The Surprising Role of Human Connection in Higher Education Success

[0:17]  Wendy, we are back here on the Heart and Hunter Podcast. And we're gonna start off a little different. when I first seen you, you had all these plants. I wanna start there. Why the plants? Why so many plants? Do you look at an analogy of life form? Cause that's how I look at plants, or you just love how they look. What is the plants for?

[0:35]  you know, I love to be outdoors and so I feel like when I'm surrounded by green and this is here in my office, it it it gives me that that little bit sense of of calm. People will come into my office, visitors, and say, your office is so peaceful. I feel like that maybe is is a bit of it. But if you notice the the plants that I have, well I can't really see them. They're the those plants that you can just cut them off and stick them in water and then they root and regrow. I have those plants all over because they're really hard to kill. And they they just they just keep giving life. So I've got a lot of plants in my office but they're all from the same the same mother plant if you

[0:49]  Ha ha ha.

[1:03]  Well, so yeah.

[1:18]  I see you got some pods back there. You got some snake plants back there. Those snake plants, I would tell you, you are right. You clip And and I've done that. I clip like two, three little babies and I put in a pot. And now it's a huge, you know, it it and I'm like, man, I could really make some money off of this. It's just time to be quite frank. It's so we talked about it, right? Where do I have the time to do that? but no, I how many plants do you say you have?

[1:34]  Exactly. Exactly. two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Well, about a dozen right now, just in my own yeah. I yeah, I've got some at home. My my husband's more of the gardener though, so he he takes care of the the the outdoor plants and he some

[1:50]  In just your office. Do you have some at home? That is so funny you say that. Ma I've been always an inside plant person and I've been telling myself I want to do things on the outside. My wife, you we talked about two young ones right before we hit record. She's she's been a stay-home mom for the last almost six years now. So she's trying to find that that piece, right? Where do I go and just kind of let it all go? And for her, it was the garden. So now if you see my garden, it's just like in a couple of weeks. Now she got pumpkins out there, she's growing vegetables, there's flowers, sunflowers.

[1:52]  Yeah. Huh.

[2:26]  She just literally yesterday in the back literally made her own little pit to do more vegetables. And she's like, I wanna go to the farmers market and sell these. Yeah, I said, Okay.

[2:35]  I know. There you go. There you go. And that's what you could do with all your baby spider plants. You know, go to you know, a a charity shop, Goodwill, buy a bunch of like little pots and you know, make cute, sell That's a way for you to make money on YouTube.

[2:45]  Yeah. Yeah. Funny you say that. That's a that's a whole fundraising idea. You just said that, right? We're gonna have all these plants and do a plant sale, huh? Fundraising pl okay. I like how you're good there. Yeah. So so it's just funny because I am the in the now I'm the indoor plant guy and she's the outdoor plant woman. So looks like we kind of had that same mix in our households, but it it it is something beautiful about it, and I always love to

[2:55]  Yeah. Yeah. All your all your baby spider plants. That'd be perfect. Wait.

[3:14]  You know, I had this experience and and this really brought me to what life gives us. So I had this plant that completely died on me, but I never got rid of it. I just kind of kept it there. And I, you know, I said, you what? Let me see if I can replant it. What happens? So I gave it a new pot, new dirt, and it started to grow. I still actually had that plant today. And it started to grow. And it just reminded me of us as humans. As sometimes we're just in the bad environments and we need new people around us and we need someone to really care and pour into us. That's Why I love plants. I actually created a mindset journal, and every single page of this journal had a plant because that's I just see the evolution of something from a seed ripping through that dirt, right? Coming out in light and just really becoming this beautiful thing like a sunflower. So I I had to start off a little different with you. Let's Wendy, let people know where you're representing, where you're located in the US, so that people have just more understanding of Wendy.

[4:09]  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I love that. Yeah. Yeah, so I I I work here at Augustana College. That's in Rock Island, Illinois. Rock Island's part of the the Quad Cities, right on the Illinois-Iowa border, western Illinois, Eastern Iowa. Quad Cities is a community of about four hundred and seventy thousand people. So yes, I do have a membership to our local botanical center as well. it's it's great. it's a beautiful location right in the middle of the Midwest. And one one thing that's kind of cool about half an hour north of the Quad Cities, little towns, Port Byron, Illinois, LaClaire, Iowa. Every year they have a tug of war across the river. They shut the river traffic down for four hours on the Mississippi River and they they do a tug of war. It's a big festival for for both communities, but kind of a a a cool thing to to talk about with all the other cool things that are in this area.

[5:05]  Yeah, have you been on either side of this Tekka War or you just watch it from the outside?

[5:15]  I've just watched it. I I I'm I'm an observer and I'll go and I'll do the the run that they have in the morning or volunteer for something. but I've I've never been picked. I guess I don't have the the the bra to be able to be on the women's team.

[5:25]  they needed the muscles one day. They said you got any more muscles. That's what it is. No, but you have a lot of different things. You have great leadership skills, and and you're really putting it to use. What brings you to an organization like this where you are about passion and purpose and just giving all this beautiful energy that you have? From the first time I met you, you just all smiles, you can tell high energy. That's leadership.

[5:36]  That's all right. Yeah. Yeah.

[5:47]  That's you showing up because realizing that that that smile is contagious, the energy is contagious. where's that come from?

[5:56]  Yeah, so I I will tell you that I have been working here at Augustana in the admissions office for for for many years. I when I started here in the admissions offices right after I graduated from college, I'd worked as a a student ambassador in the office. this was actually not my my first career choice. When I graduated from college, my intention was to do something in the outdoors, to be a park ranger. I'd done that for two summers and that was really what I wanted to do. I was had been applying for jobs. I actually came back to the campus around September, October. This was early 90s, so I couldn't just go on the internet and order my transcript and I thought I'm in town. I'm gonna go in and pick up my transcript in person. I'm gonna apply for a substitute teaching job so I can make some money while I'm doing this. the director of admissions at the time came out. saw me coming into the courtyard and said, What are you what are you doing? I shared what I was doing and he said, We've got an opening in admissions. I I'd love to have you apply for it. And I was straight with him. I said this isn't the this isn't the job that that I want to have. But again, this is early 90s. after you've graduated college you're off your parents' health insurance after six months if you're not a full-time student. And I thought well I I need to I need to do this. I I need to just get a job and I'll keep looking and I was straight

[6:37]  Mm-hmm.

[7:19]  With them. I said, I'm gonna keep looking. two years down the road, I had applied for a job after college, didn't get it. But the head park ranger at that field station said I was on vacation and they offered that job that you didn't get to someone else because whatever reason, but you're the one I wanted. If you apply for this job, this opening, I'm gonna make sure that that you get in. My dream job, right? Things changed. I discovered that my passion for higher education with working with students and families at a really critical time in their life was was everything to me. I just felt so alive with with having that kind of experience. so I turned this down, decided to I get my master's degree in higher education and stay in in this field of work. And so many years later, I'm still here doing doing this this passion work.

[7:20]  Wow.

[8:17]  that I love. I'm really, really lucky because I had that chance to to to do something and get offered what I thought was my dream job. It's so funny how life changes and how how paths lead down different roads when when you open your open your open your heart to to those different opportunities.

[8:36]  Yeah. Yeah. I say this very often and is that one person, that one moment, that one story changes your life. And it was that one person, right? In your case, it was that admin guy that came out and seen something in you clearly that you probably didn't even see in yourself at that moment. Because we were sometimes we're so focused on our plan, but what is really the plan set out for us in this in this life? And looks like in reality, you could still be a park ranger, right? I can imagine. There's not an age limit to it. Is it?

[8:55]  Mm-hmm. suppose I could retire and be a a volunteer. I don't think they'd probably want me right at my age. But it's it it's it's all good because I still get to be outside and enjoy things and yeah.

[9:14]  Yeah. So okay, so what does a park ranger do? How ma maybe I don't I I don't know the the details. A park ranger, what does that look like?

[9:23]  All right, so I I I will tell you this because I I I know this very personally, not just from my two summer jobs, but when I married my husband, he was a park ranger. he eventually transitioned into a a different career. and my son, who's a year out of college, he just got his dream job as a park ranger, and he's moving down to the Nashville area from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, here in just a a few weeks. And he had that experience of doing something else and getting offered his dream job, and he gets to do it. So it

[9:26]  my god.

[9:51]  It's not just hey I get to lead nature hikes and do, you know, check campers and but there's there's that maintenance component of it. there is the law enforcement component of it. there depending on where you're at, you might be doing you know, different permits for you know, docks if you're on a a waterway, you're having to, you know, keep keep track of those administrative details of who are our contractors who are going to be mowing, who are who's our cleaner. So it's it's it's a lot of it's a lot of those types of of things as well. But it's also fun. Get to ride around in a truck and talk to to people all day, which is one of the things that I thought that I was gonna love about it. Now I talk to people all day but in a really different capacity.

[10:22]  Yeah, yeah. So instead of being around trees all day, now you're around people. Ed flat. I love it. No, and and now what is your role? Like what are you doing now as in the role that you're doing today for the school?

[10:54]  People in my in my place in my office, right? Yeah, so my my role has evolved a bit. admissions counselors come in, at least at at my school and they have a territory that they are working with families, students from a a specific territory. we read applications, we follow up when a student's gotten their financial aid award letter. We're really making sure that we're walking students and their families through the process. And every family is is an individual, every student is an individual, so it's not really a one size fits. All with what we do. My current role, however, is I am really more of that supervisory person in the office. So I work with our admissions counselors, I work with our our our team of of folks that do the communications and marketing, I work with the the folks that do a lot of the the information and data that that we work with. So I I work with a lot of the other departments kind of adjacently with.

[11:26]  Mm-hmm.

[11:58]  financial aid in the registrar's office, et cetera. So a little bit more of a higher level of what I used to do with working really one on one with families, but more working with all those people that work with the families now.

[12:12]  So you're helping even at a bigger level, because now it was just you doing the work yourself, but now you're leading others to do the work that you were doing, but even you know, times 10. So that's always a beautiful place. And I can imagine you still go out there and still help out wherever I can, boots on the ground when you can. you mentioned kids, students, but you also mentioned parents. And I think more than ever, we are at a time where parents are a part of the decision. Parents are really a part of the campus tours.

[12:12]  Absolutely.

[12:39]  wanting to be involved as much as they can through the journey of admissions, but also the journey of the s the school life. are you finding that a little more difficult, a little more challenging these days? What does that make you feel like seeing that families and parents actually more a part of this journey?

[12:57]  Yeah. I love it. I will I will be honest. I think that that parents have always been a part of it. I think that as as as things evolved, you know students used to want to do this more on their own or they didn't include their parents. I think that the way that things have shifted is that students are more open to their parents being involved in the process. They're leaning on their parents for advice as much as they are leaning on social media or their their peers for for that advice. And in a lot of ways, I think that's it is a really good thing. Parents come with that lived experience of even if they've not been to college, they understand a little bit more about what outcomes mean, what financing and education means. And I think that it's it's never a bad thing for a parent to be a part of the process. I also think parents, the best parents are the ones who understand that this is a decision that the student will be making. This is going to be the the choice that that the student has and and parents can influence that, but they also need to to listen to their student as well. But no, I I think it's it's a it's a great thing that that parents are involved in the process.

[14:16]  So are we communicating now to the parents and the children, or what does that communication piece look like now?

[14:19]  We Yeah, we are, we are. And you know, the with with emails we will copy parents on on many of the pieces of information that we send to to students. Sometimes we have standalone communication to parents because it's a message that will resonate more with the the parent, the parent who is thinking about outcomes and finances. And the students are also thinking about that, but they're also thinking about how do I find a place where I belong? How do I find a place that is going to help and support me? Parents want to hear that too. That's a message that I think students need to hear and parents want to hear how we're gonna support that student and and those outcomes. So so there's same messaging and there's a little bit different messaging that we make sure that the parents are are are feeling a part of this process because they are.

[15:08]  Yeah, yeah. Now communication becomes even more challenging now because you want to make sure that you're capturing different audiences at this time, capturing, as you mentioned, the student life, the parent life, and what's happening in between. You mentioned emails. I mean, in a space now where innovation, AI are are you guys in that field of trying to figure out how do we curate, you know, where we have our own Spotify list, our own Netflix list? Are you also curating that experience for these students?

[15:34]  Yeah. Not necessarily with with AI. We still have some some very bright human beings that are behind those emails that are that are helping to to craft those emails. we think about segmenting those those communications and and we have so much evidence at Augustan of how we can be the the type of school that prepares students for that next step once they graduate, whether that's graduate school, a job, law school, medical school, whatever that is. And so taking that evidence and telling the stories is something that is very important to us and something that that we really don't need AI to to help us to to do. and And it's not to say that like AI doesn't ever play a role in anything, but it is even if you were to go onto our website, we don't have a chat bot, we don't have an AI assistant. We want you to connect with a real person, with a with a real student here at Augustana, and you'll find those ways that students and and families can make those connections with the real people here.

[16:45]  Love it. Yeah, I mean AI is, as you mentioned, it is is here, is definitely a a game changer and it just takes time, I think, really to really adopt what that my god, did you see that? Did you see that, Wendy? Look, do you see it?

[17:00]  Got I saw that reaction after the fact.

[17:04]  Wendy, I'm here talking to you, and I'm just and then there's like a wasp that just shows up right here, and I'm like, holy crap. So I think I I don't know about Tony the I don't know about Tony this, but I I do a lot of the work in my garage. This why it looks like a really beautiful studio. I'm in a corner of my garage. And there's this wasp that I haven't really done anything because he doesn't bother me. He just like comes in my space sometimes, but I don't want to go after him, right? Like I'm that type of person, I don't really want to kill a bug.

[17:17]  my gosh. Well I sa I saw the reaction. It's beautiful. Yeah.

[17:30]  But if he continues to interrupt this, I'm gonna have to do something about it, Wendy.

[17:35]  You're gonna have to send a calendar invite and say, Hey, I'm doing my podcast at this time. You stay in your nest.

[17:40]  I do just exactly I need to stay away. but no, I I I I I love that you guys are really still that people. I mean, you can't get rid of humanity. You can't get rid of that relationship between two humans. so that you guys are still kind of putting that perspective of it and saying, Hey, while we see it's there, we still want to make sure that we're catering to our our audience, right? Those parents individually, our students in individually. And I can imagine it's 'cause also the experience that you've had. when you went to school, I I'm actually in shock. Like, how did that relationship happen between that admissions counsel that you mentioned that said, Hey, the opportunity? 'Cause I think about school and I don't know if they ever knew who I was. So how did you know and how did they know you? Was it just you were in the office a lot? Is it because what they brought to the table of of relationship building?

[18:13]  Yeah. Well yeah, a a absolutely. And I I'll even back it up four years before that that offer of the job when I was looking at colleges and I went to a college fair and met with a really nice admissions counselor who who asked some really good questions that made me think, encouraged me to come and visit. I visited with my mom. he took the time to answer her questions. neither of my parents went to college, but they both were dead set on me going to college and my mom had talked to people who had kids that had gone to college who'd gone to college themselves and she came just with an embarrassing amount of questions because I was of the generation of I'm gonna do it my myself and this is why I'm like you know 30 years later it's it's okay that parents are part of the process and they and I'm glad that that students are are willing to to include those include their parents

[18:46]  Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[19:20]  But the counselor took a lot of time talking to me ex and my mom and explaining to us how everything worked, how the financial aid worked. It was just it was great. and so as a student, he had recommended that I work in the admissions office. So worked in the admissions office for three years, had some additional responsibilities as a student during my time there. So that's how the director of admissions at the time knew who I was. And so just I a lot of things just kind of, you know, stars line.

[19:20]  God.

[19:32]  Mm-hmm.

[19:45]  He probably remember all your mom's questions. He's like, This this is the girl that had her mom involved and asked all the questions.

[19:58]  Probably. Probably, yes. Bill, he was a great guy. He he still is a great guy. I'm still in touch with him, which is such such a blessing. Yes, yes, so yes.

[20:05]  Really? Wow. Wow. How cool. it's always cool, those people in your lives that you can still be a part of, you know, of their lives as well. I I actually recently just called my O2 visor when I was 19 years old. He was the one that gave me a chance. I'm 36 years old now, but I think about the leader I am today and the opportunities I received. And I wanted to call them because sometimes we plant seeds and we don't realize what they grow into. Sometimes we water seeds and we don't know what they come out to be. And I had call him and Man, you know, I thank you for that chance. I thank you for the opportunity. Cause I know that I was stubborn. I was hard headed. I was I gave you, you know, run for your money, but you've never given up on me. You know, and from that I I was able to lead multiple subways and have a a life that I never really imagined because of those opportunities. So I I'm glad that she's to have that relationship. And I can imagine every time you tell that story, it's like, Man, you know, without that moment, am I here? You know, and probably so, you know, those other paths, or not, you would have been a park ranger, which

[20:07]  Yeah

[20:58]  ideally still would have been a good life, right? what do you think about retention right now? We're in a very tough time when it comes to higher ed because of all the opportunities of social media, becoming a content creator, of just going and becoming an entrepreneur, right? There's so we talked about plants, right? There's so many ways that someone can go and and make money now because people look at also at a college and feel like, why would I go in debt when I can go and do this? What what is your thoughts on it and what are you guys doing to kind of avoid that?

[21:32]  Mm-hmm. Yeah. And there's a there's a couple of th of tensions happening right now in higher education. One of that is the students who are becoming non consumptive, students who are choosing not to to go to college who, you know, ten, fifteen, twenty years ago, those would have been the students that we would have seen coming coming through our doors. the other part is i essentially the the demographics. There are there are less eighteen year olds today than there were. I mean there's a a shift in in birth rate and and so higher education professionals are are thinking about that on on both ends. I don't People who have not gone to college and have been successful. So I I acknowledge that that is a that is an okay path for for people to take. I also know that the the statistics, the research backs it up that if you have a a college degree and the higher your education level is, the more opportunity that you have to earn in your lifetime, the healthier you are throughout your your lifetime.

[22:06]  Mm-hmm.

[22:41]  the opportunities that you have if you decide to change careers are going to be there it's going to open more doors if you have that that degree. so higher education, yes, it is it is an investment and that's how families should should think about it is that if you've got the the opportunity, you've got the the the grades or you've got the means to you know improve your grades through you know, an an open enrollment school like a two-year school, get ready for that four year degree and and and move. you're going to find that you've you've opened doors that that probably wouldn't have been opened without a a a degree, a higher education degree. And again, I know people who are successful without that degree. they're they're probably a bit more limited though with the the career paths that they can take and not kind of I know that they are. So So I I feel fortunate for the type of work that I do.

[23:45]  And you said it didn't just change individuals' lives, because it changes the lives of the people that come after them and sometimes even before them. You mentioned your mom and dad were not college graduates. You are you a first gen, is that correct? And now your kids are also, because of what you've been able to do, have also gone to school, right? So how how many kids now are in college because of you?

[24:30]  That's correct, yes. Yes. Yeah. So so I have four kids. my my oldest graduated from Augustana. she has her master's degree now in in geology and she's working in her career field. my my second kiddo went to another college very similar to Augustana, another private Lutheran liberal arts college. and he's the one who's gonna be living his dream as a park ranger here in the next month. I've got a daughter who is going to be a junior here at Augustana, super involved, and really

[25:16]  I love it.

[25:22]  loving her experience. She keeps telling me every day I can't wait for school to start back again. And and then I have a son who just graduated high school and and his path is Augustana as well. So and this is something I will say I as a parent who works at a college and especially a parent who works in admissions, I have never pushed my kids to to go to Augustana because I don't want there ever to be well I'm doing this because I didn't want to disappoint my mom or I'm doing this because I felt like this that I had

[25:29]  Mm-hmm.

[25:36]  to. We looked at a lot of different colleges and it just always came back to Augustine to check the box for three of my four kids. So that's that's that's pretty good odds. yeah.

[25:42]  I love that. I l I love that you were still you said you're not biased. this is not the place that you have to go to go visit colleges. So on these college tours, what are you taking from other colleges that you thought did well? And some of the things that you said, that did not go well. Make sure we're not doing that at our college. What are some of those things? Well, without putting people on blast here.

[25:49]  That's so funny. I do take those opportunities. I maybe I should have had four more kids because this is professional development for me anytime I go to other colleges. And I will take examples of colleges that I think, man, they are doing that right. Their emails, they are on point. their their way that they greeted us when we visited, the way that they led their tour. There have been some amazing colleges that those have been the colleges that have been maybe number two on my my students' list, or or number

[25:56]  Ha ha.

[26:03]  Number one for my my second my second kiddo. But there's other colleges that I will come back and I'm sending an email to my staff. Hey, I just had this experience and I want to make sure that we never do this. This is a never day for our office. And and those are you I I I I've been asked, well, did you tell the college that they did this? I'm like, no, let them keep doing it to people. That's terrible to say. but

[26:18]  Ha ha ha. True. Not my business.

[26:34]  But I I feel like, you know, that's their style. This is our style. And the the way that we welcome people, the way that we want people to feel special really throughout the entire process. And again, everyone who comes through the admissions office, we want them to feel special and as an individual, and when they apply and when they go through a a scholarship process or the financial aid process, we're trying to connect with them one-on-one to help them with that with that that whole journey. it's not that we expect that every student who comes to our doors are going to enroll at Augustana. We know that's not the case, but we want to make sure that even the student who chooses another school, we are telling them, I wish you the best. I'm so glad you considered Augustana. If plans ever change, let us know. So that's you know, that's the philosophy I have is that you students are looking for the school that's the best fit for them. And that is what we are what we do is we want to show them what we have to offer. And it may not be what the the students is is ultimately chooses and that's okay.

[26:34]  Yeah. I love it. No, I always say you you you learn from those moments of you going out there and boot on the ground, right? Like you've got your yourself to a kind of space of now I'm leading a team, but it's n it's every time you get back to where all started, you start to realize new things. So for you to kind of go out there and take off that that hat of being leader, but just more receiving a lot of these things, you're like, Wait a minute, I didn't even notice this. Like th this is this is a thing now? Like, you know, and it's a good a bad thing and it's how we

[26:34]  Yeah.

[28:06]  As humans, have to always remember to get uncomfortable, always remember to see things from the outside, because we're so much inside a lot of the times. Get uncomfortable, right?

[28:12]  Yes. Yes. I yeah, totally agree. Yes.

[28:19]  So you're you're definitely getting uncomfortable in these places. The park range, I wanna go to it. Are you like now living by curiously through your son? Like are you gonna go on these trips with him and say, Hey, can I just get on the passenger side with you and kinda see what it looks like?

[28:31]  gosh. well I mean we are we're a family that that that that camps and enjoys the outdoors. A lot of just an any time I can be outside I'm outside walking, running, biking. It's cross country skiing, we get snow here. not as much as we used to. I'm just kinda wishing that the Midwest would get a little bit more snow, at least in our area. But yes, I will I will be out visiting him and and his park so all good.

[28:56]  Love it. I I'll tell you something that happened, and this is kind of a rarer left field, but it just happened. So I thought I should share it with you. there was a group of people. I'm in Orlando, and if anybody knows, we have gators. So recently, I guess it happened literally down the street, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes, that these three individuals they were actually going hiking and decided that they wanted to cool off in fresh water. And a gator took the friend and ripped the arms off.

[28:57]  god.

[29:25]  So they these two kids got to I know how the hell we got here. I have no idea, Wendy, but that's why I don't go in water. When we talk about nature, Wendy, I am very like, wait a minute, what is in there? Because same thing with like beaches. I live in Orlando where we have plenty of beaches, but I do not go to the beach. Why? Because there's sharks. Why would I go to the beach? So I I'm a little keep me at a pool. All right. But I do love hiking, but now knowing do not get in the water when you're going hiking is kind of what I learned from that story.

[29:39]  Yeah. My goodness. Come come up to the Midwest. There's there's there's no sharks in the Mississippi River. There's no alligators. The Great Lakes, they're awesome. No salt. Come visit. Come visit. I

[29:53]  Lord. What do you guys have? Like what kind of animals? Coyote or something? Mountain lions?

[30:08]  But they stay away from humans for for the most part. I mean, you're gonna see if you come here you'll see deer, you'll see great heron, you'll see great blue heron, you'll see turtles, you'll s yeah. It's it's much it's much more peaceful when you have a a winter that's gonna freeze a lot of those really cold things out of here.

[30:16]  Okay, okay. Wow. Mm. I I tell you what, I do love hiking. That is very peaceful for me. Every time that I go up to Boston, my brother would then dri drive me up to New Hampshire. And we'll spend a whole good day just hiking and just sit there sometimes, just listen to the water. And it is my peaceful spot. This year's birthday, my wife wanted to get everybody together, all the friends and all that. I'm like, Can I just lay by somebody's body of water on the grass in peace? Cause we talked about sometimes my brain is going, going, going. You gotta find those moments that kind of just

[30:25]  Okay more.

[30:45]  shut you off. Is this what shut you off, you say? Just going out and doing it?

[31:05]  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I try I sometimes I just can't get away, but if I can get away for an hour every day over my lunch hour and just walk, I just come back so much more refreshed and my my brain's had a chance to it it's like sleeping. You just I'm not sleeping, but it just has a chance to reset and it's it's I get it. I get it.

[31:25]  Yeah. Almost goes into hibernation mode probably while you're taking that hour walk.

[31:30]  Just just just getting some of those things out or or thinking things through without having the constant interruptions. Yeah.

[31:37]  Love it. As we as we wrap this up, there's first gen students out there that probably believe that they can't do this. You are one that did it. Your kids have now doing it because of it. What do you say to those individuals that say this is hard or I don't have the money or whatever their excuse may be in their head? someone that's lived it, what do you say to them?

[31:57]  Yeah. Yeah. I I absolutely think that there are a lot of students that that that have those concerns or or simply don't believe in themselves. you might be a student who gets good grades, but you maybe you don't have that confidence to think, I can do it in college college is gonna be so much harder or they worry that like my my family's low income or even if they're middle income, how are we gonna be able to to afford college education? And I I just I s I if when I get a chance to talk with students, I try to really convey the message that you you can do this. this is not a place higher education is not a place that is this gigantic step up from high school. And I tell students, if you're A a freshman in high school, think of to when I'm talking to a senior, think back of when you were a freshman in high school. Could you be doing the work as a freshman that you're doing now as a senior? No, because you've taken those steps to get where you are. That's what freshman year in college is. It's not a huge step up, it's just that next step. And when you ha I mean, the human mind is just so has so much capacity to learn. And there's not a limit when you get into that freshman year and you have That support around you and feel that encouragement to keep going. You're going to, I mean, students discover things about themselves that I just really think that they would never have believed about themselves. We have this series here at Augustana called More Than I Imagined. We invite seniors here to reflect on their time at Augustana. And it truly is such a great piece. It's a more It's a piece that I use I send out to to prospective students. It's not just like it's something that lives on our website because it really does show that story of students who came in thinking that they were going to do one thing or thinking that they were going to, you know, really stay small and all of these opportunities that they have when they when they come to college. So I would say knowing that that where you go, look for support, knowing that support is there is going to be key for for a student that maybe is a little unsure about taking that next step. when it comes to things like cost and and and and being able to afford college I always tell students don't look at what that sticker price is for the college that sticker price is not the final price once you fill out the FAFSA once you seek out the scholarships that are there for students you may find that that college is more affordable than you could have ever imagined we have a program here at Augustana we are about to start our our fourth year called it's called August Possible. And based on FAFSA information, and FAFSA is free application for federal student aid. Based on FAFSA information, for our highest achieving students, they are going to find that we are meeting 100% of their financial needs. So we have students that are coming to Augustana that are literally paying $42 for the year. They're taking out their that federal student loan, that $5,500 as a first-year student, for example.

[31:57]  Wow.

[35:13]  not having to worry about the the cost of of an education. And I can see also that how life changing that has been for the students that we have in our our school. And when students get here, the support doesn't end. We have a trio program. It's a federally funded program to help first generation students, to help students that have that I was gonna say h high need but low income low need a low income

[35:28]  Yeah. Mm-mm. No worries.

[35:43]  Just trying to get my terms so I don't sound like a So the lower income students, first generation students, students that have disabilities, this is an office that is there to serve those students. We don't want to just bring students into Augustan. We want to see success of all of our students throughout the four years. Every student comes into Augustan and has a success team right away, no matter where you are coming from in the socioeconomic range. So or first gen range, every student here has that support. So even students who are not first gen but might be worried about, you know, am I gonna make it? Do I have the the smarts? my goodness. We're gonna make sure you're supported.

[36:21]  I love it. Wendy, thanks for the conversation. Thanks for the insight. Thanks for those that are still watching here. Whether you're listening to it or you're watching the video, I suggest watch the video so you can see all the plants that Wendy has in her office. and maybe even see the wasp that try to attack me while we hear while we were watching as well. but Wendy, thank you for what you do. Thank you for continuing to pour into others. like someone poured into you. I think it's it's fascinating that we can do that in life. Sometimes people may forget to go back and pour into others. You haven't forgot, you you haven't stopped actually since college. It looks like you made it take a little break, but you never really left college. So we we thank you for the conversation that we're having today. Guys, if you're watching and you're asking yourself, how do I get involved? How do I make this education happen? How do I go get that degree that you've always been sitting on? You know, I am one individual, Wendy, that got two classes left to go get an associate's degree. But like you said, I've really made a life out of entrepreneurship and I worked my butt off.

[36:48]  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[37:15]  you know, as well, to get those opportunities. But as you mentioned, yeah, school d definitely could have propelled me even faster. the opportunities, the people that you get to meet in life, the connections that happen in school, the I always say like a big networking event every single day when you go to school because you don't know who's there and who's going to go where. so just thank you. Thank you for what you do. Guys, if you guys are still watching, make sure you do like, subscribe and comment. And remember Higher it is not going anywhere, but how do we continue to enhance that experience and how do we make sure that more people get that opportunity? I'm referring with No You Wrestle with sorry, I always say no you're wrestling, but it's f actually hard and hustle. this is Wendy. We'll catch you in the next one later.

[37:18]  Thanks.