Manor College’s The Nest: From Goal Scorer to Business Leader with Mark Colville ’14

Mark Colville ’14 (Philadelphia, Pa.) graduated from Manor College with his Associate Degree in Liberal Arts.

Manor College’s first-ever All-American athlete didn’t just make history on the soccer fieldโ€”he built a career that proves success is about much more than goals and trophies.

In this episode of The Nest: Stories About Life After Manor College, we welcome 2014 graduate Mark Colville, a first-generation college student from Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood who transformed his life through education, athletics, and perseverance. After beginning college while working full time, Mark transferred to Manor, where he became one of the greatest players in program history, setting career records with 47 goals, 37 assists, and 131 points.

Now serving as Regional Vice President of Commercial Strategy at ARK Hospitality, Mark reflects on the mentors who shaped him, the lessons soccer taught him about leadership and teamwork, and how those experiences prepared him for the corporate world.

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Networking, right, is something I'll always come back to. I I think you got to do that a ton. Um, I know you're just with college students, but meet as many people as you possibly can in your time. 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.

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Before we get to today's guest, it is time for a patriotic segment of the show. Today, we're going to do a did you know, and we have some local help from a historian who used to be a former Manor College faculty history member, Matt Smalarz. >> Did you know that Manor College has ties to the American Revolution? Betsy Ross, otherwise known as Elizabeth Griscom Ross Claypole, was the mother-in-law to Abel Satweight, who was a prominent banking executive based here in Abington. On this property, Betsy Ross

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lived for a few years sometime around the year 1827. The land on which Betsy Ross once lived would be sold to the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The Sisters of St. Basil the Great acquired the property in 1924. Over the course of the next two decades, plans would be made to establish what would become known as Manor College, but in its early days was known as St. Macrina College. Behind me is the house in which the first classes would be offered in 1947. And so the linkage between America's revolution all

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the way to Manor's early founding is a strong one. Today's episode is sponsored by the Manor College Bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Justice just isn't a concept, it's a commitment. At Manor College, our criminal justice program is designed for those who feel the call to serve. You'll learn from seasoned professionals who bring real world experience from the field directly into the classroom. From law enforcement to the legal system, we provide an ethical foundation and the practical skills you

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need to make a real difference in your community. You belong here. Earn your bachelor's in criminal justice at Manor College. Visit manor.edu to learn more. So, hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest. We have a great guest coming with us today. This guest is a true embodiment of what it means to have grit, perseverance, and to really achieve greatness. Healing from the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia and a proud alum of Roman Catholic High School. He is a first generation college student who didn't just walk through the

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doors of higher ed. He blasted right through them. He started his college journey at a community college while working full-time where after those two years he made the decision that he wanted to really invest in higher education and be a full-time student and enrolled at Manor College. Fast forward to 2014 where he graduated from Manor with an associates degree in liberal arts. But if you look at the Manor history books, his name is written all over them. He was a standout soccer star and became Manor's first ever

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All-American athlete. In 2013 alone, he held the NJCAA Division Three with 22 assist, and 10 game-winning goals, finishing second nationally in points and shots. To this day, he still holds Manor's career record with 47 goals, 37 assists, and a massive 131 points. I can see the banner that's hanging in the gym right now in my mind. He was guided by impactful mentors like John Dempster and Jane Zegestowsky. He translated that elite competitive drive to from the field to the classroom and now to the career. Today he is the

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regional vice president of commercial strategy with Arc Hospitality. Please welcome to the show Mark Colville. Hi Mark. >> Wow, that was that was a lot, Kelly. Um, a big introduction um, for sure, but a lot a lot in there. And we'll I guess we're going to unpack some of that today. So, it's a pleasure. Thank you for having me. Um, every time I get to your face, Kelly, I think, man, you've changed marker manners marketing in general, right? For 12 years, I think you've been there now.

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So, really, really excited to join and kind of speak with you again and see where you got this place to and where it's at today. And again, I I can't drive around without seeing Manor somewhere. So, credit to you and and your team. Well, thank you. And I mean, I think a big introduction is only fitting for someone like you, Mark. It was really fun to kind of go through the archives and write that introduction. And um like we were talking before the show, Mark and I both kind of joined Manor at the same time.

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You coming as a student and I came on as staff in 2012. So, it was kind of fun to kind of be those journeys together. And to watch you, I mean, as a student, you absolutely crushed it on the soccer field. I remember um I was constantly writing about your name and stories and pitching it to different different um PR agencies, but now as a career and in the hospitality industry and as a father, it's really cool to see that um that part of you is still alive and you're just doing it in different ways. So,

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we'll get into that, but Mark, start us off by like how did you find out about Manor and how did you ultimately decide to transfer to Manor from the community college? Yeah, I think you touched on a little bit, Kelly. So, when I I kind of got out of high school and I was very very unsure um if I wanted to go to school, I I've worked since I was 14 years old at a rec center in my neighborhood in Fishtown. Um and I always wanted to work. I love money. Um I I absolutely it drove me. Um I always

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wanted something in my pocket. I always wanted to be able to buy something. Um so work was always on my mind. I always thought maybe I'd go right into something that put me into work. And then um obviously I played soccer since I was three years old, so it was always a part of my life. And I knew at some point it was going to end. I just I didn't think high school was the end of it. I knew I thought college was the way to probably end it. Um, so I I was kind of worked for almost a year and a

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half to community college for about a year and a half. And again, I I I kind of kept my mom kept asking me, "Hey, are you are you done? Are you done soccer? And if so, we're not doing school. Let's pick one or the other. Let's go full-time school or full-time work. Which will it be?" Um, so my mom kind of put that in my head about a year and a half in right out of high school that hey, you can't just keep going night classes two at a time. This isn't going

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to finish anytime soon. Um, so I got on the thing. I kind of looked around a little bit. I got introduced to a good friend, Mike McDev, who used to work at Manor College, and he introduced me to the coach, John Dempster. I came in to meet John um, I would say midsummer, right before I guess camp, maybe would have started, maybe a month and a half before camp started. Um, and I I just I loved everything about him. I loved everything about him. I loved everything about the school. Um, we walked around for probably 20 minutes

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and I feel like I met everybody at the school and everyone's door was open and ready to speak to somebody, right, John? We there was no schedules. There was no office times permitted. Like we just walked in, right? >> And people, student and staff were there to just greet you and and and just say, "Hey, how are you?" Right? So that to me, I just felt immediately like I was at the right place after day one. And I literally when I got home that day, I told my mom, I'm I'm going full time

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full-time college and it's going to be Manor. >> Oh, I love that. And I love a good like mom story, Mark. That just like that is the best, >> right? I mean, it was just one of those things where it just it kind of >> Yeah. >> she pushed me and then I I got there and I met John. It sounds like she knew what would be best for you and as hopefully like a parental instinct, you know, we kind of think we know what's best for our kids and it's good when it works out. And then shout out to Mike McDevitt.

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I forgot about Mike McDevitt, but yeah, he was an admissions counselor. >> Admissions counselor. Really good friend of mine still today quite a bit. We go a lot. Um he was the one who kind of said, "Hey, if you're looking right, I'm here and John would love right have a conversation with you." So that's how it started. >> Oh, that's great. I love that story. I didn't I didn't quite know all that part of it, but that's really cool. So, as like a first gen college student coming

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to college and then getting a degree and then you went on to St. Joe's after Manor because we were only a two-year school at that time, like what did that milestone mean for you and also like your whole family when like Mark's getting an associates, Mark's getting a bachelors, like what does that mean for your family? >> It was it was really it was really cool, Kelly. That's the part where I never I didn't think right I would get there. Um, I did when I stepped through the

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doors though through Manor, I had a good feeling that I was going to be able to get through it and and do pretty well. And again, a huge probably credit I have to say another name, which is my wife, um, Britney, who really really pushed me each day to to kind of be able to to study, to get into class, to make sure I'm on time, to make myself available, to sit in front of the class. Right? Those reminders to me were were something if if and that's the piece with Manor. you're if you're there and

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you're willing to put the work in a little bit, um teachers were always always happy to help, always give you extra work if you needed to catch up on things. Just door was always open. And that's one thing I I'll never ever forget. Um and something I actually do take with me on my journeys as I'm a kind of mentoring people and coaching people and training people is that your your door and your line of communication has to always be open because if those people are willing to learn, they're

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worth investing. and and a lot of people at Manor invested a ton of time in me to a kid who might have been a little hard-headed at first or just kind of was it one ear out the other, right? Kind of type person. And again, it really struck me there. I I I hit home me there. Uh to be very honest, it was just a quick thing. So, yeah, I mean, my mom always said it was the college thing was something we all thought should happen for me, would happen for me, and where my college kind of soccer career would

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end. So, um, it was it was really cool to be a first gen, um, student and then kind of go on and kind of continue down that path. So, >> Oh, that's great. I love that. And I think it's so cool how you've talked a couple times now about how like having open doors and open communication and just being welcoming is really important. Like you said, you came on a tour not really with much of an agenda. People didn't know this new, but yet you got to meet tons of people. And I know that was, you know, 14 years

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ago, but that's still true today. Like we still have that often where >> he's looking around, a family's walking around and then we all kind of make sure we stop and we talk to them. And that's part of why we say you belong here because that's the feeling and the culture um that we want people to feel. And I'm always so it just like warms my heart when I hear like people who came in the 90s, in the 80s, in the 2000s, in 2012, like still was true.

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Like it's still kind of that hasn't changed. >> That's one thing I I I will definitely say has not left me. Right. If there's one thing I recall, it's the open doors, the line of communication. Um that was just always present. And again, we had no schedule, had no agenda. We were just walking indoors and meeting people. and everyone stood up, shook my hand, asked me how I was doing, where I was from. Right. It was just a I knew right then and there when I walked out

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those doors that this was the place I was going to come back to. >> Yeah, that's great. I love hearing that. So, let's talk a little bit about some of your your soccer uh career at Manor because obviously you've left a huge mark here on campus and a lot for the men's soccer teams that came after you to kind of live up to. And we've had you were the first um for any sport an all-American athlete. We've had a few since, but you were the first. So that that holds for something and you

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still have um the lead I believe for goals, assists, and overall points. Um so it's interesting to me like you scored the most goals, but you also had the most assists. And usually like you're either like a finisher or a playmaker, but you were good at doing both. How have you found those like attributes being a playmaker, being a finisher have like helped you in business like whether you're being the scorer and the leader or like a selfless teammate? Do you have find any like correlations between this and like your

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corporate world now? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Kelly, that's the piece I think I think I'll touch on two points there maybe. Um I think a good team, right? I was I was a part of two really really good teams there. Um it was not those individual awards were truly truly not done by myself. Um because there's people who on those goals have got me assists, right? And have helped me along the way. And like I said, we were I think in my two years there and correct me I

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could be wrong with the record here, but I think we only lost two games. They were both coming in kind of the regional final. Um so maybe 39 and two, right, in my college career at Manor. So I was a part of some really really good teams. Um, all those individual awards were great, but they all to me just just the record with with everyone and what we did as a group means more to me than any one of those um kind of awards that I've gotten. I don't hold any of those trophies. I don't have any of those

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papers. Um, that what sticks with me is the people and players that I met with. And I kind of take that into my corporate world, which is I have a ton of people on my team. I oversee 40 hotels right now um across the US and I have a team of probably 35 sellers who who work under me who sell hotels and and I could not do it without them my job. So to me that the correlation I always bring back to is just you you have to rely on people and people rely on you and you got to pick and choose those times when you're need it and you

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know you need them, right? And when you can call on someone to kind of to give you that or you know you can rely on them is kind of my piece, right? So there was times in my soccer career when I knew there was games I wasn't really doing too well, but we had others step up and and carry the torch there, right? So again, it's the same thing in the corporate world where those days are long, the nights are long, but um the travel is a lot, but again, I'm relying on people when I'm traveling that my

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other hotels are kind of moving in the right direction as I give them the right guidance again. Right. So right, >> they're kind of the two pieces that stick with me is you need a team. You always will. And you got to pick and choose your times when you're relied on and you need to rely on people, >> right? So times when you got to step up and other times where other people got to step up because you're just not able to do it. And then teamwork is teamwork

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regardless on a field, in a family, in a boardroom. It's just across, you know, something that just you do. And it sounds like you're definitely a natural leader. Um I've always known that about you and it's definitely apparent when watching you play soccer at Banner. You were definitely a leader out there. And it sounds like in your corporate role now, >> yeah, >> that has translated very very well. So talk a bit Mark about the hospitality industry and what kind of drew you to

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this for your career and kind of how did you get into it in the beginning? >> Yeah, it could be I'll make it as short as possible for us so we know we're get so we have some time, right? But it started for me in 2017. I um I I had a chance I had a really really good friend from soccer um and he uh he owned a hotel and was a general manager of one. Um Bobby Andrews is his name. Um really really really good friend, a mentor of mine who I always looked up to, super super successful in

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his career. um he always said to me as I got out of college and got done that if there's ever anything I need from him or or he always wanted me to to get into the world of hospitality always thought I had that and sales right he always said you're a seller um you're a seller you're a leader whenever you need to kind of someone lean on you're you're going to come to me right so 2017 I I kind of gave Bobby a ring and said Bob I'm looking to make a move um I would love to to give it a shot I went in and

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met with Bobby a week later uh met with the director sales um who was at the hotel which was not Bobby and named Chris who I followed along my career for almost eight years went multiple places with Chris. He went, I went. Um he things that would take five minutes, Kelly. Um or things that would take 30 minutes he would teach me and with right five minutes, 30 minutes he spent with me to tell me the who, what, why, and why we're doing some things, right? So to me um that was always something that

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stuck with me. I was a sales coordinator. I was a sales manager. I was an area sales manager. I was a uh director of sales for many years. Um, I had a chance once I had my son to, again, I met a regional um, who I work with today and she's still my vice president of sales, Heather Condeluci, who I who I really really liked and enjoyed and liked working for. Um, soon as I had my son, I was looking to kind of make a move and she reached out and I I left and she said, "One day we're going to work again." Um, and and within

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three months, she shot me a text and said, "Are you ready to make the jump?" Um, >> and here I am. um almost call it nine ten years later uh in hospitality and I've reached a really good point right a regional vice president of commercial strategy um and it is it has been a long journey um there's a lot in there to unpack but it was it was a fun ride a quick ride through co uh I really really learned a ton through that time in the hospitality industry I I really really say why it was tough on a lot of folks

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um it really some there was some huge lessons in there um and in my career in hospitality that taught me a ton and got me where I'm at today. And again, the people that mentored me, uh, Bobby, Heather, Chris, um, the list goes on and on and on. Um, and that that is kind of the piece that always kind of gets back to me is the people networking and the people you meet and you never know who's watching, right? Um, or who's taking notice of what you're doing and just come to work every day, right? Get the

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lunch pail and and get to work and and try to impress others and and go from there, right? And good things happen. So, never looked for a job. Always kind of was able to really really impress a few people and they always thought it was worth bringing me along for the ride. >> Oh, that's great. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely about the mentors and the network and the people that pick up on things when no one else is watching kind of that sticks out. That's really cool that you were able to kind of find a

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home and obviously some really good success with it and but also some great people to um kind of help you through and and get you to that next step, that next step. And now I'm sure you're able to give back and you're doing that for others. You know what I mean? So you can be a Heather and a Bobby to other people. >> Truly the worst that is the most rewarding part to me, Kelly, is is through these last probably two and a half years, I've been able to promote quite a bit of people and and just watch

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them grow through their career. And again, it's I meet I I mean, I work with every type of you can I work with 60-year-olds, 40-year-olds, 30-y olds, 20-y olds. I mean, I'm across the board, right? And you have to be able to adapt to people. Um >> I always thought that was a strength of mine is being able to manage and I can speak to anyone um and find some connection some way along the line. >> Yeah. I mean my my favorite part of being a leader and I I I see oversee a

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small team at Manor of about four or five, but like it's seeing their wins and seeing them get recognized and seeing them get awards and like yes it's the department, yes it's the team, but like that was Allison's work, that was Anthony's work and I'm so proud of them. that is it's it's just so rewarding to see people that you get to lead um get get kind of their flowers and get their kudos because it's just it's so just rewarding, you know. It's like a proud

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parent. >> Couldn't agree more, you know. >> I really can't say any better than that. That is the number one thing about my job that I absolutely love. >> That's awesome. So what um obviously AI is like here and everyone talks about it and I haven't really thought about we talk a lot about internally here like how AI is affecting higher education and different things like that and I think about it from a marketing standpoint but how is AI affecting hospitality industry

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and what are you like what are you seeing coming or has already happened that >> maybe us commoners need to know. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, so it is a big piece. It is it is it's here. Uh, it's not going anywhere. I can tell you that. It is part of hospitality. Every single brand conference that I've been to in the last year has had a full full I mean we're talking the Hiltons, the Marriotts, the Choices, the IHGs of the world, all these big brands. When you go to their their global conferences for

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the year, they all have a session that is dedicated to AI. Um, and they're all saying the same things that you have to make it a part of it. This hospitality is usually slow to catch up, but the AI one is if you don't get with it, you will be left behind. Um, it is a tough reality on to kind of take in depending on where you're at in your career, especially someone who's 25, 30 years in this career and >> kind of stuck in their ways and hard to change, but I I I can promise you um

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it's here. It is going to continue to be here and it is going it moves at a rapid pace. Um, how fast it's developing. I we also we we've actually created a CRM system using an AI tool which my VP Heather Condeluci has literally put into our company. Um the tool that was built on a AI to track our activities what our contacts like a CRM a full CRM system was built from someone who had no training in AI. Um, just get in there and and that's the best piece of advice I can give you is

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if you're not using AI, get in there, play around with it, right? Just again dabble in there and see what comes of it. And I promise you, you will be shocked by the results. It's a big part of my it it to me it's the >> the time the time that you get back on things that that can be just generated for you pretty quickly that really don't take much time, right? are are the time you get back by using the AI tool is just incredible and you can put that time into people and focus where we need

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to be and train them. So to me, AI is a big part of my job. And I I tend to kind of guide and push our people towards it and just saying, "Hey, if if you're not using it, right, you're >> you're wasting time." Um, at the end of the day, in my opinion, you just there's other things you can focus on, which is building relationships, right? Getting in front of clients. Um, if you're just there punching away at admin work or emails, right? >> Um, >> to me to me, you're just you're losing

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time selling and that's the biggest piece. So, um, AI's here. That's it. And I I I would gladly tell everyone if you haven't, >> please give it a shot. You'll be so so surprised by what's to come of it. >> I totally agree with your like strategy like use it for admin work, use it for email management that you can spend your time doing the things that really AI can't do and that's making a new relationship or >> Yep. >> communicating with someone and really or

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being creative in other ways and having brainstorming time. That's the way I I've been using it and my team's using it as well. So, and that's what we've figured out so far. I mean, it kind of changes. >> Um, but >> the data too, Kelly, right? The data that that we have and what we need. We have the data across multiple systems. >> Getting them to pull in to to send it up to ownership or send it up to our to our above, right? Um, >> it just gathers them together quickly,

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right? And puts it in a a nice little way and it send it up with a bow and call it a day and move on to just back to trading people and selling, right? So to me it just it can pull things faster than I can and instead of doing reports for an hour, I can build relationships, help train my team, right? And give my team more back of my time, which is also >> Yeah, I love using it as like I call it my brainstorming bestie. Like I have these ideas all day long and like my team doesn't need to hear all my crazy

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ideas, but like AI can. So like I'll plug it in there and we'll chat back and forth and then you know we kind of come to a conclusion. Um so it has been fun for that. >> Yeah. So, so Mark, kind of as we wrap up, I want to do a little bit of like Philly roots. Uh, kind of bring us back to the hometown. Are you still Fishtown local or are you somewhere else? >> So, no, I moved up to the Northeast in 2017. Um, it's not too far. Again, it was it was very different, right? Fishtown is is a lot different than it

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was 20 years ago. Great thriving city, gentrified completely. Um, >> homes are my god 500 to $700,000. I think my grandmom's house, Kelly, >> when she bought it, I want to say early 70s, late7s was, I believe, around like $20,000. >> Oh my gosh. >> Um, it is, it's so crazy to see. It's really cool, though. It's a great neighborhood, great restaurants. The bars are up and coming there. It's a really great place to live. I still have a lot of friends who live there. Um, but

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for me, it was it was getting a driveway um was important. The parking um in the neighborhood is a lot down there. My brothers and sisters still kind of >> go down there a ton. My mom lives in Port Richmond which is just the next town up. So parking is insane and I I refuse to do that. >> Yeah. Is there something though about Fishtown like nostalgia that you're like man that that shaped me or that is something that I miss that you know what I mean kind of hometown thing?

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>> Yeah it's really the little small community. It's same way right. It stuck with me. It showed to me at Manor the community there right? It's the same thing when I grew up. I that it doesn't exist anymore. Unfortunately, in Fishtown, at Manor, it does, which is awesome. Um, but in Fishtown, I was able to kind of just go once I got home from school every day, it was change into your sports clothes and get to the rec center and kick a ball, play soccer, play whiffle ball,

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um, you name it. Uh, it was it was always go right to the rec center and find something to do. So, to me, it's I wish my son could have that upbringing. I I would kill for it. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist anymore, but uh that's one thing I'll never let go is having friends being able to walk right to their houses, knock on their door. Um I know that's a thing of the past as well. Um all kids have cell phones now, but it is um that's to me probably the biggest. That's the

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nostalgia that comes back to me is being able to just get done school or in the summer, wake up at 9:00 and be at the rec center till 10 o'clock at night every day. >> Yeah. Well, no wonder why you were so good at soccer. I mean, we were just playing pickup all day long. >> Yeah. All everything. every sport, hockey, basketball, you name it, we played it. >> That's awesome. All right, Mark. So, we're going to end with the same question I ask our guests always. It's

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our final question is just what advice would you give to Manor students today um based on what you've learned and you know, they're in their studies right now and they're they're in the middle of like their couple years here. What advice would you give for them for success? >> That's deep. Um very deep question. I'm going to give it a couple thoughts. The um networking, right, is something I'll always come back to. I I think you got to do that a ton. Um I know you're just

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with college students, but meet as many people as you possibly can in your time. Um and then time. Time is the fastest thing. It goes by so fast. You have a couple years to capitalize on kind of your career and what's going to be next for you after college. So to me, it's capitalize that time. Every day, every second matters when you're there. Um I was able to kind of grab that pretty quickly there. And I think that's what led to my success. And then probably final piece I would say is is put the

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work in. Um it's worth it at the end. It really really is. Um nothing comes easy. It's not easy. It's hard, right? But each day if you just kind of keep taking that step forward and putting one foot in front of the other and show up, show up, right? That's think that's one of the big pieces as well is if you're willing to put the work in, there's people who are willing to invest in you. And I think um I was able to be a real success story of that. And

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and that's to the people at matter, to the people who were there, the my classmates, my my teammates. Um if you were there and willing to put the work in, people were there to back you up and get you to where you needed to be. Teachers, students, staff, um show up. Show up is what I would say would be a big piece of it. >> Well, I love that. Thank you, Mark, so much for joining us today. Your story is incredible. It's resilient and really, you know, our mission, we say we want to prepare students to graduate, to go out

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and serve society effectively and compassionately and you're doing that. So, thank you for being like a true embodiment of our mission. You belong here always and always a part of our Manor family, but I wish you nothing but success and have a have a great rest of your summer. >> Kelly, thank you so much. I appreciate you and again, go Blue Jays. >> Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you heard, listen and subscribe on Spotify or YouTube. Stay up to date with all new episodes by

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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.