Under Development
What does it mean to grow? We know that students are on a journey of both professional and personal development during their time at college but the truth is, the growing never ends. Under Development is a storytelling podcast brought to you by the Office of Professional and Organizational Development (OPOD), dedicated to strengthening the connection between staff and faculty at PCC with the student population. We hope to accomplish this by creating a space with our student host Veronica Daniel, where faculty and staff can share their stories of missteps, perseverance, and both personal and professional experiences that led them to PCC. Hosted by Veronica Daniel, a Journalism & Communications student at PCC & Co-Hosted by Dr. Liesel Reinhart, a Mass Communications & TVR professor at PCC. This Podcast is made possible by a Pasadena City College Foundation Community Excellence Grant, thanks to a generous investment by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott. Music by Podington Bear, songs used: Wonder Happens, Two Boys & A Girl This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
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Transcript -Episode 4: Embracing the Journey with Jason Robinson, Director of Professional and Organizational Development
09/18/2023
Transcript -Episode 4: Embracing the Journey with Jason Robinson, Director of Professional and Organizational Development
00:00:00 Jason Robinson I love that my work has a purpose. What I'm trying to make happen is that our students will walk onto this campus and feel like they belong, see themselves reflected here, going to classrooms, going to offices, have amazing experiences that help them see who they are, that help them feel, I can do this. 00:00:25 Veronica Daniel When it comes to a community college as students, we're the reason why everyone else is here. I think a lot of times when people think of students, they're thinking about us growing and learning. But the one thing that I realized talking to my professors is that they are constantly also growing and learning as well, whether they want to admit it or not. 00:00:46 Veronica Daniel I'm your host, Veronica Daniel, and I'm a journalism and communication student here on campus. 00:00:51 Liesel Reinhart I'm Dr. Liesel Reinhart. I teach mass communication and TVR courses here at PCC, and I am thrilled to co-host with my amazing former student, Veronica. 00:01:01 Veronica Daniel On this show, Liesel and I are going to talk with some remarkable individuals from our PCC campus community. These are people you may know, but stories you probably don't. 00:01:09 Liesel Reinhart It can be tough, but we don't have to do it alone. 00:01:12 Veronica Daniel Exactly. Because in higher education, we are all under development. A podcast from the Office of Professional and Organizational Development at Pasadena City College and funded by a PCC Foundation Community Excellence Grant. Hi, Liesel. 00:01:29 Liesel Reinhart Veronica. 00:01:30 Veronica Daniel Liesel, have you ever traveled outside of the U.S.? 00:01:34 Liesel Reinhart Well, that's a fun question to get us started. Yeah, I have. I didn't travel until I was 30 and I loved it so much and as a teacher I thought, I want my students to go much earlier. So, I started taking student groups on trips all around the country because of speech and debate, but then also internationally too, including, I think the first trip I ever took with students was to Paris. 00:01:55 Veronica Daniel You've never taken me to Paris. 00:01:57 Liesel Reinhart Well , you weren't in the right class. We'll keep working on it. We'll keep working on it . I even took some students to Hawaii. But yeah, the Paris trip was the first one of a series of really great remarkable trips. 00:02:08 Veronica Daniel Well, I ask you this because today's guest has these remarkable stories of traveling all over the world and just kind of talking about his experiences and how they've shaped him and molded his identity. 00:02:23 Liesel Reinhart I see that so much. Every time I took students on a trip, it was stunning to see their growth, the new perspectives that they experienced. It's one thing to learn about it in a book. I know at PCC, we have a wonderful study abroad program and that's a way that people can get out and experience things. Faculty can take sabbaticals and experience travel. 00:02:42 Liesel Reinhart And many of us just through our wanderings in our lives, have had these experiences and they really inform who we are and how we interact with others. 00:02:49 Veronica Daniel I'm definitely eager to get more stamps on my passport because every time I leave the country I learn so much about so many different people and their cultures, but I also learn a lot about myself. So, you guys should definitely take advantage of any study abroad programs that your school might offer. 00:03:05 Liesel Reinhart What's the highest impact travel you've had so far? 00:03:08 Veronica Daniel Highest impact, I would say earlier this year I went to Oaxaca and I cried like four times while I was on the trip because we just went to so many different areas. It's a very historical city. There was this tree called the Tree of Tule, and it's the widest tree in the world. In that moment, I just sat down on a bench and just stared at this tree until the sun went down. I didn't say a word and it was just the most amazing experience. It was so spiritual. 00:03:36 Veronica Daniel It's like when you're around something of that magnitude, you're just in awe. You know what I'm saying? You can't talk. You just have to sit and be in the presence of this tree. And it was funny because my partner said that that was the quietest that he's ever seen me. 00:03:51 Liesel Reinhart Well, these are all great experiences that we've had and our guest today has also had some really interesting international experiences and just life experiences overall, including being from a different country originally. So, we're going to learn a little bit about the perspective that travel gives you and also we're going to learn about the executive producer of our podcast and the reason that we're here. 00:04:12 Veronica Daniel Exactly. I'm so excited. Let's get into it. 00:04:15 Liesel Reinhart Let's do it. 00:04:19 Veronica Daniel Jason Robinson, welcome to the Under Development Podcast. 00:04:24 Jason Robinson Thank you for having me. 00:04:26 Veronica Daniel You are so welcome. And you are a very special guest because- 00:04:30 Jason Robinson Ooh , I like being special. 00:04:31 Veronica Daniel Yeah. I mean, because in addition to being a PCC employee, you are also the executive producer of this podcast. 00:04:39 Jason Robinson You're giving away my secrets. 00:04:42 Veronica Daniel It's been such a pleasure getting to know you since we've started all of this. I mean, I love all of our conversations- 00:04:47 Jason Robinson Same. 00:04:47 Veronica Daniel That we have. I always walk away from them thinking about them a lot. Just breaking down a lot of the different things that we have discussed. 00:04:59 Veronica Daniel But it's exciting to have you here because we are here to talk about your experiences and there's been a lot of them and how they have informed your work here at PCC. Can you tell us about your role here as the director of the Office of Professional and Organizational Development? 00:05:19 Jason Robinson Yes. It wasn't a super intentional planned out thing. I've always been interested and engaged in professional development or professional learning. I've been in education for over 20 years, and from the very beginning I was interested in not only student learning, but how my peers were learning and how I was learning. 00:05:42 Jason Robinson And so, I just kind of, through my career moved from being a teacher to being an administrator, to then going into a PhD program. And right at the very end of the program, I was asked to come and do some work at PCC and kind of was really impressed with the people that were in that room and thought, these are good people and I really like the work that they're focused on. And this position had actually just been flown. 00:06:14 Jason Robinson I left that training and went for lunch and I looked it up and it actually had just closed. And so, I couldn't apply. And then about three or four months later it popped up again online. And so, I applied and there you go. 00:06:27 Veronica Daniel Here we are. 00:06:28 Jason Robinson Yeah. 00:06:29 Veronica Daniel Okay. Well I can hear it a little bit in your accent, but can you tell us where you're from? 00:06:37 Jason Robinson Sure. I am from Canada. I grew up on a farm just in a small rural community in Alberta, Canada. 00:06:46 Veronica Daniel Okay. So, I do want to talk a little bit more about what you do here at PCC, but before we get into that, I wanted to discuss your journey and how you got to PCC, specifically your travels overseas. So, we talked about it before, but I do want to talk about Cairo. So, can you tell me a little bit about the story of how you decided to go to Cairo and- 00:07:13 Jason Robinson Sure. Yeah, I'd love to. If it's okay, I'm going to tell you a little bit about maybe some things that are a bit before Cairo, if that's okay. I had just finished my teaching degree and this was in I think 2000. And I was living in Vancouver, Canada and was working as a substitute teacher in a couple of school districts, but there were just no jobs available full time . And I was living with a roommate and I had student loans and I was just really struggling to kind of make ends meet. 00:07:45 Jason Robinson And I had heard, in my travels around talking to people, I'd heard about these overseas schools and in my mind I had painted a pretty glamorous life, these big houses. And they had all these trips that they would go on and stuff. And I was like, "I want to do that," and because I can't get a job here, I'm like, "Maybe I should try this." 00:08:09 Jason Robinson This was right around the time when the internet was just coming on and I had a friend who had been doing some work overseas and she mailed me a pamphlet of a school in Dubai and I was like, "Oh, well I'll just apply there. They'll hire me." 00:08:25 Jason Robinson And so, I went on to the internet, found their website, and it said that they were going to be at this job fair in Waterloo, Iowa. And I had not been to the United States at this point in time, so I was like, ooh, the United States that's like, I'll go to the United States to this job fair. 00:08:42 Jason Robinson But I didn't really have the money to go. I had enough room on my credit card to go and I was trying to decide do I max up my credit card and do this or not? And I was kind of leaning towards not . 00:08:55 Jason Robinson And then a friend of mine, he was close to me and knew kind of this decision I was trying to make. And he took me out for dinner one night and he handed me an envelope and it was airline tickets and a booking to a hotel in Waterloo, Iowa to go to this job fair. 00:09:15 Jason Robinson Then I went to the job fair and I had a couple of offers to go to interviews for schools in Egypt. And I really wanted to go to Europe because I think in my mind that was close conceptually to my own experiences in Canada. And I was sitting down at a table writing a no thank you note to these schools in Egypt that had asked to interview me. And this guy came over and sat down beside me and I swear he looked like Jesus. In my mind of what Jesus looks like, this is what person looked like, and his name was Jason and my name is Jason. 00:09:55 Jason Robinson And so, we started chatting and he was like, "What do you got? Where are you interviewing?" And I was like, "Well, really nowhere but I do have these offers from Egypt to interview, but I'm not interested." And he was like, "Oh wow." He is like, "I would love to go to Egypt." He's like, "You should really go to the interviews." 00:10:13 Jason Robinson So, he convinced me to go and I went up to the table of the first school and we all had little name tags on. And when I walked up to the table, this woman who was sitting under the side said, "Jason, I've been waiting for you to come by." She said, "I have a job for you." And she said, "I'm also from Canada." 00:10:32 Jason Robinson And so, I was kind of taken back and impressed that this person knew who I was. It was 600 people at this job fair. And she knew who I was and no one else seemed to know who I was. 00:10:46 Jason Robinson So, we ended up spending a couple hours together. She told me all about the school, she gave it to me, the real side. It wasn't great money, it was a for-profit school, but she said, "Egypt is amazing and for your first time overseas I think it's the place to go to and I will take care of you, I promise." And so, I signed on and that's how I got to Egypt. 00:11:13 Veronica Daniel That's amazing. I love that you're talking about at this point it's three specific people that have pushed you out of your comfort zone a little bit. Interesting. 00:11:24 Veronica Daniel Would you say that part of maybe the reason why you were a little bit like not necessarily wanting to do it had to do with growing up in a small town and being out in a country that you don't really know that much about? 00:11:37 Jason Robinson When I went to the job fair and got the job, it was the coolest thing to come back and tell everybody guess where I'm moving to? And it was like, they'd be like, where? And I could say Cairo, Egypt. I honestly at the time, didn't even really know where it was on the map. 00:11:51 Jason Robinson And so, people were like, "Wow, Cairo, Egypt, that's amazing." But then once I had told everybody, the reality set in, now I have to do this, I actually have to move to Cairo, Egypt. 00:12:05 Veronica Daniel I mean, it's a really big risk for you to decide to go to Cairo, even if it's a dream of yours. I mean, a lot of us want to go do something, it's a dream, but to actually do it is very scary. 00:12:18 Veronica Daniel So, once you got to Cairo, how did you feel? Was it as scary as you thought it was going to be? Or were you just like, "I'm here, I'm ready." 00:12:25 Jason Robinson Oh no, it was terrifying. Everything about it was terrifying. From the moment of everybody had been told, realizing that I have to go to actually landing in Cairo, that whole period was terrifying for me. 00:12:39 Veronica Daniel Okay. So, once you landed, I want to know everything, how did the people embrace you? I mean, you definitely don't look Egyptian, so what was that experience like, especially, being a teacher. How did the students treat you and what was just the community like there? 00:12:57 Jason Robinson Landing in Egypt was kind of it felt like somewhat maybe of an out-of-body experience, I don't know else to explain it . It was like watching myself kind of, that's what it felt like. I felt like watching myself in this dreamland because everything was different. 00:13:16 Jason Robinson Egypt is just brown, it's desert, the buildings look different. I mean, people are all dressed in Galabeyas and the language is Arabic. The cars are older. 00:13:31 Jason Robinson I had no point of reference. Everything was different. Everything. I think I got to the point where I was like, this was my norm. But it took a long time. Kind of like, oh yeah, there's a donkey right beside us on the freeway. That's just what it is. 00:13:46 Jason Robinson But people in Egypt were wonderful. I've been in lots of places, but Egypt, hands down is one of the more hospitable places I've been. People were incredibly warm and accepting. That said, I felt like an outsider for sure. I didn't fit in visually, I couldn't communicate, I didn't understand the foods. Yes , it was a real challenge for the first while. 00:14:11 Veronica Daniel And how long were you there? 00:14:12 Jason Robinson Four years. Yeah. And when I went, I thought I'll be here for sure one year because I didn't have enough money to buy a return ticket home. So, I was like, I'm here for a year. I ended up getting a better job the second year at a better school. And so, I stayed at that school for three years. I only stayed at the first school for one year. 00:14:31 Veronica Daniel I see. I see. So, when you first got to Egypt and you were teaching, obviously you were in a completely new country, but how do you feel new employees who are coming here at PCC? I mean, I'm sure for a lot of them it feels like they're landing in a place that's like Egypt too. There's a lot of employees who aren't from America. It's their first time in Los Angeles. And so, how do you think that they feel? 00:14:55 Jason Robinson Well, I think definitely for employees who haven't worked in the California community college system, I think we kind of have this, it's almost like a running joke. It's like when you land in the California Community College system and you have to navigate the bureaucracy and the rules and the laws and the policies, it's overwhelming. I mean, it is kind of like being in a foreign land for sure. 00:15:22 Jason Robinson I also think about our students too. Particularly first...
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Embracing the Journey with Jason Robinson, Director of Professional and Organizational Development Episode 4
09/18/2023
Embracing the Journey with Jason Robinson, Director of Professional and Organizational Development Episode 4
Jason Robinson has seen the world. He believes that our life experiences significantly impact our interactions in an educational setting – so we should talk more about them. His colorful life has infused him, in particular, with a passionate drive to build community. Jason’s journey eventually led him to his current role as the Director of Professional and Organizational Development at Pasadena City College, and he is also the executive producer of the Under Development Podcast. Connect with Jason Robinson: Resources: Access upcoming learning opportuinities through the *Hosted by Veronica Daniel, a Journalism & Communications student at PCC & Co-Hosted by Dr. Liesel Reinhart, a Mass Communications & TVR professor at PCC. For more information about how you can get involved with institutional initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout all areas of Pasadena City College, please visit the website for the . This project was made possible by a generous investment by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott to The Community Excellent Grant Program at Pasadena City. Music by Podington Bear, songs used: Wonder Happens, Two Boys & A Girl This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
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Transcript -Episode 3: It's Not Always Perfect With Dawn McClure, Instructor Of Speech Communication
09/04/2023
Transcript -Episode 3: It's Not Always Perfect With Dawn McClure, Instructor Of Speech Communication
00:00:00 Dawne McClure My philosophy approach to teaching the way I go through is through my heart, wanting people to just feel comfortable to open up, be a good person, and if you make a mistake, apologize. It's not always perfect. 00:00:14 Veronica Daniel When it comes to a community college, as students, we're the reason why everyone else is here. I think a lot of times when people think of students, they're thinking about us growing and learning. But the one thing that I realized talking to my professors is that they are constantly also growing and learning as well, whether they want to admit it or not. 00:00:33 Veronica Daniel I'm your host, Veronica Daniel, and I'm a journalism and communication student here on campus. 00:00:40 Liesel Reinhart I'm Dr. Liesel Reinhart. I teach mass communication and TVR courses here at PCC, and I am thrilled to co-host with my amazing former student, Veronica. 00:00:49 Veronica Daniel On this show, Liesel and I are going to talk with some remarkable individuals from our PCC campus community. These are people you may know, but stories you probably don't. 00:00:58 Liesel Reinhart It can be tough, but we don't have to do it alone. 00:01:00 Veronica Daniel Exactly. Because in higher education, we are all under development. A podcast from the Office of Professional and Organizational Development at Pasadena City College and funded by a PCC Foundation Community Excellence Grant. 00:01:17 Veronica Daniel Hi, Liesel. 00:01:17 Liesel Reinhart Hello Veronica. 00:01:20 Veronica Daniel I'm really excited to interview today's guest. 00:01:23 Liesel Reinhart He's a very special person I've known for quite a while. 00:01:27 Veronica Daniel Yes. So, the crazy thing about life is that you never really know what someone else is going through. I think that's why it's so incredibly important to be kind to everyone. 00:01:40 Veronica Daniel I've experienced a lot working in the F&B industry, which is the food and beverage industry as a server and a bartender. Someone will snap at you and then the next second they break down crying and they're telling you about why they're so upset. And they would always say that they felt like they could open up to me because I never acted like anything bothered me. 00:01:58 Veronica Daniel And I generally speaking, don't. Because I feel like sometimes if someone is upset, they're probably going through something that you possibly couldn't understand unless they were open and brave enough to tell you their story. 00:02:10 Liesel Reinhart You do seem very calm in a storm. 00:02:13 Veronica Daniel I mean, everything always works out. And I think that a lot of things in life aren't worth stressing over. And the things that are worth stressing over, there is some kind of a solution at some point. 00:02:24 Veronica Daniel I used to be a literal stress case and it wasn't good for me. It's not good for your health. So, at some point I was just like, "Everything always works out anyway, why am I so upset?" 00:02:37 Liesel Reinhart Our guest today is one of the most calm, chill people. And even in a stressful situation always is like, "Let's just breathe, everything's going to be fine. And it's surprising because I know a little bit about his story because we've known each other for quite a while. 00:02:57 Liesel Reinhart And it's very interesting that somebody who's experienced some of the things he has approaches the world in that way. Someone who maybe has a reason to be more stressed or worried about how things are going to unfold. 00:03:11 Liesel Reinhart He doesn't shy away from speaking his truth. He always is an advocate for students and important perspectives. That doesn't change, but the way in which it's handled is done within ease that I love. 00:03:27 Veronica Daniel He's a great person. As one of his former students, I can say that he is hands down one of the best professors that I've had here at PCC. And so, I'm really excited to lock in on his story and see what he has to say. 00:03:40 Liesel Reinhart You actually met him when he was subbing from my class. 00:03:43 Veronica Daniel I did. I did. And his teaching methods were very unorthodox and I was kind of like, "What is this guy doing? Who does he think he is? Just walking into her classroom." And by the time it was over, I was like, "Oh my God, I love this guy." And as soon as there was an opportunity for me to register for one of his classes, I did. And I still take away a lot of the lessons that we learned in that class with me. 00:04:05 Liesel Reinhart Well, I'm so honored that he's a faculty colleague of mine here and I'm really excited to hear your conversation. 00:04:12 Veronica Daniel Me too, let's get into it. 00:04:13 Veronica Daniel Hi, Dawne. 00:04:17 Dawne McClure Hi Veronica. How you doing? 00:04:19 Veronica Daniel I'm doing good. How are you? 00:04:21 Dawne McClure I'm good. I haven't seen you in a while, so it's good to see you. 00:04:23 Veronica Daniel I know, it's been a while. 00:04:24 Dawne McClure Yes. 00:04:24 Veronica Daniel I heard that you like roller skating? 00:04:30 Dawne McClure That is correct. 00:04:31 Veronica Daniel Okay. So, the reason why I ask this is because I also like to roller skate and I keep my roller skates in my car- 00:04:38 Dawne McClure You should come. 00:04:38 Veronica Daniel At all times. I would be very down. I'm trying to pick up new- 00:04:43 Dawne McClure Can you skate? 00:04:44 Veronica Daniel I can skate. Yeah. 00:04:45 Dawne McClure Like skate, skate or can you do a little two step? 00:04:49 Veronica Daniel I can't do all of the tricks. You know what I'm saying? 00:04:52 Dawne McClure Got you. 00:04:52 Veronica Daniel But the only one I can do is the one where you bend down and grab your leg and roll. That's basically it. 00:04:59 Veronica Daniel So, I feel like there's a lot of things that I didn't know about you until I was no longer your student. And so, can you tell us what you do here on campus? 00:05:10 Dawne McClure Oh, absolutely. So, I got my start here in 2019 and you were one of my students into one of my speech classes. So, I teach in the communications department here and I just received tenure. So, tenure process is a four-year probationary period where you have to teach and serve on committees. I just got through on a hiring committee right before coming here. 00:05:33 Dawne McClure So, I teach public speaking, interpersonal communication, intro to communication theory, mass communication, my masters is in mass communication. And so, I do jump on that side. And so , even just like you all here today, I got my start actually in radio as a producer as well. So, my bachelor's is in television and film and I worked at a news station in Illinois, small town. 00:05:59 Dawne McClure And I got a lot of hands-on experience, which was fire. The people were amazing. The pay was trash, which is why I left. So, I could jump from quite a few different things I guess in what I'm teaching. But in my low-keyness as professors, you get to declare everything you are qualified to teach. 00:06:21 Dawne McClure Right now, I've just been staying on the comm side and I have not, I guess put out there like, "Hey, I can teach these things as well," just trying to make sure I have my foundation set and things like that. 00:06:32 Veronica Daniel It's interesting because ever since I've met you, I've run into a lot of people in our communication department, be it other students and faculty members and everyone just adores you. Every time I mention your name, someone has something so positive to say about you and it's always something different. 00:06:50 Veronica Daniel I had a professor who, I was telling her that I used to be one of your students. And she was like, "Oh, he's amazing. I love the way that he interacts with other members of the faculty department, the communication department." And she was just like, "I just see him being in this great leadership role, but I know that he loves to teach." 00:07:08 Veronica Daniel And same with students, I'll be like, "Oh, you should take speech with Dawne," and they're like, "Oh my God, I love Dawne. I had him, he was so patient with me." Everyone just has something nice to say about you. And so- 00:07:20 Dawne McClure I'm glad to hear it. It's hard to please a number of students. And in actuality my goal has been not to be pleasing to all students because then I lose myself and my authenticity. You can't please everyone but it's really to exude empathy, to uplift, to make sure. But sometimes people do fall through the cracks. 00:07:43 Dawne McClure Sometimes I can't get to everybody and I do lose people and I do piss people off. So, it's nice to hear that, I always strive to want to be better. So, nice to hear that. Yeah, I'm a team player. I like to keep community, even in the classes I believe in community. So, I'm a big proponent of that. 00:08:01 Veronica Daniel I think it's because I mean, at least from my perspective, you seem to have this love and passion for what you do. And as one of your former students, observing how you've treated other students in the classroom as well as how you treated me, you have this amazing, uncanny ability to take people where they're at. 00:08:22 Veronica Daniel And you push people, but not in a way that is intimidating or feels like it's controlling. I don't know if you remember this, but on the first day of class, the first thing that you said to everyone is, "I don't care if you're late and you can get up and use the restroom, it's not that big of a deal." 00:08:35 Veronica Daniel And the thing that I was talking to my co-host Liesel about was the fact that when you were trying and your ability to tell people, "Hey, you don't have to be on time," I noticed that most of the time people were on time. 00:08:49 Dawne McClure Yeah, or not far off. I did have one student complaining, like, "We're not going to meet the last class," because it was online. And I was like, "I didn't realize you enjoyed the class so much." But yes, that comes from the homelessness. 00:09:04 Dawne McClure Community colleges are a commuter school. People are either working, trying to hustle, internships, food insecurity is a thing. Just going through life is hard as hell. 00:09:17 Dawne McClure And so, in my learning and trying to adapt more and more community style and get here however you can, teaching and education should go far beyond the classroom. And sometimes some students can just come in and pass the class. They don't need a lot of help in communication. 00:09:38 Dawne McClure Sometimes it's just about building up confidence or letting people know like, "Hey, if this one classroom, if you felt comfortable here, that means there might be other classrooms like this." You should find your community where you fit in, where you feel it. 00:09:49 Dawne McClure And I think just me operating and how I would feel and how I felt when I first started in academia , hell, I did not feel welcomed in academia until really I got to my master's program and then that was even very turbulent. 00:10:09 Dawne McClure And if I'm being all the way honest in certain spaces, visiting different schools or something like that, I've run into issues because academia is still predominantly white. And so, you all see how I'm dressed. I got on the hoodie, ripped jeans, you know what I'm saying? That's me, that's me at work. That's me in my personal life, that is just me all around. 00:10:31 Dawne McClure So, I think a lot of times the first issues that run up against me is the dress, which I'm not too worried about. It's until I start to articulate myself. And it just depends on where you catch me, if I'm talking about theory or something like that, or if we're talking about diversity, equity, whatever the numbers may be, then people sit up and like, "Oh, let me actually take you serious or whatnot." And so, yeah. 00:10:54 Veronica Daniel And since we're talking about numbers and doing research for your episode of this podcast, I found that 20% of community college students in California will experience being unhoused at some point. And that really hit me because I also spent some time being unhoused while I was in community college, while I was actually here at PCC And this- 00:11:18 Dawne McClure Pause. Congratulations. I remember you telling me that story. 00:11:20 Veronica Daniel Thank you. 00:11:21 Dawne McClure So, you said you were unhoused? 00:11:24 Veronica Daniel I was. 00:11:26 Dawne McClure Where are you now? 00:11:27 Veronica Daniel So, I have my own apartment now, which is great. 00:11:29 Dawne McClure Congratulations. 00:11:30 Dawne McClure Thank you. 00:11:31 Dawne McClure Hey, let's go. What are you talking about? 00:11:33 Veronica Daniel Thank you. 00:11:33 Dawne McClure Good. Congrats. And so, are you feeling safe? 00:11:39 Veronica Daniel I feel super safe. I mean, I think everything about my life … we're not talking about me in this episode, but I think that- 00:11:47 Dawne McClure But I'm asking. 00:11:48 Veronica Daniel I think everything about my life now feels so safe. And I would love to give my 19-year, 20-year-old self, just a huge hug and reassurance because yeah, I feel so safe and comfortable in literally every aspect of my life, but especially in my living situation, there is definitely something very empowering. And I know that you can relate to this as well about being unhoused and then getting your own apartment. 00:12:12 Veronica Daniel It's the most rewarding experience because you just appreciate in a completely different way being able to eat and not worry about where it's going to come from, not having to go to the dollar store to get your food and being embarrassed because you can't even afford that. It's a different experience, and so- 00:12:30 Dawne McClure And just a quick tip that I am still learning and working through myself is that when you move into these new spaces and you now have a home over your head and it does provide safety. And when you're having good moments, when you are able to walk into a home and lay your head down and not have to look over your shoulder, or did I move my car in time or I got to get to the next spot in order for you to continue to welcome positive nurturing energy, things that uplift you. Survival mode, tactics do not work in thriving spaces. It'll actually work against you. 00:13:09 Dawne McClure And I know that firsthand that our defense mechanisms of what worked on the street and things like that. So, when people are trying to show you genuine love or pick you up or give you compliments and because it's hard to receive if you are in survival mode when you are in a new space when it's not called for. 00:13:34 Veronica Daniel Absolutely. I absolutely agree with that. 00:13:36 Dawne McClure It gets tough. 00:13:36 Veronica Daniel Yeah. ...
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It’s Not Always Perfect with Dawne McClure, Instructor of Speech Communication Episode 3
09/04/2023
It’s Not Always Perfect with Dawne McClure, Instructor of Speech Communication Episode 3
Feeling unsafe or being in survival mode makes it very hard to function or find peace. Host Veronica Daniel interviews one of her former teachers, Dawne McClure, and discovers how a shared experience impacted their lives as students. Even when life gets better, it is rarely perfect – but openness and kindness go a long way to keeping us all moving forward. Resources: The Lancer Care Center is your centralized hub of services and resources at PCC to meet your basic needs. Housing, food resources, emergency fundings, peer mentoring and more. Life can surprise you with its many ups and downs. That’s why the Employee Assistance Program is here for you. Access confidential resources if you or a family members need help with emotional, marital, financial, addiction, legal, or stress issues. If you need counseling, you get up to 6 visits with a licensed professional. Find the Transcript to this episode *Hosted by Veronica Daniel, a Journalism & Communications student at PCC & Co-Hosted by Dr. Liesel Reinhart, a Mass Communications & TVR professor at PCC. For more information about how you can get involved with institutional initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout all areas of Pasadena City College, please visit the website for the . This project was made possible by a generous investment by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott to The Community Excellent Grant Program at Pasadena City. Music by Podington Bear, songs used: Wonder Happens, Two Boys & A Girl This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
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Transcript- Episode 2: We All Belong Here with Giselle Miralles Writing Success Center Faculty
04/04/2023
Transcript- Episode 2: We All Belong Here with Giselle Miralles Writing Success Center Faculty
00:00:00 Giselle But there are also times when I wonder like can I actually do this job? I struggle a lot with imposter syndrome and I feel like that's one place I can really relate with some of my students, is that sometimes, it's really hard to feel like you belong, but you just have to keep reminding yourself that you're here. You've made it here, you do belong here. 00:00:19 Veronica You know, when it comes to a community college as students, we're the reason why everyone else is here. I think a lot of times when people think of students, they're thinking about us growing and learning, but the one thing that I realized talking to my professors is that they are constantly also growing and learning as well, whether they want to admit it or not. 00:00:39 Veronica I'm your host, Veronica Daniel, and I'm a journalism and communication student here on campus. 00:00:45 Liesel I'm Dr. Liesel Reinhart. I teach mass communication and TVR courses here at PCC, and I am thrilled to co-host with my amazing, former student, Veronica. 00:00:55 Veronica On this show, Liesel and I are going to talk with some remarkable individuals from our PCC campus community. These are people you may know, but stories you probably don't. 00:01:04 Liesel It can be tough, but we don't have to do it alone. 00:01:06 Veronica Exactly, because in higher education, we are all under development. A podcast from the Office of Professional and Organizational Development at Pasadena City College, and funded by a PCC Foundation Community Excellence Grant. 00:01:21 Veronica Hi Liesel? 00:01:24 Liesel Well, hello, Veronica. How's it going today? 00:01:26 Veronica I'm doing good. I have a question for you. Can you tell me about a time in your life where you experienced failure? 00:01:35 Liesel Do you mean this week or ...? 00:01:40 Veronica Anytime. 00:01:41 Liesel Sure. Okay, I have a really embarrassing story. I, in college decided to go to my first speech and debate tournament, and I entered in a bunch of different categories because I thought, "Oh, I can do speech and debate." And one of them was impromptu speaking where they give you a quotation and you're supposed to give, it turns out, like a philosophical analysis of the quotation. 00:02:03 Liesel I didn't quite get the full brief. So, I went in and I sang. I ended up like singing like a musical number and doing a performance sort of inspired by the quotation, and like seriously a room of people just staring at me like what is going on? 00:02:22 Liesel I'm like, "Oh, they're blinded by my talent." At that speech tournament, I got the bottom score from every judge in every performance I gave for the entire tournament. And it was like a three-hour bus ride home and I had to sit there and read these ballots that were like trying ... even the ones that were trying to be polite were humiliating. 00:02:45 Liesel I'm surprised I stayed in speech and debate after that. I don't know, I must have been a glutton for punishment, but I'm glad I did. 00:02:53 Veronica You have to tell me what song you were singing. You have to tell me the number that you did because ... 00:02:57 Liesel It was, Come On, Get Happy. It was a quotation about happiness and I'm like, "Forget your troubles. Come on, get happy." I don't know. I don't know. 00:03:06 Veronica That's great. 00:03:07 Liesel Yeah, so any student I ever coached though, after that, I would be like, "Guess what? Whatever you do, it will not be worse than what I did." 00:03:16 Veronica That is such a funny story. 00:03:21 Liesel How about you? Have you ever had any big flops? 00:03:25 Veronica You know, I've had so many random stories of failure. I mean, I came here to PCC in 2016 after dropping out of school in the Bay, and I came to PCC because so many people were telling me how amazing it was, and at the time, I didn't have a car and I was commuting, and it was really, really difficult for me to make that adjustment. 00:03:45 Veronica But the professors and everyone was so nice that I felt like I wanted to do really well. I signed myself up for like five classes. Two weeks in, I dropped two of those classes. I ended up going out of the semester, I had only passed one class and it was with a C. I failed all of my other classes. 00:04:01 Veronica And I eventually did end up dropping out. And like I said, I knew that I wanted to come back to PCC when I was ready to continue my academic journey. But I took that failure with me for a long time. Like I held it and was just like, "What is wrong with you? You know, you had this second chance and you blew it." 00:04:17 Veronica But again, I'm, I'm really happy that I failed in that area because I would not be here if it wasn't for that. 00:04:22 Liesel Well, congratulations for looking that in the face and showing back up. And you got an A in my class. 00:04:29 Veronica I did. I got an A in your class and my journalism class. So, I started off the semester with a 4.0. Went into the next semester getting a 3-8. So, I felt pretty good about that. 00:04:39 Liesel You should. 00:04:40 Veronica Thank you. 00:04:41 Liesel That's a good transition to our conversation you're going to have with our guest today who works in the Success Center, I think. 00:04:48 Veronica She does. And our guest shares my experience with struggling with that transition from high school to college, and just about her failure. But her failures helped her to find her true calling, and also helped her find herself here at PCC. So, I'm excited to talk to this guest. Are you ready? 00:05:07 Liesel I can't wait. 00:05:11 Veronica We are here today with Giselle Miralles. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? 00:05:16 Giselle Yeah, of course. So, my name is Giselle Miralles. I am an instructor here at PCC in English, and I also am a writing center support faculty member where I help develop the programming there. I hire the tutors, provide workshops, make sure that our students have accessible writing support, and then I also teach English not just with you know, all students here at PCC, but I also teach the CORE scholars. I'm currently the CORE cohort instructors. 00:05:46 Veronica Can you explain what CORE is for those that might not know? 00:05:48 Giselle Yes, of course. So, CORE is an acronym for the Community Overcoming Recidivism through Education. And essentially, what CORE does is it provides support for previously incarcerated and system-impacted students. So, that comes in the form of one having that community where students can lean on each other, having support for which classes that they're supposed to take. 00:06:11 Giselle I think they also provide workshops and they also have a lot of community building activities. So, I know recently, they went on a hike, so sad I couldn't have gone but they do all sorts of things to help these students feel like they belong here at PCC, and that they are capable of passing and getting through and getting their degree here. 00:06:30 Veronica I see. Is there a reason why you specifically decided to work with CORE? 00:06:36 Giselle Yeah, so it goes back in my educational and my academic career. When I was in college, I learned a lot of things about like critical race theory, intersectional feminism, a lot of these big theories that helped me understand my life. 00:06:52 Giselle So, while I was at Cal State Long Beach, there was a professor in particular, Professor Dennis Lopez and he really impacted me in so many ways. I carry what he taught me with me every day that I come to work. But more than anything, he was the first professor of color that I saw in the English department. 00:07:11 Giselle He actually demoed in the class I was part of as part of his interview, and I still remember the poem he taught. It was a Sherman Alexie poem about Walt Whitman, and I just found him so impactful. And just seeing someone teaching literature in front of the classroom that was like me, it was life-changing. 00:07:30 Giselle So, I saw him and I thought like I want to be like him. But not just like that person standing in front of the classroom. It was the way that he taught me. He taught me things that mattered. He showed me that I could do it too, but also, he was very understanding and compassionate. 00:07:47 Giselle So, even in grad school, he'd let me turn stuff in late and I think a lot of people have this idea of colleges being difficult and unrelenting, but he showed me it could be something else. So, from him, I just really wanted to teach. That's one thing. 00:08:04 Giselle Another thing that's impacted me to want to do this work. So, with that knowledge of critical race theory and social justice, was my time working in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. I worked there for three years as an English language development assistant. 00:08:20 Giselle When I graduated with my bachelor's, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was on like EDJOIN, and just applying to any job I saw. So, when I applied for the job, I didn't even realize what it was, I just applied. 00:08:31 Giselle I got an interview and it was in the interview where they told me like this is for a position in a juvenile facility. And I was like, oh, okay. Turns out I got the job and they kind of threw me in there. So, I had a short orientation and then it was actually in the juvenile hall. 00:08:49 Giselle So, my first experience walking through multiple locked doors, having to have the staff buzz me in to get into like what's essentially a school. And then during the actual orientation, they really just taught us safety stuff. But what they didn't teach us was how to interact with the students. 00:09:07 Giselle So, I got all this like safety information and they made it seem like it was kind of dangerous. That's the kind of idea they put in your head when the focus is on safety. But once I actually got into the classroom my first day, I was so lucky to be paired with a teacher who really cared about these students. 00:09:24 Giselle Not everyone in there does. Some teachers see them as criminals (I hate to say that) - but that is just how some of them see them. But this teacher, she really saw them and she's still my dear friend today. She really saw them for who they were and she wanted them to do better. So, with that sort of mentorship, I really grew into that role. 00:09:41 Giselle But my first day, they were making gingerbread houses, and I was walking through the classroom, she told me, "Just be comfortable, just be yourself, they'll love you." And I had no idea how to interact with the students but I just was like, "Okay, well, I'll just talk to them like any other student." 00:09:57 Giselle And I still remember, I asked a student, "Oh, that's a great gingerbread house. Can you tell me like what you did with it?" And he was like, "Well, this guy just got like shot at in front of his house and this is what's going on here." And I was taken aback by that. 00:10:10 Giselle But later on, I learned he was just trying to shock me. But all the students in there are just students. They want to do well, they want someone to believe in them. It really took the theory that I learned in grad school and made me put it into practice, and I'm also system-impacted. And it wasn't until CORE that I understood what that was. 00:10:29 Giselle My brother is previously incarcerated and seeing what he's gone through and what he continues to go through to today - we have a film documentary shown here at PCC called Almost Home that CORE brought and one of my colleagues in English brought to campus. 00:10:43 Giselle And it's about students who are overcoming recidivism, returning back to jail, life after prison. And I see my brother so much in that, and my hope and dreams that he'll come to PCC and be part of the CORE Program as well because I see the struggles and it's us that's helping him through it. Me, my mom, and my sister. 00:11:02 Veronica I was just wondering if you could tell me a little bit more and how that has changed not just your life but your perspective in terms of what you're doing in your career. 00:11:11 Giselle So, for me, my brother has always been the black sheep in terms of like he's labeled himself that, but he struggled a lot throughout the years with several things. The time when he was incarcerated wasn't the first time he was incarcerated. It was just the first time that it really impacted me because he had been incarcerated before. 00:11:30 Giselle The time when he was incarcerated and it impacted me, it was really hard because it was the first time that I really saw adult jail because I had been in juvenile hall working there. But to go through court with him, to visit him while he was in jail, to get the phone calls from jail, it was really difficult. 00:11:47 Giselle When I went to visit him, and walking into the jail, like I only went once because it was hard. I thought it wouldn't impact me because I had already been through the juvenile hall. But that experience of going to jail to visit someone you love, having to see them behind glass, it's hard. It's not easy. I can never understand what it feels like to be incarcerated. That is far worse than what I've experienced. 00:12:09 Giselle But watching my brother go through it, it really personalized all the theory that I already learned, all the experiences I had in the juvenile hall, it brought it home to me. Having to worry about him, waiting for his phone calls and having that prompt come up - "You have a call from an inmate in so-and-so facility." 00:12:29 Giselle Accepting that call, talking to him for the allotted amount of time he can, never it being too far from my mind that he was calling me from a phone in jail. It really just made everything that I learned in school real. Everything that I saw in the juvenile hall, more personal to me. 00:12:48 Giselle So, we still deal with the repercussions. Even though he's no longer incarcerated, watching him trying to be stable working through his mental health issues, working through his alcoholism, watching him trying to find a job and keep it because the system that's set up, sets up previously incarcerated folks for failure. 00:13:08 Giselle Ultimately, you walk out with a felony, good luck finding a job. It's unfair, it's wrong, it's unjust. Watching him still struggle every day with this thing on his record that doesn't define him as a person, but follows him around. Like I know the person he is, I know his heart, I love my brother dearly. But to watch him struggle and to see the roadblocks that are set in front of him, like it makes it hard for him. 00:13:32 Giselle Sometimes, he wants to just give up. I take him with me in the classroom all the time, like he's always with me because I just want him to do better. 00:13:40 Giselle And when I see my students do well and know that they can do it, it gives me hope that my brother can do it too. It's just a matter of putting your mind to it and doing your best that you can with the systemic oppressions that do exist, because ultimately, we can't ignore that. 00:13:54 Giselle It isn't just about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. It's trying to navigate the system that's been set up to have these individuals fail. These systemic oppressions that are intentional. So, it's made me want to fight even more, not just support the students that I have, but fight even more towards a more just future. Particularly, in terms of how it relates to incarceration. 00:14:17 Veronica I like the way that you said that. I think the other thing that is so nice that your brother is so lucky to have is of course, you and your mom. 00:14:24 Veronica I know a lot of people personally who came out from being incarcerated and they didn't have this community or this family that was looking out for them or even trying to support...
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We All Belong Here with Giselle Miralles Writing Success Center Faculty Episode 2
04/03/2023
We All Belong Here with Giselle Miralles Writing Success Center Faculty Episode 2
Imposter syndrome is not just something students grapple with. It impacts faculty and staff in the educational environment, too. Our guest this week opens up about her personal journey - and also the challenges faced by one of her closest family members. Her life’s work is a reminder of how powerful it can be to have the right support around you until you can accept that you truly belong. Giselle also explains how we can leverage resources to help students navigate the systems of oppression that are historically designed to hold them back. Giselle Miralles is an English & Language Studies faculty member in the Writing Success Center. She is responsible for operating workshops, hiring staff, and making sure that the students have the writing support they need. She also supports the Community Overcoming Recidivism through Education (CORE) Program at PCC by offering cohort-specific English courses for CORE scholars. Connect with Giselle Miralles: Visit Email: LinkedIn: Resources: Discover Visit The Writing Center C45, C342A Find the Transcript to this episode *Hosted by Veronica Daniel, a Journalism & Communications student at PCC & Co-Hosted by Dr. Liesel Reinhart, a Mass Communications & TVR professor at PCC. For more information about how you can get involved with institutional initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout all areas of Pasadena City College, please visit the website for the . This project was made possible by a generous investment by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott to The Community Excellent Grant Program at Pasadena City Please be sure to subscribe, rate and review us on apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts! Music by Podington Bear, songs used: Wonder Happens, Two Boys & A Girl This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
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Transcript- Episode 1: More than One Purpose with Stephán McGrue Educational Advisor
03/27/2023
Transcript- Episode 1: More than One Purpose with Stephán McGrue Educational Advisor
00:00:00 Stephán The department itself was giving me a hard time of finding a place to showcase the show. And I was just venting to a janitor that I made really good friends with over the semester. And he said, "You're trying to do what on what day?" And I remember he looked it up, he had the same access. And I had to go home that night and think to myself like "Is this what I think this is?" 00:00:19 Veronica You know, when it comes to a community college, as students, we're the reason why everyone else is here. I think a lot of times when people think of students, they're thinking about us growing and learning. But the one thing that I realize talking to my professors is that they are constantly also growing and learning as well, whether they want to admit it or not. I'm your host, Veronica Daniel, and I'm a journalism and communication student here on campus. 00:00:46 Liesel I'm Dr. Liesel Reinhart. I teach mass communication and TVR courses here at PCC and I am thrilled to co-host with my amazing former student, Veronica. 00:00:55 Veronica On this show, Liesel and I are going to talk with some remarkable individuals from our PCC campus community. These are people you may know, but stories you probably don't. 00:01:04 Liesel It can be tough, but we don't have to do it alone. 00:01:07 Veronica Exactly. Because in higher education, we are all under development, a podcast from the Office of Professional and Organizational Development at Pasadena City College and funded by a PCC Foundation Community Excellence Grant. 00:01:21 Veronica Hi Liesel. 00:01:25 Liesel How's it going, Veronica? 00:01:27 Veronica Good. Can you tell our audience how we met? 00:01:31 Liesel We met in class. You were a student in my mass media course about a year ago. 00:01:37 Veronica I know, and it was so amazing. That was actually my first class post-pandemic, if we can even say that. But since we obviously know each other pretty well, that's why we are co-hosting this podcast together, I have a question for you. 00:01:52 Liesel Okay. What is something I don't know about you? 00:01:56 Liesel Good question. Okay, I'll dig back into my past. Did you know that I was the first ever state champion in Colorado in Girls Extemporaneous Speaking? In my high school years in the eighties, they actually split up boys and girls, and it was current event speaking. 00:02:18 Liesel They literally had different division. It wasn't like Javelin, it was current events. So, I was the girls Extemporaneous Speaking champion and my whole speech in the final round was how it was so inappropriate that I had to compete separately than the boys. And I thought I could beat them if they just let me in that other room, and then they changed it the next year. 00:02:39 Veronica I love that. That definitely sounds like you, that sounds like something you would do. Honestly, that's hilarious. 00:02:46 Liesel Alright. Now, I need to know something I don't know about you. 00:02:49 Veronica I would say now that I'm transitioning into this new career path, I just keep thinking about my prior jobs. And the first thing that comes to mind is that I worked at this really small taco shop and I was telling my friend this the other day, and she's known me forever and had no idea that I used to just make the tacos from scratch, and I had to do everything. 00:03:10 Veronica When I was working there, it was in the summertime and there was no AC and it was always about 15 degrees hotter than outside, but it was so much fun. I loved it, and to this day, I like making tacos from scratch. 00:03:24 Liesel Alright, so you had to make tacos in the heat and I had to humbly speak in a round of women because I wasn't allowed to talk about current events with men. We've got our stories and more to tell than that I'm sure, that have helped form us into who we are today. 00:03:41 Veronica Exactly. I really asked this question because there are so many faculty and staff members here on campus who have background stories that brought them here that we will never know about. 00:03:52 Liesel Or will we? This podcast gives us an opportunity to find out some of those stories, doesn't it? 00:03:57 Veronica Exactly. We get amazing people who are a part of this campus community, telling us their amazing stories. 00:04:04 Liesel So, who's our guest today? 00:04:06 Veronica Our guest today is an educational advisor whose past experiences and acting at entertainment turned him into a prominent leader and organizer here on campus. I'm so excited. 00:04:17 Liesel Secret acting background? This is going to be juicy. 00:04:19 Veronica I know. I can't wait. 00:04:21 Liesel Absolutely. Well, I can't wait to hear your conversation. 00:04:24 Veronica Let's get into it. So, I am here with Stephán McGrue. I'm so excited. 00:04:32 Stephán I'm excited too. 00:04:33 Veronica Nice to see you again. 00:04:34 Stephán Same. 00:04:34 Veronica Can you just tell me about what you do here at PCC? 00:04:40 Stephán Yeah, so again, my name is Stephán McGrue. I am an educational advisor here at Pasadena City College. The division I am under is called TRIO. It is one of the few pre-college programs here at PCC. So, I basically work with high school students and help them get into college, particularly first generation low-income students. 00:05:01 Stephán And then another role that I do here is I event coordinate as well. Get asked to do a couple of different events here, outreach events, and activities that will just bring engagement to the campus and bring campus community almost, like so those are like my two big roles here. 00:05:21 Veronica Those are both big roles. I feel like each one individually could just go for one person. 00:05:26 Stephán I don't know how to do it. They're both a hundred percent type jobs. So, I just make a hundred percent work times two. Honestly, I don't know how to do it. 00:05:34 Veronica And you do, you do. So, going back to your first position, how many students would you say in the TRIO program that you have brought over here? 00:05:44 Stephán So, I have been working as an education ... I got hired here full-time in 2014. I was working in the TRIO Program what they call at the time, college assistant, starting in 2011. So, it's over 10 years of TRIO experience of working as an employee. So, since 2014, I have to meet a 60 count of number of students every summer, every year. 00:06:10 Stephán And so, I'm recruiting that much, pretty much every year. So, if few times that by the nine years I've been here, that's hundreds of students that I've seen. And last year, I think last year I just hit my first cohort that graduated from college. 00:06:27 Stephán So, I now have students that are probably going to be running ... I'm going to be running into in the near future saying, "I have this career because of you." Or, "I'm excited to see that happening." 00:06:39 Veronica That's incredible. I mean, to be able to see the growth that those people have experienced and the fact that you played such an integral part in that, it is so amazing. Congratulations, I'm really happy for you on that. 00:06:51 Stephán Thank you. Thank you. It means a lot to me because it's the same program that I was a part of when I was a student in the city, I went to John Muir High School in this very same program, which has existed since the nineties. 00:07:05 Stephán And so, I had an advisor pretty much do the same thing for me that I'm doing for the kids now. And fortunately, he's still around here. He's the counselor now, so it's a beautiful journey for him to witness and see a product of what he helped mature and grow over the years, and I'm doing the same thing. So, it's pretty enlightening to have that experience and see that generational replica happen. 00:07:32 Veronica Definitely a full circle moment. So, with that being said, can you tell me about your academic background? 00:07:39 Stephán Yes, yes. So, I grew up here in Pasadena. I went to pretty much a lot of the different elementary schools and high schools here. Well, just one high school, but many different elementary and middle schools. And then my high school was John Muir High School. So, I'm a Mustang who's house for those Mustangs that know and listening on. 00:07:59 Stephán And then I joined Upward Bound in my sophomore year. My grandmother put me a part of the Upper Bound program at the time, was Math and Science Upward Bound, because there's two Upward Bound Programs here on campus. There's Math and Science Upward Bound and Classic. 00:08:15 Stephán And the program I currently work for right now is Classic, but I was enrolled in the Math and Science Upward Bound Program and my grandmother had this idea to help me increase my math and science grades because they weren't my favorites. 00:08:28 Stephán She saw a sign that said Upward Bound Math and Science. So, she assumed that the program was geared towards improving students' grades in the STEM-related fields, and it had nothing to do with that. It was, "Hey, let's help you get into a STEM-related career." And which I had no interest in. 00:08:44 Stephán I was a performing art student. I love acting, I loved performing, I have been doing it since I was a child, doing a lot of TV shows and commercials as a kid. And so, when my parents stopped me going out for those roles, because they wanted me to focus more on education, this is where Upward Bound came into my life in high school and Upward Bound geared my focus to more college-driven initiatives and goals. 00:09:13 Stephán I didn't have that goal. I just knew I wanted to act and perform. So, I did a lot of theater work in high school at the same time as being in Upward Bound. So, Upward Bound helped me get into college. They helped me get into San Francisco State University where I got to go and get my degree and drama with an emphasis in performance and minor in communications. 00:09:32 Stephán And between that time, I was coming back during the summer to work at Upward Bound to make a little money. And then I ended up moving back here and figuring out how to get into the industry here, the entertainment industry, get back into it actually, because I was in it from the age that I was like 4 until like 11 or 12. And I was doing a lot of work. I had an agent, I was missing a lot of school, honestly. 00:10:00 Stephán I was in trailers, getting tutoring in the trailer rooms and stuff like that. So, I missed it. I missed it a lot. And so, coming back and now, being out of college and getting my degree, I really wanted to still venture into that. But of course, if you all know what it's like to be an artist, it's not like you can go out for an interview and get the job and then you're set for the rest of your life or whatever with benefits and stuff. 00:10:26 Stephán It's a whole spontaneous process that you have to be ready for and have the patience for. So, in between the time that I'm auditioning and looking for an agent and I'm kind of creating my own content, I continued working here at PCC and I found a balance where I was working part-time here and I was doing part-time stuff with my creativity and my creative arts. 00:10:50 Stephán And so, I got suggested by my advisor who became the director at the time, to go after the full-time position as an educational advisor for the program because the position had opened up. And I was a little weary about it because I felt that if I give a hundred percent to one thing, then it would take away from my true passion, which is acting and performing and writing scripts and being a producer and stuff like that. 00:11:15 Stephán And so, I took a lot of time to think about it and I figured I can do anything I put my mind to. And so, I went ahead and went for it because one, the one thing my parents taught me was you never know unless you try. So, why would I want to strip away an opportunity that I don't even know I would even be accepted for if I don't even interview for it? 00:11:39 Stephán So, I just went ahead and interviewed for the position and I got in. I got the role and I was extremely excited but also scared at the same time. Because I was like, "What did I just get myself into because I know that my passion is acting." This road changed my entire life, literally my entire life. 00:11:59 Stephán I had no interest of going into education as a full-time career. And what it also led me to do was it influenced me to get my masters , and I ended up getting my masters in educational leadership at Asuza Pacific University. And thereafter, is where I started. 00:12:16 Stephán And I started to really understand what my purpose was because if I would've failed, I would've realized that that wasn't a purpose for me. It was just a journey that I was just supposed to go through and then figure out what's the next step from here. 00:12:30 Stephán But for some reason, I was excelling more in the educational realm than I was in the acting realm. And I figured that it was all for a purpose. I was supposed to be here to stick with kids that needed that person to relate to, that person that went through what they went through. 00:12:49 Stephán Sometimes, more importantly though, who look like them as well. And when I was in the program, I was actually the only African American male in the program. And so, since I've been a part of Upward Bound, I've helped the percentage of African American students in the program increase. 00:13:05 Stephán And I learned that just by experience, they saw a reflection and that inflection happened and I just figured I can do both. So, I've been able to balance out both my educational stuff and my performing art stuff in this journey that I'm figuring out because you have more than one purpose in this life 00:13:25 Veronica And that it's never too late to do what you want to do, to do what you love, to find that new passion. I do have a question, can you explain exactly what the Upward Bound program is for those who might not know....
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More than One Purpose with Stephán McGrue Educational Advisor Episode 1
03/27/2023
More than One Purpose with Stephán McGrue Educational Advisor Episode 1
Opening one door doesn't always mean that we have to close another. In this episode Stephán McGrue explains his inner conflict about giving up his first passion to pursue a different professional endeavor - until he found an unexpected path forward. Stephán dives into his early career in acting and entertainment to reveal how his performance background and his family life play a big part in his role at PCC. Stephán truly believes that when you create a future for yourself, you’re leaving behind a blueprint for someone that comes after you. Stephán McGrue is an educational advisor who works under the TRIO division, a pre-college program that helps first generation and low income high school students get into college. Connect with Stephán McGrue: Email: LinkedIn: Instagram: Resources: Visit: Discover: Visit: Room 108 in building D To find the transcript for this episode, click For more information about how you can get involved with institutional initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout all areas of Pasadena City College, please visit the website for the . *Hosted by Veronica Daniel, a Journalism & Communications student at PCC & Co-Hosted by Dr. Liesel Reinhart, a Mass Communications & TVR professor at PCC. This project was made possible by a generous investment by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott to The Community Excellent Grant Program at Pasadena City Please be sure to subscribe, rate and review us on apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts! Music by Podington Bear, songs used: Wonder Happens, Two Boys & A Girl This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. This project was made possible by a generous investment by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott to The Community Excellent Grant Program at Pasadena City.
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Presenting: Under Development
03/17/2023
Presenting: Under Development
What does it mean to grow? We know that students are on a journey of both professional and personal development during their time at college but the truth is, the growing never ends. Under Development is a storytelling podcast dedicated to bridging the gap and strengthening the connection between staff and faculty members at PCC with the student population. We hope to accomplish this by creating a space where faculty and staff can share their stories of missteps, perseverance, and both personal and professional hurdles that led them to Pasadena City College with our student host Veronica Daniel. Hosted by Veronica Daniel, a Journalism & Communications student at PCC & Co-Hosted by Dr. Liesel Reinhart, a Mass Communications & TVR professor at PCC. This Podcast is made possible by a Pasadena City College Foundation Community Excellence Grant, thanks to a generous investment by philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott. Music by Podington Bear, songs used: Wonder Happens, Two Boys & A Girl This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
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