Episode 19 - Phi Theta Kappa

[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to Kendall speaks. I am Dr. Brian Stewart Kendall, campus president. And today we are blessed to have a great group of students and a faculty advisor. We're here with our Phi Theta Kappa students. We'll introduce each of them as we go around the room. But thank you guys all for being here today. It's a great way to end the week. And happy Valentine's Day to everyone. [00:00:26] Speaker B: Happy Valentine's Day. [00:00:27] Speaker A: All right, let's start with our president, Eric. Talk a little bit about yourself. Tell us how you came to the Kendall campus, what your major, kind of what the future looks like. [00:00:35] Speaker C: First of all, thank you so much for having us. I really appreciate it. My name is Eric Pinzone. I'm a second year here at Miami Dade, part of the Honors College, Biology, pre med, and Phi Theta Kappa has been instrumental within my time here at Miami Dade. It's been able to give me a community to be a part of while also impacting the community around us. And it's been an incredible opportunity to meet people and be a part of something that's larger than myself. [00:00:58] Speaker A: You're an Honors College student also, and. [00:01:00] Speaker C: Your major is biology? [00:01:02] Speaker A: Pretty much. You said that. My bad. All right, welcome. Glad to have you. [00:01:04] Speaker C: No worries. [00:01:05] Speaker A: Nicole, tell us about yourself. [00:01:07] Speaker D: So my name is Nicole Rodriguez. I'm a second year here at Miami Dade. I'm majoring in business, mainly going for entrepreneurship because I'm interested in having my own business. And I joined Phi Theta Kappa last year just because I thought it was an excellent program. I thought the connections were wonderful, and the scholarships and the opportunities that I had. [00:01:28] Speaker A: Are you an officer right now, or. [00:01:29] Speaker D: Yes, I am. I'm on the E Board. I'm the vice president of Fellowship. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Okay, Gabby, introduce yourself. [00:01:36] Speaker E: Hi. My name is Gabby Santorina. I'm a first year here at the Kendall campus. I'm also in the Honors College. I'm majoring in veterinary science, hopefully to be a veterinarian. At some point. I joined Phi Theta Kappa, obviously. Just a second on everybody saying, like, the community and definitely, like, the scholarships and the opportunities that they give us. But I also loved when I heard about Phi Theta Kappa. I was introduced to Eric and Sophie, and they were super welcoming, and they answered all their questions that I had, like, super nicely, and it just showed me. That's definitely, like, a group that I definitely want to be a part of. So I'm also a junior board member, hopefully. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Awesome. Awesome. That's great to have. Okay, Max, introduce yourself, please. [00:02:17] Speaker F: Hello, my name is Max Rodriguez. I'm a junior officer for ptk, I'm majoring in business. I'm a first year in the Honors College. And yeah, being a part of PTK has been awesome. I mean, all the mentorship opportunities, the scholarships that are going to be open to us in the future, I mean, it's great being able to help out others and help out in our community as well. So, yeah, I'm very excited for what's to come. [00:02:36] Speaker A: And what's your major, Max? [00:02:37] Speaker F: Business. [00:02:39] Speaker A: All right, well, glad to have you today. [00:02:40] Speaker G: Thank you. [00:02:40] Speaker A: And Sophia. [00:02:41] Speaker B: Hi. My name is Sofia Tarnow. I am the vice president of membership for Phi Theta Kappa. I am a Honors college student here on this campus. I'm a second year and I'm a political science major. Joining Phi Theta Kappa and being a part of it, I was actually just like Max and Gabby in my first year, a junior officer alongside with Eric. And I was my first year able to see exactly how, you know, the HIA Project worked and how Phi Theta Kappa was. And I loved how engaged it was in its community. And so I wanted to be able to assist others, to be able to feel the same way that I was in my first year. So now in my second year, I'm, you know, trying to offer so many opportunities for students, being able to show students what research is, being able to show students the importance of Phi Theta Kappa and scholarships and community service. So so far, you know, being a part of Phi Theta Kappa has been a highlight in my college experience. [00:03:35] Speaker A: Awesome. Thank you for being here and also your leadership in our Student Government Association. [00:03:39] Speaker B: Yes, yes. I'm the director of Public speaking and Engagement for the Student Government association, and I also am the secretary for the Pre Law Society here on campus. [00:03:50] Speaker A: Every one of these students are busy, so as you'll hear that as we talk, and to lead this amazing group, we have one of our endowed teaching chairs. His hands are in many things, but today he's the Phi Theta Kappa isa. Professor Johnson, tell us a little bit about yourself. You're a veteran on this program, by the way. [00:04:03] Speaker G: Yes. Thanks again for inviting us. Like Eric said, I'm Steven Johnson. I work in the World Language Department. I'm a foreign language and English professor and I also work with the Honors College. I first had contact with Phi Theta Kappa at the Padrone campus. I was working there and I used to help with their induction ceremonies every spring. And so when I came to Kendall campus in 2011 as a faculty member, full time faculty, I soon got involved with PTK in 2013. So this is about 11 years that I've been working as the advisor, and I enjoy working with these fantastic wards year after year and getting to know some of our top students. [00:04:42] Speaker A: We're glad you're at Kendall and glad you were at Pedrone, but we're more glad you're here now. So thank you. Thank you for your leadership. [00:04:47] Speaker G: Thank you. [00:04:48] Speaker A: Let's go around the room and you all kind of hit this question, but let's talk a little bit more about what motivated you to join Phi Theta Kappa and maybe share some experiences so far that you think might help our audience and maybe those students out there who say, hey, should I join Phi Theta Kappa? Eric, you want to lead us off with that? [00:05:04] Speaker C: Sure. The reason I joined Phi Theta Kappa was genuinely out of a friend. He told me about it my first year at the Honors College. He was my mentor. He told me, hey, you should look into Phi Theta Kappa. And through there, I started realizing that Phi Theta Kappa is an incredible opportunity. Genuinely, the amount of scholarships that they offer for us students and then as well as that. But the community service that's involved within the Phi Theta Kappa organization and here at Miami Dade, one thing that we really value is that community. And I feel that throughout the entire year and the past two years, we've been able to really see the change that we're making on our students and our community as well. So I think Phi Theta Kappa, it just sounded like a no brainer, right? Having the opportunity to not only benefit myself through scholarships and find opportunities through there, but also have an impact on the community and be able to make a larger change. [00:05:53] Speaker A: It really is a no brainer. I think that's. It's such a great organization. So. Well said. Nicole, what do you have to add? Any experiences you want to share. [00:06:01] Speaker D: Yeah. So I joined Phi Theta Kappa, not really just for the scholarships, even though that was a really great incentive to join, but it was more for the connections. Because when I was reading about it, when I got the email, I was invited into it, I noticed that a lot of schools, they see this on your application and they love it. It says a lot about you as a student. It says that you're determined. And I really wanted to go. Well, I still want to go to an Ivy League, and one of the Ivy Leagues that I want to go to is highly connected. And Phi Theta Kappa, they love it. They have a program or a club over there that's modeled after Phi Theta Kappa, or actually Phi Theta Kappa is modeled after Phi Beta Kappa. So I saw that and I was like, oh, I have to join, you know, and actually they have transfer like zooms. And it put me in touch with one of the, the transfer admissions representatives on one of the zooms. So that was wonderful. I don't think I would have had that connection otherwise, like without Phi Theta Kappa. [00:06:57] Speaker A: I'm so glad you talked about the resume because that is a great thing to have on your resume. It's a very great point that you mentioned. Gabby, what do you know? What do you think? [00:07:05] Speaker E: I. I joined because definitely at Club Rush, I saw a huge crowd in front of this table and I had to know what it was. And after I looked into it, I thought it was again a great opportunity. I saw so many scholarship opportunities and again, like how Nicole said, like, I saw that you can, this is a great something that you can put on your resume at some point. And what really extra motivated me was how many people are in there. And it kind of, I mean, as a first year, it's kind of scary going into such big, like communities because you don't really know anybody. But also you don't know anybody. So you get to meet so many new people. And I've met tons of friends that I now do study groups with from this club because at the same time everybody in that community has the same goal, which is to succeed. So you get along with everybody great. [00:07:51] Speaker A: And they'll be friends for life too, for sure. Max, what about your experiences? [00:07:54] Speaker F: Yeah, so for me, I actually joined just because of Eric. He was my mentor for the sharks. [00:08:00] Speaker A: Guarding sharks and, and he's smiling very big right now. [00:08:03] Speaker F: He was the one that told me about PTK and how many opportunities they offer to their students. And I just thought like it's. I just want to be a part of that. I mean, the connections, being with like all these like minded students that want to strive for greatness, it's something that I definitely wanted to be a part of and surround myself with. The experiences have impacted me so far. I mean, I've gotten so involved with Miami Dade more than I ever thought I was going to be. And it's just been great being able to meet students on campus, being able to talk with other mentors and other second years. And I feel like I would have never had those opportunities without ptk. So it's, it's definitely been a very rewarding experience. [00:08:36] Speaker A: Very good. Sophia, what about your experiences? [00:08:38] Speaker B: I think for me it's a little bit more different. In high school, I was always very involved with community service. I was part of different clubs. You know, I did a lot of leadership. And when I got into college, I didn't want to lose that. I wanted to continue on with being able to do leadership and community service and being part of my community. So when I first joined, I know everybody always spoke about the amazing scholarships that we offer, but my main goal was to be able to actually be a part and be able to assist and be a part of the community. And I loved being able to go to any events that they would offer. I would go to all the meetings. I would try to be engaged as much as possible. And, you know, Phi Theta Kappa has honestly been amazing with that because, you know, sometimes I even forget. I'm like, wow. We do offer, you know, hundreds of scholarships, but my main focus is being able to make sure that Phi Theta Kappa isn't just, you know, a club inside of Miami Dade. It's a club that's assisting its community. It's assisting outside neighborhoods, assisting people that truly need it. And I think because of pck, I noticed that it also reshaped my thought with, quote, unquote, community colleges, because PCK is such a highly known club that it just ups the level for any campus that does have it. [00:09:52] Speaker A: Very well said. Thank you for that, Gabby. Phi Theta Kappa is known for its academic excellence. How do you balance the leadership responsibilities in your coursework? [00:10:01] Speaker E: Yes. So for me, the best way I handle it is by writing everything down. For me, my planner is my holy grail. I can't do anything in my week if it's not written down to the time and point. I like to visually see what I'm going to do, whether it's volunteering, whether it's my class schedule, whether it's just activities that I'm going to be doing throughout the campus, I need to visually see it. So at the end of the day, it. It keeps me from being overwhelmed, and it also helps me be more productive. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Very good. Eric, what about you? [00:10:32] Speaker C: I just want to piggyback off of that. But genuinely, having a calendar. Never in my life that I use a calendar up until I got to college. And I realized that it really is vital to have everything organized. But I genuinely will say the main thing that has affected me with balancing is having people to lean on. Thankfully, the people before us that gave us the opportunity to be part of the E Board and give me the opportunity to be president, they really gave me an incredible team. With Sophia Tarnow, with Nicole, and with everybody else on the E Board, genuinely, they've been so incredible to lean on. And as president, we have. So I Have so many, you know, things I need to do for the club. But as well, being a biology pre med, I'm very focused on my studies. [00:11:13] Speaker A: Right. [00:11:14] Speaker C: So it's a difficult balance, but I'm so eternally grateful to be able to lean on the people by my side. [00:11:20] Speaker A: Very good. Very good. Let's talk a little bit about how Phi Theta Kappa has influenced your academic journey and your study habits. You both talked about the journaling, but for anyone, anybody can jump in here, talk about how the journey has helped you become a better student. [00:11:34] Speaker B: I mean, for me Personally, I think Phi 3 Kappa has taught me to be more organized, for sure. I think one of the main reasons why is because since Phi Theta Kappa is, I think, if not one of the biggest clubs on the Kendall campus, it also reminded me that there's other people, such as its members, relying on me. Because I will go through my day and I'll look at my phone and then all of a sudden I have you, you know, five text messages, 10 text messages. I wake up to two emails, and I'm just. Sometimes I get overwhelmed. But then I notice, you know, that is my responsibility to be able to assist these students. And so I think one of the biggest things is because of Phi Theta Kappa in my time in college, it's taught me to take a step back, look at what I have, and be able to organize myself instead of just crumbling under the pressure. And I know now because of the amount of responsibility that I gained from Phi Theta Kappa, or once I transfer, I'll have a better gauge when I go to, you know, a new university of all the responsibilities that I'm going to be having. And you know, for me personally, like, I. I think Pfizer Cap has just taught me how to be more of a leader in a higher level education because, you know, in high school, you have your teacher, you have your friends, you. It's not as serious. And then when you get to college, they're asking you questions and you're just like, well, I have no idea how to answer that question. Let me get back to you. So it definitely has taught me how to be able to really upgrade myself as a person. [00:13:02] Speaker A: Very good. Anyone else? [00:13:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:04] Speaker D: So sort of similar to what Sophia said, I think the Phi Theta Kappa has been an incentive to do better, to try harder, to study harder, just because you're also an example to other people. There's like a standard that's held to be a part of Phi Theta Kappa and, you know, you have to maintain your gpa. But also, if you're the best, then that's even better. So that's just something that I've kept in mind throughout studying and being a student and being part of Phi Theta Kappa. I just want to be what Phi Theta Kappa is supposed to be. The best. [00:13:35] Speaker A: Very good. Very good. Professor Johnson, let's talk a little bit about some of your mentorship experiences. What are some of those memorable opportunities you've had to mentor students and a part of their journey? [00:13:47] Speaker G: Thanks for the question. So one of my favorite parts about working with these students is they're all unique, but they're all brilliant, and they all have really creative ideas. And so I really enjoy seeing this journey of an idea turning into an impact. And throughout the years, we've had students that will come to me and they'll say, I had this experience. And I've been thinking, how can we improve this for our community? Or, how can we make this better? And so they take an experience and they internalize it, and they look around their community and see needs, and then they try to figure out how to meet the needs. Two examples. We had one of our board members, when they were here on campus, his sister was diagnosed with cancer. And so as part of that journey, he wanted to turn our college project into a fundraiser for young people with cancer. And so we ended up having. We had several events on campus. We had a soccer tournament. This was back before we had the fantastic soccer fields we were on, like, the little. The little makeshift soccer fields. But we had a weekend event. We invited PTK members from all across our college. They came, they paid to play, we sold food. We had several fundraising ideas, and we were able to raise almost $5,000 with that event. So just to see how that impacted and for him to be able to honor his sister through that fundraiser more recently, one of our board members, Luis, came to me last year with an idea of he's an immigrant here in this country, and he wanted to offer math tutoring for immigrants, and he wanted to provide a service for people who felt maybe a little bit too shy to go to the math lab or perhaps to go in and register for tutoring in English. And so several members of this group here today and other members have taken this idea, and they've grown it and been able to serve more than 50 students each semester. And not only on this campus, but now it's been planted at West Campus and some of the other campuses. So we're really looking around with open eyes to see where we can observe and solve needs that our students have. [00:16:10] Speaker A: That'S incredible, and it's great to see it expand like that to other campuses for the student. Max, you mentioned mentorship a minute ago. Anybody else have any mentorship experiences you want to share? [00:16:19] Speaker B: I think we should let Max go first. If anything, we could follow up just because he seemed excited. [00:16:24] Speaker A: Good call, Sabia. [00:16:26] Speaker F: Yeah, I mean, just like I said before, Eric was my mentor for Strikes, getting Sharks, and he's also my mentor here in ptk, and it's been a great experience. I mean, he's helped me out with anything I needed, and especially joining the junior board. I was a little lost in the beginning, but Eric was very set on, like, helping me out and giving me anything I needed, honestly. And Sofia Tarnow as well. So they've both just been a very great help and kind of this shifting experience from not being in any clubs to now being having a bigger position on a club, and it's been very rewarding. They've been amazing, and I couldn't ask for better E board members. So, yeah, it's been awesome. [00:17:01] Speaker A: And you got some big shoes to fill next year, so. Yeah, take as good a notes as you can right now, for sure. [00:17:06] Speaker F: Making me a little nervous. [00:17:07] Speaker A: No, no, no. You got lots of people to help you. Anybody else on mentorship? [00:17:11] Speaker B: I think just in general, the official eboard tries their best to be fully transparent with everybody. I think that's our main goal. You know, in my first year, I had. You know, we had an amazing president last year, Valeria. She was amazing. And, you know, one day I spoke to her and I said, hey, you know, I really want to be able to know how you do the hia. Like. Like, I want to see how you do the research. And she took the time out of her day during applications to be able to actually jump on a zoom call with me and go step by step of how you do the hia, even though she didn't have to do that. And I think that's one of the biggest things. I think PTK is not just only assisting people with being able to figure out, you know, what they're doing in the club, but we want to be able to make sure that we're also assisting them outside of the club, too. You know, what's going on in their life, what's happening, how can we assist you? I put these two. I put Max and Eric together because I'm, you know, the director of Sharks getting sharks, and when I put them together, I was like, you know, that's. They're just together. But actually, it was a great match, as I see. But the main thing is that, you know, with Max and Gabby, I'm constantly asking them, making sure that they know what is their next step, what is their next plan. Because, you know, you want to make sure that the people that you're in a team with and a part of are okay as, as a whole. [00:18:25] Speaker A: That's great. And help them as they move to that next step. Well, let's move to another part of Phi Theta Kappa. Professor Johnson, let's talk a little bit about the goals for the chapter for the year from your perspective. And then we'll move to maybe some of the students thoughts. [00:18:38] Speaker G: So for those of you who may be unfamiliar with ptk, if you're listening about, if you're hearing about it for the first time, the three pillars that guide PTK are number one, academics, number two, leadership, and number three, service. And so whenever we look to a new year, I like to sit down with our new board members and I always tell them I'm a very hands off advisor. I give them these are our pillars and I want them to have as much input as possible and I want them to sort of guide the ship as long as we are in those three areas. And this board has been wonderful at doing that. They've picked projects that we give them a framework, we give them themes, we give them guidelines. But within that framework, within those guidelines, I think they have a lot of freedom to pick and choose the projects that they want. And so this group has done a great job in 2024 with our honors in Action project, with our theme for these two years is Narrative Stories. And we've chosen to select immigrant voices to reflect the community that we live in in South Florida. And so we want to continue that in the next year. We're really looking to encourage the new officers who are coming in to pick up on the great work that has been done this year and take it even further. I think that in 2025 we hope to expand our peer to peer mentoring projects in some way. Maybe continue to focus on math for immigrants or perhaps look at other ways that we can serve our campus. And also just to take this project on immigrant stories one step further because this is a theme or a topic that is important at the local, at the regional, state, national level these days. And so we want to learn more about immigrant stories. We have a group that's going to be doing a research trip very soon in March. They're going to D.C. to visit Smithsonian museums and to meet with the American Latino Veterans association and see how we can tie the service that Hispanic immigrants have provided to the armed forces, how we can bring that back and represent that here in this community. And so we're looking forward to the new opportunities in 2025. [00:20:57] Speaker A: That's great. Has anyone been to the Smithsonian before? [00:21:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. I've been to a few there. [00:21:02] Speaker A: It's amazing. [00:21:03] Speaker B: It's. It's incredible. [00:21:05] Speaker A: Love it. Let's move on to leadership now. Let's talk a little bit about leadership you've gotten in Phi Theta Kappa and how you see that helping you in the future. Because, you know, we're all looking ahead to. You don't want to leave Miami Dade College Kindle this soon, but, you know, that's coming. So talk a little bit of how you see your leadership here helping you in the future. [00:21:24] Speaker B: I think for me, I learned how to work with other people in high school. I was very much, very independent. And then as I got into college, I noticed that I have a really a bigger workload. I have classes, I have an internship. I had, you know, at the time, two jobs, other clubs, and it was just, you know, a lot. So I tried to rely on others. I definitely think that being a part of Phi Theta Kappa taught me how to be able to deal with certain situations, such as, you know, not confrontation, but being able to discuss with other board members if there's an issue, how to be able to resolve it. And also taught me that, you know, it's not just certain hours that you're contacting people and working with your club members. You could be working till, you know, I think. I don't know what. How late did we work with the grant portion? [00:22:12] Speaker C: Oh, it might have been 10. [00:22:13] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe 10:30, 11:00pm and, you know, throughout all of that, we weren't complaining. We weren't getting mad. It was just a matter of just, you know, we. Well, we tried not to get mad, but it was just a matter of, you know, we wanted to get it done, to be able to make sure there were not any letting any members down. That's just the main thing, is that you're not just assisting just a few people. You're assisting a whole entire campus. So I think what Phi Theta Kappa did in leadership is just excel the amount of skills that we had and made them more enhanced. [00:22:45] Speaker C: I will say, coming out of high school, I played sports, so I was always part of a team, but I was never really a leader. I was more of a role player. So having the opportunity, coming to college and being more independent and realizing, hey, I'm. If I want to be the type of person that I want to get to, I want to be a physician, I need leadership in my life. I need to learn how to be part of a team, but also how to lead. So Phi Theta Kappa truly gave me that experience. And alongside with the E Board, working on the hia, working on volunteering opportunities, working on everything, it's been incredible just to have other people by my side, not only guiding me, but also telling me, hey, look, let's do this. Hey, let's not do this. And alongside with Dr. Johnson, he's been an incredible asset for the. For the team we have here at Miami Dade. So it's just been incredible. And I think that truly being part of Phi Theta Kappa and being president has just shown me a level of leadership that I'll take into the rest of my life, whether it's at my university, whether it's hopefully in medical school or my residency, wherever it'll take me. But genuinely, I think it established a pillar of leadership that I won't ever have anywhere else. [00:23:48] Speaker A: It's well said. You know, I think about all the students that I run across and how, you know, we always think high school was so important, and I always take that a grain of salt. But when you come to college, it's a whole different world, for sure. You know, you were talking about being an athletics. That's something that I can relate to. But I think about high school, but then I think about college with such a much different level, and just wait till you're in the business or wait till you're. You're out of college, and you see all these experiences come together and help you in real life. So. So that's great. Let's move back. Professor Johnson talked about the three pillars. Let's talk about service. Phi Theta Kappa has always done a wonderful job emphasizing service. Let's talk a little bit about, from the students perspective, what kind of service projects you want to let our audience know? Max, you want to go first? I like it when someone's enthusiastic and wants to answer the question. Learned that from Sophia a minute ago. [00:24:36] Speaker F: So, I mean, the collaborations that we've had with the different clubs, and we had one just recently with Ecofutures. We had a beach cleanup, and it was. It was great being able to meet with everybody and clean up our beaches that were surprisingly, very, very filthy. I didn't. I didn't notice they were that dirty. And so we're actually there cleaning it up. And even just talking with the Other students. Some of the second years that are in ptk, I found out about a different club called the Smith Club. I joined that from one of the. From one of the second years. [00:25:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:02] Speaker F: He was telling me about that and it was great. Just the whole community coming out and cleaning up the beaches, helping out wherever. Wherever we can. [00:25:10] Speaker A: And. [00:25:10] Speaker F: And the mentorship and the connections that we were all able to create was. Was amazing. [00:25:15] Speaker A: So which beach did you clean up? Because I'm planning on going to the beach this weekend. [00:25:18] Speaker B: It was Crandon. [00:25:19] Speaker F: It was Crandon. [00:25:19] Speaker A: Crandon Beach. Okay. [00:25:20] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:25:21] Speaker C: Just to specify. It was Virginia Key beach. And it was actually after the hurricane that passed by around I believe, November or October. It passed the one that hit Tampa. So that was the beach that we cleaned up. It was surprisingly very dirty, but we were able to clean it up. And honestly that's what PTK is all about. Not only helping our community, but also making connections along the way. I know the president of Smith and he's a great guy and just Matt's having that opportunity is great. And it comes straight from ptk. [00:25:49] Speaker A: We have amazing clubs. But I agree with you. Service is something that Phi Theta Kappa does so well and that's very well said. Anyone else on service? [00:25:57] Speaker E: Yeah, I definitely want to talk about the service that we do with the Gilbert Porter elementary students that I think is so heartwarming that we're able to go in and work with such elementary students and be able to do different activities with them. Like the last time we went, I think it was we made snowmen. [00:26:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:14] Speaker E: Out of marshmallows. And I'm pretty sure it was for like a Christmas party and even, even so small activities. But we just saw the joy on these kids faces and it just, it was so heartwarming for me. So. And it just shows that like PTK isn't just for our own benefit, but it's to benefit others and in any way possible. And I think that's best part of PTK. [00:26:32] Speaker A: Well, Dr. Johnson was close enough to the microphone. I'd ask him this, but that's why we all became teachers and professors. To see that look on students faces. That's what gets us up in the morning. So that's really good. We've all talked a little bit about scholarship and transfer opportunities. Talk a little bit to our audience about how important those are. You've mentioned them, but I want to emphasize those again because that's a hallmark of this organization. [00:26:54] Speaker C: I can go ahead and speak about the scholarships that PTK Offers. So primarily, there's a bunch of scholarships depending on what you're applying for, what major, what you're studying. But truly, the main thing about Phi Theta Kappa is the honor that comes with it. And once you're a member, you are a member of an honor society, and you are recognized throughout the entire country, no matter where you go, right? Primarily, one of those is the Coca Cola Leaders of Promise. And you're going to apply that as a freshman your summer term. And hopefully, if you're lucky enough to win it, you're able to show that and demonstrate your level of not only intelligence, but also service to the community, also level of leadership, and also different opportunities that you've been able to find yourself in. Along from that, we have the Jack Handcut Scholarship that isn't necessarily tied with Phi Theta Kappa, but it is extremely influential being part of Phi Theta Kappa. And they even ask you, on the. On the scholarship, are you a part of Phi Theta Kappa, which is vital to your application. Alongside, there's the All American team, the All Florida team, the amsa. There's so many scholarships, the DLUTA for nursing. There's so many scholarships. And Primarily that's only 4 or Phi Theta Kappa members. And that's what's beautiful, that once you're part of this, you're now a part of a small, select group that's able to apply to all these scholarships and really promote you and push you into that next level of being a student. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Professor Johnson, I think we need to cut that last 30 seconds and send that to Phi Theta Kappa as an advertisement. One of the things we haven't talked about from my memory of Phi Theta Cap are the conferences and all the great events you attend. Why don't you talk about some of the conferences? Have you all been to Nationals? [00:28:31] Speaker B: We haven't gotten to nationals yet, but we did a symposium last year with all the other Miami Dade College campuses. So in the symposium, what we did is that we displayed all of our projects, all of the campuses. Basically, it was a competition against all the other campuses. And I had the pleasure of being able to be a part of the creation of that project last year where we went into, actually Gibberport Elementary School, and we did research with those students, and we brought it back and we displayed it. And, you know, not to brag, but Kendall did get first place with the symposium. [00:29:04] Speaker A: I was gonna ask that. [00:29:04] Speaker B: Yes, we got first place, and we're really happy to be able to get first place because, you know, you work really hard on those projects and when you're sharing it, you. All that's going through your head is, wow, we did put in so much work into these projects. And we want to be able to go to conferences. We want students to be able to see the other information that other campuses are gaining, because then you're able to just get that knowledge and then use it in your own campus. [00:29:29] Speaker A: Very good. Anyone? Have we been to State? Talk a little bit about the state Phi Theta Kappa Commerce. Professor Johnson, if you would. [00:29:36] Speaker G: So the state and national conferences, since when Covid came and we didn't have the opportunity to travel to the national conferences, and we haven't started going back, but we. That's one of the goals that we have coming up for. For this coming year or the next year is to start going back to National Conference. We have been to the State conference, not with this particular board, but we've. We've done it over the past few years. We have always had representation, like Eric mentioned, the Coca Cola scholarships, the all Florida. We've had applicants for the all usa, and so we have gone to those award ceremonies, and we've had students there representing Kento campus there. I wanted to jump in and just quickly mention that in addition to all the scholarship opportunities that PTK offers, many universities offer tuition discounts or they offer tuition rebates for PTK members. [00:30:30] Speaker A: Thank you for that. [00:30:31] Speaker G: We actually have more of our members who get tuition discounts or rebates than we have who get scholarships. So there are numerous universities here in South Florida, across the state, across the nation, even, like, applying to Boston University. Now, Boston University offers a $25,000 discount for PTK members. So that's just one example. [00:30:50] Speaker A: That's great. [00:30:50] Speaker G: And so it's often more beneficial to get that. You know, the universities want our PTK students to transfer to them, and so they really put the dollars out there to demonstrate that desire to have them there. [00:31:03] Speaker A: And if we haven't convinced our audience to apply, talk a little bit about initiatives next year that are coming up that you'd want our students to know about. [00:31:10] Speaker G: Well, again, I always try to involve the board and bring them into the conversation, but there are some ideas that we're going to be presenting to the new board once we get them in later this semester. First and foremost, like I said, we want to continue this. We have one more year of our migrant stories, so we want to continue to archive stories, and we hope that we can partner with MDC's Freedom Tower, and perhaps we can have some kind of a role in representing immigrant Stories in the displays or the presentations that we can offer there. In addition to that, we want to continue to expand our services to the students here at Kendall Campus by working closely with Academic Affairs, Student Services, with your office, to see where we can step in and play a role in improving the experience that students have on this campus. We have a number of members and board members, and some of you may be in the letter exchange program in this. [00:32:09] Speaker B: No, I'm currently not a part of Leave, but I love assisting with leap. [00:32:14] Speaker G: We have a connection to the Homestead Correctional Facility, and I've been working with Professor Kano from the North Campus, who is involved with the Institute for Educational Excellence that offers classes from through MDC in correctional facilities here in the county. And so one thing that we want to do is expand PTK membership to two people who are currently incarcerated because PTK changed their rules in 2017 to extend and offer membership to people who are taking classes while they're serving their sentences. And so that's something that's really important to this group of students. And so we want to pick up on that. I'm thinking particularly of Victor Michel and his passion to help students who are incarcerated. So we want to try to bring that into our. Our program for 2025. [00:33:04] Speaker A: That's incredible. I had no idea that that was there. And this has been a great conversation. I want to end with one more question for everybody. What advice would you give to students who are listening to this podcast today to join Phi Theta Kappa and talk also about how you encourage them to be a leader? And we'll start with you, Eric, as the president this year, you get to kick this last question off. [00:33:23] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:33:24] Speaker C: Honestly, I always say, just go for it. I tell every first year that I meet, whether in the honors college or whether they're just asking me for help, I tell them, go for it. Go for every opportunity there, because you never know what will come from it. Through Phi Theta Kappa and through the leadership of the second years. When I was a first year, I found so many mentors. One of the people on the E Board told me about this research opportunity, and then I started doing research at um. Another one told me about joining sga, and I decided to join it. But genuinely, just go for it. Don't be scared to step outside of your box and be happy with being in discomfort. It's okay to be uncomfortable because that's where you grow the most. [00:34:06] Speaker A: And that's what college is all about. [00:34:07] Speaker C: That's what it's all about. [00:34:08] Speaker A: So that's good. Nicole. What do you think? What would you say to a student? [00:34:12] Speaker D: I would definitely suggest joining. I would highly recommend it. There's so many opportunities that come out of it. I also think that even if you're mildly interested in it, if you have the opportunity to join, since it's just by invitation, I would join it anyway. Even if you're doing nothing, you're really doing something and there's a lot of opportunities that you'll have and then you also meet a lot of people, which is really great. [00:34:33] Speaker A: That's great. That's great. Gabby, what do you think? [00:34:35] Speaker E: Yeah, I definitely, as a first year for sure, I would definitely tell my other first years to join. I got a lot of my friends to join. But I think it's more than just the opportunities. I really do believe that there's nothing like having a mentor and being able to grow into and be able to transition into such leadership roles. And I think my mentors are doing great jobs definitely in that transition. And like, not even that, but just the activities that we do, it's just so fulfilling and it really gives you like a purpose on what you're doing. And I really believe that if anybody has free time, I think joining a club and specifically PTK would be the best way to go. [00:35:12] Speaker A: Yeah, well said. You made me think of orientation too. That's also a very special time. I haven't been had a chance to be here for it. Assume I'll get an invitation maybe coming up. But that was always one of my favorite things that you talk about what students enjoy. And that's another one. Max, what do you. What would you say to our students? [00:35:28] Speaker F: So for me, I would say it's much bigger than just a scholarship. I feel like it's very nice seeing those, those numbers of the scholarships that they offer, but I mean, it's also just how it makes you want to become involved, to have those opportunities to apply those scholarships. So even for myself, I find myself joining sga, joining these other clubs and gaining more experience within these different leadership positions. And I feel like it's amazing be able to start something from the ground up and be able to continue this next year. So I would definitely encourage the first years coming in next year to definitely join and become a part of something that's just honestly amazing. [00:36:05] Speaker A: Thank you for that. Sophia, what would you say to our students? [00:36:08] Speaker B: You know, I think the best advice is this is for any club, you could always join a club, but what you do in that club actually really matters. And I think if you want to be A part of ptk. And the scholarships are amazing. It truly. All the benefits are truly amazing to be able to have from ptk. But I think if you want to join ptk, use it. You know, you get to learn so much about yourself when you're a part of ptk, because you're going to events, you're going to community services, you're going to new groups, you're meeting new people, and it allows you to be able to develop as a person and to be able to see, maybe I don't want to major in this. Maybe I do want to do this. Maybe I don't want to do this. Or you get opportunities from it in general. And so I think it's just a matter of actually taking advantage of what PTK offers. That's the best advice that I'm able to give is just to actually use PTK for what it truly offers. [00:37:01] Speaker A: Professor Johnson's back here, smiling like a father, and I have to aphra, if he has the last word, if you'd like to say anything about what this organization means to you, because I know you put a lot into it, and it's a labor of love. [00:37:13] Speaker G: Yeah. One of my favorite experiences is every year when we induct new members, and they often bring their family members or even their kids, you know, and we have one student, her name is Luisa, who just became a new member. And she wrote me an email and was telling me about her story how she dropped out of high school and she just started working for a private insurance company. And she thought that would be her life, you know, making a small salary, working for this company forever. And when she got married and had kids, the children inspired her to push herself. And so she came back to Miami Dade. She got her ged, she enrolled in our associates program, finished her associates in one year, became a PTK member, and now she's really motivated to go on and finish her bachelor's and then move up in her career and make life better, not only for herself, but for her family. That's what I like to see. When students are put into this context of ptk, they push each other. They motivate each other to do better. And so that makes our work as educators easier because they're seeing the success of one another, and they want to be part of that. [00:38:21] Speaker A: Your story not only changed that student's life, but generations of that family's life. And that's another thing that's important. Yeah. Well, thank you guys for being here. Today we like to end our Kendall Speaks broadcast By turning the microphone around and putting the pressure on me. So would anybody want to ask me a question? [00:38:35] Speaker B: I think I would like to ask. [00:38:37] Speaker A: I knew this was coming. [00:38:39] Speaker B: I would like to ask. You know, I heard that you're an advisor back when you were in Texas. Correct? [00:38:45] Speaker A: Correct. [00:38:45] Speaker B: Or PTK yourself. How. How was that? [00:38:48] Speaker A: So I was a math professor at the time, and it was probably about my fifth year on the faculty and I was asked to serve as a co advisor. I was assistant advisor. I guess I was. And so I got to be an assistant advisor for about two years and that lady retired. And all of a sudden I became the advisor. And I have to say it was the best experience I've ever had. After I'd been a math chair there, I'd been offered to move to another campus as a dean. And I refused to move if I couldn't take Phi Theta Kappa with me. And I started a new campus in Texas at my college. And that was the only reason I would move. When I drove off the campus, that was the saddest part of leaving that campus was Phi Theta Kappa. So it's just. Yeah, I had the chance to work with students at the medical campus, but, you know, the Phi Theta Kappa, there's a lot different because, you know, those students have a different role than you guys do. Coming to this campus where it's more a typical college environment, it's been incredible. And I look forward to the future to even do more with Phi Theta Kappa. So I'll be the behind the scenes support for anything. Dr. Johnson needs that. [00:39:50] Speaker B: That's incredible. [00:39:51] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:39:52] Speaker C: I just want to chip in real quick. You know, we've been talking about how we've been able to affect Miami Dade and our community outside of here, but what do you see as something that we can change here at Miami Dade College and especially the Kendall campus? What are some things that PTK can help with? [00:40:07] Speaker A: What? It's interesting that you mentioned your math project. I had a call today with all of our math faculty looking at what we can do to improve math retention. Back in Texas, I redesigned math a couple of times and very successful at it. And that's one of the things I want to do here. So I think there's some partnerships we could do with some of your ideas with math. There's some embedded tutors. There's a lot of creative things we could do related to supporting students in a math class. And so that'd be one thing. And you know, if you're in math, you could also do stem. There's a lot of, I think, possibilities here. And that's what's so great to me about the Kendall campus is we have great students in several year business majors. We have great art and drama students. I mean, we run the gamut and so there's so many areas that we could help. But I really think math is one that really holds students up. So if we could do a good job to help those, that'd be one area. I'd love to partner with you 100%. [00:40:59] Speaker C: And I'm very excited to have the opportunity to leave Miami Dade and leave it in good hands with the people that come in front of us. [00:41:05] Speaker A: Well, and I was going to say, I know a couple of you are leaving. You got to come back. You got to come back and come to our future podcast and tell us where you are and what you're doing. [00:41:14] Speaker C: Oh, that'll be great. Definitely. Thank you. [00:41:17] Speaker A: Well, this has been an amazing podcast. I want to thank Eric and Nicole and Gabby and Max and Sophia and Professor Johnson for making this a great conversation. I'd like to thank my writer head writer Christina Signs, our executive producer, Paul Klein. And on the keys in producing today is Alex Bellows. I would also like to give special thanks to Adrian Morales, who was the first submission to our podcast theme song competition. Be sure to submit your song or jingle to be featured in upcoming episodes. Now to play us out here is Adrian Morales with hey stranger. Thank you all for being here and goodbye for now. [00:42:14] Speaker H: I took time away Changed my name and I shed my skin I packed my bags I'm gone with the wind had to lose it all to find myself again I went away that oh life don't got the space for me no more Clear my mind but I find I'm got a habit of leaving my heart open But a change in pace will be a nice fit Then left the door unlocked if you want to come in didn't think I'd ever see your face again Stranger stranger stranger stranger stranger and it's better than nothing Been a minute since I seen you Wish I could ask what you been up to but we're back to stranger as the c tell me what to do could we meet again Could I come through now that we're back? Stranger, stranger I need you you live through my songs now I'm anxious and you see that about as close as I can now see you I'm daydreaming and I'm searching for reasons One more now yeah, I need it you should come around with the the heart open but a change of pace will be a nice feeling. Left the door unlocked if you want to come in Got an open mind and start a fresh again a stranger.