. Um, so just thank you so much for being such a great like walking um, proof that like a degree at Manor

23:13
College does set you up for these things in life. And that's frankly what we want to do. So, it's really inspiring to see and I hope that people listening um feel the same. Yeah, I do too. Yeah, Matter was a great place a great place to start. It really was. Yeah, that that's great. It's great to hear. So, kind of my last question for you is what advice would you give to current Manor students whether they're in dental or or not um to kind of encourage them in in their own college experience and college

23:45
journey. Um, I guess the advice I would have is keep going. No class, you know, even if you're forced to take a class that you don't think it, you know, like dental hygienist, you have to take a course in philosophy or at least I did. You know, there's classes that I Yeah. that aren't quite related to your major, you're still going to learn stuff from that. And just keep going. Even when you have that instructor that you're like, I swear this instructor hates me. They just keep, you know, killing everything

24:11
that I turn in. You're there to learn. They're there to help you learn. and they're there to help you grow. So, just keep going. Listen, be open-minded. Take the uh the uh advice that they're giving you and don't be so quick to say, "No, that's not, you know, no, they're wrong." Like, listen, listen to what they say. They've got some life experience and just keep working hard, keep going, and you can do it. You can definitely do it. Yeah. Well, that that's great. It's great advice and very timely. our um our class of 2025

24:42
graduation is next Thursday. So, there's a lot of excitement and celebration happening for our class, but also whenever students kind of leave the nest, um you know, it's scary, too. They're going out into the real world. They're not going to have kind of the safety boundaries that we kind of have here as a college student. So, it's good advice like you can do it and keep going. Um, thank you Crystal so much for joining us today. It's been a true pleasure to talk to you and I hope that our listeners were inspired and

25:15
encouraged by you. Awesome. Thank you so much, Kelly. It was nice. It was nice meeting you. Nice to talk to you. Thank you for tuning in with us 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, 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
[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's time for a special segment of the show I like to call did you know? Did you know that Manor College's first athletics team competed in women's

00:36
basketball? In the late 1950s, Manor College students regularly competed on volleyball and tennis courts behind the original St. Basil's Academy on the Sisters property, which is next to our campus. Minor College's first collegiate team was in women's basketball, which debuted in the 1960s. So, Manor was playing kind of um recreational sports before it became competitive. The team played several local colleges including Holy Family, Chestnut Hill, Gwynedd Mercy, and Holy Redeemer. The team featured multiple

01:11
winning records, and women's basketball still continues to be a vital part of our Manor College athletics today. So since the 1960s when we first started bringing collegiate sports, Manor has become home to dozen a dozen sports for both men and women, men's soccer became the first male sport on campus in the fall of 1990 after Manor College became a co-ed institution in the late 80s. The team played their first games at the Tris soccer field in Horsham, which Manor still has a connection to Tris

01:45
today. And um finally the Blue Jays found a home on a field next to Mother Perpetual Help Hall where our team still plays today. After men's soccer came men's basketball soon followed that next year in 1991. The team found early success winning their conference championship just six years after starting the team. Our Blue Jays compete in the United States Collegiate Association or the USCAA and Manor College was actually a founding member of the Eastern States Athletic Conference. Recently, the Blue

02:20
Jays found success on multiple levels. Both men's soccer and men's basketball won their conference championships in recent years and entered the USCAA National Tournament. Just last month, our outdoor track team competed at the USAA Track and Field National Championships in Springfield, Massachusetts. So whether it's on the soccer pitch, on the basketball court, on the volleyball court, on the baseball diamond, or around the track, we always love to see our Blue Jays flying high and competing. Today we have a truly

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special guest. He is someone who bleeds blue and white and has been a Blue Jay since 1997. Today's guest is a true pillar of the Manor College community and has been a campus staple for almost 25 years. Today, we're thrilled to have with us someone whose journey started right here in Philadelphia, graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School before finding his way to Manor. He dove head first into the college experience, earning his liberal arts associates degree in 1999 and proudly representing the Blue Jays

03:24
on the men's soccer team. from Manor College. He then continued to pursue his academics at Millersville University. And now he is a it's a fantastic full circle moment. He uh he's been back at Manor on campus leading the charge as the director of athletics and the head coach for our men's soccer team. A first generation college student himself, he knows firsthand the transformative power of higher education. And we are eager to hear about his experiences and his story. So, please give me a warm please

03:55
join me in giving a warm welcome to John JD Dempster. Hi, John. Hi, Kelly. Thanks for having me. Of course. I'm happy to have you and um it's always good to see a friendly face. So, thanks so much for talking to us today. And can you start us off by sharing how did you choose Manor and what was your college decision like? It was very different for me, Kelly. Um as you mentioned, I am a rail splitter at heart. Abraham Lincoln. Uh I was a public school kid and um I wasn't quite sure what I wanted

04:27
to do where a lot of our students are in that same category. But for me, I talked to the men's soccer coach here and uh he kind of laid it out for me and said, "Hey, we need a goaltender. I know you're looking for a place to go." And um I'll never forget it. When I pulled up to campus with my mother, I just felt like this was the place I was going to be. it. Like you said, I've been here for a long time and it's like a second home to me. Sure. Absolutely. I love how you describe that like when you pulled in um

05:00
with your mom like you just felt it. And I feel like I always tell students like trust your instincts, trust your gut. There's something about that that's really telling. If you are on a college campus and you're like this doesn't feel right, listen to that. But then on the other side, if it does feel right, listen to that. So, that's really cool to hear um that you found a home not so far away from your actual home, you know, not being that too far away. Lincoln High School is kind of right down the street. So, tell us, John, what

05:27
were you like as a student? What was campus like in the late 90s? Um kind of give us take us back a little bit. Well, I think about it all the time and Manor was a place where everybody was friendly. Um I like I said I felt like home when I was um transforming say from Lincoln High School public uh education to Manor College. Um I wasn't the best student to be honest with you. I was uh I would call myself academically lazy and uh when I got to campus I met some teachers and they were just so nice to

06:06
me. Um, one in particular was Jane Zegestowsky and uh, she just kind of made me feel comfortable and would work with me and um, from there like say practicing for a sport, the education piece for me um, I became something where I just wanted to keep doing it. I uh, got a few good grades. Well, so I wanted to get more uh, better grades, you know, I got B's, I wanted A's. Um, and so the academic part for me was um, it was great because I felt like I got my real education here at Manor College and

06:45
um, what I loved about the social aspect really was um, I mentioned however how nice everybody was and there was no clicks, you know, um, athletes could hang with uh, non-athletes and um, different groups could hang with different groups and it was totally cool. Um, some of my best friends are I still talk to all the time and it happened right here on Manor's campus. Uh, you mentioned that I, you know, I didn't live far away and I actually lived here too to get the full, you know, experience and I'll tell you the

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resident's life was great here. Uh the education was great here and it just um it was it was a an experience that when I transferred I didn't get. So I wished at the time that I could just stay here and get the bachelor's degree but now we can. Right now we can. Um that's so cool. And I love how you are able to reflect on um someone like Jane Zegestowsky who was a longtime faculty member in math I believe and then she became like a a an associate dean or provost and kind of worked up in leadership. And today Jane is a board

08:00
member of Manor. So what a what a cool arc for her to like kind of go from faculty to administrator to now a board member and really staying with the college. felt like she believed in you. She saw something in you and then that snowballed you to get those B's, get those A's, and then get involved. And um I'm glad that you were able to have like a full college experience even though you totally could have commuted back home as well. But it's nice that you were able to kind of like get that cuz it's something that a lot of students um

08:30
either desire or you know feel like they maybe miss out on. So it's cool that Manor was able to kind of be that for you. So let's talk a little bit about what was it like like you are a graduate from the college obviously you're you're really involved as a student and then you go away for a little bit and then talk about like coming back to coach and then coming back um as an employee and kind of what was that transition like because that's pretty interesting. It it was it was amazing for me because um I

09:00
always said I wanted to give back but I just didn't know how. um you know I I have friends that are mechanics and you know they can help you with your car and I just I just didn't know how I could help and then I realized that I loved working with people and I loved sharing my experience that I had here as a student. So when I came back to Manor to work, I worked in the admissions department for 17 years and I absolutely loved it because I got to work with potential students all the time and I got to share my stories and my

09:33
experiences. Um and then with coaching, uh my former high school coach, uh Mr. Patton at Abraham Lincoln High School, we still talk to this day. um he inspired me when I was a player there and um all of the good things that he did for me and and my family. Uh I wanted to um incorporate if I ever got the chance to coach. And um he was more than a coach and that's kind of what I thrived to be. Not just an X's and O's guy, but someone that um was going to be a part of my players lives. um not just

10:13
the two to four years that they were here, but beyond that. So, when I got the opportunity to coach, um it wasn't about wins and losses for me, although I do love to win, but it was really just getting our guys from point A, you know, they're here as a freshman to mature and learn, become a good person, and uh succeed um and graduate. I mean, the ultimate goal is to get their degree. Yeah. So yeah, that's great. Yeah. I mean, you spent a lot of time in admission. So like not just recruiting athletes or recruiting soccer players,

10:49
but just recruiting students to come in come into the the door and share your story. And I like how you said you wanted to give back. You just didn't know how. But um obviously working for the college is a great way to give back cuz I mean it's we are a nonprofit and we are I feel like we all are serving students and each other frankly in some some way. Um is there any particular stories or years where you remember um you know students maybe like reminded them of yourself and you saw yourself in

11:24
a lot of students or a lot of players and then you saw them get motivated and they weren't maybe the best academically but then they turned it around and like do you kind of have any any stories about that? I mean, honestly, Kelly, every year there's someone like that and um it's great to see them grow. Um as a again, as a coach, you see these players come in or you see these students come in and they just don't know. Uh they're they're a lot of them are just clueless about college and and and and why

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they're going to college, but they know they should go to college, right? So I was in the same situation where hey I was lazy in high school. I had a lot of fun. I played a lot of sports. I had a lot of friends. But the academic piece was the one where if it wasn't for teachers like Jany and Mike Landis and John Stora um you know we we just wouldn't know and and you might drop out or you might not get that full experience. So, what I try to do, Kelly, is share that story and say, "Listen, I've been there. I've been right where

12:35
you are. There's tons of help here. There's teachers here that'll help you. I will help you." And I think me being here full-time and letting them know that it's not just all about sports that that I'm here for you. And and there's other coaches that are here for their players as well, but um yeah, I have students that come and go all the time. that are in the same situation and it's just so cool to see them just mature and and and get through it, you know. Um our one of our seniors

13:05
this year, uh Maximo Chavez, Maximo Chavez was in the same situation and it's just so cool to see him through his personal battles, his educational battles, his social battles, just get through it. I mean, he would come in and we'd talk and uh you know, we we'd actually um we'd pray together, too. And um it it was just great to see him just become that man that he is. And now he's going to get his bachelor's degree from Manor College. So, I'm really happy about that. Yeah, that's awesome. I

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mean, I I have an inside look and and inside scoop on what, you know, what John Dempster means to an institution just because I've worked here for a long time alongside of you and I I know um you can't you can't ask students like if if you ask students, you know, randomly pull a few in the cafeteria like who's someone here that really impacted you? There's a really really high chance John Dempster's name comes up. I mean, almost every single athlete for sure, but then other non-athletes, too. Oh, JD is

14:14
awesome. You know, I know that you you help your students and athletes in so many ways than just being a coach, giving them rides to airports, doing all sorts of things on the weekends and just like being I know people have used um like father figure or um you know, uncle and brother and like different kind of familial terms to describe you. So, I think you're certainly leaving you're leaving a mark on these these people um every year in in big and small ways that you might not even realize, but it's

14:45
really cool. And I think that that talks to the greater like purpose we all have here at Manor is that like we're not just here to give you an education. Here's your degree. See you. It's really a lot more about connection, relationships, and serving. I always kind of go back to like servant leadership and service to our students um through their education while they're alumni. You know, I love it when alumni come back and they like connect with us or they ask us for help with something and we can be those

15:15
connectors and advocates for them. And I see that you do a lot of that in your work and these are all the things that are not like in a job description, but they are just the things that we all do to help, you know, these people that we we love. So, thanks for all that you do on that front, John. I know it's time and effort, um, but it really means a lot and leaves an impact. So, let's talk a little bit about the athletic director hat that you wear, um, overseeing all 12 of our sports. Um, how have you seen

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athletics at Manor College grow and change over the last couple decades? Oh, great question. Um, I it first of all, it's a dream job and I'm just so happy that I have it. Um, but when I took over the position, we had three sports. Um, and when I sat with President Perry, we talked and I said, "What do you want me to do? You know, where do you see this thing going?" And he said, "Well, I'd like to see more athletic offerings. I'd like to see our rosters expand and then I'd like to see us um to

16:19
start to win." So, um, I said, "Great. I I'm always up for a challenge. I'm ready for it." But when you backtrack, I told you about me pulling up to campus uh with my mom and I just I'm telling you, I just I knew this is where I wanted to be. But the second thing that I said was, "Do they have a baseball team?" And they didn't. They didn't have a baseball team. Um but that's just my point is so when I took over the first ad was baseball. Um it was personal for me. It was it was an ad

16:53
that I wished that we had for years and now we have it. And then I knew that um we wanted to expand our women's offerings. So we reinstituted women's soccer and volleyball. We added cross country indoor track and outdoor track for both men and women. So my goal, yeah, was to grow and to expand the rosters. And then it was if we could take part in somehow expanding from say a two-year associates degree granting institution into a four-year bachelor's degree granting institution, I would love to be a part of that. And we we we

17:28
helped with that in 2018 and 19. And now our sophomores when they graduate, I don't have to hear them say, I don't want to leave. I want to stay here. Now they can. So, so for me that is the ultimate where as a as you know we wear many hats here. So I when I put my coaching hat on I say hey we got this freshman and sophomore ready to play college level sports and now they're transferring. Now we can say no now they're ready to play. And because of those efforts and and all of our sport offerings we are now seeing the results

18:04
and now we're starting to win and get those banners um and get the recognition. And honestly, we're still probably the smallest college in the USCAA. I know we're the smallest college in our in the ESAC conference, but it that doesn't matter because even though, you know, we're we're small in numbers, we're still we're still have um like big hearts and we are just, you know, ready to win and and we've proved it. So, yeah. Yeah. So, men's basketball this year, won the first ESAC conference championship this year. That was

18:38
amazing. men's soccer did it two years ago. So, we're really starting to get the recognition. And in the past uh four years, we've had uh two teams go to the national championship tournament twice. So, total of four times. So, I'm really excited about that. Yeah. I mean, it's been exponential growth over the last really 10 years, I would say. Really exploded. What year did you start in the ad position? Do you know? It was 2018. Okay. And then co hit. Right. Right. I know. And going through athletics with COVID, it was a whole

19:10
another I mean going through it with academics was a whole another thing. Athletics and I think what you said is really true. You know, being a two-year school for 70 out of our 77 years of existence, you know, that meant you have two years of athlete. So you have and at most, you know, four year institutions, freshman normally don't play. They play their junior senior year, but you use those two years as grooming years. Here it was like, well, we got freshman and sophomores all the time. That's it.

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Right. So, like you said, like we were grooming them and then they leave. So, we were never able to like reap the benefit of us grooming them. So, now we can and obviously we're seeing the results from that which is awesome. Um I I don't know. I always kind of love being like the underdog in some ways. I think it's a very Philadelphia um mantra obviously with um some of the Eagles kind of doing that. But I also think like, you know, Manor, we're small, but we're mighty. And I think our athletics really embodies that kind of

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persona. So, it's really cool to see. Um, you're sitting in our gym today, and I see there's lots of banners on the on the ceiling, and I know behind you there's even more that are the newer ones. And I always find that like athletics drives campus culture. And not just for the athletes, like non-athletes like it, professors like it, parents like it, like it drives campus culture. and it really does set a tone for a campus. So, it's always good to see our athletics teams um expanding and doing well obviously is really fun. I hear

20:43
there's a bit of news to be shared in the athletics department. Um so, I wanted to give you an opportunity to share what's going on that's coming out. Yes, really excited. We are adding two new sports for spring 2026. women's flag football and men's volleyball. And I'm telling you, I could not be happier. I've been um itching to kind of add these sports for a couple years now. And now that it's approved, we're going to we're going to spearhead this and we're going to put Manor College on the map. I'm really excited

21:16
about these two new sports. Oh, that's great. I think that's so cool. So, tell me kind of why those two and kind of what's the buzz around that? Well, I'm going to start with men's volleyball first. In 2018, when I took over, it was starting to it was in it was in its infancy and was starting to gain popularity and that was kind of when we were transitioning from that two to four year um bachelor's degree granting institution and then co hit. So, I kind of tabled it for a little bit. Um but I was very interested

21:47
because it was growing within our region, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. So, that was always in the back of my mind. I wanted to get that going. So what we did instead was start volleyball club and uh here on campus and it became a really popular club. It was a co-ed club but it was an opportunity for me to see how many male uh students will come in and be you know interested in playing the sport. So, you know, I was taking names and we were talking about it and I got to the point where I was like, "Okay, um the

22:18
interest is there. Let let's move this forward." And that's what happened. And then with flag football, I mean, I think everybody I think the cat's out of the bag, so to speak. This is probably going to be the most popular sport in the near the near uh future. Um yeah, it's the PIAA have adopted it. The NCAA are about to adopt it. it's going to be an Olympic sport soon. I just wanted to get Manor College uh you know to kind of spearhead this or trailblaze it uh where when it does become an

22:50
official sport through the NCAA that we're ready to go. Yeah, I love that. I love um how you were able to kind of kind of get like a little test group together for volleyball. I um just a few episodes ago we had Kaitlyn Rampone on the podcast talking about her Manor experience and she talked about volleyball club and how that was such that sounded like that was actually a really pivotal thing for her and her experience. She she talked so fondly about it and how um helping start the club but also being a part of it just

23:20
like reignited her love for volleyball which she kind of um was dampered a little bit in high school. So that was really cool to hear. And then I didn't really realize how like that club was like a test group for what was to come. So cool foreshadowing there. Um and flag football, it certainly seems like the next sport for like America. I know um my son, he is six years old and like our town offers flag football for six-year-olds. Um, I think he's a little afraid to try it just yet, but we we

23:55
think it's cool and it's a great alternative to football, which comes with a lot of just scary possibilities. So, flag football seems like a really cool offering, and I know we already have some students talking about it on campus, and I know more things are going to come out about it in the next um few months. So, I think it's really exciting, and congratulations. It's not easy starting sports and doing all this, but major kudos to you um for really spearheading this. So So John, as we kind of wrap up here, I usually end

24:28
every episode with asking our alumni what advice that they would give to Manor students. It's kind of ironic asking you because you're someone who actually like does give advice to Manor students all the time where sometimes alumni don't feel as you know they're not as connected to our students like like you are but I'll still ask the question because I'm a creature of of habit but what advice would you give to Manor students who are currently like in their in their college days right now and um something that you think would

25:00
resonate well with them. I say this a lot and I really mean it. I always tell them, don't be invisible. Um, if you're invisible, nobody knows what you'd like to do or what you'd like to try. There there's no harm in trying something and seeing if you like it. Um, I tell my players, get involved in other things besides athletics. Get involved in student government. That was a huge part of my life when I was in high school. Um, get involved in different clubs. Do community service. it could

25:31
change your life. Um, that's probably the best advice I could give them, you know, and I I really mean it. If you're invisible, no, you're never going to get that chance. And especially at Manor College, I mean, we are a small private institution where everybody is pulling for you. So, all you really have to do is just show up and and talk. Yeah. Find your way. It's so true. And I think if there's any place not to be invisible at, it's Manor College, frankly, because as soon as you right,

26:04
just show up and and share a little bit about yourself. Be a little bit vulnerable. You'll have people coming around you to find opportunities, find internships, jobs, if you need food, if you need resources. is I mean I feel like that's what we we do really well at and that's what I think is kind of um unique about us is you know I always say like a lot of institutions in our area particularly are small and are homey um and offer the same degrees that we offer but like what makes us different is our

26:35
students and is the level of care that we have. So that's great advice. Don't be invisible. Um well thank you John so much for spending time with us today and I hope our listeners enjoyed your story. I know I had a blast talking to you and kind of hearing more about your journey and um thank you so much and thank you Kelly. Thank you for your department and all the stuff you do for athletics. 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

27:04
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] [Applause]

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? Did you know that Manor College is ranked among the top two safest campuses

00:34
for colleges and and um institutions in the entire United States with nearly 4500 colleges and universities across the United States, 400 of them being in Pennsylvania alone, being ranked as the second safest college by stateuniversity.com. Manor College has made this list multiple times being ranked number three and number two. This list was compiled by analyzing clearary and FBI data on the following categories. Number of weapon occurrences, drugs, burglary, vehicle threat, the theft, arson, larseny,

01:09
robbery, non-forcable rape, and more. This um report came out a few years ago and Manor College is very proud to be the number two safest college in the United States. Dr. Perry, our president, has said that if we are not safe, we cannot learn. And I totally agree and I think that's a really important factor to any college campus. Obviously safety is number one. Our you belong here statement invites everyone at Manor to learn and study obviously safely. So some things that we do here at Manor to

01:42
keep our campus safe. We have an ID badge system for entry on all the doors and buildings on campus. We have centralized doors so people have to enter through specific doors that have security cameras on them. We have a full staff of public safety officers who serve our community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Yes, they are here on Christmas. They are here on Fourth of July. They are here on weekends at 2 in the morning. Um, we have someone fully dedicated to keeping our campus safe. We have a very close

02:12
relationship with the Abington Township Police Department and other local officials. Our public safety team handles campus patrolling, investigation of incidents, victim assistance, and educational programs. And our protective measures include a utilization of a campus-wide notification, e alert system, and other communication systems. So obviously at Manor College, being safe is a top priority. I am honored now to welcome today's alumni guest. Today we have a awesome alumni guest from Brooklyn and then Philadelphia who has

02:47
dedicated um pursuing higher education while balancing motherhood and a career. This alumni is not only an accomplished second grade teacher in the school district of Philadelphia, but also a proud graduate of Mayor College from the class of 2016 where she earned her associates degree in early childhood education. Please join me in welcoming Leslie Harris. Hi Leslie, welcome. Hi, thank you for having me. Thank you so much for being on the nest. We're so excited to talk to you today. So, um I know you're on spring break right now,

03:19
which kudos to you and a well well-deserved rest for you teachers, but kind of take us back to how did you choose Manor College? How did you hear about Manor and kind of what made you want to attend the institution? Um I heard about Manor College from actually one of my co-workers at the time. I was working at a daycare center and I had previously attended Cheney for a little bit and then this life happened. I had a child so I started working full-time and she kept saying, "Oh, go to Manor. Go to Manor. You

03:51
you'll love it. It'll be so, you know, it'll be so great for you." And my director at the time was like, "Get your associates degree and just take baby steps." So, I put it off for a while and then I got pregnant with my second child and I'm like, "Okay, these kids cannot get, you know, kindergarten diplomas before me. I have to do something." And I went down. I applied and everyone was just so nice and just welcomed me with open arms. And that's how I started going to Manor. I was about maybe I want to say

04:24
about five months pregnant at the time and I just started attending classes. Oh, wow. That that is so cool. Um we often have students who are either currently parents or who are expecting. Um a lot of people don't realize that actually 30% of our student body are full-time caretakers. So like they are either working parents or they're taking care of like their parents possibly or even grandparents. So that's awesome for you to be able to pursue that. And I like how you put it. My kids aren't

04:54
going to get kindergarten diplomas before mom mom gets hers. Um well well put and obviously I'm so glad you were able to accomplish that. So kind of what was your um how did you know that education was something that you wanted to pursue and kind of what was it about education that kind of lit your fire and made you passionate? I've always wanted to be a teacher like since little when all my cousins and friends they were practicing being a mommy. My dolls and bears were my students. I named them. I gave them assignments that

05:26
obviously they didn't do, but it was just something that I always enjoyed. And then my younger sister, shout out to her. She was one of my students. She was my only live student, so she got the brunt of the work and the projects, but I enjoyed just teaching her and watching her learn her alphabet and learn how to add. She went to kindergarten very prepared because she unfortunately went to school at Leslie's private school. It was just so fun. And from that point on, I just was always passionate about watching

05:57
kids learn new things, like those aha moments. Oh, that's great. I love that. Um, I totally can see like a little kid playing with their dolls and their stuffed animals, like school. Um, I have a four-year-old daughter and she's really into playing house and school and mommy and sets everything up. And I'm totally living that right now. and um if she wants to become a teacher one day, I'm all about it because I think it's a great passion. It's a great field. We certainly need more teachers.

06:28
We need teachers who want to be teachers um and want to kind of pour into the next generation. So, thank you so much for what you're doing. So, kind of how how did Manor help you get to where you knew you wanted to go and like um like your boss said, take those baby steps and get in that associates degree and kind of what was your experience like when you were a student? I think the biggest hurdle that I had going into Manor was myself. Like I really was like, well, I know I'm going to have to do student teaching. I was thinking so

06:59
far ahead that I was blocking myself. And at the time, um, Mrs. Crosby, she was one of my advisers and one of my professors, and she would always just talk to me and say like, "You can do this." you know, when things got really hard, I always had someone, whether it was someone in the financial aid office, someone in admissions, like it didn't even matter. Sometimes, I'm pretty sure some of the people that I spoke to, they encouraged me in areas that they probably didn't even work in. It was just like whoever was there was always

07:31
like, "No, you can do this. I remember you came in and you were pregnant, now you have the baby." There was always just a push to keep going. And that's how I got through. I was a nursing mom. Um, I had uh Miss Crosby let me use her office to pump during classes. I had, you know, professors who helped me with independent study when I was the only person who needed a specific class and there was no one else at the time to register for that class. Like I had a lot of support and just a lot of encouragement and that just pushed me to

08:01
to continue and keep going forward. Oh, that's so great. I love I love those stories and I love hearing that like you felt so supported. So then it's like iron sharpens iron, you know, like if you feel supported and you feel loved and poured into, then you're going to pass that along to someone else and you're going to keep going and pursuing because you're feeling like, well, they're they're supporting me, so I got to show up and I got to get the work done and I got to get that degree. Um, how cool. And how cool that you felt

08:29
supported from not just like your adviser or your professor, but like kind of random people in random offices who might not even know your full story, your full situation, but just like I think that really speaks too to like the Manor community we have here. Um, you know, we're small and that's okay. Small is not always a bad thing and we're small. Um, but as to say that we're we're also mighty in that and like we do want to help everybody regardless of who they are, where they come from, what

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they're doing, what major they're in. it doesn't really matter. Um, if you're a part of our community, we're going to find ways to help you. So, that's really cool that you had that experience and particularly going through a major life change with having a newborn. It's your, you know, now you have two kids, now you have to pump and feed and just all those things. It's hard. Um, but I mean, what a cool thing for your kids. even if they don't remember mom going to school while I was a kid, like they're

09:22
that's going to have an impact on them in some way, whether it's short-term or long term, it's going to impact them. So, I mean, you obviously were changing your family tree by doing that. So, that's really really cool. Um, and just I'm so impressed by that story. So, what um tell us about what was it like transitioning because you you graduated from Manor with your associate as an early childhood education which is a great degree and we still have we have that degree today. Um and then you went

09:51
into Chestnut Hill and what did you what degree did you pursue at Chestnut Hill? At Chestnut Hill I did early childhood studies. Um, and it's funny because my transition to Chest in the Hill was really interesting, too, because if I remember correctly, I think I finished my coursework at Manor in December of um 2015, but I had to wait until May in order to graduate. And Miss Crosby was like, "Well, why don't you get started at Chestnut Hill?" So, I started at Chestnut Hill, not even completely finishing with Manor, and it kind of

10:29
like over overlapped. And at the time, again, like I said, certification was like a really big thing. Like, having to take off to do student teaching was scary. Like, I'm like, there's no way I'm going to be able to do that. And I actually didn't do that. So, that's how I ended up doing early childhood studies. And again, back to Manor again, Miss Crosby has been like my backbone to this day. Like I still keep in contact with her. Just do it. Remember, we're doing baby steps. Do it. You'll have your bachelors that'll put

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you in a better position. And when student teaching time comes, we'll handle that when we get there. And that's what I did. And I actually finished at Chestnut Hill in 2017. So only one year. Yeah. Oh, that's great. I think it's such a good reminder, too, that like so many times people try to market to you like like accelerated degrees, take things fast, you know, like a one year, a one-year program, a 15-month program. You know, everyone we we assume that everyone wants everything like super fast, but that's not always

11:28
the case. That doesn't always fit in your life. So, I think it's really good to hear like the reality of like, no, I have children. I'm working. I I can't do things super fast. Yes, I'm taking baby steps and like you're still going to get there and that's okay. I think that's a really good reality check. I think so many times our culture we just get I don't know associated with like fast speed and patience and you were patient, you were deliberate and getting you know those baby steps done. So you said

11:59
that you were working while you were a student. Where did you work at the daycare still? Is that where you were working? I did. So after I got my associates, I became a Head Start teacher. Nice. And that was really rewarding and fun. And then I actually won the Terry Lynn Loff award um that that following year. So that was another exciting chapter for me. And can you explain for our listeners what that what that is exactly and what that means and not everyone might be familiar with that. So, the Terry Lynn uh Looff

12:29
Teacher Award, it's an award awarded to early childhood educators who show um expertise and passion for their field. And one of the things that you have to do in order to qualify for the award is you have to do like a passion project that benefits the kids. So, I did equity and diversity in the classroom and what I did was I created um these mu not murals but like a collage like a wall collage where every student had like a really big frame and they could put whatever they wanted in that frame so that they could be visible

13:07
in the classroom. So outside of like their regular work that they did, if they wanted to put pictures of their family or if they wanted to display their own artwork that maybe didn't have anything to do with what was necessarily thought, every child had like just a little slice of the classroom that was theirs to do whatever they wanted to do. And um as far as I know, I think they still do it in that classroom cuz I did leave everything behind when I, you know, transitioned over to the school district, but I still do it in my

13:35
classroom now. not as big cuz I don't have as much wall space, but I still do it cuz I think it's important. The same way how we keep our personal pictures, you know, of our family on our desk, like the kids don't have that. So, having just a little slice of personal in the classroom, I think really links in who they are to the room. Oh, I love that so much. I mean, kids just want to see their stuff on display for sure. Um, it was so funny over the weekend. I was going on my our TV at home and my son wanted to watch

14:06
something and and it was on YouTube and YouTube said recommended for you the Nest and it was this podcast and it was my face and my son was like mom you're on YouTube and I was like yeah like it's not that hard to do but okay. But all he cared about was that he saw he goes wait that's my picture. He saw this rainbow here. This is a framed picture that he drew for me. Um, he goes, "Mom, I I made that. I my picture's on YouTube." But like, that's so cool that you were able to incorporate that into a learning

14:37
environment, a classroom environment, and just make those kids feel seen and included. And then also, you were able to get some kind of really cool recognition for it. So, that's awesome. So happy for you. Um, so what is it like working in the school district of Philadelphia and how has that now you're a second grade teacher in a classroom? How big's your class size? And kind of what has that been like? Working for the school district of Philadelphia has definitely changed me a lot as an

15:06
educator only because it's such a big district and there's so many different moving parts. Being in second grade, I did kindergarten first and then I did second grade. Just seeing that like as they get older, when you know a second grader like in your everyday life, you know them in one way. Knowing them as a learner is totally different. Like they're still inquisitive. They still want to know things. They question everything. And being in such a big district, there are guidelines that you have to follow. So, it really taught me

15:42
like how to balance the expectations of parents of districts because I feel like when you're in pre-k, parents kind of really don't know and they look to you a lot to kind of help them find their voice as a parent or help them kind of figure out what it is that they want for their child. By second grade, they pretty much know. So now it's more of you transitioning into supporting different families and what they need and what they see for their child or what their family values are. So that's been really eyeopening. It's

16:14
been I don't want to say challenging but challenging in like a good way and like oh wow every year I have to figure out my new set of families. What do they need from me? How can I best support them? What do they believe? What's important to them? So that's been really really um interesting. and also just being confident in myself that I can teach second grade math and ELA and sharpening up my phonics skills, all of those things. It's been really rewarding. That's awesome. I love how you kind of

16:44
are talking about like I I'm supporting the parents and the families opposed to it being kind of flipped and that's really good. And um how many students do you have in your class? I have 18 students right now. Okay. Um, my school is very one of the very few schools that has um the opportunity to have 18 students. I have no idea how my principal is pulling it off, but we have more coming in. Um, but I have 18, so but usually we usually have about 30. Wow. Yeah. Oh my goodness. That that you're you're an

17:15
angel. Absolute angel. That's incredible. Well, thank you so much for what you're doing and all that you're doing. Um, yeah. So, as we kind of wrap up, Leslie, what would you say is some advice that you have for college students, whether they want to be teachers eventually or they want to do something else, but they know they're college students, they're kind of they might have families, they might have other expectations in their life that they're doing. Um, what would you say to them as someone who's kind of been

17:42
there, done that, and kind of on the other side? My advice to I guess incoming college students, especially if you want to be a teacher, is like we talked about before, taking baby steps. Really figuring out your long-term goals and your short-term goals and figuring out how to achieve them because things change all the time. Opportunities arise all the time. One of the things that um I did along my journey after I finished my bachelor's, I took my certification test, but I didn't get certified until three years

18:14
later. So, just doing things in little chunks and having a good support system, having people that believe in you, and just continue to believe in yourself, then eventually you'll like, "Wow, I did a lot." Yeah. Right. Those little chunks add up. Those baby steps get you there. I always love there's this great illustration of like um some like two ladders and someone's climbing a ladder with a lot of little steps and they're like they're getting there but the steps are really close together and someone

18:41
else is climbing a ladder with a really big steps but the steps are so big they can't even reach the next step and it's like showing the little steps actually get you to the top faster than those big giant steps. So, I feel like your story is so much of that parallel. Like, take those baby steps. You're still going to get there, you know, and um believe in yourself. Obviously, having self-confidence is really important cuz also like you're pouring into the next generation. So, like they got to

19:09
see that, you know, Leslie's believing in herself so that these little guys see that too and they they do that as well. So, thank you so much for all that you are doing for um Philadelphia, for these children, for these families, and just pouring into them. I know how important teachers are, and I totally believe in the power of education. So, thank you so much for living that out. I also want to just tie together that, you know, Manor, our the last line in our mission, and I love tying this in when I

19:38
can. The last line of the last line in our mission says that Manor we um educate students to graduate to go on to serve society effectively and compassionately. So like ideally we want Manor students to be out there in the world doing good things for society and I feel obviously feel very strongly that you are a walking testament of that and are doing that. So, thank you so much for truly like encapsulating our mission and turning it around and serving children, families, all that you're doing. It's really, really powerful and

20:13
I hope our listeners are encouraged and inspired by you because I know I certainly am today. Thank you so much, Leslie, for being with us today and I wish you nothing but the best. Thank you for having me and thank you for just letting me get my start at Manor and just keep doing great things. Thank you for tuning in today. Hey, 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, Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of The

20:43
Nest, stories about life after Manor College. Remember, Blue Jays, you belong here always. [Music]

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? Today's fun fact actually was one that I I personally did not know and I have

00:35
worked at the college here for almost 12 years. So I feel like I know quite a bit but this one definitely got me. So for today's did you know did you know that in the late 90s Manor College offered distance learning programs that were broadcasted on WHYY channel 12. That's right. In 1996, Manor College embraced distance learning by broadcasting some of its courses on WHY, our local NPR station, channel 12. These programs were specifically designed to cater to students who can't attend full-time on campus. This is like early

01:14
online learning what we have today. So these inaugural courses offered was introduction to psychology and it had an enrollment of six students. Due to its initial success, the televised courses became available to the entire student body just a year later. So each course would typically have about 26 hours long of lectures that were broadcasted twice a week throughout a typical semester, which is about 13 to 15 weeks. The lectures were aired on channel 12 between 1 and 5:00 p.m. where students would record them probably to a VHS. Um,

01:53
that's a throwback right there. Record them for later viewing. So, I I just I I can and can't imagine this like being on your TV recording your class that then you'll watch back later on your TV again on a VHS and then you know maybe you make an assignment or you write something that you'll hand in for a grade. So, interesting enough, these students that were in this tele televised course only had to come to campus three times for in the terms in the term of the semester for orientation, for a midterm, and for the

02:27
final exam. So, this you know, it was innovative. This innovative approach kind of highlights how Manor was an early adopter of distance learning to try to reach a wider range of students and just really accommodate students and where they're at. I think it's kind of neat that today, you know, almost 30 years later, we are doing the kind of the same thing. Obviously, we're not broadcasting it on our local NPR station. Um, but we do have a lot of hybrid high flex and distance learning um where students can take online

03:03
instruction. So, the one that we utilize probably the most is high flex model, which is really students can attend in person. We also will record that in-person class where it can be streamed either live while it's happening or streamed for later. So, it's recorded and put into a we have um a learning management system called Canvas. So, while on campus sometimes um students can still go to class in person if they want. If they can't make it that day for whatever reason, they can watch it later. So just trying to be flexible

03:34
because we understand obviously the life of a student is pretty pretty busy and different than maybe what it was back in the day. Um some of our examples of programs that have probably the most hybrid and high flex options include business management, early childhood education and child development. Our criminal justice, public policy, and cyber crime programs. We also offer a program where you can either receive a laptop to use while you're a student or um you can loan a laptop from our library or some other ways that we have

04:07
here. So definitely trying to always be flexible for our students since the '9s. So that's kind of today's did you know. Welcome back. Today we have a fantastic guest joining us who has deep roots from right here in our Philadelphia area. Our g our guests grew up in the charming town of Rockledge and spent their formative years at St. Cecilia's in Fox Chase before heading to Bishop McDevitt High School in Glenside. Their academic journey then led them to Manor College where they pursued their

04:37
passion in paralegal studies earning an associates degree in 1992. Their time at Manor laid a crucial foundation before they transferred to Holy Family University. Fast forward to today and our guest is a successful entrepreneur serving as the founder and CEO of their own independent title insurance company H&H Settlement Services. We are thrilled to hear about her experiences and how her path through higher education and into the business world transpired from the class of 1992. Please join me in giving a warm welcome

05:11
to Manor College alumni Heather Hagerty. Welcome, Heather. Thank you, Kelly, for having me. Of course. Of course. It's so wonderful to talk to you and I'm really excited to hear your story. So, kind of take us back. How did you hear about Manor College and how did you make that decision to attend um for uh paralegal? Uh so, I knew about Manor College as I grew up in Rockledge and the St. Basil's girls across the street. I always wanted to be them as I would drive by MA and then go to Manor. Um, so I knew Manor

05:49
just from growing up in Manor. Yes. Yeah. Around Foxchase. Um, and the second part of your question. Yeah. How did you decide to attend? Deciding to attend. Okay. Uh, really my mother decided for me. Um, a little lost when I was about 19. I had gone away to school and it was not for me. Definitely a homebody. Um, and she really to her credit had the wonderful idea that I should go to Manor and I did and I never looked back. And it was honestly a um really transformative moment in my life and I don't know how where I would

06:32
have ended up had I not stepped foot into Manor. Oh, that's great. Well, I mean mother knows best, right? I feel like that's a saying that's true and sometimes your mom just knows um what their child needs. So kudos to mom for picking that out. Yes, Rockledge is literally our backyard is Rockledge. So it would be hard to not know who we are. Um but growing up in Rockledge and Fox Chase and Basil's um we we miss Basil across the street. They closed a few years ago and it was really really sad. And right now

07:05
there's some things happening in the news around Toll Brothers is is building some senior living condos over there and that's going to be happening kind of soon. But Basil was a great school founded by the same group of sisters who founded the college. So really a special place in all of our hearts. Um so kind of take me back to what was your Manor experience like? What was it what was campus like in the 90s and kind of what how was it like for you to be a student? So, back then, you know, I had um it was

07:38
a only a two-year college, so it was for me sort of like, okay, let's see if college is for me. Um it might have just been I didn't want to go away. Um and I will say it was a mostly commuter school at the time. Uh though there were some foreign, you know, exchange students for sure. Uh much smaller than what it is now. But um the reason I went into paralegal uh studies was although I was I was actually thinking I was get a degree and then go to law school. That was sort of the trajectory in my mind.

08:15
My father was going through a transition in his own job where the company was being sold and he had talked about how he only deals with these paralegals. It was a very new thing at the time. Um so he thought well he said if that's what you're thinking why don't you try paralegal first? see if it's something you like at Manor. So that's what I did. Um I fell in love with it immediately. I just I would credit that to certainly the program run by Diane Pevar at the time. She was such a I was just so inspired by her. Um what she was

08:53
doing that whole program, the teachers that were associated were were actual lawyers. um you know and I wasn't sure I loved you know we had mock trials we had research it was I mean it was like you know it was a lot but I found a nice group where we studied together we really um we fought over internships together we uh found our way so that's that was my very overgeneralized experience at Manor in the paralegal the pro program yeah that That's great. I think so so many I've talked to a handful of alumni

09:31
who are from kind of the same era that you were in paralegal and they all all of you guys kind of say the same thing. Diane Pevar was like a real pillar of strength for all of you and someone that you really leaned on and really like led all of you and in your um those kind of like formative years. So it's really cool to hear that kind of over and over again which means like it must be true. Um, and it's good that you right away were like, "Oh, I really like this." So, what about what about paralegal did you

10:01
like? And can you explain kind of what is a paralegal? Sure. Oh, sure. Um, so what I liked and like you said about Diane, she was a woman. She was just I could identify with, you know, certainly an inspired to what she certainly inspired me in that way. Um, a paralegal is a there's a legal assistant, there's a sec, I mean, back then you had legal secretaries, you know, you had these stenographers, you had, you know, uh, so the paralegal is someone that works with the attorneys that mostly

10:38
um, if you're working in a a law firm that is doing trial work or, you know, things like that, a lot of the paralegals we did the legal research and we you could prepare, you know, and then legal writing as well. Um, I early on that was sort of where I thought I was going. Um, was down that path having thinking, you know, I would be going to law school. Um, the legal research piece, I really enjoy, you know, really liked that. Um, but that's I didn't end up going down that path, but that was the part I

11:17
I probably like the most. Um, I ended up having a teacher at Manor named Marshall Grainer who um he said at the beginning of the year he always picked a student that he would have come work at his law firm, you know, um, as an intern. So that was a real estate law course and then that's when it changed for me that I was like okay yeah real estate that's that's what I want to do like real estate I don't want to be a realtor I don't want to be you know but I like the contractual piece of the contractual

11:54
piece of real estate it wasn't litigation it wasn't as much research but I really enjoyed the contract work and Marshall was an excellent teacher um and I got picked to be as intern right well that that certainly helps too to get that experience Okay. So, that's kind of what put that light bulb into you like, "Oh, actually I like real estate." Yes. Um, okay. So, kind of explain then how have you transitioned from um paralegal to then I believe you went to Holy Family. What did you go to Holy Family for? Um, I

12:27
went there for a four-year degree basically. Uh, yeah. I realize, you know, at that point I um had worked at Marshall's firm for a bit and that was in Glenside. Um and then I back go backwards for a second as it as it I did go for an internship in Center City while I was at Manor. I decided to work with Marshall instead, but I really liked the vibrancy of working in the city as a young person. So, what I ended up doing is leaving Marshall's office and I had worked with the attorney that ran a title company

13:03
for him and to this day we're still friends, you know, excellent. I've been very blessed to work with excellent attorneys, um, great mentors and then I wanted to work in Center City. So, I moved to a law firm in Center City. Um and that there was a requirement in that firm to have a four-year degree um in order to be on the par you know and the paralegal staff as well. So right and then around that time they were sort of offering like paralegal certificates you know kind of things like that but um

13:39
so that's and I wanted to I was already on the path of like school school so I was like let's just keep going so glad that I did as hard as it was to work full-time and go at night you know I know me people have it much harder I didn't have any children I was young you know but so I would go you know to work in the day and then at night go to Holy Family I got a psych a degree in psychology ology from there. Um the don't ask me why I can't even remember why that was sort of I I think it's always good to understand how how

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the brain works and and you know my mind this day certainly certainly feels useful to me. Yeah. I was I think maybe now that I just said that I think it was you know this law firm that I ended up working with um they gave you a MyersBriggs test to Okay. Yeah. were hired to make sure like you fit with what attorney you were like it was very like you know and I I did find his philosophy and all of that very interesting. Um yeah so I worked at that law firm uh made you know working my way through and up to be the

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head paralegal of about 18 paralegals. Um so I worked in center city at 15th and walnut for 16 about 15 years I guess. Um, and that's kind of my life made a change because then by that time I was married and had young children. Um, and you can imagine, you know, it was certainly a a a job that wasn't just 40 hours, you know, you were working a lot, you know. Um, and I thought, "Okay, now I guess it's time to go. You know, maybe I'll be a stay-at-home mom." That lasted uh I give credit to all the stay-at-home moms

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out there. I lasted I lasted less than a week. Oh my goodness. Hardest job in the world, right? Hardest job in the world. No, I uh I um love my children. the uh the I was actually offered a pos um an opportunity to open the law firm I worked at was specialized in corporate relocation which is real estate a very real estate heavy um that we also they also had a title company which I was involved in. I worked more on the law firm side but certainly with the title company at the time. So when I left, you know, it was it was not for

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anything other than personal reasons than to, you know, to sort of I also had to travel a lot. Um, so took a break, which was nice. Um, and then was able to start a title company for a local real estate office. They asked if I would do that for them. Um, while I was just to, you know, either consult with them and do it. I said I would absolutely do that, but I just didn't want to work there full-time. Um, but then that sort of got my entrepreneur bug going a little, I have to admit. Um, you know, I was, you know,

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started that company, hired for that company. Um, and to this day, that company, well, it doesn't, that title company is no longer in existence, but the client that runs it is still is a client of mine now. Oh, wow. Um, yeah. So that led to um me then expanding and going on my own. I started to build a a client base. Had some had a reputation from the law firm I worked at. Had people that were coming to me from that like hey I hear you're doing this thing you know and so you think you know oh maybe if I you know

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I'll just have this little thing and see how it goes. you know, my husband was working. So, I was, you know, and then it turned into by that time it was like 2008, 2009, and my husband, you know, there was a real estate, you know, recession as we all know. Um, and he he was looking at being laid off and um on the flip side, the title company I ran and was a part, you know, in a partner in was flourishing because we were doing all these refinances. So my husband ended up joining us and then the trajectory from there was we because of

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that we had our own H&H Solomon services which is still in here today. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Wow. That's so cool. Rambling. No. No. I I love it. But I love hearing kind of the the the process of how it all became and the timeline and how you were trying to take a little break to focus on like motherhood and how the passion just stirred up inside you and opportunities came and you just took I did and you know and I I took him with the you know the support of my family of course um and I thought and it

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did work out very well in that I opened the company in Glenside we lived in Glenside so my son my sons went to St. Luke's here in Glenside and I was able to be right there so I could be available and so that was really a special time. They could go to our office after school, you know, and yeah, they were of it. It was fun. Right. Right. They're part of it, you know. It's a family business, so the kids the kids are in it whether you know whether they want to be or not. But I think what a what a cool

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thing for them to see um from their mom. you know, mom's mom's doing this and and that's I think they might I don't know if they if they're old enough now to reflect back on that, but I'm sure at some point they will and will be able to Yeah. kind of garner something from that. I think that's really special that you were able to do that and Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Well, that's to say it all started because of Manor. I mean, it really did. I just had, you know, such a great experience

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and it gave me the confidence, I think, now that I was like, "Oh, I can do. Okay, I get it. I can do this. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's great. I love hearing that and I love that you're able to see kind of that um that thread line back to Manor and feeling that confidence. That's so important, I think, for every college student regardless of when you come to Manor and what year, what decade. I mean, building your confidence in college is so imperative to then you going out into a career or you going out into starting

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a family or whatever it might be. Um, confidence is key to any of those successes. So, that's really good to hear. Um, so something interesting about you, Heather, is that your son actually attends Manor. Now, even can you can you talk a little bit about kind of as a parent now? What has that experience been like seeing your kids through the college process and kind of just what's the perspective on that? Well, you know, mom knows best as we talked about. So, and uh Aean graduated from Roman Catholic in center city and

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through co that was in COVID time and so he was one of those co junior seniors that just didn't have really school you know kind of the the the best parts of school which is the proms and the graduations and all those things. So, um he was accepted to Bloomsburg University. He was going off. He went off to Bloomsburg. Um CO we thought had let up and then it didn't. They closed Bloomsburg, you know, praisively first they closed the gym, they closed the couch and then he was basically in his room, you know. So we were like this is

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it was just not a good place to be, you know, mentally and you know um so he came home and that was totally fine. Um, I I know that path, you know. Uh, so as we were trying to figure things out with him together and I could see him floundering a bit, my mother's voice came to me and um, she had passed away at the time, but um, I said, "Matt, you know, Aean, I was there and my mother said to me, you know, I think that you should give this school a try." And you know, nothing against the community colleges or

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anything, but if you don't have I feel like if you didn't have a specific reason you're going, it's kind of harder to feel and I know that knew that at Manor he wouldn't be able to hide. He wouldn't be able to, you know, he would they would take care of him and it's so funny, Kelly, because he came I I don't know if but I can tell this. I I I saw like he was like, "Mom, I just had this class." And like, "Oh my god, I can't believe it. I got like a 93 and like I was like I wanted to like burst." I was like, I'm like, "That's

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it. That's confidence right there. He's getting confidence." What you're talking about thing, you got it. And then you know, he hasn't looked back. He's, you know, yeah, he's all he's a sports management major. um again has great professors, great teachers, great community, and um it's really nice to see him doing excelling. Yeah. Oh, how cool. I love I love that so much. Amen. We're cheering you on, bud. I think it's great. Yeah. And he can graduate with his bachelor's, so that's nice, too. Yeah. Yeah. He's going to hopefully

22:57
get that bachelor's degree. And that's so cool. I when um whenever we have families who they have multiple generations who come through the college, we call that a legacy family. So, it's really cool that you guys you guys are a legacy family. Um, and I I love that it kind of goes back to mother knows best. I love that. Personally, as a mom, I'm like, yes, that is so true. That is so true. So, Heather, I I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about um you are going to be um kind of in a special role coming up in a few weeks.

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we have our 2025 commencement ceremony happening in the middle of May and you are going to be this year's alumni speaker. How do you feel about that and kind of what are your thoughts on that? Um how I feel about it is certainly honored, you know. Um I really appreciate that. It um yeah, it just really it's unbelievable to me. I just think of myself at 20 years old and you know here I am stepping into Manor in this way and it's just it's it's a little overwhelming to think about you know the

24:06
the your life. Sure. Yeah. You know and stepping the last time I was at manor you know on that kind of stage was when I graduated and then to come back it's pretty awesome. Yeah there you know. It's going to be great. It's going to be great. I think I can't wait to hear can't wait to hear your words of inspiration for our students. I think um there's always something so special. We always have a commencement speaker and then we have our alumni speaker and I I personally love the alumni speaker

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because I just feel like they get it. They've been there in your physical shoes. They totally have like that same perspective. And I think also the students, they see that and they're like, "Oh, wow." Like this person, you know, they were me x number of years ago. And it's just that connection that you just have and the bond that you have with the students. Even if you don't talk to them, even if you don't know them, there's always that like, oh, I went to Manor. You went to Manor. It's just that, you know, it's so cool to to

25:00
have that. Um, thank you for the opportunity. Oh, of course. We're looking forward to having you. I think it's going to be really, really a nice day. So, um, Heather, as we kind of wrap up, I want to ask you one last question. What advice would you have for current students as they are in their college journey? Um, you know, a lot of our students are working as they go to school. A lot of our students also are caregivers. I would say Manor students today, they are busy. They need flexibility. Um, and school is not their

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only thing going on. It's really not. Kind of gone are the days of like, oh, I I'm a college student and like that's all I do. Now it's I work, I take care of people, I got other stuff going on. Um, so what would your advice be for our students? Well, it's certainly in those scenarios, I would say that it's kind of easy to give up on yourself if you have all that going on. Um, you're working, you're taking care of ch, you know, probably parents, children, community. Um, don't give up on yourself. just try if you can to to keep

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going because it's just you're gonna feel awesome when you accomplish that that goal. Um I would say the other thing that I've learned certainly through careers and schools is I I just have always found and and even with my own sta our own staff um surround yourself with good people. like work with good people and trust me you'll have jobs that are offering you all kinds of money but if in your gut you feel like it's not good people or it's not good like I I just have learned so much because I decide to take the path of working with

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people that were good people great mentors helped my own growth and success um so I I really attribute a lot of that to my you know the co-workers I've had the bosses I've had and in turn I hope I give that back to our own staff. Yeah, that that's great. I love what you said about just being surrounded by good people. I think that's something that obviously we strive to be here at the college like we want to be that support to our students so that way they go out into society and kind of pay it

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forward in that sense. So, thank you so much as an alumni for doing that for the community out there. We certainly um are really proud of you and all that you've done and just thank you for today spending some time with me and sharing your story. I hope it was encouraging and inspiring for our listeners. I'm sure it was and I look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks here on uh graduation day. Thank you so much, Kelly, for this time. Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you

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