Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to Kendall speaks. I'm Dr. Bryan Stewart, Kendall Campus President.
Today we have three amazing guests. First, our Director of ISID, Ms. Priya Parshad Singh. Also with us is our program coordinator for isid, Alicia Walker.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:00:21] Speaker C: Hello.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Welcome. And then Melissa Lau, our grant coordinator from ISID College Wide. So, hi. Welcome, ladies. This is one of the podcasts we've tried to get together, and it's taken a while, but we're really glad to have it. I think this is probably our last podcast of the year. We've done 26 of these now, and this will kind of end our season. So you guys are honored to have you today. Let's first, Priya, start with you. Tell us a little bit about your journey and how you got to the Kendall campus in Miami Dade College.
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Sure. Well, I'm very happy to be here, so thank you so much for having us. But like Dr. Stewart said, my name is Priya Prashad Singh. I'm the director for ISED at Kendall Campus. But I actually started as a student at MDC at North Campus about 10 years ago.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:02] Speaker C: And I was studying mass communications, and I thought I knew what I wanted, but then I. I got involved with this department, and then after I transferred to uf, I switched my major to sustainability studies. And then I went after my master's and a coordinator position opened up at Wolfson Campus two years ago. So I applied to that and I got it. And then eventually I became a director here at Kendall, which I'm super, super excited to be here because Kendall has phenomenal energy.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: It does. Homegrown. We like that too. So that's good. Alicia, tell us about your journey to Miami D College.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: Hi, guys. I'm Alicia.
So I am a military veteran and an MDC alumni. I received my associates and my bachelor's here within the last two academic years. Got my associates in business administration and my bachelor's in supervision and management with an accounting concentration.
I am now pursuing my master's at, um.
I'm getting a master's in taxation.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: I started, and I said as a student assistant doing my internship for my bachelor's and then I applied for the coordinator position about a year ago, and I've been here ever since.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Wow. Very impressive background. And thank you for your service.
[00:02:20] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: That's awesome. Which campus did you attend here at Kendall campus. That's what I wanted to hear. So thank you. And finally, Melissa, tell us about your journey.
[00:02:28] Speaker D: Hi. Thank you guys for having me. So, yes, my name is Melissa Lau. I am the grant coordinator for the Poll Workers are Heroes campaign that was implemented college wide since last year in May. I'm also MDC alumni and I'm from class of 2016 here at Kendall. Kendall was the campus that I went to for my entire time. And after my associates, I transferred over to FIU to get my bachelor's in environmental studies as well as my master's in the same field as well. And just a little bit about myself, I didn't really have too much engagement interaction with like, you know, I said, I said was around, you know, when I was still an MDC student. But I was kind of those students that didn't really get out of their comfort zone. Kind of the same case as students here. But eventually I kind of grew out of that and I. I found my passion and environment like, you know, caring for the environment.
So with that, throughout my entire academic career, I found that my love and passion lies in community engagement and impact through environmental stewardship. So I really love seeing how individuals come together to take care of the land and how they form communities like that. And how did I end up back here in Kendall? Well, in 2019, I worked as a math tutor at Wolfson campus under a different grant. And my experience there was absolutely phenomenal. I saw that I had an impact in students and when I finished graduate school, I always had in the back of my mind, I should go back to mdc. And now here I am working with these two lovely ladies in the amazing ISED team.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Yeah. And it is an amazing program and we're going to get into that now. But thank you for being here. Some great academic backgrounds, and this is going to be a fun conversation. Priya, let's talk a little bit with you about the mission of the Institution for Civic Engagement. I want to make sure people know what the acronym stands for and democracy and how it impacts students in the community. So give us a little description of what's going on, if you would.
[00:04:22] Speaker C: Sure. So our mission is to transform learning, strengthen democracy, and contribute meaningfully to the common good by awakening and empowering students for lifelong civic engagement.
If I were to sum that up into a much shorter sentence, it would be our job is to empower and inspire students to help make the world a better place.
The impact comes from teaching and learning experiences that are transformed for our students and faculty.
They develop knowledge, skills and agency to become active members in their community. And they take these skills, these tools that they've gained, and apply it to the real world.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: That's great. And I know among the many students that participate are. Honors college students are very big proponents of.
Alicia, let's talk to you about change making. I know, I hear from our honors college students a lot about change making. And our students say that, which is, I think, makes you feel good when they use the terminology and they've learned. So talk a little bit about that if you would.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Yes, of course. So change making is about stepping up to solve a problem, regardless if it's something big or something small.
And it's for the good of others and our planet. So it could be something as like helping someone cross the street that can't do it alone or something bigger within your community.
Our mission at Kendall is to lead and inspire our student population by using our four attributes within change making, which is empathy, reflection, resilience, and action. We want to get our entire student population more engaged within our change making community.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: And I'm sure we have a T shirt with that on it, right?
[00:06:01] Speaker D: Yes, that'd be a great T shirt.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Yes, we got a few of them.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great. Melissa, tell us a little bit about workforce development, industry needs.
[00:06:09] Speaker D: Oh, I love this question. And I thought about it for a little bit and yeah, I'll just get right into it. So when it comes to industry needs, I want to just take a moment to highlight the leadership Fellowship program. We just. I believe we restarted that back up not too long ago.
So a little bit about the program is that we. If you are a federal work study eligible student, you can work at a nonprofit of your choice and you can get paid for it. So essentially, it's an internship, and these nonprofits focus on critical areas such as education, public health, environmental sustainability, social services, and so on. Right.
And these fields are always going to be in demand of good workers. Right. And on top of that, this program offers students a chance to explore their career path while contributing to an important cause. So it's kind of like they'll get to dip their toes into a field. Maybe they might like it, maybe not. But regardless, it's a starting point. When it comes to workforce development, our programs focus on developing soft skills. Right. So the soft skills that you develop through volunteering and interning with our nonprofits, students can cultivate valuable skills such as compassion, communication skills, teamwork, empathy, resilience, reflection, you know, how to be problem solvers, all those things. And these are the types of qualities that are often a lot harder to teach, but they're highly valued by employers. Right.
[00:07:45] Speaker C: So.
[00:07:46] Speaker D: So by participating in the CLF program and just volunteering Overall, these students become problem solvers in their communities, and that enhances their professional and also personal growth.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: That's great. Could you highlight, maybe for our audience, a few of our partners that you come to mind?
[00:08:02] Speaker D: Oh, sure. I'll highlight the first one. I work with one of them, Miami Waterkeeper. I'm not sure if you're familiar.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: I am. Oh, I absolutely am.
[00:08:08] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah, that's one of our community partners.
Engage Miami Citizens for a Better South Florida.
[00:08:14] Speaker C: Fab Lab. Fab lab. We have over a hundred.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Yeah, well, that's okay.
And that's what I want our audience to know is there's a lot of places for them to plug in and a lot of opportunities. So that's great. Priya. One of the things that I love about this campus is our engagement. And I see students all the time doing things. Talk a little bit about civic engagement and how it can help a student academically. And many of our students want to go on like you ladies did to other institutions, talk about how that supports our students.
[00:08:41] Speaker C: Absolutely. So I want to start off by sort of defining what civic engagement is, because I don't know if I don't think a lot of people really understand the meaning behind it. So it's where people get involved in their community to make.
To make it better and tackle more important issues. So it's about taking action, whether it's voting, volunteering, or even joining local projects to help out in any way that you can.
So in terms of participating. So participating in civic engagement activities can enhance a student's. Well, one, enhance a student's skills, skill development.
They learn how to work in environments that require them to think on their feet, and then two, academic performance. Students who get involved in civic focused activities usually show increased engagement in their studies and they're more likely to take on leadership roles on campus, and then three, networking opportunities. So they connect with community members and that opens many doors for a world of possibilities in career opportunities or sometimes even financial and social support.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: Good, very good.
What are some of the key initiatives that ISED leads to promote civic engagement?
[00:09:47] Speaker B: So a few of the key initiatives and programs that ISED has are our Civic Action Scorecard, Academic Service Learning, the Unify America College Bowl Challenge, and our Non partisan Voter Engagement.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great. And I know, speaking of voter, voter. We do things with voter registration, don't we, Melissa? Oh, we do talk a little bit about that.
[00:10:12] Speaker D: Yeah, that and a lot more than that.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:10:16] Speaker D: Yeah. So last year we really ramped up our efforts to get students to the polls. Right. And I'm proud to share what we accomplished.
So I'm going to talk about this on two sides, on the voting side and then just a little bit beyond voting, right? So on the voting side we created, well, not that we created, but we have the MDC Edu Vote website.
And you know, as part of our grant we had to kind of get numbers for, to see how many website hits the, the, you know, the website got. And we're lucky, we're so happy to report that we got 37,000 views alone on just the website.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: 37,000.
[00:10:55] Speaker D: 37,000 views on just the MDC Edu Vote website. We also got in front of classrooms, right? We had more than 100 classroom presentations not only to talk about the poll worker opportunity, but we also took time to talk about, to get students election ready. So we talked about how to check which polling location they have to go to the early voting sites, which Kendall was one of them, where to get information on what's going to be on the ballot. So we got into the classrooms, we did like 10 minute presentations and we gave them all those different resources.
And then we also hosted over 10 faculty FPD workshops to help to help students become election ready. And we offered them virtually and in person. And those were facilitated by Shout Out Josh Young, he, you know, he's amazing, he facilitated those and we got lots of faculty involved in that. And then lastly, just us being present at every campus event that we could possibly be.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: And you are even cookouts. You guys have been everywhere.
[00:12:00] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. So through tabling events, right? So we, we were there, we made a presence. And so that's on the voting side for students who kind of wanted to go beyond voting and they wanted to actually serve as poll workers. That's where I have like an, like, I don't know, I just have like so much knowledge of, on that part of the job. But we really wanted students to kind of get a much closer in depth look at how democracy, democracy actually works behind the scenes. Right.
So for the Poll Workers are Heroes campaign, we did a huge, huge marketing push to get students to, to register as poll workers. We did things like we sent out promotional E blasts, right? We sent them out from May up until, I want to say September. We sent it out to 60,000 students, faculty, part time, full time staff and everything. And we had an average open rate of 50 47%.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: 47. That's an excellent percentage.
[00:12:59] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. So people saw the message.
We also displayed the be a paid poll worker ad on all the Plasma screens. I don't know if you ever saw it yet. Yep, that's us. That was, that was the face behind that. And then we also tried to get that promotional ad of, you know, becoming a paperworker on all like print media. So like the Reporter, our sussy newsletter. And then we also worked very closely with the Department of Elections. We hosted two informational sessions via Zoom where we talked about poll working, but also they were talking about poll working, but also if students had any specific questions that they had that probably we couldn't answer, answer.
And overall that was just an incredibly successful project. And we were able to get 227 students to serve as poll workers between the primary and general election. And I sent out surveys to get an idea of like, of the feedback and students overwhelmingly out of like a five star rating, it was like 4.5 out of five.
So very, very positive.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a great opportunity, especially with the last election. It was so, so contested.
[00:14:14] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: Talk a little bit about why you think our students need to be civically engaged and how they can do it year, year round.
[00:14:20] Speaker D: Yeah. So being civically engaged, even beyond voting, is important because it helps create a more just and equitable society. It allows individuals to have a voice in shaping the future of their communities and fostering a sense of belonging and a shared commitment to common.
Right. So as Priya had mentioned earlier, civic engagement is more than just voting. It's about taking action to create positive change and ensuring that everyone's voice is heard.
And as you know, as Alicia and Priya have mentioned before, different opportunities to get involved, you know, become a CLF fellow. Right. Come to our office, talk to us about that. Volunteer at any of our community partners. Right, our community partners. There's all sorts of topics that, you know, I'm sure that one student can find something that they care about. Become an agent.
We didn't really get a chance to talk about that. But again, stop by our office. That's another opportunity. A G Cell Scholar. That's Earth Ethics Institute.
They're more focused on earth literacy and environmental sustainability. Work as a poll worker whenever there's an election and then do the Unify America Challenge. These are just a couple of examples on how to get students involved year round and continue making a meaningful impact and staying engaged.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: A lot of places for them to plug in. That's great. Priya, tell our audience where your office is located. You're in a great location in case someone has a question and wants to come by.
[00:15:50] Speaker C: Yes, we are in a great Location we are right above the bookstore, right next to Chick Fil A. If you walk up the ramp, it's on the left hand side. So we're room 8201.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: Yeah, that's perfect. Talk a little bit about student participation and trends you've seen and maybe some of the strategies that you think are effective in fostering engagement.
[00:16:09] Speaker C: Sure. So from the last two years of working in this department, so first as a, as a coordinator and then as a director, I've noticed three specific trends. So the first one, students who are more civically engaged tend to take on more leadership positions on campus.
Two, they enhance their social skills through participation in civic activities, which usually leads to improved communication.
And the students become more adept at working with diverse groups and understanding different perspectives.
And then three, they usually feel a stronger connection to their community, which leads to opportunities for them to feel more supported.
I've even heard stories where students receive social or financial support from the connections they've made, which helps them hone in on that sense of hope for their future.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: That's good. Those are great points, Alicia. Talk a little bit about some examples. One of the things we love is when we hear about students, their success. Talk a little bit about some projects and ways that you've seen students apply their things to real world examples.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: So one thing that comes to mind is Professor Culver's architectural class. Last summer, they created designs for these Cosmic Walk Labyrinth as well as the lead pavilion over at the Environmental Center.
So the Cosmic Walk Labyrinth will be an installation at the Environmental center to help.
There's a whole story about it that the Earth Ethics Department can talk about at great lengths and more accurately than I can.
That will be an installation there that the students, staff, faculty, and the community, hopefully in the future will be able to visit.
Then they also created a design for the lead pavilion.
And with the information that they learned in their lecture, they applied that information to the designs and they are going to incorporate some of those designs with those installations in the future.
Another student, Nico depetras, he is fighting plastic consumption waste with his Eco Futur Bottle initiative where they are collecting water bottles, plastic.
Plastic bags and getting them from like the landfills, taking care of them so that the environment is better off. It is something that he started in his home country and is continuing to do with his club and the engineering students.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a cool project. I've had the opportunity to speak to him and that's really awesome and I appreciate you mentioning the Environmental Center. We're working hard to Bring that back. And that's a future podcast that we'll have. We're planning to open it. I know it's open now pre. And I know you've had a couple of times. You've. Every couple, three times a month it's open. But we're really going to rock and roll it for the fall. And so we'll have another podcast. Do you want to talk a little bit about what's been going on this semester and last fall there?
[00:19:15] Speaker C: Yeah, it's super exciting. So our sister institute, the Earth Ethics Institute, they host workdays at the environmental center. So they'll do like a mini workshop with the students and introduce them to native and non. Native species and remove or. And after the workshop, they. They go into the center and they remove invasive species in the area.
And so we have our work days and then we also have our visits. So if you just like to walk into the center, take a. Take a breath of fresh air, because it is. It's actually really beautiful and peaceful. It's very peaceful. You find your sense of peace there for sure.
So, yeah, so that's open as well. And then we have had some professors take tours. So if you're a faculty member and you're interested in having and hosting a tour at the environmental center, we can help you do that. If you want to even host your class in the pavilion, you can do that as well.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I understand that we've had some bats sighted there and some red foxes and there's been a lot of animals that are in there. So it's going to, I think, be a really exciting opportunity for our campus as we bring it back. So appreciate your help with that talk. While we're talking about projects, are any of the upcoming ones that you would want to highlight for our audience?
[00:20:26] Speaker C: So we have a couple of goals with our department in the next year. So our first one is to, number one, we want our students to become more involved and we'd love to increase their participation through the programs that we offer. So Alicia had mentioned the Civic Action Scorecard and Academic Service learning. So the scorecard is essentially a booklet. It's a virtual booklet, I guess, with over 100 civic actions that you can complete. And those actions lead to points, and those points lead to awards.
And then through academic service learning, you essentially connect with a community partner like Melissa was mentioning, and you complete service hours.
And eventually those hours lead. Lead to awards as well. So we want to increase more participation within those programs that we have.
We want to form more connections with Our amazing faculty members on campus. We love you guys so much and we'd love to see your faces in our office. We're super friendly. I don't think any of us bite.
And then one of our last goals is to grow the Civic Leadership Fellow program and hire more students to work with our affiliated nonprofits.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: Those are excellent goals, Alicia. How can our students and our faculty and staff get more involved in isid?
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Students can get more involved by visiting the Changemaker Hub, which is easy to find. You can just go to Google, type in the Changemaker Hub and follow the links. That way there's amazing opportunities that are listed. There's events, there's volunteer opportunities. As we've mentioned, you can find a cause that you're passionate about and it'll filter it for you just like that. So you don't have to weed through all of the different opportunities that we have. And you can also complete the Civic action items. That way, faculty can begin incorporating change making program into their curriculum slowly. It doesn't have to be an all in thing all at once. And then we can have continued discussions with them.
And then staff can also collaborate with us during events and promote civic action scorecard items as they apply to whatever events that may be. We can promote events on the Civic Action or on the Changemaker Hub.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: As we kind of wrap up here, I'd like to go around the table and ask each of you one or two things that students can do to be actively involved in community. Things that you'd like them to take away and maybe even how you'd like to attract a student. What's the one thing you'd say that, hey, this is why you need to be a part of this group PRI you want to start Give us.
[00:22:57] Speaker C: Sure.
So if there's one thing to take away, I'd say you don't need to become someone to make a difference.
You can take small steps with who you are right now every day that can help others that lead to lead us to a better future. And I say that because when I was a student here at MDC and I was 18, feels so long ago.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: But it wasn't that long ago.
[00:23:22] Speaker C: But when I was a student, I was so lost and I really thought I had to become somebody in order to make a difference. But you really don't need to do that. You're perfectly fine as you are and just stop by our office and get to know us and we can help you find your purpose. That's what a lot of this work is really. I mean, it comes down to helping students, faculty, staff, even if needed, to help them find their purpose.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's well said. I think that's one of the missions of community colleges, is for students that maybe they were in a high school class that didn't see themselves in higher education and they can come here and have that opportunity. So that's good. And I do think that's what your group does, is give students the opportunity to plug in in their own way. And, you know, we all have been in college and we all have degrees, but I can remember the day I had no idea what I to was going. Going to do. I had my bachelor's in math. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. And so I think that's a well said thing, important for students to say, who else?
[00:24:15] Speaker D: So my advice to students would be to get out of your comfort zone for sure. I did a class presentation yesterday, and one of the students was talking about his service, learning what he did to volunteer. And he had volunteered at a food pantry and he had a wonderful time. You know, he was like, oh, I had met so many people, they were all so nice. And the workers that I were there at the food pantry, they were also warm and, you know, give me, gave me guidance and, and then I asked them, I'm like, do you think you would have, do you think you would have done that had you not like, just.
Just done it, you know, like just got out of your comfort zone? And he was like, no, I don't think I. You know, I'm glad I did because now I feel like I can. I'm more, I'm more open to trying new things. Right.
And yeah, I think it's easier said than done for some students to take that leap. But I promise you, you don't have to do a ginormous leap. Just little leaps here and there, one.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Step at a time.
[00:25:13] Speaker D: One step at a time. Exactly. So get out of your comfort zone would be my advice.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: Listen, I appreciate that. All right, Alicia, what's your one word of advice for students?
Or two, if you want.
[00:25:23] Speaker B: As someone who was not a traditional college student, I didn't start college until my mid-30s.
I would say that not, don't just go to class and then go home, try something new.
Whether it be you go to Club Rush and you just see what the different clubs are about, or you visit the Changemaker Hub and just see what the Civic Action Scorecard is, just to see what it's about.
Because you never know what you're going to miss if you don't try something different.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: Right, right. That's good. And I know we do something in September that's really important. You want to talk about that, Priya?
[00:26:04] Speaker C: We do an incredible thing in September that is super exciting and our campus is the best at it, Kendall.
So we have what's called Changemaker Week. It's an annual week long opportunity that we, that our major department, which is the Changemaker. Changemaker Education and Social Innovation department that we, we host at every campus every single day that week.
It's from September 16th to the 22nd, I believe.
[00:26:34] Speaker D: I think it's September 15th.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:26:36] Speaker D: Through the 21st. So Monday through, you were almost there.
[00:26:41] Speaker A: And this is our third year of it. Yeah. And every year, and you're right, we kill it here, but every year it gets better.
[00:26:47] Speaker D: Better.
[00:26:47] Speaker C: So. Yeah. So every single day that week at every campus, we're hosting events all related to Change Maker education. So going back to that, that first comment I made about empowering and inspiring students to help make the world a better place. It's all, all of these events are focused around that one statement.
And so Kendall, I believe we host the most amount of events usually. I think last year we did.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: We did.
[00:27:10] Speaker C: Last year we did.
[00:27:10] Speaker D: We did.
[00:27:11] Speaker C: We did. We're hoping to beat that number this.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: Year, but yeah, I believe it. Well, this has been a great conversation. We like to end our broadcast here with turning the microphone around. So I'd like to give you ladies an opportunity to ask me anything you'd like.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: Yes. I have a question for you, Dr. Stewart. How do you see Kendall and change making in the future?
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Wow, that's a great question.
You know, one of the things I love about this campus is how holistic we are. You know, we have students in majors from fine arts to, to engineering to technology to computers to the athletes to all the. We had 43 clubs this year, which is a record which I'm really proud of. And I really, what I see is this is sort of something that is systemic, that goes through all the, all the programs. And that's what I'd love to see is I do think the, you know, I hear change making a lot from our students as I mentioned earlier. And that makes me proud because I know it came from you guys. I know that that became a part of this program and it wouldn't have been a part of our students DNA or vocabulary if you guys weren't doing such a great job. So I want to continue to do that. I know. Priya, you host the faculty every semester or is it the end of the semester? I think it's the first semester we come by your office for breakfast or whatever.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: The faculty appreciation.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: Yeah, faculty appreciation. I think those things are important. I think our students get it, we need to get our faculty to get it, and then consequently the community and so forth are getting. So those are a few things, but I definitely think we're on the right track.
[00:28:37] Speaker D: Awesome. So I have another question for you. If you could describe change making in one word, what would it be and why?
[00:28:46] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. One word.
You guys have been so great with all the different things.
I guess I'd say systemic. Maybe I used that just a second ago because to me, this is something that students may not realize how valuable it is until they're like, you ladies are out four or five years down the road or having your different jobs. And I think that's the purpose of college is we help shape their minds and students come to us and like we said, may not realize where their end is. And I think this program is really important to giving them community involvement. I mean, that's one of the things I've loved throughout my career is. And I still try to be involved in the community and go to different things because that's what we're. We don't have community in our name anymore, but that's really what we are. And so I think systemic, you know, kind of being a part of the whole holistic part of a student.
[00:29:36] Speaker D: Awesome. I love that answer.
[00:29:38] Speaker C: And then our last question. So why is this work important to you as a person and the president of Kendall Campus?
[00:29:44] Speaker A: You guys ask tough questions.
You know, I think back when I was in college, which was a really long time ago, you know, I was. I tried to be a part of the student Government association and all those things that, that my campus had. And I think, you know, there's a lot of things that I did in college that if I hadn't done them or tried them, I wouldn't be in this position today. And so that's why I think it's important. I think I see students all the time that don't realize how many things you do impacts you down the road. And that's what I think we're doing in higher education. And we hear all the time about how a bachelor's degree is not worth what it used to be. Why are you getting it? Those things have been said over the years. It's a cyclic kind of thing. We all know how important a degree is.
I was with my. Well, I shouldn't say who I was with a family member. And he was talking about I wouldn't have my kids go to college anymore. And I sat there and said, dude, you have almost a PhD in economics and your wife has a master's in accounting. Do you think you two would be where you are today without your degrees? And they kind of thought there a minute. And so I think we get a lot of criticism, especially today.
And what we do is provide opportunity, especially at Miami Dade College. When you look at our students and where they come from and their backgrounds, last stat I heard is 56% of our students are first time in their family. Think about that. 56%, that's a huge number. We have 21,000 students on this campus this semester. And quick Math, that's about 13,000 of our students are the first person in their family to go to college. And you think about how long we've been around 61 or 62 or three years. That's a lot still that are just coming to Miami Dade College. So I think what we do and the mission we serve, we couldn't be at a better place. And I think we all agree that this is a great place to work. Absolutely. I hope I answered your question. Yeah, that's right. You're a great example, Melissa. Well, ladies, this has been an amazing conversation. Thank you for being here.
I hope that we use this podcast maybe for some of your students to listen to, to learn what is it is about, because you guys are very visible on campus. And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so visible because you're always at things and that's what I think makes the Kendall campus unique, is that we all try to support each other. So thank you for being here. I want to thank everyone for helping make this podcast special today. I want to thank our head, Christina Signs, Paul Klein, our executive producer, and sitting over to my left, our producer today, Alex Bellows. Thank you all for being here and goodbye for now.
