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FTG 0037 – Careers of All Kinds with Teacher Turned Entrepreneur and Civil Servant Diana Adams ’13
60 Plays3 years ago
Overview:
Diana Adams ’13 Berks is the Executive Director of Brevard Heart Foundation, co-owner and Community Engagement Coordinator of Rock Paper Simple, and a Council Member for the City of West Melbourne in Brevard County, Florida which come on the heels of a seven year career in elementary education in Florida where she earned numerous awards, including Teacher of the Year for her school and the Dr. Theron Trimble Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year award for the state of Florida. She earned a BS in Elementary Education with Honors from Penn State Berks in 2013, followed by a Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of West Florida and is currently working on her Doctorate in Public Administration from Valdosta State University. Diana discusses many topics that can be helpful to Scholars of all stripes. After sharing her experience coming to Penn State at a non-traditional age, staying at a Commonwealth Campus, and moving out of state for her first teaching job, Diana discusses making a career change in her 20s, working in non-profits, small business, and public administration. She also shares thoughts on making the most the thesis and Scholar experience and overcoming personal adversity.
Guest Bio:
Diana Adams ’13 Berks is the Executive Director of Brevard Heart Foundation, co-owner and Community Engagement Coordinator of Rock Paper Simple, and a Council Member for the City of West Melbourne in Brevard County, Florida. In each of her roles, she seeks to address community needs by using data and relationships to make a positive difference in her community, in particularly the fields of business, healthcare, and local government. Prior to her current roles, Diana was a teacher in Florida for seven years, where she earned numerous awards, including Teacher of the Year for her school and the Dr. Theron Trimble Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year award for the state of Florida. She earned a BS in Elementary Education with Honors from Penn State Berks in 2013, followed by a Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of West Florida and is currently working on her Doctorate in Public Administration from Valdosta State University. With her life dedicated to public service, Diana knows the value of connecting with others for the betterment of our communities and is happy to speak further about education, business, grants, and municipal government. Please feel free to connect with her at LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-adams-010853179) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/blondiebookworm/)
Episode Specifics:
In this episode, Diana shares her insights on:
· Choosing Penn State Berks for being close to home and the smaller campus feel and the Honors College for the intellectual community it provides
· Pursuing an education major and selecting the right level for you – and test driving as a first-year student
· Starting college earlier than is “traditional”
· Balancing student teaching with writing a thesis, and using that thesis in interviews and in the classroom
· Brining life experience and identity to influence your thesis topic and research
· Job searching outside of Pennsylvania and ideas for job search research generally
· The ups and downs of being an elementary school teacher
· Making the decision to leave teaching and pursue new opportunities
· Handling your inclination to say “yes” to every opportunity
· Getting involved in municipal government – both as a citizen and as a leader
· Keeping a grounded approach to success through serving others
· Lessons from getting SCUBA certified despite a physical disability
· Thoughts on mentorship
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Greetings scholars and welcome to Following the Gong, a podcast of the Shrier Honors College at Penn State.
Purpose and Sponsorship
00:00:12
Speaker
Following the GON takes you in side conversations with our Scholar alumni to hear their story so you can gain career and life advice and expand your professional network.
00:00:21
Speaker
You can hear the true breadth of how Scholar alumni have gone on to shape the world after they ran the GON and graduated with honors and learn from their experiences so you can use their insights in your own journey.
00:00:32
Speaker
This show is proudly sponsored by the Scholar Alumni Society, a constituent group of the Penn State Alumni Association.
00:00:38
Speaker
I'm your host, Sean Doheen, class of 2011 and college staff member.
00:00:43
Speaker
If this is your first time joining us, welcome.
00:00:46
Speaker
If you're a regular listener, welcome back.
Guest Introduction: Diana Adams
00:00:55
Speaker
Diana Adams, class of 2013, is the executive director of the Brevard Heart Foundation, co-owner and community engagement coordinator of Rock Paper Simple, and a council member for the city of West Melbourne in Brevard County, Florida, which comes on the heels of a seven-year career in elementary education in Florida, where she earned numerous awards, including Teacher of the Year for her school and the Dr. Theron Trimble Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award for the whole state of Florida.
00:01:19
Speaker
She earned a BS in elementary education with honors from Penn State Berks in 2013, followed by a master's in educational leadership from the University of West Florida, and she is currently working on a doctorate in public administration from Valdosta State University.
00:01:31
Speaker
Diana joined the show and discusses many topics that can be helpful to scholars of all backgrounds.
Career Transition and Academic Insights
00:01:36
Speaker
After sharing her experience coming to Penn State at a non-traditional age, staying at a commonwealth campus, and moving out of state for her first teaching job, Diana discusses making a career change in her 20s, working in nonprofits, small businesses, and public administration.
00:01:49
Speaker
She also shares her thoughts on making the most of the thesis and scholar experiences overall and overcoming personal adversity.
00:01:55
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You can read Diana's full bio and a more detailed breakdown of the episode topics in the show notes on your podcast app.
00:02:01
Speaker
And with that, let's dive into our conversation with Diana following the gong.
00:02:12
Speaker
Diana, great to see you.
00:02:13
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Thank you so much for joining me here on Following the Gong.
00:02:17
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It's been a long time for us.
00:02:18
Speaker
We go back a little ways, but good to catch up.
00:02:21
Speaker
And I'm really excited for our scholars to hear your very interesting story here today.
00:02:25
Speaker
So going back in time to when we knew each other from Penn State Burt, how did you actually decide on choosing Penn State and what drew you to the Honors College back in
Choosing Penn State and Academic Experiences
00:02:35
Speaker
the day?
00:02:35
Speaker
I've always been drawn to Penn State.
00:02:37
Speaker
I wanted a college that was close to home, that offered that rigorous academic piece while also including those opportunities to just be involved in a broader community with a more global perspective.
00:02:48
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I grew up in Pennsylvania, so I knew students who loved the community that was found at the university.
00:02:54
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And when I visited Penn State Berks, it had that large university opportunity with the same smaller campus feeling.
00:03:01
Speaker
The Honors College specifically was a decision that I made prior to even applying to Penn State because I had always pushed myself academically, and I knew that was where I was going to find more of my niche.
00:03:13
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And if I remember correctly, you actually started college a little bit earlier than your typical student.
00:03:18
Speaker
Is that right?
00:03:19
Speaker
That is correct.
00:03:20
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I ended up starting some college classes as a middle school student.
00:03:24
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And then dual enrollment wasn't as much of a thing when I was in school.
00:03:28
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So I would go to school during the day and then come home and go to the local community college for night classes and earn some credits that way.
00:03:37
Speaker
And then I did that for a year or two and racked up some credits and was able to transfer those to Penn State.
00:03:42
Speaker
Very wise.
00:03:43
Speaker
I'm sure that saved you a little bit of money along the way.
00:03:46
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So good, good call there.
00:03:48
Speaker
Now, you could have majored in just about anything.
00:03:52
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But one of the programs that the Burt's campus is particularly well known for is elementary education.
00:03:57
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So what drew you to major in that?
00:04:00
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Did you always want to be a teacher?
00:04:01
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Tell us that story.
00:04:03
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So I've always looked up to my mother.
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She was a teacher and my twin sister always wanted to be a teacher.
00:04:08
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So of course I decided at an early age to be anything but a teacher.
00:04:13
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However, as I learned just from community service opportunities, I was a camp counselor.
00:04:18
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I was involved in 4-H and the Girl Scouts.
00:04:20
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I enjoyed spending time with children of all ages.
00:04:23
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So when I was looking at Penn State, I was excited to see that they had different education programs.
00:04:29
Speaker
Originally, I had wanted to be a high school biology teacher, but since I was going to be the same age or slightly younger than some of the students I would be teaching upon graduation, my mentors at the time had expressed that I might want to look at some elementary education instead, and that was a program that Berks had offered for the four years instead of
00:04:49
Speaker
doing two years at Berks and then transferring to University Park.
00:04:52
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And I like the idea of being able to stay at one campus for the entire four years.
00:04:57
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Although I think for me, it was three.
00:04:59
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I don't really remember anymore because I transferred those credits in.
00:05:02
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But one thing in particular with the education program that Penn State does really well
00:05:07
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is that they place education students in classrooms to observe from day one.
00:05:12
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And I think that helps students to decide if teaching really is the right career for them.
00:05:18
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I was placed into a fourth grade classroom, which is ironically the same grade that my mother loved teaching the most.
00:05:25
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And then I just fell in love with those students.
00:05:28
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Penn State offers
00:05:29
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education majors the opportunity to not only observe, but as time goes on, they give you the opportunity to get more and more hands-on with the students each year prior to doing a full year of student teaching, which includes setting up a classroom at the beginning of the year to packing it away at the end.
00:05:46
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And I had the unique opportunity as an education major.
00:05:49
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My mentor teacher had actually gotten sick about halfway through that full year.
00:05:53
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So I was given some additional responsibilities that my professors had really supported and encouraged that I take.
00:05:59
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And I think that really helped give me an edge at interviews after graduation.
00:06:04
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So you've already mentioned mentoring a lot, which is perfect for this conversation.
00:06:08
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And one of the things that really just jumped out at me is your mentors helped highlight a particular challenge that you
00:06:14
Speaker
was unique to you in that you came to college a little bit early.
00:06:17
Speaker
And, you know, it's not terribly common, but in the event that there's any scholars listening who are in a similar situation, was there any other helpful advice just generally that you would give to a student who's maybe starting college just a little bit earlier than is the traditional 18, 19?
00:06:31
Speaker
I think for me, it really helped to build relationships early with the professors that I had.
00:06:36
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Dr. David Bender and Dr. Sandy Feinstein were both amazing in just getting me connected with the community that's at Penn State Berks, but also acknowledging that I was a little bit younger than most students.
00:06:49
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So if I had questions, I knew where to go.
00:06:51
Speaker
There was definitely that
00:06:53
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support system for students who may not be your average student, but still wanted to be involved and have those rigorous academics and do all those things.
00:07:01
Speaker
Having them as resources was invaluable.
00:07:04
Speaker
And they were also great at helping me navigate, you know, things like the Honors College.
00:07:08
Speaker
I think that's really helpful, even if you are coming in at a traditional age or maybe you're coming back to school as an adult learner.
00:07:14
Speaker
If you're a regular listener, you've heard Dr. Feinstein mentioned before and some other campus grads.
00:07:19
Speaker
So, you know, make sure you connect with your honors coordinator if you're at a campus, if you're here at University Park.
00:07:24
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come talk to us in the college.
00:07:26
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We're happy to help with the different things and point you in the right direction.
Student Involvement and Leadership
00:07:30
Speaker
Now, you mentioned you wanted to get involved on campus.
00:07:32
Speaker
And obviously, one of our core tenants in the mission here is civic engagement leadership.
00:07:37
Speaker
Can you talk about what you were involved with on campus?
00:07:39
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And more importantly, what did you learn through those experiences?
00:07:42
Speaker
So I mentioned at the beginning that I wanted to be involved.
00:07:45
Speaker
So I was actually researching ways to get involved prior to even applying to Penn State.
00:07:50
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So I decided to jump in from day one.
00:07:52
Speaker
I particularly liked serving as part of the Student Government Association because you were able to make a difference in regards to the future of the Berks campus on a more local level.
00:08:02
Speaker
but you also had the opportunity to gather at University Park with other students from different satellite campuses to discuss policies, ideas that would affect the broader Penn State community, which I thought was really cool.
00:08:13
Speaker
Particularly, I like being involved in the PEP program.
00:08:16
Speaker
It's a partnership program with local schools that allowed Penn State students to mentor and tutor
00:08:22
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students in local schools.
00:08:24
Speaker
And as an education major, that seemed like just the right thing to get plugged into.
00:08:29
Speaker
Let me think, what else?
00:08:30
Speaker
We've got the Campus Activity Board, which I think was one of the areas where you and I had connected.
00:08:35
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That was just a great way to get involved, meet other students, but you also got to facilitate some of the really cool activities that were held on campus.
00:08:41
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And obviously, there's THON, just with the amazing work that they do with families and children.
00:08:47
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The Honors Club for me was
00:08:49
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really a neat opportunity because it allowed for those academic but also recreational connections with other students.
00:08:55
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And that's where I feel like I made a lot of friends and connections that I still have today.
00:08:59
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All of those learning experiences really focused on the value of relationships and connections and being willing to
00:09:06
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grow outside of your comfort zone.
00:09:08
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I think that's one of the strongest things that the Honors College brings to the table for any student is just the opportunity, if you're comfortable, to really push yourself and grow in those areas.
00:09:18
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And I really saw that in myself.
00:09:19
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:09:20
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We want to make sure that you are a well-rounded person coming out.
00:09:23
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So
00:09:24
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If you're listening to this and you're trying to find some ways to get involved, check out your campus's website here in the Honors College.
00:09:28
Speaker
We've got a variety of clubs in addition to the literally thousand plus here at University Park, and there's great options on any campus that you might find
Thesis and Teaching Challenges
00:09:36
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yourself at.
00:09:36
Speaker
Now, Diana, you talked about student teaching, and it's something you typically do, particularly in your last year, but also as a scholar in your last year, you're writing your honors thesis.
00:09:45
Speaker
So can you tell us about what it was like pretty much working full-time professionally as a student teacher and writing your thesis and also writing
00:09:53
Speaker
what you wrote about?
00:09:54
Speaker
It requires a lot of good time management, I think, to, I think for anybody while working on their thesis, but I think especially for education majors that are student teaching and also doing that research and the writing, I think having a good advisory group, for me, that was my honors advisor and my thesis advisor, they were great to not only be encouragement, but also those
00:10:18
Speaker
areas of growth.
00:10:19
Speaker
There were times where I brought Dr. Bender my draft and I would take it back and there would be red pen marked all over it, but those were areas of growth.
00:10:27
Speaker
And then hopefully eventually as you move through it, there is less and less red pen, which is encouraging.
00:10:33
Speaker
As an education major, I wanted my thesis to focus on something that I thought was both relevant to education at the time,
00:10:40
Speaker
while also being a topic that I could personally connect with.
00:10:43
Speaker
I think that when a researcher is connected to their research topic, there's a deeper understanding that's communicated through their work, while also hopefully being conscious not to let your bias or personal thoughts influence that work too much.
00:10:54
Speaker
As I was already connected to the Reading School District near the Berks campus, I just began talking with my mentor and other educators about trends that they saw in education where there could be gaps.
00:11:05
Speaker
And one of those was in the realm of special education and inclusion for students.
00:11:09
Speaker
And as an individual myself with a disability, I found it really interesting that educators I spoke with had different opinions about how special education and inclusion has changed over time.
00:11:20
Speaker
So I began to wonder how those changes could have influenced students more from an educator perspective, not necessarily from the students themselves.
00:11:28
Speaker
I have cerebral palsy, and I remember my time in elementary and middle school being different than my peers, but I found myself wondering how my teachers viewed the accommodations that came with that or if they had any impacts in terms of inclusion on their classrooms.
00:11:45
Speaker
So with that in mind, my research focused on the perceptions of general and special education teachers on the inclusion of students with disabilities and special needs in elementary classrooms.
00:11:57
Speaker
I ended up creating surveys and had very interesting conversations with teachers of varying levels of experience.
00:12:04
Speaker
And I was unsurprised to find that both groups reported that the majority of school personnel were really supportive of inclusion, but they had different ideas of what those highest potential benefits were.
00:12:16
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So I found that the general education teachers in general
00:12:20
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expressed that students with disabilities benefited the most academically from inclusion, while the special education teachers felt they benefited more from the social aspect, particularly getting those opportunities to interact with their peers and build those skills in communication.
00:12:36
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which was really different, not necessarily what I was expecting, but overall, it was a fantastic opportunity to begin what would be the first major research project I had done up to that point.
00:12:48
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I had the opportunity to present at a research conference, which was a new experience for me as well.
00:12:53
Speaker
And it became a really valuable tool, my thesis, in terms of when I did interviews past graduation, where I got to share my research, analysis, and just written communication skills with
00:13:05
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interviewers.
00:13:06
Speaker
And I think that became one of the best tools that students can bring with them to interviews.
Relocation to Florida and Career Growth
00:13:11
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:13:12
Speaker
I think the thesis, if there's a way to appropriately bring it up in the interview is a great piece in your toolkit that maybe a lot of the other applicants for a job might not have.
00:13:20
Speaker
So leverage that as you can.
00:13:22
Speaker
That's actually a perfect segue, Diana, because you ended up not in Pennsylvania teaching, but in Florida.
00:13:28
Speaker
Now, I'd love to hear both what drew you to Florida and also just generally advice for scholars who are looking for jobs outside of Pennsylvania.
00:13:38
Speaker
You know, you're in college here and there's one way of doing things and then you're looking elsewhere and there's different ways of doing things.
00:13:44
Speaker
We have 50 states and sometimes 50 different ways of doing things, sometimes different ways even within those states.
00:13:49
Speaker
What was that experience like?
00:13:51
Speaker
I think the best resource for me as I considered moving out of state to start my career was the professors and the resources I had at Penn State to begin with.
00:14:01
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I had talked with my mentors and said, I'm thinking about moving to Florida.
00:14:05
Speaker
What do you know about the Florida education system?
00:14:07
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What are the things that, and then I did some research on what's the hot topics in Florida education at the time.
00:14:13
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So that way, when I came to an interview, I was more prepared about what their perspective was going to be.
00:14:18
Speaker
And then started thinking to myself, what are tools I bring to the table that a school might be interested in?
00:14:24
Speaker
So I think just taking the time to do that research, but also connect with people who just may know more than you do because of their world experience and things like that.
00:14:33
Speaker
I ended up in Florida because I was raised by a single mom for most of my life.
00:14:38
Speaker
And so as I was in my last year of college, my mom married my stepdad and ended up moving to Florida.
00:14:43
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I like looking for new opportunities.
00:14:45
Speaker
So after graduation, I wanted to be close to family while also kind of opening those doors for new adventures.
00:14:52
Speaker
And I thought,
00:14:53
Speaker
Why not exchange your snow shovel for a beach chair and let's go to Florida.
00:14:57
Speaker
Now, if you've read Diana's bio, you the listener, you'll see that she's not currently a teacher, but I do want to go back and talk about your time in the classroom because you did spend several years.
00:15:07
Speaker
You were lauded for your time in the classroom with some awards, I believe.
00:15:11
Speaker
If I saw your resume, your CV correctly, can you talk just generally for maybe students who are considering this or maybe just help others with some empathy around what it's like to be a elementary school teacher?
00:15:23
Speaker
I was told in one of the first classes I had at Penn State by a professor.
00:15:28
Speaker
teaching can be one of the best and hardest jobs that you have in your lifetime.
00:15:32
Speaker
And that stuck with me because after my experience in the fourth grade classroom and falling in love, I thought, how could this be anything except wonderful, right?
00:15:42
Speaker
And I think that's what a lot of teachers go into teaching for is because they have just the heart for students and making a difference in their communities.
00:15:50
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And to me, I think that's one of my favorite things about teaching.
00:15:55
Speaker
I love the opportunity to have that direct impact on that next generation and really foster their curiosity.
00:16:02
Speaker
I will have to tell you, serving in Florida as a teacher, I have been blessed to serve on teams with amazing teachers and supported by the best administration.
00:16:11
Speaker
So my new and sometimes crazy ideas were often embraced by them and not only made a difference in my students' education, but really helped them grow personally.
00:16:21
Speaker
And to me, that was really exciting.
00:16:23
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I can't say that there were many
00:16:25
Speaker
things I didn't love about teaching and education because I really did enjoy it.
00:16:31
Speaker
But I think one of the things that sometimes teachers can struggle with is the idea that you pour everything that you have into your job on a daily basis.
00:16:40
Speaker
And sometimes by the time you leave work, you have nothing left.
00:16:44
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But in my mind, that means that I gave my students and my colleagues everything I had as much as I had and just hoping that that was enough.
00:16:52
Speaker
I think the hardest part of teaching is
00:16:54
Speaker
is that when students are getting ready to leave for the year and you realize that this community you've built in your classroom has just been one of the best things that you could have built beyond just the academics, but really helping the students with building your confidence, learning about their strengths and the unique qualities they bring, hopefully the laughter that's shared.
00:17:13
Speaker
My students will tell you I have a great sense of humor, but I also have an elementary fifth grade sense of humor and they think it's hysterical.
00:17:21
Speaker
I don't know what to tell you, but it's really sad when that comes to an end.
00:17:25
Speaker
I can share that I have cried on every last day of school that I've ever taught and you're really proud of them for where they're going, but it is really hard.
00:17:33
Speaker
And I think, especially for new teachers that are starting off, if you haven't had that full year of experience, that can sometimes be really
00:17:41
Speaker
emotionally and mentally hard.
00:17:42
Speaker
You know, going through that first year, really making sure you've surrounded yourself with good mentors, fun colleagues who are willing to take the time to pour into you.
00:17:50
Speaker
All of that is really important.
00:17:52
Speaker
That's something that you've mentioned numerous times as mentors.
00:17:54
Speaker
So you're listening to the right podcast.
00:17:56
Speaker
It's the whole point of the show is to provide you some on-demand mentoring.
00:18:01
Speaker
And later on towards the end of our conversation, we'll find out how to connect with Diana if you're interested in teaching or the other things that you've gotten into, which is a perfect segue from myself for my next question.
00:18:12
Speaker
You're welcome, the listener.
00:18:13
Speaker
So eventually you decided that you wanted to change paths.
00:18:18
Speaker
And honestly, looking at your CV, I don't know how you sleep, Diana.
00:18:22
Speaker
You're doing a lot.
00:18:23
Speaker
You have a nonprofit you're running.
00:18:26
Speaker
You have some kind of side hustle that you're for-profit marketing for.
Nonprofit Leadership and Community Engagement
00:18:32
Speaker
And you're also involved in civic life.
00:18:34
Speaker
So I want to take those just one at a time here and ask about how you got into those, what skills you've been able to pull from your teaching days, and what skills you've had to develop along the way
00:18:47
Speaker
you didn't have from being a teacher to tackle those.
00:18:50
Speaker
So let's first go with the non-for-profit, the Brevard Heart Foundation, if I have that correct.
00:18:55
Speaker
Yep.
00:18:55
Speaker
So it's close.
00:18:57
Speaker
It's Brevard Heart Foundation.
00:18:58
Speaker
So Brevard is the county where I live in Florida.
00:19:01
Speaker
And I guess to be able to get there, I have to do a quick segue as to why I left teaching.
00:19:07
Speaker
I was a teacher in Florida for seven years.
00:19:10
Speaker
I was, you know, you were correct.
00:19:12
Speaker
I was recognized with a bunch of awards, including elementary social studies teacher of the year for the entire state.
00:19:18
Speaker
So that was super exciting, but also really humbling.
00:19:22
Speaker
I really enjoy government and civics.
00:19:25
Speaker
And really inspiring that into my students.
00:19:28
Speaker
But I also knew that I always wanted to pursue a doctorate degree.
00:19:31
Speaker
And so when I was doing research, I decided to choose a doctorate degree in public administration so that I could continue in that public service if I ever chose to leave teaching at that.
00:19:42
Speaker
Last year, I ended up taking on a lot of additional leadership responsibilities.
00:19:47
Speaker
I was mentoring a couple other teachers and teaching is one of those careers where you don't leave things at work.
00:19:53
Speaker
Between a nine to five window, you've got lesson plans and emails and phone calls to parents and all those things.
00:19:58
Speaker
So I was also doing my coursework at the same time.
00:20:02
Speaker
My husband would like to see a little bit more of me and you know I was trying to figure out how I was going to balance everything.
00:20:08
Speaker
So I had decided that December to transition out from teaching and then COVID hit in March and I was the only teacher at our school who thought we'd be coming back after the week of spring break.
00:20:18
Speaker
We didn't, but it was a good segue out.
00:20:20
Speaker
And the goal was originally to be a full-time student.
00:20:22
Speaker
That lasted about two weeks before I got bored.
00:20:25
Speaker
And the president of Brevard Heart Foundation reached out and said, we think you'd be a good fit.
00:20:31
Speaker
You bring a lot of energy.
00:20:32
Speaker
You're a hard worker.
00:20:34
Speaker
Would you be willing to take over this nonprofit?
00:20:36
Speaker
And it wasn't something... Were you involved with them as a volunteer previously?
00:20:40
Speaker
No, I was not.
00:20:41
Speaker
The president knew of my community involvement.
00:20:44
Speaker
Both my husband and I are on a lot of different boards and community service things in Brevard.
00:20:49
Speaker
So he knew of the different things I was involved in.
00:20:52
Speaker
And he also knows that I put 110% of everything I've got into whatever I'm doing, which was exciting.
00:20:58
Speaker
So they do healthcare initiatives in our community.
00:21:02
Speaker
And so I thought, well, I don't have experience in nonprofit, but I learn quickly and I bring a lot of energy.
00:21:09
Speaker
And so that was a really great opportunity.
00:21:12
Speaker
I'm still in that role.
00:21:13
Speaker
And it wasn't, you know, I'm kind of balancing between our scholarship program, healthcare initiatives, things like that.
00:21:19
Speaker
And that really brought in my experience with healthcare because I didn't have any knowledge about that field beyond, you know, sort of a basic level.
00:21:28
Speaker
And so with that happening the same time as COVID, it was really interesting to just see it all happen from also a healthcare sort of perspective, because a lot of people on our board have that experience.
00:21:39
Speaker
Trying to remember if that answered all of that question, but I was trying to make sure I segued there.
00:21:44
Speaker
Yes, I think it did for the first part.
00:21:46
Speaker
And I'm curious because you also have this side hustle, if you want to call it that.
00:21:52
Speaker
You do some kind of marketing as well.
00:21:54
Speaker
So how did you get into that?
00:21:55
Speaker
And how did you go about developing the skills you needed for that role on top of serving as the ED for a nonprofit?
00:22:03
Speaker
So I'll clarify that for you because the fact you call it a side hustle has me cracking up.
00:22:08
Speaker
My husband actually started the marketing company Rock Paper Simple.
00:22:12
Speaker
Years ago, I think it was eight years ago now might be nine.
00:22:16
Speaker
So he's been really rocking and rolling with that.
00:22:18
Speaker
It's done some amazing things, not only in Brevard County, but we have clients around the United States.
00:22:23
Speaker
So when I transitioned out from teaching, I noticed that, you know, part of one of the pillars of rock paper symbol is really focusing on community and making sure that we give back.
00:22:33
Speaker
And that's what I loved.
00:22:35
Speaker
So I thought, why not help his leadership team and take some of that responsibility off of them so that they could focus on their roles and really drive those community initiatives forward.
00:22:46
Speaker
While also co-owning Rock Paper Simple with him, I do handle our community engagement.
00:22:51
Speaker
So I handle our nonprofit and small business grants.
00:22:54
Speaker
I look for opportunities in the community for us to be engaged and give back and really take over that piece.
00:22:59
Speaker
So that's been going really well.
00:23:02
Speaker
It helps that he built such a great foundation for the company and such a good reputation among the nonprofits and giving back in Brevard.
00:23:09
Speaker
And I just want to make sure that that continues.
00:23:11
Speaker
But that was just something I took over more so from a heart thing than looking for something else to add to my plate.
00:23:19
Speaker
Although now I've realized that the more I take onto my plate, I don't want to give any of it up.
00:23:23
Speaker
Well, and it's funny you say it's a heart thing because of your actual day job.
00:23:28
Speaker
Right.
00:23:29
Speaker
But I'm curious.
00:23:29
Speaker
So we haven't even gotten into your other involvement and you've touched on you're working on a PhD, which clearly means you already have a master's under your belt that you got while teaching.
00:23:38
Speaker
So to segue here and trying to interlude work-life balance, how do you find any with what I know our scholars, many of them are like you, they want to say yes to a lot of things.
00:23:50
Speaker
Sometimes you have to say no or you have to figure out how you prioritize things.
00:23:54
Speaker
What strategies do you use to not burn yourself out?
00:23:58
Speaker
So I think you hit on the first one.
00:24:00
Speaker
Being able to prioritize is important.
00:24:02
Speaker
I know for myself what's important in my life.
00:24:05
Speaker
As much as I give back and serve and look for opportunities in my community, I also know the things that I need as a person.
00:24:13
Speaker
I'm really plugged in at my church.
00:24:15
Speaker
I love to sing with part of our worship team, volunteer there.
00:24:18
Speaker
That to me is very fulfilling.
00:24:21
Speaker
So finding things that you need
00:24:23
Speaker
find joy in, I think is really important, especially for people like me that really like to be somewhat overcommitted, but also being willing to, I guess, get feedback from the friends and people you appreciate in your life who are willing to tell you, you know what, you've now reached max capacity, you might want to, you know, dial it back a little bit, or they're willing to reach out and just say, hey, how are you doing, but actually spend time to listen and say, you know, if you need to talk about something, I'm here.
00:24:50
Speaker
Sometimes that's really good.
00:24:51
Speaker
Also being
00:24:52
Speaker
able to delegate.
00:24:54
Speaker
That's probably the skill I still need to work on the most is trusting other people to take over when you need to step back.
00:25:00
Speaker
But we'll get there.
00:25:01
Speaker
But I think it's a skill to constantly have in the back of your mind, realizing you don't need to do it all, even though between you and I, I do, I want to do it all.
00:25:10
Speaker
And also being willing to give yourself grace.
00:25:12
Speaker
I do try to do as much as possible.
00:25:14
Speaker
And I enjoy that.
00:25:15
Speaker
And that's exciting for me.
00:25:18
Speaker
But also, sometimes things don't go well.
00:25:21
Speaker
and it doesn't go the way that you planned it, or something happens and there's a high level of stress.
00:25:25
Speaker
So it won't all be perfect, but I figure if you approach it with this heart of continuing to serve and doing the best that you can, then when it doesn't go correct, or not the way that you planned it, doesn't mean it's not right, but not the way that you thought,
00:25:40
Speaker
being able to say, this was everything I had, I did the best I could, and we need to move forward.
City Council Involvement
00:25:46
Speaker
And sometimes just that grace is enough to lessen the stress and give yourself some peace.
00:25:51
Speaker
I think that's really helpful advice.
00:25:53
Speaker
I think that's a phrase we've heard on this podcast before is grace and certainly one that I think we should all give to ourselves and others.
00:26:01
Speaker
Now you realize there's still more things that despite all of what we just talked about with work-life balance that Diana, you're still involved in.
00:26:08
Speaker
And somehow you ended up on your city council in addition to everything else you were doing.
00:26:14
Speaker
How did that happen?
00:26:16
Speaker
And I think more importantly for the scholars listening, how did you begin to prepare for that role?
00:26:21
Speaker
You know, I'm sure there's some students who are like, yeah, I want to run for office someday.
00:26:24
Speaker
But a lot of times it's very something you fall into.
00:26:27
Speaker
So what skills do you use both, you know, the people and the technical?
00:26:31
Speaker
Give us some insight on that.
00:26:32
Speaker
It's a lot.
00:26:34
Speaker
If you had asked me even four or five years ago if I would consider ever running for an office or being involved in politics, I probably would have said no, strictly because sometimes I think politicians are crazy.
00:26:47
Speaker
Now that I'm involved, I can still tell you some politicians are crazy.
00:26:50
Speaker
But I was just getting more and more involved in things in my city.
00:26:54
Speaker
I took our Citizens Leadership Academy.
00:26:57
Speaker
I joined a bunch of different city advisory boards because they were things that I cared about.
00:27:02
Speaker
our business advisory board, our parks and rec advisory board.
00:27:05
Speaker
I serve on our field of dreams, which is a park for people of all ages with different disabilities.
00:27:13
Speaker
And so those were things that just had my heart.
00:27:15
Speaker
And as I got more and more involved, I started attending council meetings.
00:27:19
Speaker
Our council meetings, typically, you don't have a large group of people show up unless something is going wrong.
00:27:25
Speaker
And then suddenly people come out of the woodwork.
00:27:28
Speaker
So it was relatively, you know, myself, sometimes a couple other people and the council.
00:27:33
Speaker
And I would listen to conversations they would have.
00:27:35
Speaker
And I would follow up with them afterwards and call and ask, why did you make this decision?
00:27:40
Speaker
Why did you ask this question?
00:27:42
Speaker
Or why didn't you ask this question that I wrote?
00:27:44
Speaker
I kept a notebook of just different thoughts I had, how I would maybe vote on an issue, things like that.
00:27:50
Speaker
I didn't even realize the meetings originally were being recorded.
00:27:52
Speaker
So if you look at the early beginning videos of when I started attending council about a year ago,
00:27:57
Speaker
You can see my notebook.
00:27:59
Speaker
The general consensus in a lot of the answers I got was, well, this is just the way we've always done it in the city.
00:28:04
Speaker
And I thought, well, that doesn't work for me.
00:28:07
Speaker
Status quo isn't, you know, it doesn't move things forward for a city.
00:28:10
Speaker
And as a younger person, when I'm looking at our city get younger,
00:28:14
Speaker
but our representation is not, I thought there was a disconnect.
00:28:18
Speaker
So I started asking people, well, why aren't you running for council?
00:28:22
Speaker
Why aren't you doing this?
00:28:23
Speaker
And then I realized, well, why aren't you?
00:28:25
Speaker
So I thought about it.
00:28:28
Speaker
Like I said, I've been attending the council meetings.
00:28:30
Speaker
So I understood the process.
00:28:32
Speaker
I had met with all the department leadership to kind of understand their perspective of the city's future.
00:28:37
Speaker
And then I said, I think I can do this.
00:28:40
Speaker
And like I said, I'm a yes person.
00:28:42
Speaker
So I actually filed in January to run for city council this November for the general election.
00:28:48
Speaker
We don't have a primary in my city of West Melbourne.
00:28:51
Speaker
Then an unexpected opportunity came up.
00:28:53
Speaker
One of our council members was moving out of state, which makes him ineligible to serve.
00:28:58
Speaker
And our council was allowed to appoint a vacancy for the remaining five month term.
00:29:03
Speaker
So myself and three other people applied, people of all different backgrounds.
00:29:07
Speaker
One was actually a previous council member.
00:29:09
Speaker
It was a really good opportunity to just share why do we want to serve the city?
00:29:13
Speaker
What do we know about the city?
00:29:14
Speaker
What are we thinking about its future?
00:29:16
Speaker
And the council selected me to fill that vacant seat.
00:29:20
Speaker
So I am currently in the seat through November, but then have to win the general election to have a four-year term.
00:29:26
Speaker
But the great thing, in my opinion, is you're able to step up and start making some of those changes and really get involved now.
00:29:32
Speaker
that wouldn't be an opportunity I would have had otherwise.
00:29:36
Speaker
So it wouldn't necessarily be something that I thought I was going to do.
00:29:39
Speaker
But if you have, especially for those that are listening, if you have any interest in government or civics, start attending those local meetings, whether it's a commission or a city council or
00:29:50
Speaker
just understand and learn more because there were so many things that I thought I knew about our city and the way it was run that I didn't when I started getting involved and realizing there's so much more to learn.
00:30:01
Speaker
And I think as a scholar, we get really excited with new opportunities to learn.
00:30:05
Speaker
So that's my piece of encouragement there.
00:30:08
Speaker
So what's an unexpected thing that you've had to learn how to do in that role and how you went about learning how to do it?
00:30:15
Speaker
One of the skills that's really beneficial for any representative is strong communication skills.
00:30:24
Speaker
And I think people think of communication as how do you speak, right?
00:30:28
Speaker
What do people hear when you speak?
00:30:31
Speaker
And that is part of it, you know, identifying if a particular group or person needs to be called on the phone, emailed, what it's like to really make sure not only that piece, but also
00:30:42
Speaker
how are you communicating with your residents?
00:30:45
Speaker
I think that's one area our city can improve on.
00:30:48
Speaker
And I shared that during my interview with council that we can do better.
00:30:51
Speaker
And I have some innovative ideas and want to move those forward so that our residents are really more informed about what's happening at the city level.
00:30:59
Speaker
In terms of that, I think, you know, communication does involve your job and the people that you serve.
00:31:06
Speaker
But also communication is how you listen.
00:31:09
Speaker
Are you an active listener to what people are telling you?
00:31:12
Speaker
Are you not only taking in the information, but are you asking questions?
00:31:17
Speaker
Are you asking the right people the right questions?
00:31:20
Speaker
And some of that is a little nerve wracking, especially being the newest council member.
00:31:25
Speaker
Up there, I got some advice from people before I was even appointed that said, if you're appointed, you know, our advice is keep your mouth shut.
00:31:33
Speaker
Don't say anything because you've got to survive a five-month term before you're elected.
00:31:38
Speaker
So you don't want to mess up.
00:31:39
Speaker
And I thought, you know what?
00:31:40
Speaker
That's not who I am.
00:31:42
Speaker
It's not who I am as a person or as a leader.
00:31:44
Speaker
And I don't believe that's why...
00:31:46
Speaker
you run or choose to be involved in something like politics and government.
00:31:50
Speaker
You're running to make a difference, and a difference doesn't happen if you're just sitting and letting it passively pass you by.
00:31:57
Speaker
So if you watch videos of our recent council meetings, I asked questions.
00:32:01
Speaker
I gave my opinion.
00:32:03
Speaker
I tried to figure these things out because that's what I see as a responsibility.
00:32:07
Speaker
So I think part of it is learning to not be afraid, even if you're the youngest person.
00:32:13
Speaker
or you don't have the most experience.
00:32:15
Speaker
Some of our council's been on for 13 years.
00:32:17
Speaker
I think it's 12 or 13.
00:32:19
Speaker
We don't have term limits in our city, which is both good and bad because you do need to balance the council with some experienced people who know the ropes, but also you need that fresh perspective.
00:32:30
Speaker
So I think that's what I bring to our city and our council.
00:32:33
Speaker
And I'm hoping to see that continue.
00:32:35
Speaker
I would love to see my story and my involvement inspire other people to get involved, especially younger people.
00:32:41
Speaker
I think sometimes we think we have to wait, you know, wait for more experience, wait till you get older, get involved now.
00:32:47
Speaker
There's no better time to make a difference than now.
00:32:49
Speaker
And again, one of our mission tenets is creating opportunities for leadership and civic engagement.
00:32:54
Speaker
It sounds like you created a great one for yourself, Diana.
00:32:57
Speaker
And as you were talking about communication, I thought, I don't know who to attribute this quote to.
00:33:02
Speaker
I'm sorry, but there's a great, and I paraphrase it, but the biggest issue in communication is often the illusion that it has in fact occurred.
00:33:09
Speaker
So I think you made some great points about both speaking and listening.
00:33:12
Speaker
Now, when I read the news around here, a lot of the articles on statecollege.com, this is not sponsored, are about a lot of building development projects in the different townships and boroughs in the immediate University Park vicinity.
00:33:26
Speaker
How do you go about understanding some of the complex engineering and finance that can go into million-dollar park projects or road improvements or dealing with unnamed companies that might want to build a warehouse in your location?
00:33:41
Speaker
How did you go about learning on the fly to understand those issues?
00:33:45
Speaker
So I don't think all of it was learning on the fly.
00:33:48
Speaker
I did, like I mentioned, my doctorate is going to be in public administration and a large portion of that coursework focuses on public policy, public budgeting, things like that.
00:33:58
Speaker
So in my coursework, I already had some experience in that.
00:34:03
Speaker
But of course, coursework only gets you so far and then you've got to get that real world experience.
00:34:07
Speaker
And I think it goes back to not being afraid to ask questions.
00:34:11
Speaker
And it also helps that you've already been involved, that I was attending council meetings.
00:34:15
Speaker
So I think you learn a lot first by watching and then asking questions.
00:34:22
Speaker
I saw how council dealt with developer questions.
00:34:25
Speaker
I knew the staff members that were presenting on those projects so that I could follow up because whether you're on a leadership role or a council, you're still a resident of that area and you can still call your city and ask those questions.
00:34:37
Speaker
So I think that was a really big
00:34:39
Speaker
piece of learning.
00:34:40
Speaker
And then I think the second part, especially just jumping right in and knowing that I had a council meeting to sit in two weeks later, and I here was the agenda packet and come prepared.
00:34:49
Speaker
I went through with a highlighter and a pen.
00:34:51
Speaker
And I think the packet was 100 pages long, something like that.
00:34:55
Speaker
And it includes developer plans, it includes a breakdown of staff, knowledge and points about the topic.
00:35:03
Speaker
And I think city staff is one of the best resources we have.
00:35:06
Speaker
They have so much combined experience that
00:35:09
Speaker
you can ask them questions.
00:35:10
Speaker
I can read something and say, I don't understand this.
00:35:14
Speaker
How could I better learn about this topic?
00:35:16
Speaker
So they were really useful to me to help me plug that in.
00:35:19
Speaker
And then part of it is just learning, learning through the process.
00:35:23
Speaker
No one comes to a development meeting and just says, here's a picture of our development.
00:35:28
Speaker
What can we do about it?
00:35:29
Speaker
Do you like this project or not?
00:35:30
Speaker
There's always some sort of presentation.
00:35:32
Speaker
And then usually developers or people that are invested in the project
00:35:36
Speaker
We'll attend those meetings so you can ask additional questions.
00:35:39
Speaker
Can you tell I'm a question person?
00:35:41
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:35:42
Speaker
And speaking of questions, I want to pivot to the back third of our conversation.
00:35:47
Speaker
You're still very early in your career.
00:35:49
Speaker
You've got a bright future ahead and curious to see long term how, you know, your election goes for this role and all the other great things down the line for you and your business and your nonprofit.
00:35:59
Speaker
But to this point, what would you say is your biggest success?
00:36:03
Speaker
Oh my goodness, the basic success, that's so hard.
00:36:07
Speaker
I think for me, looking at all of the common themes that I have in public service,
00:36:12
Speaker
I wouldn't say that there's one particular thing where I feel that was your biggest success because I feel like especially being young, I just turned 29.
00:36:22
Speaker
I have hopefully, Lord willing, many years ahead to continue making that difference.
00:36:27
Speaker
And I have hopes that my biggest success is yet to come.
00:36:31
Speaker
But I think if I'm looking at what I've been able to accomplish so far, I consider my biggest success making a difference in the lives of others.
00:36:39
Speaker
whether that's people in the nonprofit that I've served or the nonprofits I've volunteered with, or even the current city council position or what we've been able to do through the business.
00:36:48
Speaker
That impact is biggest success that I think I can have.
00:36:52
Speaker
Well, you may still be young, but I think that's a very grounded and wise approach to success.
00:36:57
Speaker
Now, of course, I have to ask the flip side of this, Diana.
00:36:59
Speaker
What would you say is your biggest transformational learning moment so far and what you took from that experience?
Personal Growth and Resilience
00:37:05
Speaker
I think that transformational moment for me was probably while I was getting my scuba certification, actually.
00:37:13
Speaker
I shared a little bit earlier, but as an individual with a disability, I have cerebral palsy, I didn't think that I would ever be able to learn to scuba dive, but I ended up applying for an international grant and I was selected as one of the recipients, which was a really great opportunity.
00:37:32
Speaker
The class was a week long and the first half of the class was more bookwork.
00:37:37
Speaker
And then the second half was entirely skills focused in the water.
00:37:41
Speaker
My disability makes scuba diving particularly challenging because my legs just don't have the strength needed to carry the significant weight from some of the scuba gear.
00:37:51
Speaker
But I worked with the instructors to accommodate my disability while still fulfilling those requests of
00:37:57
Speaker
of the certification, right?
00:37:58
Speaker
What you're required to do.
00:38:00
Speaker
So I remember coming home in tears for the first few days, unable to walk and just thinking, there's no way I can do this.
00:38:07
Speaker
I won't survive a whole week, week of this class, but I didn't want to allow myself the opportunity to give up.
00:38:14
Speaker
I knew that I'd be really disappointed in myself.
00:38:17
Speaker
So I ultimately was successful.
00:38:19
Speaker
But I learned that you've got to be willing to acknowledge when things are difficult and just be able to, like I said before, give yourself some grace when you're struggling.
00:38:29
Speaker
I really saw a transformation in myself at that point, not only
00:38:32
Speaker
Physically, you know, being able to put on the scuba gear in the water, which isn't, you know, required of most people because you can put it on beforehand and things like that.
00:38:41
Speaker
I actually had accommodative gloves where I could use them to swim because my legs just aren't strong enough to move me through the water that way with all the gear.
00:38:49
Speaker
But I saw that change physically, but I also felt it more mentally where you finished and that feeling of being done was just absolute elation.
00:39:00
Speaker
Not only do I not have to continue doing this on a daily basis, but also you achieved something that to a lot of people...
00:39:09
Speaker
it wasn't possible.
00:39:10
Speaker
My doctors years ago and even now would probably tell you it's not safe.
00:39:13
Speaker
I shouldn't do it.
00:39:14
Speaker
And I just had this desire and I wanted to go for it.
00:39:18
Speaker
And being able to say, I succeeded and I succeeded on my own.
00:39:22
Speaker
It was really a big deal to me with a physical challenge like this.
00:39:26
Speaker
So I really saw that change in myself.
00:39:28
Speaker
And now when I come across harder things, I think, well, that was hard physically and mentally.
00:39:34
Speaker
So you can do this next thing that might be physically, mentally, or both, you know, challenging you in that way.
00:39:40
Speaker
That is an awesome story.
00:39:42
Speaker
And thank you for sharing about that.
The Role of Mentorship
00:39:44
Speaker
Diana, we've talked a lot about mentorship in our conversation.
00:39:48
Speaker
How do you approach working as a mentee and approaching your mentors, but also serving as a mentor?
00:39:55
Speaker
What advice do you have for students as they, in particular, are upper division students who maybe can take newer students under their wing or as they, you know, start to move into their careers and start serving as mentors themselves?
00:40:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:06
Speaker
In terms of advice, if you have the desire to mentor other people or you see the opportunity, don't be afraid to take it.
00:40:14
Speaker
I think sometimes we give ourselves excuses why we can't take someone under our wing, why we don't have time, why we don't have the resources, when in reality, we can prioritize whatever we choose to accomplish.
00:40:27
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And I think there are so many people who
00:40:29
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who have made such a transformational difference in our world today, who may not have gotten there without the mentorship and encouragement of good people who understand, you know, the field or what they were trying to accomplish.
00:40:41
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And sometimes there are barriers in place for people that you don't even realize until you help them move those barriers out of the way.
00:40:49
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So I think being willing to look at your schedule and say, where can I help?
00:40:54
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one person?
00:40:55
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Where can I help two people?
00:40:57
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And look at the circles of influence that are around you.
00:41:00
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That's where I have found some of my best mentors, whether they were at Penn State, whether they were in my teaching jobs, whether they were just friends that I connected through in the community because we shared this desire for community and public service.
00:41:14
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looking and being conscious about those spheres of influence, they're going to bring you such great connections.
00:41:20
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And then part of it is just being willing to share out into those spheres.
00:41:26
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I'm looking for someone to help.
00:41:27
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Where can you help me plug in?
00:41:29
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Where can I find those people?
00:41:30
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Penn State's a great opportunity for that because you not only have, you know, if you're at a satellite campus, you have everyone there, but you do have the greater network of Penn State, whether you went to the same campus or whether you're connecting virtually.
00:41:44
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there are some amazing people willing to pour into you.
00:41:48
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Dr. Jessica Shocker was not an education major professor.
00:41:52
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She was someone that I ended up taking a social studies class with, which ended up being one of the best classes I took at Penn State.
00:41:58
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And I remember being so inspired by her
00:42:01
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She was one of my younger professors.
00:42:03
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She had a doctorate, which I knew I wanted.
00:42:05
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And I really feel like she sparked that love of social studies in me that allowed me to not only make a difference for my students, but lead me to the path that I'm on today.
00:42:14
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And if she didn't take the time to invest in me, you know, that could have turned out differently.
00:42:19
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I don't know.
00:42:20
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And you can attribute that to different people because we never know the total amount of impact that someone makes on our life, but also, you know, taking the time to reach out and say, thank you.
00:42:30
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If you've been mentored by someone, let them know.
00:42:32
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If you appreciate the difference they made in your life, let them know.
00:42:35
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Because I think people appreciate hearing that and it gives them some encouragement and it pours back into their life that they can turn around and continue making a difference in someone else.
00:42:43
Speaker
First, that is really helpful advice.
00:42:46
Speaker
And second, I feel like we're on a golf course because you repeatedly keep teeing me up perfectly here, Diana.
00:42:51
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I wanted to ask something I give all of my guests a chance as well.
00:42:55
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Are there any other professors or friends from your days as a scholar that you wanted to give a shout out and some thanks to?
00:43:01
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Oh my goodness.
00:43:03
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I mean, I would think of all the people that I was in honors classes with that asked questions and made you think about things a different way.
00:43:11
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But the three professors I did mention throughout this interview, Dr. David Bender, who unfortunately is no longer with us, Dr. Sandy Feinstein, Dr. Jessica Shocker, I mean, all three of them made such an impact in my life.
00:43:24
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I still keep in touch with
00:43:25
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with the two of them today.
00:43:28
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And I love getting updates sent to them on what I'm doing, but also receiving those emails and communications of just being encouraging and uplifting.
00:43:36
Speaker
Dr. Feinstein was actually, I think the first person I ever met at Penn State Berks
00:43:41
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And it was because of the honors program.
00:43:43
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And I knew I wanted to get involved.
00:43:45
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And so she saw me and she answered my questions.
00:43:49
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And she told me years later, she said, I knew that you were going to get involved from day one and just continue blazing forward.
00:43:56
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And that's what I've continued to do through her mentorship and that of others.
00:44:01
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Oh, Sandy, she is a wonderful person.
00:44:03
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And I will echo your comments as I've done with previous guests who've mentioned her on the podcast here.
00:44:10
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And for those of you who are at UPark again, come make those connections with us here in Atherton and Simmons.
00:44:15
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If you're at another Commonwealth campus, go make sure you're building a strong relationship with your honors coordinator at the campus that you call home.
00:44:22
Speaker
You've had a lot of great advice for scholars today, Diana.
00:44:25
Speaker
Is there anything else that you wanted to share with them that just maybe didn't come up in our conversation?
00:44:30
Speaker
It may have come through as sort of a common theme, but I see Shryer's students as people wanting to make that difference in whatever field they go into.
00:44:40
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And I think just being able to encourage you to try new things and push yourself out of your comfort zone.
00:44:46
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There are so many things in my life that I'm not sure if I'd be the person I am and doing the things I am today if I wasn't
00:44:53
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willing to take those steps.
00:44:55
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And sometimes they're little steps, and you can take them on your own.
00:44:58
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And other times, you have to be pushed a little bit by other people that are around you and go a little further outside that comfort zone.
00:45:04
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But I think that's where the most amount of growth happens.
00:45:07
Speaker
So I encourage you to do that while also taking good care of yourself.
00:45:11
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Give yourself grace, be aware of your mental and physical abilities, and just take time
Advice for Scholars
00:45:17
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for yourself.
00:45:17
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I think all of that is really important to stay well balanced.
00:45:20
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I agree with all of that.
00:45:22
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Now, if somebody wanted to pick your brain further, keep this conversation going, whether they're interested in being a teacher, in public service, in nonprofits, in for-profit, small business ownership, all the things that you're doing.
00:45:34
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We didn't even touch on all the other things you just volunteer with, or maybe they want to just learn about scuba diving.
00:45:39
Speaker
How can scholars get in touch with you?
00:45:41
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So I would love to connect with scholars.
00:45:45
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I love Penn State.
00:45:46
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I love the scholar program.
00:45:48
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So anyone that wants to reach out is more than welcome to do so.
00:45:52
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I'm on Facebook.
00:45:53
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I'm on LinkedIn.
00:45:54
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I have a campaign website currently.
00:45:56
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It's dianaforcouncil.com.
00:45:58
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So all of those channels are great ways to reach me.
00:46:01
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And the best email is probably going to be my work email.
00:46:05
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It's going to be dianna, D-I-A-N-A, at rockpapersimple.com.
00:46:11
Speaker
Awesome.
00:46:11
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I encourage you to reach out.
00:46:12
Speaker
And finally, as is tradition here on the show, Diana, if you were a flavor of Berkey Creamery ice cream, which would you be?
00:46:19
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And I know you've probably prepared an answer with a really strong rationale.
00:46:24
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As a scholar alumna, why would you be that flavor?
00:46:27
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Man, you set up this high bar of expectations for ice cream.
00:46:31
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And I will share with you, I have two thoughts on it.
00:46:36
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My favorite flavor is the Arboretum Breeze.
00:46:39
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So I had to share that first of all, because that's just what came to my soul.
00:46:44
Speaker
But for your deeper response as to why, I think it's a really good balance of
00:46:50
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just different flavors that mesh really well together.
00:46:53
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But, you know, then you've got your raspberry swirl and it kind of comes out of nowhere with the rest of these flavors.
00:47:00
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And I think that's just sort of what I consider the spice of life.
00:47:04
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Always that new twist, that new thing you didn't see coming.
00:47:07
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And I feel like that's such a strong theme in my life is just trying that new thing, going for that next twist and seeing what comes next.
00:47:16
Speaker
And that's what I see in Arboretum Breeze.
00:47:18
Speaker
That's great.
00:47:19
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I think you're the first person to pick that one.
00:47:21
Speaker
So we'll chalk up a new tally mark on the list of flavors that have been picked here.
00:47:27
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Great answer.
00:47:27
Speaker
And I set the high bar because you said earlier you read through a hundred page agenda for your first council meeting and highlighted everything.
00:47:35
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So I figured you probably had a pretty good prepared rationale for your ice cream flavor.
00:47:40
Speaker
Diana, thank you so much for joining us here on Following the Gone.
00:47:43
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I appreciate our conversation on just so many different things.
00:47:47
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You heard how to get in touch with her.
00:47:48
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I encourage you to do so.
00:47:50
Speaker
Thank you so much.
00:47:51
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Thanks for having me.
00:48:00
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Thank you, scholars, for listening and learning with us today.
00:48:03
Speaker
We hope you will take something with you that will contribute to how you shape the world.
00:48:06
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This show proudly supports the Schreier Honors College Emergency Fund, benefiting scholars experiencing unexpected financial hardship.
00:48:13
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You can make a difference at raise.psu.edu.
00:48:17
Speaker
forward slash Schreier.
00:48:19
Speaker
Please be sure to hit the relevant subscribe, like, or follow button on whichever platform you are engaging with us on today.
00:48:25
Speaker
You can follow the college on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to stay up to date on news, events, and deadlines.
00:48:32
Speaker
If you have questions about the show or a Scholar alum who'd like to join us as a guest here on Following the Gone, please connect with me at scholaralumni at psu.edu.
00:48:41
Speaker
Until next time, please stay well.
00:48:43
Speaker
And we are...