Lauryn Stauffer: Her Perfect Pathway

00:00:00 Lauryn Stauffer: Why does my favorite color correlate to your opinion? 00:00:06 Carlos Ramos: Welcome to Tomorrow Makers, where we explore how we learn, live, work, and play now and in the future. I'm Carlos Ramos. 00:00:14 Sumer Beatty: And I'm Sumer Beatty. 00:00:15 Carlos Ramos: Hi, everybody. 00:00:16 Sumer Beatty: Hello. 00:00:17 Carlos Ramos: We actually have a special hide shout out today, don't we? 00:00:20 Sumer Beatty: We do. 00:00:21 Carlos Ramos: You want to take it? 00:00:22 Sumer Beatty: Yes. So we'd like to shout out Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School. Wow. BAVTS? 00:00:29 Carlos Ramos: BAVTS. 00:00:30 Sumer Beatty: BAVTS. BAVTS is in the house. 00:00:35 Carlos Ramos: And why is that? Why are we shouting out to BAVTS? 00:00:37 Sumer Beatty: Oh, because we had a very special guest on the podcast, Lauren Stauffer, and she is a teacher at BAVTS. 00:00:44 Carlos Ramos: Not only a teacher at BAVTS, she was here at Penn College. 00:00:49 Sumer Beatty: Yes. 00:00:49 Carlos Ramos: Like, not too long ago. 00:00:51 Sumer Beatty: No. Oh my goodness. She was here for Wildcat Weekend and we had to grab her and have her on the podcast and she is so much fun. We laughed a lot. 00:00:58 Carlos Ramos: We did. And those of you who are familiar with Penn College and watched, you know, some of our tours, she was three cycles back, four cycles back. I think she was our tour guide. 00:01:10 Sumer Beatty: She was. She got the Public Relations and Marketing Superstar Award. Yeah. We were a big fan of Lauren Stauffer. 00:01:17 Carlos Ramos: She was the first and only recipient so far of that award, wasn't she? That's true. We've had some other superstars, but. 00:01:25 Sumer Beatty: It's very exclusive. 00:01:26 Carlos Ramos: It is. 00:01:28 Sumer Beatty: So we think you're really going to like this one. Lauren's a prime example of a hands on learner who found her path to Penn College, and I think she's a success story. Yeah. 00:01:38 Carlos Ramos: Definitely. Before we get into this, I want to give a shout out to Patrick Pacacha. Patrick sent us photos of some fantasy houses. If you were listening back to Jen and Gerry, our episode with them, we talked about fantasy houses. And so now you can see them in their raw state. 00:01:56 Sumer Beatty: That was so cool. I was imagining what they would look like, but the picture was even better. 00:02:01 Carlos Ramos: Did you go out and try to find it? 00:02:03 Sumer Beatty: Well, are they still out there? 00:02:04 Carlos Ramos: They might be. 00:02:05 Sumer Beatty: Oh, I, 00:02:06 Carlos Ramos: I don't know. We, we had a lot of rain though. And they said, I think Gerry said that they just melt. 00:02:12 Sumer Beatty: Oh, well, that's terrible. I'm glad he got a photo so you can see it. Just head over to that episode, send us show notes. 00:02:19 Carlos Ramos: All right. Well, let's get into this. Grab your Jolly Ranchers and, buckle up with Lauryn. 00:02:29 Sumer Beatty: I think there's going to be a lot of laughter today. Yeah, I'm sorry. Never apologize for that. That's been me all weekend. 00:02:37 Carlos Ramos: Tell us about this weekend. 00:02:38 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh, it was so much fun. It was like memory lane. I walked back to my program building and it was so much fun. Like, I loved it. Like, it was like, I miss this. Like, I really miss it. Like, this was like my home. Like, even to my dog, this is like his first home. So when we come back here, it's like, memory lane. Like, it's amazing. 00:03:00 Sumer Beatty: And you haven't even been gone that long. 00:03:02 Lauryn Stauffer: No, it's not. It's only been like a year, year and a half now. 00:03:06 Sumer Beatty: I feel like you're going to end up back here teaching eventually. 00:03:10 Lauryn Stauffer: So, that's a great thing you said that. So, I'm actually working to eventually, you don't need your PhD, I don't think, to teach here, but I'm working to get my PhD. So, I'm getting my master's in career and technical education. And then working to get that PhD level and then hopefully teach classes. So, yeah. 00:03:28 Sumer Beatty: Long term goal back to Penn College. 00:03:30 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, it probably will happen eventually. Everyone knows it. but yeah, this is like to like, it's even bittersweet because this is my technically like my dog's first home. Like this is where. We would go on walks. We would do our home. His home was here. 00:03:49 Sumer Beatty: All the familiar smells. 00:03:51 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, it's very familiar. Very, yeah. For the dog. 00:03:55 Sumer Beatty: Remind me, what's his name? 00:03:57 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh, his name is Milo. 00:03:58 Sumer Beatty: Milo, Milo. 00:03:59 Lauryn Stauffer: Milo, Milo, Milo. The Penn College pup. 00:04:04 Sumer Beatty: So I don't know if our list, depending on when this gets released, we'll just say you're, you were here for a Wildcat weekend. 00:04:09 Lauryn Stauffer: Yes. 00:04:10 Sumer Beatty: The alumni gathering, you came Friday. 00:04:13 Lauryn Stauffer: I came yesterday. 00:04:14 Sumer Beatty: Saturday. 00:04:14 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah. Came yesterday morning, left around like nine o'clock. We left, we got here by like 11, walked around for a little bit and then took some pictures and all that good stuff. Went to the alumni cornhole thing. That was so much fun. I just kind of like socialized with Erin and Stacey and all of them. It was like kind of like a cool thing. I mean, I just like walked around with my one friend, Katie. She's in the robotics automation program here. So yeah, it was pretty cool. You recommend? 00:04:40 Sumer Beatty: Make the trip back if you're an alumni. 00:04:42 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh, 10-10 recommend. I love doing things like I went to Wagging Tail for coffee. Like I always stop there for coffee. I miss that coffee. Like I love that coffee there. I always stop at my favorite places. Like we always stay at the Gennetti, like we always go to the restaurant across the street. We always do the same things because it just makes it better. It brings us back to where it all started. We did the same things when we first started. 00:05:06 Sumer Beatty: I can tell you there's a theme here. You're a fan of the full circle experience. So before we got on the mic, we were talking about how you went to a CTE, came to Penn College, and now you've found yourself back at the same CTE where you, where you learned originally. 00:05:26 Lauryn Stauffer: Yes. It's a very full circle moment. I can say like, like two weeks ago, I think it was like the first week, actually, not two weeks ago, but the first week I was driving home and I'm like, this is insane, how I came from there to here and then back there. I knew something was missing like when I was working in these jobs like the two. That's why I changed frequently. And I knew something was missing like I knew something wasn't wasn't there. And when I got the phone call to do it I was just like this kind of like makes sense. You know like, I was nervous. I won't lie to you. I was so nervous. I was gaslighting myself like 10-10 every day. And they were like, just stop it. You're gonna be perfect. You're gonna be great at it. And I'm like, okay, okay, we'll try. 00:06:11 Sumer Beatty: Oh, I'm sure your students adore you. 00:06:13 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, they do. I, I can say right now they do. I'm like the Jolly Rancher teacher, so I give them Jolly Ranchers. They're like, miss, at the end of every class, they're like, miss, can we have a Jolly Rancher? Jolly Rancher, please. I'm like, okay. And you can hear the glass jar at the end of the class. Like, oh. 00:06:32 Sumer Beatty: Bribing them with sweets, whatever works. 00:06:35 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah. 00:06:36 Sumer Beatty: So you're teaching mechatronics. Okay. And then when you were back prior to coming to Penn College, was that an area of study for you? 00:06:44 Lauryn Stauffer: No. So I was in electronics. 00:06:47 Sumer Beatty: Okay. 00:06:47 Lauryn Stauffer: That actually was a newer program. My senior year, they were making originally was the Academy of Engineering, and then they slowly transitioned to mechatronics. A lot of kids actually still don't know what mechatronics is. So... 00:07:02 Sumer Beatty: I think that, yeah, sorry to interrupt you, but yeah, I feel like we need to tell people what mechatronics is. 00:07:09 Lauryn Stauffer: Honestly, I try to find the simplest way to say it, and it's actually, so mechatronics is a combination of mechanical engineering, being mechanically inclined, I'd say, robotics, automation concepts. So think about conveyor belts, PLCs, which is like basically a computer that controls those conveyor belts, pneumatics, which is air, air circuits, hydraulics, which is oil circuits. The guy actually, he came into my classroom. He was telling me about the equipment we have in the classroom, and he's like, the best way to explain mechatronics is like an automated car wash. You hit the button, you pay for it, and then everything just like works. That's how you could explain mechatronics to someone that has no prior understanding. But then a lot of kids also don't know like, what avenues you can go down. I have a couple kids right now who are so intrigued in aviation maintenance and being a mechanic, or some of them want to do maintenance tech for manufacturing facilities like I did. There's so many different avenues you can go down, so. That's like the short and sweet way of me explaining it. I have a more in depth process in class, but that's like short and sweet. 00:08:16 Sumer Beatty: So how do you, I'm just thinking to a student in high school in a CTE, how do they even determine which pathway is right for them? 00:08:26 Lauryn Stauffer: That's a good question. So some of them, it like clicks for them, like in that classroom, like I can see, you can see it right there and then. For me, for my perspective, it was where I found something that I truly enjoyed. They go there and they find something they're really passionate about. That's why that those rotation programs that I mentioned, the 10 days each and each program is so valuable because it gives them a different perspective on where they can go. That's literally I can say is my passion, like the passion you have for that. The avenue, when these kids are building these cyborg hands in class or building pneumatic circuits and hydraulic circuits, you can see it light up for them. Like they're actually using their hands to build something instead of sitting at a desk doing nothing. So like not want to do nothing, but like reading a book or something, or doing math problems. But this is a total different experience, especially for these rotation kids right now. They are not used to this and they love it. Like I just kind of like give them stuff and they built it and they make it work. 00:09:29 Sumer Beatty: Yeah, seeing the ideas come to life and they're functional. They're not just on paper. 00:09:34 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, it's very functional. And that's why I did. I wanted to think outside the box with getting them to do the cyborg hand thing, because it's like, this teaches them like, we're going to be building things in here, not just sitting at the table reading a book, which happens occasionally. But like, they're going to be building, like they're here building stuff. 00:09:57 Sumer Beatty: And so what age groups do you have right now? 00:10:00 Lauryn Stauffer: I have 10 through 12, so I'd say 15 to 18. 00:10:05 Sumer Beatty: And how many of those, do you have a sense of who might go on to further their education? 00:10:11 Lauryn Stauffer: So I can say right now, I, in my afternoon class, because that's my juniors and seniors, they, I have eight kids. That's what I'm saying, like, It's so small because no one understands still. All eight of them, they are going so many places. The one actually, potentially, might be coming here. Definitely, good avenue for him. Some want to go to Penn State. Like, they have these big dreams and goals, and I told them, like, we're here to help you pursue those dreams and goals. Like, I'm here to see you succeed. Like, I'm doing everything I can to help you like someone did for me when I was a student here. And they're like, okay, cool. They like that. They love that perspective. I'm like, okay, cool. So eight students total or eight juniors, seniors? So in my PM right now, I have eight kids in total right now. My morning is a lot bigger, like I have 20 kids, so the class size is actually very familiar to here, which is very great to compare it to, because I had some, the one student that actually is considering going here. He was not up for the big classroom setting, and I'm like, promise you, you're not going to get that big classroom setting here. I told him like, my smallest class when I was here was, I think there was three of us, and then the largest was probably like, maybe 15, 15 minutes. And he's like, I can do that. And I'm like, yeah, you can do that. I know you can. This is pretty small now. It's pretty one on one with me. And they're with me like three years, like you would be here with a professor getting to know them every day. And it's pretty equal. And that's what actually helps me promote this place when I'm working, so. 00:11:43 Sumer Beatty: We didn't do this on purpose. 00:11:46 Lauryn Stauffer: Are you sure? 00:11:47 Sumer Beatty: Just all our master plans. So how influential was your CTE when it came time to identify what you were going to study in college if you were in electrical and then you moved into mechatronics once you came to Penn College? 00:12:02 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, so it was pretty influential. I won't lie to you. I wanted to be a nurse. That's why I went to vo-tech. I went to vo-tech to be a nurse. And then I tried it out, and it was like, nope, not for me. I never heard that story. No, I didn't like it at all. I did like the medical terminology in that rotation program, and I'm like, no, I can't do this. 00:12:25 Sumer Beatty: Hey, better to learn then. 00:12:27 Lauryn Stauffer: Well, this is what I mean. Like, those rotations there, they have is so, I was so influential on your passion and drive, I decided then to change my last rotation to electronics. A guidance counselor then helped me pick it, and he's like, Oh, you build these circuits, you build these robot things, and I'm like, Okay, I can do that, that sounds so much fun. And he was like, Okay, we'll do that. And I went into the class, and he built these circuits, and I saw lights going on, and buttons were working, and I was just like, This is amazing, I love it. And like I can tell you, like my teacher also helped me. I was a very different learner. Even here, I was a different learner. I would sit at his desk with him and he would help me every day to get the job done. He was awesome. First, he wanted me to work full time. And I'm like, I don't think I'm ready for that yet. So that's why I decided to come here. And he was like, eh, and then he saw what was going on here and he was like, okay, I think this is the best avenue for you. My program definitely helped spike that, but. When I was here as a student my first year, my teacher, Mr. Kinley, he told me about the new robotics automation program. And he's like, it's a lot more hands on still, you're going to be doing different concepts. And I'm like, okay, cool. So I told my dad about it, and he's like, you need to do that. And I'm like, okay, because my dad's very familiar in the field. He went to CTC for his electronics too. And I'll tell you what, it was pretty funny when we found out. I didn't even know that until I graduated. from my vo-tech. He did the same thing. And then he's like, this is the avenue to go down. Just do it. So that place started it all for me. Like, and I said that in my interview with them, I said, this is the place that shaped me to come here to do bigger, better things. And then I went back to do the same thing there. 00:14:15 Sumer Beatty: It's so nice to have that one on one with the instructor. And I think that's the case here at Penn College too, where the classes aren't so big that you don't feel intimidated by asking a question or having that time just. You know, I mean, goodness, if there were 50 kids in the class, I would feel like, oh, I don't think the instructor didn't have time to answer these questions. 00:14:35 Lauryn Stauffer: Here, it's pretty spectacular with that class size. I couldn't vouch more about that. I did it on my tours here when I was giving tours. I always vouched for that class size because it's like, you're not going to get that anywhere else. Especially if you're so used to, if you're from a CTC, I'm assuming it's like that everywhere else too, having those smaller class sizes because of safety regulations and all that stuff, and they have to do that here. So that definitely is the best perk. 00:15:01 Sumer Beatty: What were you like growing up? What did you like to do? Were you crafty? Or what did you, what were you doing? What was your blanket? 00:15:07 Lauryn Stauffer: Funny. That's a funny question. Cause like, I was really talking to my kids about this. I was like, I, my stepmom and my dad would buy me these like science kits for Christmas and I would build them. I never had Barbies. No, I was not that girly girl ever. I did play teacher a lot, so that's pretty funny that I say that. I did play teacher a lot. but it was, I didn't do what the normal kids would do. We would always be outside. We had a go kart. 00:15:37 Sumer Beatty: Did you build it? 00:15:39 Lauryn Stauffer: So my grandfather did. 00:15:40 Sumer Beatty: Okay. 00:15:41 Lauryn Stauffer: He built the go kart for us, and we used it. I won't lie to you, I burned out with it a lot. Broke it a couple times and I watched them fix it. . 00:15:49 Sumer Beatty: Hey, that's a great experience. I was going to ask you if you fixed it. 00:15:52 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, I, I saw, I saw them fix it. Mind you, I was also eight at the time, , so I wasn't sure if I could do those things yet. But yeah, I was a very different kid, not like everyone expected. I was never girly girl. Like if you saw pictures of me, I looked, I dressed very like, not girly girl, until high school. So . But yeah, going back to the question, I always, I knew I was a different learner because I always had difficulty, like, reading from the books and going by, like, the lessons and all that stuff. My teacher, not my teacher, my aunt actually mentioned to me, she's like, how about we go down this vo-tech avenue? My dad approached it, like, yeah, let's do that. So I just tried it out and It kind of like worked from there. If it wasn't for that place, I don't know where I'd be. I have no clue. I probably, I don't know. 00:16:46 Sumer Beatty: Well, I think a lot of people say college isn't right for me or I don't think that's my thing. I don't envision myself there, but I also think that's on the heels of what people envision college to be more traditionally, the let's sit in a lecture room, a bunch of people in the classroom, just getting talked at the whole time. 00:17:06 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, especially here. It's not like that. Like you're, I think like day one, it's like maybe probably the most boring day. And then after that, you're doing your labs and stuff like that. Like, and I told the kids that I'm like, this is a place where you're going to get hands on. day probably one or two. So, that's why, that's why we're coming up here. I showed them the tour videos that I did and everything, and they're like, they're like so excited. 00:17:30 Sumer Beatty: So they think you're famous at Penn College. 00:17:32 Lauryn Stauffer: A little bit, yeah. The kids are very, the one, the one student that is actually potentially trying to come here. He told me last weekend his mom and him watched all my videos. I was like, no way. I was like, gosh, gosh, I appreciate it. It's a good bittersweet moment. But I'm just like, I'm I'm influencing them, too, I guess. So 00:18:00 Sumer Beatty: You mentioned the videos and I was thinking it might be helpful because I even somebody who's been at the college now for six years, whatever the idea of this mechatronics, what do these labs look like? I know you gave us some examples, but can you if somebody were going to walk through the labs, like what's in there, what sorts of, just for ease, like maybe at Penn College, like what's in those labs? We've got conveyor belts, what sort of equipment? 00:18:25 Lauryn Stauffer: I can talk from both standpoints because my classroom has basically kind of similar to what we have here. We have like hydraulic trainers, you'll see lots of hoses and buttons and switches and these weird cylinder things that you have no clue what they are. You'll see hoses, more hoses, like I said, there'll be like actual oil hoses and like, air hoses. And then you'll see the buttons and everything. You'll see motors, computers to do PLC programming, robots. Unfortunately, I don't have that yet in my classroom working on it. But robots, you'll see that here. There's so many they have. Conveyor belts. We have 3D printers in my classroom my kids use. Yeah, it's just a bunch of cool mechanically inclined equipment that it wow's people, I think, if they're intrigued with that already, definitely helps to have that wow factor. 00:19:18 Sumer Beatty: And what industry would these be present in? 00:19:22 Lauryn Stauffer: It can be manufacturing, potentially the health field, because now a lot of those are like robotic, are doing robotic surgeries now. Automotive, your cars are basically built with robots now. So think about fixing them if something's going wrong with them. I did that my previous job at, at Coty. Say a robot wasn't working, probably with a suction cup that broke a little bit, replace the suction cup. Maybe a sensor's not working, not detecting where that, where that makeup compact's going. Replace the sensor, figure out what's going on. Maybe the robot's not picking up that makeup compact or whatever. For perspective, Coty makes cosmetics. Yeah, sorry. That's okay. Yeah, Coty makes cosmetics. They work, they make cover girl makeup, so. So they will fix all those different things. they can also be integrators. So they will implement those programming aspects into a manufacturing facility. And then, they'll travel a lot. My one friend does that. He loves it. He travels all over the country. 00:20:21 Sumer Beatty: So it sounds like a ton of opportunities. It's, we all know that automated manufacturing is not going anywhere. 00:20:27 Lauryn Stauffer: No, it's not. It's increasing day by day. It's never, not going to not be here. It helps us. It helps the companies because they need to meet the needs for their customers, meaning food, makeup, dog food, anything, cars, like they're going to have to meet those needs to speed up production too, so. 00:20:45 Carlos Ramos: So a common refrain with automation and AI, if you end up having any knowledge of AI connected to this, is that it's going to threaten jobs. But what I'm hearing from you is the opposite. 00:21:01 Lauryn Stauffer: To me, I don't think it's threatening jobs. It's giving more people a bigger perspective and opportunity to grow. When I was working at Coty, a lot of those people were learning more about the manufacturing equipment now to like help repair it too, because technically like these, the operators know more about that equipment than I would because they're running it every day. There's more possibilities for career paths too, like doing with programming, maintenance work, all that stuff. To me, it's not like a, an end game. It's a potential for growth for everyone. I don't think, I don't see it as a limitation. I think it's a growth opportunity for everyone. 00:21:36 Carlos Ramos: It's interesting to hear you say the technicians actually have that better opportunity because they know what the process is from the non automated side and now then to pick up the automation and know how to repair the robots, how to improve their functions. 00:21:51 Lauryn Stauffer: Yes, that was like when I first started at Coty, I was told to ask, what's wrong? Can you explain to me what's going on? And they're like, well, They were like, so and so did this before and it worked. And I'm like, okay, and they're like, well, I did try it. And I'm like, okay, so we have to think outside the box then. But these technicians now that are working in the manufacturing world, they know so much about these automated systems. This is a good growthing point for them to excel and get in these bigger roles and positions because they, they know the equipment more than me. Technically, maybe I would. They're with it every day. Technically one day I would be there and the next day I wouldn't be there. So it was, they're knowing it. 00:22:28 Sumer Beatty: Do they have opportunities to go to professional development or like our Workforce Development entity here? Like they, you know, host programs where people from industry can come in and learn the equipment. Was any of that happening? 00:22:40 Lauryn Stauffer: To an extent it was. I know for like my team's sake they were doing workforce development classes and stuff like that. I hope to see that grow, like to the technician side of things, because these people are so intelligent that they know how this equipment works to like they're working with it every day. So you have to understand it. Obviously, I would love to see that grow. 00:22:59 Carlos Ramos: So you came to us from a CTE. What got Penn College on your radar? 00:23:03 Lauryn Stauffer: I won't lie to you. I wasn't even going to go to college. 00:23:06 Sumer Beatty: Oh, so you're exactly the type of person I was talking about earlier. That's great. No, I think that happens. A lot of people who come here. 00:23:13 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, I was not expecting it. I was not thinking college. I toured two other facilities. I think it was like one in Lancaster and one in Wilkes-Barre. My one friend, she was a year before me at BAVTS, and she came here for graphic design, and then she was telling me about this place and I'm like, okay. I think it was my grandfather and my grandmother. She, they brought me up for the day for a tour because my dad and my mom never went to college. They knew more about it than I did, so I brought my grandparents with me, and we did the whole tour thing. And I remember the entire time it was my grandfather talking to the tour guide the entire time, and I'm like, oh my god. It was so cute. I loved it. And we were just walking around and then we met Mr. Kinley and the other department at the time. And they were like bragging about my SkillsUSA stuff and all this other stuff I did at vo-tech. It was so cute. We came to campus and it felt right. It felt like home. It sounds weird to say, but it felt like home. You're like, you're living here for like basically almost the entire year. And It should feel like home. It felt like home. My program was amazing. Mr. Kinley was absolutely welcoming. He said his corny jokes and stuff like that that day. Or he gave his perspective on the program. It was bittersweet. Like, it was such a great day. I will never forget that. And then after that I went to Penn State Lehigh Valley that day in the evening for SAT prep classes. Yeah, it was a crazy day. I remember it so clearly. It was great. 00:24:47 Sumer Beatty: So in addition to Mr. Kinley, what else do you think made it feel like home? Anything about the way campus, looked or anything? 00:24:54 Lauryn Stauffer: Definitely the way campus looks. Like definitely campus gives a very homey feel. Every time I'm here, the flowers look beautiful. Campus is always so clean. And everyone else is so welcoming. I've never had an issue with faculty or staff. They were always so welcoming and helpful. I can go, I can mention so many people and like the list will go on and on and on. When I was Working in admissions, everyone in there was amazing. Melissa Stocum, she was my academic mentor. She was there day one. Well, technically day one. It was Katie Mackey and then Miss Melissa Stocum and then she was there till the very end. Career services, they were there for me. I can go to anyone and talk to anyone, and they were just here to help me, and even faculty in my classes, they were awesome too. So, I think that helped a lot too for me, building those connections, talking to people. Everywhere I would go, it would be like someone would wave hi to me or something like that. Making friends, it just felt like home. 00:25:52 Sumer Beatty: So when you ended up coming here as a student, how did you build that community? 00:25:57 Lauryn Stauffer: It took a while. It took, my first year was really rough. I won't lie to you, I don't think I was going to make it the first year. I was going to like leave halfway probably. and then I met Katie Mackey because she was at the time doing academic mentoring. She helped me so extremely. Time management, studying applications, going to professor's office hours, and I can also say I had a really good friend group that were on my floor and when I lived on campus. I had two great friends, I can still say that to this day, like they're amazing people. They were there for me, they helped me. Mentally, because it was so hard leaving my family because I'm so family oriented. So having them not be here was pretty hard. I remember I was calling my mom and dad every single day. That slowly diminished as time went on. It was hard for me to actually even call them. But having that my friends were like the best key thing to help me and everyone else. But I can definitely vouch Katie Mackey and Melissa Stocum. MVPs that year. Amazing. They helped me so well. And then I applied for the ambassador role because it reminded me of when I was in SkillsUSA as an ambassador. And I'm like, okay, I could do this. 00:27:08 Sumer Beatty: And they've since changed the title. 00:27:10 Lauryn Stauffer: I know they did. It's, it's cool. I love it. I love it so much. What are they tour guides now? 00:27:15 Sumer Beatty: Yes, which is a lot of what you were doing as an ambassador. 00:27:19 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh, yeah, 10-10. I don't know if they're doing like office hours anymore. I don't think so. 00:27:24 Sumer Beatty: I don't know. I'm not sure. It's such a nice leadership opportunity, though. 00:27:28 Lauryn Stauffer: That's how I met Morgan. I don't if you remember Morgan. I met Kayla through there. I think they that's where you meet so many people. 00:27:36 Sumer Beatty: Yeah. So it sounds like then when you came to the campus, you're new, you're trying to make, you know, put in some roots. It was helpful to live on campus because you met a lot of people in the, you know, in the residence halls and stuff, and then also that getting involved, going out, putting yourself out there, trying to participate in clubs and organizations. 00:27:55 Lauryn Stauffer: It definitely helped. My schedule was busy, but it definitely helped. I actually met my one close friend, Katie Ruggiero. I don't know if that name rings a bell to you. She was an ambassador, and there's a little funny story behind how I knew her kind of beforehand, but. Not the point. I met her and me and her clicked instantly. Like, we got coffee every day. She's actually moving back to the area now, so I'm very excited to see her frequently now. But this place really helped put my friendships and roots together. Because I can say in high school, I didn't have many friends. Here, it helped so much building that foundation, for sure. 00:28:30 Sumer Beatty: Yeah, and it sounds like you kind of got out of your comfort zone a little bit. 00:28:33 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh yeah, I did. I did. I think it was coming, my senior year of high school, it was definitely like, I was getting out of that because I was doing, like, I was giving tours at Bethlehem vo-tech, where I work now. I did my student speaker thing at graduation for them. I did other things for SkillsUSA, so it was growing already, so this was just like the spark. Blame fire. It's all blowing up now. yeah, I don't know how else to say it, but yeah, it all like lit up here. 00:29:06 Carlos Ramos: You mentioned SkillsUSA a few times now. Can you talk about what SkillsUSA is and how that played into what you did at the CTC that you were at and what you did here at Penn College? 00:29:18 Lauryn Stauffer: SkillsUSA is where students can take their hands on learning to the test and compete across district level to state level to national level. I did not compete. I did more of the leadership side of things. To me, it helps those students who want to grow. And meet people, connect to build a better foundation for themselves before going to work or go to post secondary education. I know Penn College does a really good collaboration with SkillsUSA at Hershey in April. They give, I think it's like scholarships away and stuff like that. So that's a really great way to promote this place too. But to me, like for me, it was all leadership. I was doing, I was a SkillsUSA ambassador, so I did, I ran our homeschool events. We had fundraising opportunities. We would do community service opportunities where we would give Thanksgiving. They actually still do this and I love it. They actually put together Thanksgiving meals for the area and we go drop them off at two people that day before Thanksgiving. We do, they had a car show. They had these food, this food truck now at this place. They have their own food truck where these kids make food. It's amazing. To me, just, SkillsUSA gives these kids a better way to learn, another way to learn and to kind of like build up the confidence to do what they're doing. I just was able to get the leadership side of things there. 00:30:45 Sumer Beatty: And it's in all different aspects, right? 00:30:48 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh yeah, 00:30:48 Sumer Beatty: Health and cosmetology and 00:30:51 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:30:52 Sumer Beatty: Culinary and it's very broad. 00:30:54 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, when I was in high school, I went to the one, to the district level one because they asked me to be like a helper that day. And I went and it was so cool. Like you saw welding, you saw people doing their hair, you saw baking. You saw them doing these, building these houses or doing plumbing stuff. And I'm like, this is amazing to think about how much, how smart or how doing this hands on perspective of learning enhances these kids to learn is amazing. It also gives them a way to meet companies too, like to grow that connection. But SkillsUSA to me is a big fundamental to my growth, but to everyone else's growth that are in CTCs. 00:31:34 Sumer Beatty: We take a lot of things for granted because we host SkillsUSA on campus here, so some of us have judged and seen it in action. 00:31:41 Lauryn Stauffer: To me, it helps these kids learn in a whole different area. I think I did go, actually, I did go to Hershey. I went on a surprise mission. I was not told about it until the last minute because I won a state level award. from like a scholarship or whatever, and my advisor, Mrs. Thom, or I can call her Angela Thom now, she surprised me with my, I didn't even know it, she was like, Laura, you're gonna go help, you're gonna go help this weekend, and I'm like, okay, and all I know is like, I kind of forgot to submit the scholarship, I won't lie to you, and I sent it like that day, and it was like a whole mess, I didn't think I was gonna get it, and they were announcing the winners, and I just was like sitting there, and I'm like, just talking and I just hear my name and I'm like, what? No. And then I walk back up. I walked back and then I see my dad and my stepmom She called my dad and my stepmom and it was so cute like I love I cried because it was such like a it was so sweet like the moment like it meant that. To me it meant that she saw my hard work and effort and she wanted me to have that moment. She still does. She's awesome. But 00:32:50 Sumer Beatty: Will your students participate? 00:32:52 Lauryn Stauffer: SkillsUSA helps their confidence because when I mentioned SkillsUSA, they're like, no, I can't do it. Like, I don't want to do it. I'm like, well, we're doing it. Oh, we're doing it. I remember my teacher made me do one about like, I think it was like an interviewing one. I don't think I did. I did not do great at it. 00:33:12 Sumer Beatty: But you learned something. 00:33:13 Lauryn Stauffer: I learned a lot from it. 00:33:15 Sumer Beatty: You learned you need to practice when you go for an interview. 00:33:18 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah. Yeah. SkillsUSA also helps like they have these conferences you can go to with interview prep, how to dress for an interview, team working exercises. So they help build those, but especially here. Oh my gosh. They help. The Center for Career Design, 10-10, help with all of those aspects too. Like, I was so thankful for that because I did not have, like, when I was in college, I was not, did not have the money for going to get clothing. So, going there for clothing, oh, that was the best moment ever. Loved it. My dad actually tells people about that. 00:33:54 Sumer Beatty: So, yeah, do you want to tell our listeners what you're talking about? 00:33:56 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh, the Center for Career Design. So the cool thing here is they have this closet in the Center for Career Design where you can get free professional clothing. You can pick it out too. It's pretty nice. I actually found an L. L. Bean, Penn College sweater in there. I still have it. It's so cute, but it's free and you can go in and they'll let you just venture through it and find something nice for your interview, especially since They have career fairs here and those pop up events, you can get free business cards, walk in and help. They'll help you with your resume, like, and make it sound so much better than the way you just put it there, because I was not good with wording, but the business cards are, too, are amazing. I'm really hoping to push that at my CTC because they do like, like fairs and stuff like that will do visits to companies. So, having that instead of the big resume, that would be a better thing to do. So I'm hoping I can get that part, but I'm not sure yet. But yeah, this place definitely, like that office, the Center for Career Design definitely was a key help to getting my, getting a job for me preparing and everything. 00:35:02 Carlos Ramos: That's awesome. We'll put a link in the show notes for students who might be listening to this. Even alumni can take advantage of those services. 00:35:09 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh yeah, yeah. 00:35:10 Carlos Ramos: Going back again to where you went to school before Penn College, what were some of the courses that you took there, either technical or gen eds, that Help prepare you for here. Things that you might look back and yell, I can see it on your face. You're like, ha ha, that class. 00:35:26 Lauryn Stauffer: I did dual enrollment classes. So my high school did a dual enrollment program with a community college locally. So I did speech there. I took a speech class. I took a world history class in the evenings. Which helped me here, actually, because I was able to transfer them over, and I did not have to take a speech class when I was here, so I was hearing everyone complain about their speech class, and I'm like, haha, I did that in high school. Joke's on me. Joke's on you, actually. So it was pretty funny. There's two classes I got out, so world history and speech. That helped a lot, like getting that perspective of college in that classroom feeling, because it's, Totally different than high school, like you don't need to like raise your hand to go to the bathroom or you're kind of just there learning, but it helped a lot like doing those dual enrollment classes. I took pre calc in high school to make sure I took physics to meet the get that understanding when I came here. 00:36:14 Carlos Ramos: We have dual enrollment here. 00:36:15 Lauryn Stauffer: Yes. 00:36:16 Carlos Ramos: So you probably didn't know about that until after the fact, right? 00:36:21 Lauryn Stauffer: I kind of knew about it. I was actually helping the previous teacher before me. She was trying to get this all set up for our program that I teach now. We're in the works of that. Kids are excited about it, too, because it's like You're getting college credits to come here, and that will help you take two things off your list, maybe, potentially, and then maybe add a minor, or this will give you free time to study, or do an event, or something like that, join a club, whatever it is, but, that will help them give that perspective to them that they can do other things to grow. And they're saving money, so it helps them too. 00:36:58 Sumer Beatty: And it sounds like your dual enrollment experience, you were at a college, so you were on a college campus, whereas our dual enrollment is, 00:37:04 Lauryn Stauffer: Yes. 00:37:05 Sumer Beatty: So it's taught in the classroom, in your high school classroom during the school day. So... 00:37:10 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah. 00:37:11 Sumer Beatty: There's no extra evening, weekend. 00:37:14 Lauryn Stauffer: I wish that actually was locked because I remember I took the class, the world history class. I think that was till nine o'clock at night, once a week on a Thursday. Oh my gosh, I won't lie to you. I don't stay up late. So that was rough. I still go to bed early. but yeah, this is, it's pretty cool to see the correlation and then with this dual enrollment, how they do it. The reason why I'm kind of pushing for it in my classroom is we have the same trainers, labs, and books that we use here at Penn College, and I use them in my classroom. So, what better way to make that connection grow with them to come here if they would like to? Because at our school we have three ways of, you know, connecting with them. Leaving BAVTS or Bethlehem vo-tech. We call it BAVTS. That's our like little, like we call Penn College. Post secondary, workforce, or military. So, I have two of the three opportunities already. I'm working with a company that give my kids post secondary options through here, Penn College. And through a company locally in Allentown to get them the knowledge to build their skill sets after high school. So, I'm really happy about that. 00:38:20 Sumer Beatty: So, I'm glad you brought that up because You had mentioned that your instructor at your CTE wanted you to go right into industry. 00:38:27 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah. 00:38:28 Sumer Beatty: So having been somebody who decided, no, I am going to go to post secondary, what were the benefits of taking that avenue versus, of course, just going into industry? 00:38:38 Lauryn Stauffer: Definitely think the maturity level, like your maturity level when you exit high school, so much different to when you exit college. I was pretty mature at my age, but like having going to college, it helped grow that, I would say with doing extracurriculars, like being a tour guide, being a student college relations assistant, all those things, 00:38:59 Sumer Beatty: the leadership piece to like you said, you know, how if your supervisors coming in and seeing here's Lauren, she went to college. Here's this other person. Maybe they just. They didn't, but they have a lot of years of experience, but you have shown, hey, I like working, you know, with groups of people and leading teams and, you know, it kind of positions you for more growth opportunities. 00:39:22 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, that helps as well with getting interviews, like for internships and for my full time employment. Like when I told them, like, Yeah, I do this, this, and this, and they're like, how do you manage your time, and I'm like, I manage my time very wisely, actually, my calendar is very color coded, That was like, I remember Becky Shaner, she was like vouching for that in like our trainings when I was student college relations assistant, she was like, you should copy Lauren's calendar. Her calendar is so organized. If it wasn't for this, it would taught me so much more about time managing, working with other people, too. I just think coming to college gives you time to learn that skill set, too. You're not, like, pushed to speed that process up. You're also able to be an 18 year old kid still learning because your brain's still developing until like you're 25. So think about that. Like you'll probably learn a lot after high school going into the work, but having this as an avenue to make more connections, making new friends, leadership skills, all that stuff is a great foundation to me. 00:40:23 Carlos Ramos: Once you were here, I'm sure you took advantage of at least one internship. 00:40:26 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, I worked at Victaulic. Yeah, I worked at Victaulic. They make couplings for piping systems. My grandfather worked there, which was pretty cool. I was a manufacturing intern, so I did like smaller projects with their vision systems and their robots. I was 3D printing a lot though, which is actually coming in handy now because I'm like, like four 3D printers in my classroom, so I had no clue anything about 3D printing before that. Yeah, I did that at home. Unfortunately, COVID ruined a lot of my internship opportunities, so I did the one through Victaulic, and it was a great learning curve. I'm really hoping to eventually have my kids. I know it's hard because of the ages and everything like that, but having them at least be able to shadow a job facility for a day, that Just to get that understanding more of that job role, because that was such a huge perspective to me as manufacturing, because manufacturing is very different. My dad wore, like, he didn't warn me, but he was like, this is how it's going to be just like, be prepared for it. I'm like, OK, they're like, no one's really used to your bubbly personality, so be prepared. And I'm like, OK, it helps a lot. it was also cool because my grandfather worked there, and I, he passed away, unfortunately, when I was 15, so, and he was a hard worker, he worked his butt off there, called him fast study for a reason, because he worked those CNC machines so great, so. He was awesome, but it was a cool experience. 00:41:46 Sumer Beatty: Another full circle moment. 00:41:47 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, another full circle moment. Yeah, it's still bittersweet. I love talking about that opportunity with my family. I actually have, when I was an intern there, they gave me his, like, badge number on a magnet with his last name, and I actually have that in my classroom right now. 00:42:03 Sumer Beatty: Nice. 00:42:04 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, it's pretty cool. 00:42:06 Carlos Ramos: So then after that, finishing up your program, how soon before or after you graduated did you land your initial position? I landed my initial position. 00:42:15 Lauryn Stauffer: It was my last semester, early January. 00:42:17 Sumer Beatty: Was that common among classmates to get a job before graduating? 00:42:21 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, all of my friends, I can tell you. My one friend had his job offer probably a month after mine. He lives in Montana now. My other friend, he had his probably the same time as mine. He lives in Florida. He does contract work for Universal Studios. My other friend, Roughly, I would say the same time as me, he works in Berwick. 00:42:42 Sumer Beatty: Yeah, that's good to know, that you're not, you know, graduating and then looking for a job. You already have that nailed down before you even walk across that stage. 00:42:51 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, we were all set to go. Like, our last conversations that day of graduation, we were just talking about moving. I think all of us were moving. We were all pretty much set to go. And then everything changes. Everything changes. 00:43:07 Carlos Ramos: How many offers did you have on the table? 00:43:09 Lauryn Stauffer: I did limit myself because I was gaslighting myself. So I didn't think I was that... I should have did more than I did, but when I met the people from COTI, I kind of knew, like, I wanted to work there, so I kind of, like, it made sense, so I did limit myself. My other friends, though, they had, like, five offers on the table, and they were, like, figuring out which one was best for them and everything. So, they'd be like, oh, I have an interview with that person, I have an interview with that person, and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. They were driving everywhere. They are, they had a lot of offers on the table. Like, they were. It was like little itty bitty things that would like make them want to go to that company, like health, health benefits, 401k, all that stuff. Those are big things. Yeah, we had no clue what any, like, I won't lie to you, none of us, like, we were just like figuring it out, but those are huge benefits, like getting, paying for education. I was, that's something I was looking for because I knew I wanted to keep getting my, working on my master's and stuff like that. So we were all looking at those plus and minuses to each situation. Lots of phone calls to home a lot about that stuff. 00:44:15 Sumer Beatty: And you are working on your master's currently? 00:44:17 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah. So I'm working on my master's in career technical education. 00:44:21 Sumer Beatty: And that's online. 00:44:22 Lauryn Stauffer: That is all online. Yeah, all online. 00:44:25 Sumer Beatty: Teaching during the day and a student at night. 00:44:27 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, literally, literally my life. But yeah, so that's me right now. 00:44:34 Carlos Ramos: Our career fair is coming up. 00:44:36 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, next week. 00:44:36 Carlos Ramos: Next week. Did you take advantage of those career fairs while you were here? 00:44:40 Lauryn Stauffer: I did not go my freshman year because I think it was just too overwhelming for me at first just to get that. Second year, I think that's when COVID happened, so that was like a little weird. Then my third and fourth year, I went. I think I worked it with being a student college relations assistant and I went all day. It was insane. Like it's, it's so overwhelming, not over, it's a good overwhelming to talk to all those companies, having your like little list of who you're going to talk to. Where are they located in the field house and in the Bardo gym? Or, okay, is this appropriate for me to wear that day? That's where you go to there for the cloth, the clothes, the closet. That helps so much. Like I would not have met the company. I, like Coty, I worked for my internship. I met Victaulic there. It also helped that I knew people that were actually working the event too, so they would help push me to like go places, like talk to people, or like hype me up a little bit to them, which just actually helped with Coty. Actually, the one person, she worked in the certificate of design, and she told them after I left, she's like, you need to hire her. She's awesome. Like, you've got to do it. She's amazing. And I'm like, so she helped me in that aspect, but Going to those career fairs was such a big deal. Connecting. I remember coming here last year for Coty. I was so excited, and I remember I was so mentally exhausted because it was just so much, like, you're talking to all these kids, talking about opportunities of growth, but it was such a good day. It was amazing just giving that alumni perspective to them when I was literally in their shoes like the year before. So it was pretty cool. Career Fair is amazing. Take advantage of it if a student's listening. 00:46:20 Sumer Beatty: I wanted to ask you about a mentor. I always like to ask people about a mentor, especially if you're teaching. Do you have somebody that comes to mind? 00:46:27 Lauryn Stauffer: I can say there is three people I can say that have been like the best. To me, especially right now and being in this role, would be my old teacher, Mr. Milositz or Glenn, Glenn Milositz, because I can call him by his first name now, which is still weird for me. He was the person that taught me it's okay to learn differently. Like, it's okay to learn in this different way. if you need help, I'll help you. If you want to succeed, I will help you too. I tell my kids that too. Day one, even in the rotations, day one, I'm like, I'm here to see you succeed. If you want to succeed, like, excel in these opportunities of growth here, I will help you. Like, I will vouch for you. And he did the same thing for me with SkillsUSA. I did stuff with the Rotary in Bethlehem. He was like the MVP guy. I would cry to him sometimes about home or something like that. I'm not going home. Or, you know, All that boyfriend drama in high school, like, he was always there, and he actually is my mentor there currently, because when you're a new teacher you get provided a mentor, so he is actually my mentor. The other person I'd say is Angela Thum, because she was a person that saw me transition into all of these areas of roles. I would call her occasionally or text her about, like, advice about doing certain things here. She pushed me to go into different positions in SkillsUSA. She, like, was my pusher. She really pushed me to go here. She still pushes me. It's great. It's a great motivational thing. I can't vouch for them enough. Here, though, Mr. Kinley was, like, my He had the open door policy, like, you can go in there, talk to him, he'll help you with anything, take time out of the day to help you. He always had a smile on his face, and like, I remember when I graduated, I applied for, I did that like, Teacher Excellence Award, and I like, did it for him. Like, I showed up that day in your all college meetings, I wanted to make sure I saw him get that, because he 10-10 deserved it. He worked, he worked so hard to do opportunities for the kids here. I just had a phone call with him last because he's helping me build my occupational advisory committee, which gives me insight into the industry because I don't have those eyes anymore. And he's, he's awesome. I cannot vouch any more about those people. 00:48:51 Sumer Beatty: I also love that you're building that occupational advisory board. It's similar to what the college has. So, oh yeah, that's great. So did you pick that up from? 00:49:01 Lauryn Stauffer: No. So it's actually, I think it's like a thing you have to do because it's very common in vocational schools. I have actually have, I think I got two from here. I think I snagged two. I think I snagged two. Eric Anstadt. and Clark Sarge. 00:49:17 Sumer Beatty: So I'm locked in now. They're on air. 00:49:20 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, they're locked in. Well, I have the one application, the other one I'm still waiting for, but they're locked in. I have been reaching out nonstop to companies just to build that relationship. I have a couple from like, like the Peeps manufacturing, in Bethlehem where they make all the Peeps and stuff. And then we have Victaulic I'm working with, Graola, they're doing a, hoping to do an apprenticeship with them, MDI is my big one right now. Those are to name a few. I just, they're like my big people. That's great. Yeah, it's slowly becoming together. 00:49:55 Carlos Ramos: So I'm going to give you your chance to create a new circle. Actually, to enhance a new circle, because you're already in the circle. But what advice do you have for those students back at BAVTS? 00:50:07 Lauryn Stauffer: This is your time to find yourself, I think I would say, because like, I didn't know who I really, you never know who you really truly are in high school, you have no understanding. But this is where you can grab that, I keep saying that word foundation, like grabbing that foundation to build it up for yourself to have that good ending that you want for yourself. This is their, this is their stone, their building block to building that great story that they can tell maybe similar to mine one day. Because I'm very happy, I'm very fortunate for this experience now. I love my job, even though they do drive me insane. Love you dearly. This is my job that I love, and I will advocate for it until I, I hope to be in there until I retire, because this is, this has helped so much. And I always tell them they got this, like, you got this 100%, stay in the classroom all the time. This is, but to them, vo-tech to me is you're building foundation to growing and excelling in life, and this is their time to do that, so. Don't waste your time. Don't, don't, don't waste your time, guys. You gotta do it. You gotta do it. 00:51:12 Sumer Beatty: A born teacher. 00:51:15 Lauryn Stauffer: Actually, funny thing you said that is because on Friday, I wore, I wore, I wore my Friyay sweatshirt, and we went out after school with a couple teachers, and Angela Thum was like, I think you were meant to be a teacher because I never really see that excitement out of like new teacher. Like, she's like, yeah, she's like, I just knew you're meant to do this because you just saw my sweatshirt. She's like, yeah, yeah, this is you. 00:51:42 Sumer Beatty: Good to know you're where you belong. 00:51:44 Lauryn Stauffer: Yeah, I feel so good. I love it. I'm very happy about that. 00:51:47 Sumer Beatty: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us today after a very busy weekend. 00:51:51 Lauryn Stauffer: No, I, I appreciate you guys taking the time to do this. I loved it. And I can't wait to hear, let everyone hear it, so... 00:51:58 Sumer Beatty: yay. I can't wait either. 00:52:01 Carlos Ramos: Thanks, Lauren. 00:52:04 Sumer Beatty: Thanks for hanging out with us today. 00:52:06 Carlos Ramos: Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. 00:52:10 Sumer Beatty: Check out our show notes for bookmarks to your favorite sections and links to resources that we mentioned in today's episode. 00:52:17 Carlos Ramos: You can also find past episodes and see what's on deck for upcoming ones at pct.edu/podcast. 00:52:23 Sumer Beatty: And, of course, we are open to your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, so send those over at podcast@pct.edu. 00:52:32 Carlos Ramos: It's been real. 00:52:33 Sumer Beatty: Catch you next time. 00:52:37 Lauryn Stauffer: I told the kids day one, and they're like, oh, Ms. Stauffer, and they were prepping me with questions. They're like, what happens if they ask you this? Why you chose this job? And I'm like, well, 00:52:46 Sumer Beatty: I'm going to ask you that. 00:52:47 Lauryn Stauffer: Oh, okay.