Yale College Voices Episode 12, Season 01 Transcription

Building a Better Tomorrow: Sergio Gonzalez's Sustainable Impact on the Silliman College Community 

00:00:00:11 - 00:00:28:09
Darice
Welcome, everyone to another episode of Yale College Voices. So I'm your host, Darice Corey. In case you don't know already, and I'm really excited to have you join our conversation today with with Sergio Gonzalez. So Sergio has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to enhancing student experiences, which, you know, leaves an indelible mark on their experience in Yale College.

00:00:28:10 - 00:00:33:21
Darice
So welcome, Sergio. So I'm so glad you could finally join us today.

00:00:33:23 - 00:00:35:20
Darice
We had some scheduling.

00:00:35:22 - 00:00:39:05
Sergio
We did. Thank you so much for having me. This is really a real treat.

00:00:39:07 - 00:01:18:13
Darice
Oh, awesome. My pleasure. And I'm so happy to have you. So, Sergio, I'm just going to introduce you to Sergio and tell you a little bit about Sergio before we get started. So Sergio is the assistant director of operations for Silliman College. He brings a unique perspective to our discussion today because Sergio navigates the intricate world of college operations, ensuring the well-being of students while championing the sustainability initiatives at Silliman and from transforming spaces.

00:01:18:13 - 00:01:32:15
Darice
And I can't wait to hear more about that. So fostering a green oasis for students at Silliman ACORN Café. Sergio's journey is a testament to his innovative spirit and dedication. So again, welcome. Welcome.

00:01:32:20 - 00:01:37:13
Sergio
I can't even take all that gasoline. That's embarrassing.

00:01:37:15 - 00:01:38:03
Darice
So.

00:01:38:09 - 00:02:03:04
Darice
So, Sergio. I did. You provided a bio, But I. You know, I on every guest I have on the podcast, I do some Googling if I can find. Yeah, I hear that. So today we're going to dive into your story and, you know, explore any kind of pivotal moments that you're willing to share with us and whether it's your educational or your professional journey.

00:02:03:06 - 00:02:14:00
Darice
And, you know, just talk about your commitment to sustainability and the DEIB here at Yale college. So again, welcome. Uh, so now I'm going to read your bio now.

00:02:14:00 - 00:02:17:06
Darice
That I've said. All right. So, so.

00:02:17:11 - 00:02:42:16
Darice
Sergio is the assistant director of operations for Silliman College. As I mentioned, which is one of the 14 residential colleges here at Yale College. So in his role, Sergio Sworks closely with the head of college, the dean and administrative team, to manage the daily happenings of one of the most or one of the highest traffic spaces on campus.

00:02:42:18 - 00:02:47:00
Darice
SILLIMAN College is the largest and arguably the best.

00:02:47:02 - 00:02:50:19
Darice
So there's some competitiveness there.

00:02:50:21 - 00:03:26:19
Darice
Undergraduate residence encompassing four four city blocks. I didn't realize that from its student Wren Cafe, a coffee shop to its wellness center to its amazing dining hall. Sergio keeps busy making sure these and other spaces are welcoming pockets of community and self-care for its users. On a normal day, you'll find Sergio anywhere from working on seasonal events with staff to advocating for student resources and committees with campus partners to hands on remote remodeling of underutilized or outdated spaces at Silliman.

00:03:26:21 - 00:03:47:10
Darice
Outside of work. Sergio enjoys being a father and husband, playing sports, cooking. His friends and family, learning new things and living life through the lens of his five and ten year old children. So now I'm going to go into the stuff that Sergio didn't share in his mind. So now I'm going to embarrass you a little bit.

00:03:47:12 - 00:04:25:18
Darice
But but no, these are all great things about Sergio. Sergio is dedicated to enhancing the student residential experience at Yale college, specifically, Silliman, while prioritizing sustainability. So Sergio's responsibility is span across all facets of life at Silliman College, from managing energy usage, building maintenance to oversee budgeting and student well-being, and beyond the conventional duties of his role. Sergio goes above and beyond to support sustainability and student wellness.

00:04:25:20 - 00:05:02:15
Darice
So one notable initiative, led by Sergio is the transformation of the former Fellows Lounge into the ACORN Café, which is a sustainable coffee shop at Silliman. So this project reflects his fearless approach to trying unconventional ideas. As a former restaurant manager, and that's something I didn't know about you, Sergio envisioned and executed the cafe from scratch, ensuring it aligned with green principles so things like reusing cups, minimizing takeout containers and sourcing sustainably.

00:05:02:17 - 00:05:14:07
Darice
The ACORN Café serves as a haven for students seeking respite from academic pressures. So over the last seven years, or has it been more than seven years or so?

00:05:14:13 - 00:05:17:05
Sergio
I don't think so. I think it's been about seven seven.

00:05:17:07 - 00:05:30:00
Darice
Sergio has spearheaded a range of sustainability projects, working alongside former head of college Laurie Santos and our current head of college. Um, and I'm sorry, that's.

00:05:30:02 - 00:05:31:13
Sergio
Head of college. Ariel Baskin Summers.

00:05:31:18 - 00:06:10:10
Darice
Got it. From planting vegetable in pollinator gardens. I didn't realize you do that as well to creating a lending library for use textbooks. Sergio actively contributes to reducing environmental impact. His latest endeavor involves a lending closet, diverting items from dumpster to, uh, diverting items from the dumpster to reduce consumption in and foster community. Sergio's passion for sustainability, stemming from his own college experiences, is evident in his commitment to empowering students through hands on initiatives.

00:06:10:12 - 00:06:45:13
Darice
So one less thing about Sergio. Many of the alumni from Silliman College attest to his positive influence and resourceful cleanness in sustainability initiatives. Sergio's ability to find thrifty and more sustainable ways to gather materials showcases his dedication and his impact extends beyond projects, creating a supportive and transparent environment. His blend of being a parent like figure and a down to earth individual has endeared him to the Yale college community.

00:06:45:15 - 00:06:51:18
Darice
Making a lasting impact on the culture of sustainability at Silliman College. So again, welcome.

00:06:51:20 - 00:06:52:08
Darice
Sergio.

00:06:52:11 - 00:06:59:14
Sergio
Thank you. Super embarrassment. What I was hearing there is that I'm cheap is really what it comes down to it.

00:06:59:16 - 00:07:02:08
Darice
That's awesome though. I mean, you know, I.

00:07:02:08 - 00:07:04:20
Darice
Mean, it's a talent, right? Actually, I mean.

00:07:05:02 - 00:07:06:13
Sergio
I mean, we all love it, right? Yeah.

00:07:06:13 - 00:07:27:08
Darice
Yeah. To to approach everything with, you know, keeping in mind sustainability and cost savings and things like that. So I was wondering, Sergio, if you don't mind to share a little bit about your early years or like what? Is there something about your childhood or maybe, you know, high school to college years that kind of shaped your.

00:07:27:14 - 00:07:49:20
Sergio
Sure, Yeah. I mean, that's a good question, one that I probably haven't thought too much about, but I'm not going to do that here. The, um, I think when I look back and one of the biggest pieces that two of the biggest pieces that afforded me the luxury of being equipped to handle this kind of responsibility is my work career and my life.

00:07:49:20 - 00:08:12:09
Sergio
You know, in a way, it's kind of the trajectories, the two parallel roles have gone together. As I've gotten older, you know, we could dig into the crates and go for wanted to Know, but really, um, you know, out of college, trying to pursue a career and not knowing what I wanted to do with a bachelors in Spanish really wasn't getting me exactly where I wanted to go, you know?

00:08:12:09 - 00:08:35:10
Sergio
Right, Right. So I, I worked my way through the restaurant business from the ground up, thinking that I wanted to kind of this opportunity to learn what business management was about. Okay. So I always told people that, like, I was getting paid for my graduate. Right. Right. So through that road in the food industry, there were so many valuable lessons that you were taking in.

00:08:35:10 - 00:08:59:01
Sergio
And I find I don't know if it's true or not, but from 21 to 28, you're really sponging it up. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you're trying to climb that ladder. Yes, it's human. I can. Right. You know, so I'm trying to see who's next. Where can I get onto the next rung. Yeah. Yes. And all these questions. And I remember being a cook and a server harassing the kitchen manager.

00:08:59:01 - 00:09:19:13
Sergio
Like, when are you going to let me, you know, run the line? When am I going to get behind the bar? Right, Right. I remember doing that for like eight months. And there was an area director who walked in the small little American restaurant that we were working at. Um, and I sat down. I was like, you know, Kim, I'm like, bilingual.

00:09:19:13 - 00:09:38:13
Sergio
And I consider myself bicultural. I'm, you know, I've learned every single thing inside of your restaurant. Like, how come I'm not going to an opportunity to be a manager? Mm hmm. Just on a whim. Yeah. Yeah. Like a week later, I'm sitting on an interview table. Oh, wow. You know, And they hired me, and then I was like, $30,000.

00:09:38:13 - 00:09:59:09
Sergio
Yeah, you're, you know, and I remember driving home and this used Camry, like, feeling, like, at the top. Yes, yes. Yeah, Like what? I feel that way. Right? Right. Because I did it on my own, right. You know. Yeah. And I saw measured success. Yes. I finding ways to get there. So that was like the first lesson, right?

00:09:59:09 - 00:10:20:20
Sergio
You know, that was a big one. And then then came being a manager in these types of operations and something that people used to always say to me that's stuck in my head. People that have been through it before me was you have to have ownership mentality, right? Run it like you own it. Yeah. Like it doesn't matter if it's corporate, doesn't like run it like you own every single piece here.

00:10:20:21 - 00:10:31:11
Sergio
Mm hmm. You know, and so that really, if you can think that way, going the extra mile, that's just natural. Yeah. Yeah. Which is part of the way that you work.

00:10:31:15 - 00:10:32:18
Darice
How you, you're approaching.

00:10:32:18 - 00:10:55:18
Sergio
So again, at that young age, getting that, I realized that was a way to kind of jump ahead. Right. It became a big part of who I am as a worker. And then I said earlier the parallel line of what my personal life was like, you know, settling down, buying a home, the first home I bought was a a house from the 1920s.

00:10:55:20 - 00:10:58:23
Sergio
The real estate agent sort of had good bones, I think.

00:10:59:00 - 00:11:01:11
Darice
And and a lot of renovation.

00:11:01:11 - 00:11:03:01
Sergio
Yeah. You know, you peel away these rugs.

00:11:03:03 - 00:11:03:10
Darice
Yeah.

00:11:03:12 - 00:11:07:08
Sergio
Wood floors. And I'm like, Oh, yeah, yeah. So I don't know what to do with that.

00:11:07:10 - 00:11:07:21
Darice
You know?

00:11:07:23 - 00:11:25:15
Sergio
I didn't even know how to use the screwdriver. At 20 something years old. I remember my girlfriend, then my wife at the time, my girlfriend came and she came from a hardworking family that had built that had built his house with his own hands, you know, I guess. And so.

00:11:25:15 - 00:11:26:14
Darice
Me Yeah.

00:11:26:16 - 00:11:45:11
Sergio
I was a faculty professor, so right in this house that I just bought because it was at an affordable price and, uh, and I didn't know what to do. I was she saw me once, I think, hanging like a curtain rod. And I was trying to screw in on this on the wood framing with this, you know, Phillips screwdriver.

00:11:45:11 - 00:12:04:14
Sergio
She's like, What are you doing? Like, why don't you have a drill? Look, I don't need a drill. Yeah, yeah, I don't need the drill. But those lessons, you know, from the first floor that I refinished in the 1920s, home to redoing the moldings to Oh, so doing all the repairs there and learning a little bit about electrical and plumbing.

00:12:04:19 - 00:12:19:18
Sergio
Doing the stuff in your house. Yeah. Realize that you can really do it. And the more you did stuff that you were kind of fearlessly taking on the mistakes that you took on and realize that they're not that bad. Yeah, the the growth that you get from that right really created someone who was like, okay, I can I can do that.

00:12:19:19 - 00:12:20:16
Darice
I can do it, you know?

00:12:20:21 - 00:12:36:14
Sergio
And then to add to that, you know, when you when you go into homeownership and before that also, but when you go into homeownership and you have a piece of land. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Small. Yeah. It was nothing. But you had grass and you're like, Wow, right?

00:12:36:15 - 00:12:37:14
Darice
It's mine. Yeah.

00:12:37:17 - 00:12:54:17
Sergio
On this, you know? Yeah. And I remember the first garden that I planted. I went. I went outside with a steak knife. Yeah. And I cut out, you know, the sod. And I was. I was like, butterflying it off the ground right. Turned it with like a pitchfork and I planted some seeds, but stuff.

00:12:54:22 - 00:12:56:07
Darice
It came up.

00:12:56:07 - 00:12:56:16
Sergio
Up, it's.

00:12:56:16 - 00:12:59:04
Sergio
Like, wow, it's amazing.

00:12:59:06 - 00:13:24:02
Sergio
You know, like, right. So anyway, you get those little experiences under your belt. Yeah. You know, in your late twenties and early thirties, by the time you hit the ground running in a position as an operations manager. Yeah. At a university. And you realize that that job is so unique. Yeah. Interesting, right? You can pull into your skill sets and use them to your advantage.

00:13:24:02 - 00:13:29:06
Sergio
Yeah, that's, that's where I really, you know, made my. Meat and potatoes here. Yeah. So.

00:13:29:10 - 00:13:45:15
Darice
Right. That's so awesome. And I, gosh I wish I, I've always wish I had that. Um, I don't, I don't even know what I'd call it, but, you know, around my house I'm like, oh, I would love to do, you know, I'd love to tile my floors.

00:13:45:15 - 00:13:45:22
Darice
And I would.

00:13:45:23 - 00:13:47:06
Sergio
Just to do the first.

00:13:47:06 - 00:13:48:02
Darice
Thing that leads.

00:13:48:02 - 00:13:48:15
Sergio
To the second.

00:13:48:16 - 00:13:52:10
Darice
I get. I guess I get nervous when it's like, Oh God, I have to cut.

00:13:52:10 - 00:13:53:18
Darice
Tile.

00:13:53:20 - 00:13:55:22
Darice
And get it right. You know, either that or that.

00:13:55:22 - 00:14:15:20
Sergio
Disappears, you know? Yeah. Another short story, like I used to get super nervous when I had to talk in front of people. Right? Um, and like, I remember, like, my hands were sweaty, my face were like, Yeah, Red. Yeah. All the things, you know, would happen. But like, when I got that first manager job, I had to do the premium service things.

00:14:15:20 - 00:14:35:20
Sergio
Yeah. Things behind what they call the back of the house. Right where you get all the servers together, all the cooks, and talk about what's happening over the wine, the specials, blah blah. And everyone's like, form a circle around you. And sure enough, surgery was done. Yeah. You know, And that's pressure. Yeah. And I remember, like, the servers kind of make fun because, you know, we would have a nice light.

00:14:35:22 - 00:14:37:22
Sergio
You there? Make fun of me, Like, he's turnign in red again.

00:14:37:22 - 00:14:38:21
Darice
Oh, no.

00:14:38:23 - 00:14:46:16
Sergio
But I used to tell the managers that I work. I was like, Nope, let me. Yeah, let me get out there. Because eventually it's going to go, Yeah, yeah.

00:14:46:16 - 00:14:47:16
Darice
Much longer. Really.

00:14:47:20 - 00:14:57:00
Sergio
I really wanted it there, but it left. Yeah. You know, I'm sure I'll come back here and there. But the point of that was that like, take on the thing that scares you. Yeah. You know.

00:14:57:02 - 00:14:57:11
Darice
It's so.

00:14:57:11 - 00:15:00:15
Sergio
True. Yeah, that scares you. And you can, you can grow from that.

00:15:00:19 - 00:15:21:01
Darice
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, even and I, I've probably said it during every episode of this podcast, like this was a when I, when I presented the idea, I really had the vision of myself being sort of behind the scenes, like, you know, I can coordinate the technical stuff and whoever wants to, you know, appear on the video and do this stuff.

00:15:21:01 - 00:15:28:14
Darice
And it kind of just fell into, you know, onto my plate. And I was like, I don't I don't that's not my thing, you know?

00:15:28:17 - 00:15:35:19
Sergio
But your thing is, I've known you for some time now, and you've always been someone that's kept yourself growing.

00:15:35:20 - 00:15:36:10
Darice
Thank you.

00:15:36:10 - 00:15:40:10
Sergio
And looking for different ways to do stuff and stuff. It's really been a great role.

00:15:40:10 - 00:16:00:23
Darice
I appreciate that. Thank you. And I. And yeah, so it's been it's actually been great because it's outside of my comfort zone, you know, And it helps me too. It's funny you say that about public speaking because I had a my little short story, uh, I had the same thing. Like, I would totally yeah, I'd get nervous stage fright.

00:16:00:23 - 00:16:25:07
Darice
You'd start seeing sweat just like, trickles of sweat come down. And it happened by accident. I was, uh, this was years ago, before I even came to Yale. I was laid off, actually, and a school locally contacted me to teach a course, and I was like. And it was a topic I know you know very well, but I was like, teacher.

00:16:25:09 - 00:16:25:13
Sergio
I.

00:16:25:14 - 00:16:35:11
Darice
Don't know if you want me to do that, you know? And yeah, and I, but, you know, I needed a job. So I said yes. And you know, it's, it's a cool.

00:16:35:13 - 00:16:37:22
Darice
A couple courses, you know, to get over.

00:16:37:22 - 00:16:56:08
Darice
That stage fright. But you know and once I really started doing it and I, you know, I learned I knew the material, but I had to learn delivery, you know, and like how I present my material and all that stuff. And then I, you know, I got over it. But you know, occasionally it comes back, you'll see like a little.

00:16:56:11 - 00:16:57:23
Darice
Little sweat coming down.

00:16:58:01 - 00:16:58:23
Sergio
Your body. It reminds you.

00:16:58:23 - 00:17:02:10
Darice
Yeah, Yeah, I'm still here. I'm still here. Right? So.

00:17:02:10 - 00:17:09:06
Darice
So, yeah, it's like, you know, you won't you won't know until you do it right or you get, you know, practice.

00:17:09:07 - 00:17:09:22
Sergio
Yeah, I love that.

00:17:09:22 - 00:17:33:16
Darice
Yeah. Yeah. So it's like you just have to do it. Remember whether. Yeah, there's no way around it, Right? That's so also, um, and so I'd love to hear more about, um, you know, you mentioned you just kind of went ahead and did it like, so how did you take your, your personal experiences with, with home renovation And like you said, it's like, okay, this is your home that you own.

00:17:33:16 - 00:17:50:10
Darice
It's your, you know, it's your property and you can do, you know, do what you please. But you brought that into your work here that the university. So how, how did you know how did what you learned at home, uh, kind of transfer into what you do here.

00:17:50:12 - 00:18:20:22
Sergio
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when we're talking about actual, like, renovation, you know, um, that came out of, uh, what we see now to drive big results in a residential college. Although, um, the university is really generous to us and given us a budget to be able to work on everything from programmatic events. Teas? Yeah, seasonal stuff, grants, you know, for student travel.

00:18:21:04 - 00:18:48:01
Sergio
So many really cool things that really support the student. It'll go, you know, that stuff will go fast. You don't have money to invest 5070 K in a in a coffee. Well, coffee shop would have been $250,000, you know, a quarter million dollars to do something. Wow. Really? Well, yeah, right. Yeah. And so but students still want the place to feel either homey or useful in the way that they want it.

00:18:48:03 - 00:19:10:11
Sergio
Um, and one concept that we had early on and this is, you know, testament to the Laurie Santos at the time, you know, uh, being very fearless in these things as well. And so we collaborated really well together as I do with our Baskin Summers. Um, I've just been really lucky to have people. Yeah. That have had confidence in me.

00:19:10:13 - 00:19:32:15
Sergio
I've been visionary to build, execute these things. But it's also, you know, we looked at these things and we're like, we could try to wait three years to make this thing happen, right? Or we could do it on the cheap, you know, how are we going to we could try to figure it out ourselves and a lot of times any of these ideas have always we really want them to be student driven.

00:19:32:17 - 00:19:46:09
Sergio
And so it starts starts out a study break, you know, with a couple of seniors. Okay, Like you can have this fellows lounge. Yeah, whatever you want it to be. Mm hmm. What would you want? How about a coffee shop? How about a coffee shop?

00:19:46:12 - 00:19:48:16
Darice
Oh, that's so cool.

00:19:48:18 - 00:20:25:06
Sergio
And then trying to sort out how you're going to do that. Yeah, you know, on a on a budget. And so, um, sustainability was always something that was top of mind in that. I think these residential college spaces are great training grounds for global citizens. Oh, yeah, right. Yeah. Um, and so if we could find ways to foster kind of care and the planet and being responsible in the way that you do things right out there, navigating the social atmosphere, you know, it just it's great for so many different reasons, right?

00:20:25:06 - 00:20:45:11
Sergio
Yeah. So every single thing that you do, you can push a little bit of that in there. And so with the coffee shop were like, Cool, let's just try to make this as green as possible. Yeah. So let's start. It's going to benefit us. We can't really do it any other way anyways. Right? Right. And frankly, we also thought that like the spaces need to feel like a student space, right?

00:20:45:13 - 00:21:00:15
Sergio
And this isn't taking away from the beautiful, super expensive or modern furniture that you'll see across campus, Right. But when you go into the coffee shop, I love energy. Yeah. It's you stuff from a student's room that they donated. Yeah. Yeah. Um, you know.

00:21:00:16 - 00:21:07:07
Darice
Although I love the atmosphere and didn't you mention the word came from somewhere else?

00:21:07:07 - 00:21:15:08
Sergio
Like, Yes. So, I mean, I have, um. We have a, a mug club. Yeah. Yeah. Um.

00:21:15:10 - 00:21:18:00
Darice
I love that. Has all the mugs, this.

00:21:18:02 - 00:21:18:09
Darice
Mug.

00:21:18:09 - 00:21:19:06
Darice
Person.

00:21:19:08 - 00:21:38:23
Sergio
So that was, uh, I come from Middletown, Connecticut, a cool little place there called the Eli Cannons. Um, and it's a tap room. And I remember when I turned 21, I could go in there. Yeah, I was at the bar there once, and there was all these mugs in the background. I'm sure people have seen this all over the place.

00:21:38:23 - 00:21:56:10
Sergio
Right. But that's where I saw it. Right? Right. And I'm like one of those mugs back there. It's like, that's the mug club. Like, Oh, cool. I want to be. Yeah, But no, there's like a five year waiting. Like, Oh, really hard for you to go. I was like, okay. But I was like, This is cool. And like, and then I saw someone come in, you know, sit down and she gets the big pole and she brings the money down.

00:21:56:10 - 00:22:13:16
Sergio
I'm like, Oh, it's like a tradition, you know? So she comes in, gets Margaret's beer and sits back. Oh, that's cool. That's interesting. So when we were thinking about ideas and brainstorming and thinking about reusing mugs, I'm like, How about a mug club? Yeah, we're like, for the regulars. And so we all like that idea. I love that.

00:22:13:19 - 00:22:28:12
Sergio
And we had to think about how to do that. Um, and we could just put hooks somewhere. But I had remembered that the first time, like the bat what do you call the back of the bed? Like the.

00:22:28:14 - 00:22:30:05
Darice
The, the headboard.

00:22:30:05 - 00:22:44:15
Sergio
Yeah, Yeah. The first headboard that we had I had made out of pallet wood, um, just kind of laid it out in the basement. Free wood. Yeah. Took it apart and send it and then put it out in the painting in a way that, like, we like the design and then kind of bracketed it in the back with some studs.

00:22:44:17 - 00:22:59:21
Sergio
Put it up on the wall. Yeah, I painted it with a white and it was like it was cool. So I remember I was able to use palette wood to like, make a big thing, like why don't we do something on a pallet wood and kind of do the same thing there, you know? Yeah, put this four by six, you know, structure, right?

00:23:00:01 - 00:23:07:05
Sergio
And then it looks so cool on the wall, books on it. And through some, you know, use mugs, I think if my sister ever comes would be like that.

00:23:07:05 - 00:23:12:18
Darice
Was my mom, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I love.

00:23:12:18 - 00:23:27:04
Darice
That idea. And see, that's what I read. I'm like I, you know, I love how it looks and it's gorgeous, but I don't have the. Yeah, it's like, you know, that vision of. Yeah. Of using something and turning it into something, I'll buy it.

00:23:27:05 - 00:23:29:09
Darice
But I don't.

00:23:29:11 - 00:23:33:06
Darice
I'm like, see, I don't have the know how I'm not, I'm not good with a drill or saw.

00:23:33:07 - 00:23:34:17
Darice
So.

00:23:34:19 - 00:24:10:09
Darice
That is so cool. I love that. Now curious you know going going back into your your role here at the college, where were there certain experiences maybe, I don't know, early on or halfway or just recently that, um, I don't know. It just kind of transformed your your commitment to number one, to sustainability. But, um, even more importantly, the student experience, like you said, like this becoming sort of their home away from home.

00:24:10:13 - 00:24:25:18
Sergio
Yeah, I don't know if there's, there's one, but it's been a compilation of experiences from the, you know, I came in here through the dining services department because that was my hand right from the right. Right. Yeah. And, and they had a commitment to sustainability, which I found fascinating.

00:24:25:18 - 00:24:26:06
Darice
Really.

00:24:26:11 - 00:24:51:18
Sergio
Yeah. The way that they sourced their products. Um, and they worked closely with sustainability on initiatives I thought was really cool. It was hard to translate it into such a big operation. Yeah, it's really hard to show that to the, to the consumer. Yeah, right. But in the back office from where I was sitting, it was evident that they were trying really hard to do this and so I thought that that was really cool.

00:24:51:18 - 00:25:13:08
Sergio
So yeah, it was an inspiration to be able to do it. Wow, you're internally, but then all the different pieces, you know, the, the, um, if you talk to another Ando Assistant director of operations, they might tell you they do something completely different. Right? Um, we all align in certain places, but we do different things and approaches and they are amazing at the things that they do.

00:25:13:13 - 00:25:42:10
Sergio
And if you ever have them sitting behind the mic, yeah, they'll tell you the same stuff, you know? But this position started years ago with the head of college. Her name was Judy Kraus, and in fact, she was Silliman, she was wonderful. And she really advocated for additional administrative support. Mm mm. I kind of someone that could be like the right hand of.

00:25:42:10 - 00:26:01:19
Sergio
Yeah. The head of college. And so with that, you had to understand what the head of college wanted and be able to support that in the best way. So if someone wanted me to be in the back office crunching numbers, putting out reports, talking about the financials, constantly and driving it from that angle, then that's who I would be.

00:26:02:00 - 00:26:15:15
Sergio
You know, if Ariel came in and was like, you know, that's really can you send me weekly reports on what's happening financially here? And that's why I would be, yeah. Sergio who's, you know, remodeling something, Right Right. Or you know, moving a holiday trio into the courtyard.

00:26:15:18 - 00:26:16:09
Darice
Really.

00:26:16:09 - 00:26:40:14
Sergio
Went together and, you know, so like, you just never you have to be able to be flexible. Yeah. Yeah. With what there is But thankfully, I guess for the things that I'm pretty decent at, um, the folks that have been around me not only have liked those things, but I think also value that, uh, folks do their best work when they do things that they love.

00:26:40:14 - 00:26:52:14
Sergio
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so, and that's kind of a big, big lesson in management in general when you have people that are working with you, trying to put them in positions that they're enjoying themselves. Right. They'll do their best work.

00:26:52:15 - 00:26:55:17
Darice
Exactly. Yeah. When you when you love coming to work every day.

00:26:55:18 - 00:27:02:20
Sergio
Yeah, I got the job. Yeah, that's a job on the planet, people Really? For sure. Yeah.

00:27:02:22 - 00:27:26:16
Darice
That's great. I mean, it. It's so true. It's like if. If and this has come up to in other episodes, it's like if I, if you give me room to, to grow and, and really, truly love my job and you know, love what I can contribute like all of these other experiences that you have that you bring to the table, but you're able to, you know, use them as tools.

00:27:26:16 - 00:27:27:10
Sergio
Yeah, Yeah.

00:27:27:12 - 00:27:29:03
Darice
In different aspects.

00:27:29:04 - 00:27:29:12
Sergio
It's that.

00:27:29:13 - 00:27:32:23
Darice
It's like, yeah, it's like I love getting up every day, you know, and going.

00:27:32:23 - 00:27:58:19
Sergio
To work. But and this is a you can't do it without the right people around you. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I would put our team against anyone. Yeah. Yeah. No it's, it's the best team I think I've ever worked with. When Laura was here with Ariel, here with the administrative systems that are there, the staff from top to bottom.

00:27:58:22 - 00:28:18:18
Sergio
Really amazing. Cara and the head of College house. You know, like the brilliance that comes out of those positions and the things that they're supposed to be doing makes it so that I can open up to do other things. Yeah, if not, I would be doubling back and write something more financial or doing more in the house. But like they cover their bases and cover me.

00:28:18:18 - 00:28:19:12
Sergio
Yeah. Yeah.

00:28:19:14 - 00:28:25:08
Darice
So they kind of clear the obstacles for you so that. Mm hmm. Yeah. Which is amazing. Yeah.

00:28:25:13 - 00:28:27:00
Sergio
Um.

00:28:27:02 - 00:28:40:14
Darice
Yeah. So I, you know, I'm curious on a, on a daily basis because I know you love your job, but are there certain aspects that you know, bring you the most satisfaction or things that you just like? Oh, I hope I get to do that today.

00:28:40:14 - 00:28:42:03
Darice
Or, you know.

00:28:42:05 - 00:29:12:20
Sergio
No, you know, I'm a big, uh, punch list guy. Uh, um, and so really accomplishing tasks, getting them off of the list. Yeah. Is really my driving force. Really? By the end of the day, you know? But I do love to beautify the spaces I do like, I like big chains. Amber Uh, it was just an example of a painter who gets to paint that wall before they leave.

00:29:12:20 - 00:29:14:02
Sergio
They're like, Oh, look at that. Beautiful.

00:29:14:02 - 00:29:15:03
Darice
Right, Right.

00:29:15:05 - 00:29:16:02
Darice
You know, Exactly.

00:29:16:05 - 00:29:40:08
Sergio
Um, you know, I like that feeling. And so. And I get to, uh, you know, tie in to the physical aspects of the job, taking some kind of doors off and, yeah, you know, that's always nice. And we're cognizant that some of that, you know, a lot of the stuff is superficial, esthetic. We're not really driving into spaces that we shouldn't be driving into.

00:29:40:09 - 00:29:40:19
Darice
Right.

00:29:40:20 - 00:30:01:22
Sergio
Um, you know, by, by contract, for example, you know, we get the folks that are supposed to do the work to do to do it. Yeah, but, you know, if like, pull the cabinet door off. Yeah, it's not a big deal. That's awesome. So I love doing that. But frankly, I do have to say that I think the the biggest job satisfaction is spending time with the people that you work with, right?

00:30:01:22 - 00:30:20:18
Sergio
Yeah. So I've got an office in the fourth floor of Silliman College. Um, and it's up there in a corner where it's not far from the coffee shop. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's cool, but I spend most of my time in the administrative office downstairs. Yeah. So. And then you go to the first floor and plop down somewhere there a marathon somewhere?

00:30:20:18 - 00:30:35:05
Sergio
Yeah. Yeah. Messing around, having a good time. Yeah. Um, and that's really what brings the most joy. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. No, actually, it. I see. I realize. Yeah. Those, you know, the. The five that I see the most often. Yeah.

00:30:35:06 - 00:30:37:00
Darice
It's like your extended family. Yeah.

00:30:37:02 - 00:30:38:13
Sergio
Right. That's great. Yeah.

00:30:38:16 - 00:31:07:20
Darice
That's one of the things that I remember. Um, I think this was over the summer. Uh, so a student, one of the student workers gave us a tour of, of Silliman, uh, when we were there with the folks from, uh, uh, Clover, you know, and, uh, you know, the one thing that really stood out for me was, you know, we went through in forgive me because I can't remember the location, but there were all the murals.

00:31:07:22 - 00:31:10:03
Sergio
Uh, in the hallway that was, were.

00:31:10:03 - 00:31:19:11
Darice
Some of me. Oh, my gosh. Like the artwork. And, you know, I took some photos because I was like, These are so beautiful. I was. I wish we could do it everywhere.

00:31:19:11 - 00:31:44:02
Sergio
That started a few years ago when I had a college, Laurie Santos came in. Um, she remember that there was that other school up north? You know, there's, there's, yeah, one house that has some sort of mural thing, and what happens is the walls are all taken up now, and so every year you have to vote on the few that you really have to paint over, right?

00:31:44:02 - 00:31:58:12
Sergio
Yeah. So became a tradition there. She was like, would be cool if we can do it, you know, we could do it here. Yeah. We talked to the facilities and, and again, they've always been really flexible really in a supportive way. Yeah. If it's a student driven initiative.

00:31:58:14 - 00:31:59:20
Darice
There, you know, they work with.

00:31:59:21 - 00:32:13:08
Sergio
Me. So that's been wonderful. But they said, yeah, you know, if you guys, if you guys want to take up the floors And so again, you know, a trip down to the local hardware store a whole bunch of blue tape. Yeah, yeah.

00:32:13:10 - 00:32:14:06
Darice
Yeah.

00:32:14:08 - 00:32:22:22
Sergio
And we would set up stations. We had the student set up for murals and it was kind of an example of what they're going to do to make sure it's not appropriate.

00:32:22:23 - 00:32:23:20
Darice
Yeah.

00:32:23:22 - 00:32:41:15
Sergio
And then we'd have a paint weekend, you know, So Fridays at five. Yeah. Go down there. That was kind of a fun part of it too, where, um, I would go down with the aides and we would do like, you know, four foot mural spaces and put tape on the left and on the right. Okay. You know, like.

00:32:41:17 - 00:32:42:20
Darice
So this is your spot?

00:32:42:20 - 00:32:49:20
Sergio
Yeah. And then put with pencil numbers. One, two, three, probably 15 or 20 per year. Yeah.

00:32:49:22 - 00:32:51:09
Darice
Is this a really long hallway?

00:32:51:14 - 00:33:07:12
Sergio
Huge hallway. And we're almost full. No. Beautiful five or seven years. But, um, but yeah. And then the Thursday before painting, we sent an email to all the people signed up, like, okay, you go down now and pick your. Yeah. So you go and you write your name down.

00:33:07:12 - 00:33:07:23
Darice
Okay?

00:33:08:01 - 00:33:11:21
Sergio
There may have been some people that have embraced those names and put their own. Yeah. You know, because I.

00:33:11:21 - 00:33:13:17
Darice
Select the primary patient. Yeah, I.

00:33:13:17 - 00:33:17:01
Sergio
Want to be right there. So. And people have done so gorgeous.

00:33:17:01 - 00:33:42:01
Darice
I wish, you know, we'll have to talk after because it's little things like that that I don't you know many many folks can't aren't able to see in the colleges that especially people like me. I don't interface directly with students or um you know I'm not present in the colleges and and it's, and it's just such an awesome thing to see like, my gosh you know, the community and special talented.

00:33:42:04 - 00:33:48:11
Darice
Yeah, yeah. They're, they're amazing. And it was so and it was just beautiful because like, the colors, just everything.

00:33:48:11 - 00:33:59:19
Sergio
The artwork is gorgeous right now we're we're redoing the, the student kitchen. It's a beautiful large space, but it's really outdated. Yeah. And so we're trying to think about different ways to unify it.

00:33:59:19 - 00:34:00:05
Darice
Yeah.

00:34:00:05 - 00:34:19:20
Sergio
Yeah. And so murals came to mind and one of the office aides and I just talked to people and I'm like, You could do like arts again or you want a mural? Sure. That's, you know, something in there. So she's going to do something in the kitchen. And she sent me a few samples the other day. And it's just amazing, really.

00:34:19:20 - 00:34:21:01
Sergio
The salamanders cooking?

00:34:21:01 - 00:34:27:09
Darice
Yeah, that was great. I love that. Oh, my gosh. You'll have to send photos. I will.

00:34:27:11 - 00:34:32:19
Darice
Do you guys post like on the website of the, you know, the murals and the work that you're doing?

00:34:32:20 - 00:34:37:23
Sergio
Yeah. We're we're not as good. I think Ariel definitely wants us to get better. Yeah.

00:34:38:00 - 00:34:39:19
Darice
Uh, you know, like, updates and.

00:34:39:19 - 00:34:41:00
Sergio
Yeah, yeah, I know.

00:34:41:00 - 00:34:50:04
Darice
It's like, in a perfect world, I would love to, you know, it's. It's almost like I would love to have a little, you know, team of students to just, you know, do outreach.

00:34:50:04 - 00:34:51:12
Sergio
And there's so much to see.

00:34:51:12 - 00:34:54:13
Darice
What's going on and and bring it back and, you know.

00:34:54:15 - 00:34:54:23
Sergio
Home.

00:34:55:01 - 00:35:02:00
Darice
Newsletters or wherever on the site. Yeah. It's hard to capture, right, because it's it's like every college every.

00:35:02:00 - 00:35:18:22
Sergio
Day you get something really cool. Yeah I mean, if the students who are getting ready to come to places like Yale that have residential college systems really knew how magical the spaces really are. Yeah. Yeah. You wouldn't think twice, right? Any other place. Yeah. I mean, to get that in my for that experience.

00:35:19:00 - 00:35:22:17
Darice
Yeah. It's amazing. I mean when I, when I tour the colleges, I'm like.

00:35:22:17 - 00:35:25:10
Darice
I wish I had this know when I was in school.

00:35:25:10 - 00:35:26:11
Darice
I mean, it's amazing.

00:35:26:13 - 00:35:45:09
Sergio
The spaces alone are awesome. Yeah. Having that, you know, you wake up in the morning and you could go, Yeah, I could go sit in a sandbox and do, like, you know, a little something. Yeah. Yeah. I could go get a dry cappuccino. Right, Right. Go and do, like, a high intensity training in the gym. Exactly. Or up and go to the dining hall.

00:35:45:09 - 00:35:46:19
Sergio
Yeah. And then head off to class.

00:35:46:19 - 00:35:47:06
Darice
And then go.

00:35:47:06 - 00:35:48:18
Sergio
To my kids. Get up and get burnt toast.

00:35:48:20 - 00:35:51:05
Darice
Yeah, Yeah. So if I.

00:35:51:05 - 00:35:53:01
Darice
I, I'm trying to think. Did I even eat.

00:35:53:01 - 00:35:55:17
Darice
Breakfast when I was in college, you.

00:35:55:17 - 00:35:59:22
Darice
Know, many days, or I would just, like, go to class and eat here my stomach, like.

00:35:59:22 - 00:36:01:13
Darice
Right, right. Yeah.

00:36:01:15 - 00:36:31:12
Darice
Yeah. No, it really is and it's beautiful. And the thing about it is, you know, one of the things I wanted to do on this podcast was to really show the people behind the scenes that make it make it the place that it is, you know, because it wouldn't be a it wouldn't happen if, if we didn't have people like you who are really dedicated to, you know, making this a space for for students where they felt like this is my home, you know, my home away from home.

00:36:31:12 - 00:36:33:15
Darice
And and that's that's pretty awesome.

00:36:33:17 - 00:36:55:09
Sergio
I can just like when you and I were off offline talking about raising kids. Yeah. It takes a village. Yes. Yeah, I'm a small, you know, piece of this giant puzzle, right over a residential college community where most of the people there are coming in with that same mentality. Yeah, mentality. What can I do different to make this better and better and better?

00:36:55:11 - 00:37:01:00
Sergio
That's awesome. The dining manager to the cook, dishwasher to the facilities where to the ground.

00:37:01:00 - 00:37:01:15
Darice
Everybody.

00:37:01:17 - 00:37:04:23
Sergio
Everybody is out there doing their job. It's so.

00:37:04:23 - 00:37:43:15
Darice
Awesome. And it's amazing because, you know, when you sit back and and think about just everyone. So when I went through, um, the Emerge program, um, this past year or past, uh, it started last fall into this year and you know, we had different presenters from different parts of the university, like different leaders came in to, you know, explain finance, explained you know, each are in different things and when you, when you start breaking down all of these different area, you know, the trickle down and like it's okay, you have these main areas.

00:37:43:15 - 00:38:05:14
Darice
But then when they all it's just kind of branched down into other departments and then you realize that you're contributing to this like major, major operation and that it's the place that it is. And it's I mean, I'm always in, oh, how it's like, yeah, all of these things, you know, no matter what, if you're not in the office, it's still, you know, the machine.

00:38:05:14 - 00:38:06:14
Darice
Is still going.

00:38:06:16 - 00:38:12:07
Sergio
And when we go to those little college, I remember the first time I went to Yale College, all staff made it.

00:38:12:07 - 00:38:14:02
Darice
Yeah. Yeah. You know, Right. You know.

00:38:14:03 - 00:38:35:05
Sergio
We go across the street to the science building. Yeah, big room. And I look across a sea of faces from all different walks of life, different departments. Yeah. And I. I didn't fully understand at the time how we all our partners said, Yeah, you know. Yeah. But the more I sat around and listened to the people and sponged it up.

00:38:35:06 - 00:38:37:19
Sergio
Yeah, yeah. Like, oh my gosh, ROTC don't.

00:38:38:00 - 00:38:39:03
Darice
You know? Yeah.

00:38:39:03 - 00:38:39:12
Darice
It's so.

00:38:39:12 - 00:38:40:06
Darice
Amazing.

00:38:40:06 - 00:38:40:22
Sergio
It was really cool.

00:38:40:22 - 00:39:07:11
Darice
Yeah, it really is. Like, and you know, even just doing the podcast and talking to different stuff from different areas, you know, and I've had just, you know, I tried to be really diverse in terms of, yeah, we have all these people from, you know, the arts and then, you know, the colleges, and then we have, um, you know, y'see three wellness and wonderful, uh, you know, the symphony either way.

00:39:07:11 - 00:39:13:04
Darice
So, and the fellowships and the, you know, I mean, it's, it's really cool.

00:39:13:06 - 00:39:14:00
Sergio
Yeah, the.

00:39:14:00 - 00:39:15:00
Darice
Film film.

00:39:15:05 - 00:39:17:18
Sergio
I'm recording on Yeah. Somewhere and another.

00:39:17:19 - 00:39:22:05
Darice
No, not at all. No, no, no.

00:39:22:07 - 00:39:41:20
Darice
And that's the thing. Like I, you know, it's been really exciting just to highlight everyone and, and you know, it's like, I know we all come in and do what we do every day, but I don't know, I feel like people forget, like there are so many talents that everyone has that contribute to what, you know, the place that it is.

00:39:41:22 - 00:39:52:21
Darice
And if we weren't all committed to doing, you know, doing this job, then it wouldn't be the place that it is, you know, And it's it's just so cool, you know, And.

00:39:52:22 - 00:40:05:13
Sergio
I don't think, like, not to put you on the spot, but like, I don't I don't know the people that listen to this, whoever does, like if they would realize that what you're doing right now is part of that, we'll.

00:40:05:15 - 00:40:07:22
Darice
Oh, that. Yeah. I mean, of course.

00:40:08:00 - 00:40:22:07
Sergio
This is all like it's part of that. We are, you know, going to not only provide something for the university, for the college system, and for your own personal growth. Yeah, but then it's going to be reinvested into the community, so it's all right.

00:40:22:07 - 00:40:26:01
Darice
Yeah. So true. Like it'll hopefully plant some sort of seed.

00:40:26:03 - 00:40:28:04
Sergio
This is your age. This is your income. Yeah. Yeah.

00:40:28:04 - 00:40:30:21
Darice
My acorn. Yeah. Which I. How did you come.

00:40:30:21 - 00:40:32:17
Darice
Up with that name, by the way, for this.

00:40:32:19 - 00:40:38:08
Sergio
Talk Some different stuff around and the acorn is one of the symbols on the site.

00:40:38:10 - 00:40:44:23
Darice
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So I. So I love that. I love that. Yeah. So. So yeah, hopefully my acorn can grow.

00:40:45:01 - 00:40:45:10
Sergio
You know.

00:40:45:11 - 00:40:47:03
Darice
A nice tree.

00:40:47:05 - 00:40:48:05
Darice
And.

00:40:48:07 - 00:41:16:09
Darice
Know it's so awesome. Um, so I wanted to, um, talk a little bit more about, uh, you know, like you, we talked about how the work you do in terms of helping renovate and things like that, but we're kind of moving into some of your other duties, as is, uh, assistant director of operations. Like, um, what? Like are there certain initiatives in terms of sustainability?

00:41:16:09 - 00:41:23:10
Darice
I mean, we mentioned some specific examples, but are there other initiatives that you've been working on?

00:41:23:12 - 00:41:49:03
Sergio
Yeah. So, you know, the renovation stuff is kind of like the extra layer that we, we like to do over there as an assistant director of operations, you have a responsibility to the people. Mhm. And to the space and to the overall experience, which really has to do with the financials that come in. Yeah. How do you, how do you move all that stuff around to create a, an academic year.

00:41:49:03 - 00:42:21:01
Sergio
That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. You're in a supervisory role to degree. Mm. As almost like a parent would be, the kids are somewhere, you know, making sure like if, if, if there's any way in which I'm overseeing or looking after dining being successful, it's only from a concerned Yeah. Parent Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't manage you know the, the managers there that's not me you know they, but if something's wrong I'd be the person to advocate, you know, for, for the students.

00:42:21:03 - 00:42:45:04
Sergio
Um, but to go back to your, your question was really if there's any kind of initiatives right now and I think you know, when when head of colleges change over that transition or when staff changes over. Yeah you know, it's an opportunity for growth. Yeah. In a positive direction. Right So you look to their leadership and and try to figure out what they want to do.

00:42:45:05 - 00:43:10:23
Sergio
Yeah. And then those are the things that you move forward. So for example right now, you know, Hawk Baskin Summers is amazing at streamlining an operation and making it more efficient. Uh, you know, putting the lands where they need to be. Yeah. And so we've been working with that, whether it's having our reservations, you know, we have all the people that are there every day.

00:43:11:00 - 00:43:30:19
Sergio
Yeah. You know, we used to have students managing it here and they're opening doors to be open. Right. Okay. You know, I'm trying to get into the movie theater, right? You know, And so immediately, you know, she provided a direct impact. And let's go into a Google calendar or let's do it this way. So we've been adapting kind of all of our our back office.

00:43:30:19 - 00:43:44:05
Sergio
Yeah, sure. Kind of The Wizard of Oz, you know, Right, Right behind moving those things. Yeah. So we've been doing a lot of that this year. Um, we for example, I mentioned that I was kind of a list guy. Mm. I'm terrible at.

00:43:44:05 - 00:43:46:03
Darice
It, but I. That you do? Yeah.

00:43:46:05 - 00:44:06:08
Sergio
My list gets so big. Yeah. Get done both right. Um, and we joke around about stuff like that a lot. We have a really light office there, but, um, that did something called a which you might know about. Oh, yeah. It's just an online platform to be able to share our share or punch list tests. So we're constantly going in and stuff for each other.

00:44:06:08 - 00:44:11:02
Sergio
That's great. And things off. Yeah. Get a little checkmark. You got a unicorn? Yeah. What's better than.

00:44:11:03 - 00:44:13:00
Darice
Oh, that's so cool. So it has badges?

00:44:13:00 - 00:44:14:19
Sergio
Yeah. Yeah, it just pops up, like.

00:44:14:21 - 00:44:17:07
Darice
That's so cool. Oh, I like that. You'll have to.

00:44:17:12 - 00:44:18:09
Sergio
Yeah, for sure.

00:44:18:09 - 00:44:19:02
Darice
What's it called again?

00:44:19:03 - 00:44:19:15
Sergio
Asana.

00:44:19:16 - 00:44:20:15
Darice
Asana is.

00:44:20:18 - 00:44:21:18
Sergio
Of course, is the free.

00:44:21:22 - 00:44:49:13
Darice
Yeah. Yeah. And that's so, you know, it's funny you mention that because that's, that's something I've been working on is to sort of gather all the different tools that. Mm hmm. Departments are using to, you know, accomplish whatever tasks they have. Um, and, you know, I, it's hard for me to get a handle on because I don't get to sit down and talk to everyone on a regular basis.

00:44:49:13 - 00:45:07:08
Darice
So it's so pretty soon we're doing like an I.T survey because it's things like that. I you know, I don't know if you're the only college using it, which, you know, you never know if other folks will find that useful. And uh, yeah, so, so it's pretty cool to hear that, you know, you guys are. Yeah.

00:45:07:09 - 00:45:28:10
Sergio
I mean when you're working, when, when you're working with, you know, faculty, yeah, they often have great things that are coming from, I think she uses in a her lab Yeah. Yeah. That's also for their lab And so that's great. Yeah. So that's not, uh, you know, the, the sexy thing right here is the thing that's kind of top of mind that we're constantly trying to work on really cleaning, you know?

00:45:28:10 - 00:45:39:15
Sergio
Now, I've been seven years in this job and it's time to really have all the back of the office stuff really crisp. Yeah, Yeah. You know, you always want it, but trying, you know, like it's reactive.

00:45:39:15 - 00:45:41:08
Darice
Yeah, like constant reactive.

00:45:41:08 - 00:45:47:13
Sergio
So this year has been about, um, continuing. You know, we just did a huge winter festival outdoors. We build these giant huts.

00:45:47:15 - 00:45:48:08
Darice
Oh, really?

00:45:48:10 - 00:45:55:02
Sergio
Come down. You know, I'm going to be putting igloos up. We have these igloos. Oh, that's so cool. And the courtyard, you might have seen these.

00:45:55:07 - 00:45:55:19
Darice
The clearer.

00:45:56:01 - 00:46:14:03
Sergio
The clearer things, those little bubble thing. Yeah. And so I put those up in generally the second week of January. Uh huh. Um. Oh, I'll be hoping the good life center a little bit with transition into some new spaces in the Schwarzman Center. And so those are all kind of the physical stuff that's happening, um, you know, and all that.

00:46:14:08 - 00:46:18:08
Sergio
You're figuring out where you are physically for the right. You're right.

00:46:18:12 - 00:46:19:20
Darice
The normal day to day.

00:46:19:20 - 00:46:31:19
Sergio
Yeah, yeah. Running out the next term's academic, you know, the events calendar. Yeah, yeah. Um, but really the main focus is how do we get the stuff cleaner? Yeah, we can actually operate more physically.

00:46:31:19 - 00:46:32:03
Darice
Yeah.

00:46:32:07 - 00:46:34:20
Sergio
Yeah. And cleaner way. Um.

00:46:34:22 - 00:46:42:03
Darice
That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. And if, you know, if you need it, help, let me know. Thank you.

00:46:42:03 - 00:46:42:22
Sergio
I you know, I always.

00:46:42:23 - 00:47:09:17
Darice
Absolutely call me, you know, because I love even. Even if you have something in mind already, just. I love to hear, you know, about how you problem solving and, uh, you know, your approach because like you said, every college is different. Every assistant director may approach things differently. So, um, but it's still nice to hear, like, how you problem solved and figured it, you know?

00:47:09:23 - 00:47:19:22
Darice
Yeah. Figured out what worked best for your team versus it may you know, it may or may not work for another college and yeah, um, so yeah, I'd love to. Yeah, please do. I'd love to.

00:47:19:22 - 00:47:32:15
Sergio
Be a fly on the wall. No, what we always also we know when to reach out to the rose or blaze. Yeah. Yeah. You know, my skill set doesn't go past in a clicking on the website, right? Like, wait a second.

00:47:32:17 - 00:47:40:10
Darice
Now it's all good. And we, you know, we're happy to help. And, uh, I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, Yeah. Please, Sheila, You know, quick shout.

00:47:40:10 - 00:47:41:09
Sergio
Out to absolutely.

00:47:41:13 - 00:48:01:05
Darice
Blaze McCoy. Uh, Sheila Gillooly. So, um, yeah, I couldn't do it without them. It's one of those, um, it's one of those things where it's like I, you know, it's a piece that I don't even really worry about because, you know, they handle it, they have it under control. And, you know, it's an awesome team. We're small. We're small but mighty, right?

00:48:01:05 - 00:48:02:14
Darice
Yes.

00:48:02:16 - 00:48:31:11
Darice
So it's pretty cool. Yeah, we're you look at that. We're we're almost, uh, getting towards the end here. But I'm curious, you know, if you could talk a little bit more about, um, you know, your, your interaction with students and, like, how do you incorporate different principles of, of the DEIB, um, you know, into your role and also like your, how you, um, you know, how you work with students or mentors.

00:48:31:12 - 00:48:32:00
Darice
Yeah.

00:48:32:02 - 00:48:40:14
Sergio
Yeah. Um, so again, a unique privilege to be able to basically work inside of their, their home. Yeah, yeah. You know.

00:48:40:16 - 00:48:41:15
Darice
It's a great way to put it.

00:48:41:16 - 00:49:06:04
Sergio
Like and so I think early on in my career it was, um, I didn't know how to translate that, uh, as effectively as I do now. Um, you know, I used the example of working in dining services when people would walk in. You were a dining manager. How can I help you? Yeah, you're in the services. MM. Of the students.

00:49:06:04 - 00:49:28:17
Sergio
And that kind of changed when I went into the administrative role in the residential college. It felt a lot more like I was part of the family. Um, and so the more you just. You feel comfortable with that. Yeah. Yeah. The more you can engage with students really comfortably. Yeah. And break through with some great conversations. Um, and they start small.

00:49:28:17 - 00:49:52:14
Sergio
And when you see the years of growth, you see that pattern, right? Right. You know, it becomes evident what how you have to do it, right? Yeah. Um, and so they might start small with a, with a conversation in an elevator. Yeah. Um, to something, you know, in passing at a coffee shop, um, to, you know, to working together on something.

00:49:52:14 - 00:50:06:05
Sergio
Yeah. Folks have kind of gotten to know me as someone who will always give them some tasks that they don't know how to do. Right? Right. I'm really big into doing that. Uh, you know, uh, Steve, a couple of days ago, I went down and primed the outside of some cabinets and never.

00:50:06:06 - 00:50:06:20
Darice
Oh, really?

00:50:07:01 - 00:50:08:01
Sergio
Like, you know.

00:50:08:03 - 00:50:09:13
Darice
Like, going on. So.

00:50:09:15 - 00:50:31:19
Sergio
Um, and I always find great value and doing those things with them again, like the, the wellness center, you know, building the sandbox. Yeah. And that was with students. Um, you know, we took drills, we built a sub flooring in a Oh, wow. Office. Yeah. No, we cut out with a jigsaw. Yeah. Circle to put the sandbox in.

00:50:31:19 - 00:50:40:23
Sergio
Oh, that's good. Do it. Not me, really. You know, we had students come early at the end of summer to paint the walls because facilities would have painted it. But just white. Yeah, Yeah, but they were cool.

00:50:40:23 - 00:50:41:20
Darice
They wanted something.

00:50:41:22 - 00:50:56:18
Sergio
We wanted to do a nice. Yeah. Show vibe in there. So it was like a light green or whatever it was, you know, eucalyptus or something. Yeah. And so they did that, you know, they do all that stuff. And in turn it gives them a sense of value.

00:50:56:19 - 00:51:01:07
Darice
Yeah. Like they own it, right? Yeah. This is my space and.

00:51:01:11 - 00:51:06:16
Sergio
That's why that's what really makes us successful, is that they feel like they own it. Yeah. You know, that is.

00:51:06:16 - 00:51:21:13
Darice
So cool because you treat, you also treat your own property differently, You know, you take pride in it. Yeah. You know, you're not going to trash it or, you know, and it does give them that sense. It's it's almost like their first introduction to like.

00:51:21:17 - 00:51:22:07
Sergio
It really is.

00:51:22:08 - 00:51:22:21
Darice
Ownership.

00:51:22:21 - 00:51:43:10
Sergio
Right? When you start doing that with people, like you might feel like it's just a couple of people, but you know, through this four year cycle, you turn around and there's a lot of students that you've been able to support or provide an impact in some way. Mm hmm. You know, and if you're just they're like parents and you just you're there to experience the moments.

00:51:43:10 - 00:52:06:06
Sergio
Yeah, I know. Recently with the Winter Festival that we do, it's a pretty big event and we bring folks from all over campus are welcome to come. We don't close the doors, uh, to people, but the first night it was raining, uh, uh, man we're going to the park. What are we doing? Yeah. Student Buttery. And let's put, you know, make it look like the holidays threw up down there with.

00:52:06:06 - 00:52:08:18
Sergio
Oh, yeah, the decorations right there, you know.

00:52:08:20 - 00:52:11:08
Darice
Which I can imagine, because the butter is are beautiful to begin.

00:52:11:08 - 00:52:27:12
Sergio
With. They're cool. Yeah. So we just put lights all over and stuff and, you know, we want to put like board games out since we're inside. Mm. I go to like a big launch or something. I see these, uh, indoor, um, indoor snowball.

00:52:27:15 - 00:52:29:06
Darice
Oh, yes, I like it.

00:52:29:08 - 00:52:31:09
Sergio
I was like, Oh my gosh, this is great. Me get like.

00:52:31:13 - 00:52:34:11
Darice
I thought, Yeah, me too. I did that for my kids.

00:52:34:11 - 00:52:46:01
Sergio
It's great, right? Yeah. Got like, a snowball. Yeah. Put them in a little basket. And, you know, students came down, uh, and no one really touched them, but. Oh, you know, I just snagged one, and it just started.

00:52:46:01 - 00:52:46:06
Darice
Yeah.

00:52:46:09 - 00:52:49:09
Sergio
Had, you know, and then before, you know, it were all just.

00:52:49:13 - 00:52:50:18
Darice
Just throw it on. Yeah.

00:52:50:20 - 00:53:09:02
Sergio
You know, and those ice breaking laws. Yes. You know, or like, uh, even that night there was a it's right next to the basketball court and like you said in the bio, like, I like playing sports. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, we're me and the head of college who's a great basketball player.

00:53:09:02 - 00:53:10:12
Darice
By the way.

00:53:10:14 - 00:53:26:12
Sergio
We took on a couple different people into two and three and three. Yeah. And it's, you know, I didn't know these kids. Right? There are some students might be sophomores. Yeah. Never met them in my life. I see them like two steps in a night. Yeah, but that moment, that moment competing now, I've seen them since. Mm. Yeah.

00:53:26:13 - 00:53:37:22
Sergio
It was, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Small talk happening. There might be another moment that we have and by the end of it when they're walking across that graduation we might get a hug in. Yeah. I remember that they had people that were supporting them. Right. Oh resident So.

00:53:37:22 - 00:53:51:10
Darice
Yeah, so true. And that's kind of before in other episodes where it's like that, that one could be a short moment or a time that you have with students and it just makes an impact that it's not, it's not just in the moment. It's a lasting.

00:53:51:10 - 00:53:52:14
Sergio
Impact. Yes.

00:53:52:16 - 00:54:00:22
Darice
And something that may resonate for them, you know, later on, like when they're adults maybe working at a university.

00:54:01:00 - 00:54:13:16
Sergio
And we used to preach that in the restaurant business, like find a way to make a lasting impression on the table, you know, for a server, right? Yeah. What are you going to do? What's going to be the difference maker? Right? Everyone can go and spend their hard earned money somewhere, right? So what are you going to do that's going to make it different?

00:54:13:17 - 00:54:22:06
Sergio
Yeah. You know, and give me an example of what you could do, you know, that's going to turn for grandmothers. Yeah, Yeah. Hold the baby.

00:54:22:11 - 00:54:24:15
Darice
Yeah. The little personal touch.

00:54:24:15 - 00:54:29:14
Sergio
Yeah. Yeah. What are you going to do that when they walk away? Like, that was nice. And that person was so lovely, know?

00:54:29:17 - 00:54:32:11
Darice
Yeah. And it makes me come back, you know, and.

00:54:32:13 - 00:54:34:23
Sergio
Find a way to make a lasting impression, right?

00:54:35:00 - 00:54:55:17
Darice
Oh, so awesome. I love this. Uh, so, yeah, I wanted to talk a little bit more. We're almost at our hour already, believe it or not. Um, so, yeah, I wanted to talk about, like, what are some of the other, you know, maybe future aspirations you have in the college or other things that you'd like to get involved in it, whether it's at Silliman or.

00:54:55:18 - 00:54:57:13
Darice
Yeah, just, you know, college as a whole.

00:54:57:15 - 00:55:19:06
Sergio
I've been really lucky, you know, to do things with the Good Life Center folks, to do things. Um, I work now as, like, one of the lead. Adios. Uh, so that's a lot of fun. Yeah, because I get to sit inside of different rooms. Yeah, Really smart people are saying lots of cool things, right? And and, like. And be there, too.

00:55:19:06 - 00:55:39:03
Sergio
If there's anything that I know from my seven years or from whatever I've learned in life can kind of provide that knowledge. It just. I love brain building with folks. Yeah. And so I get an opportunity to do that. Really, really great. Yeah. And I'll keep on I'll keep on doing that. You know, at this point in my life, having a five year old and a ten year old, that's.

00:55:39:05 - 00:55:55:12
Sergio
That's it. Yeah. Yeah. If I can make it work, be awesome. That's great too. Exactly. But it's really all about selfishly, it's all about them. And and making sure that my family is is where it needs to be. Right. And so this job here. Yeah. Provides that.

00:55:55:13 - 00:55:57:09
Darice
Provides a space for you to do that.

00:55:57:11 - 00:56:06:02
Sergio
I haven't gone home once. Hold in my real tight. Yeah. Remember that feeling? Yes. What job? You didn't like going home like, huh? You know, never feeling.

00:56:06:02 - 00:56:06:22
Darice
Stressed out.

00:56:06:22 - 00:56:25:04
Sergio
Over, you know, And now, you know, in four days or so, we're all going to kind of have a little have some breathing room. When do you get that in the outside world? Never that I used to. There was a guy whose name is Sam, and he's he's doing great stuff in the dining services department. He's like one of the area directors.

00:56:25:04 - 00:56:48:00
Sergio
He's a really nice guy. I, I grew up working at this time concept with him. We were both managers competing for the best restaurant, really. And, you know, I went off and came over here and he continued growing with the operation that he was in and the holiday season would come around, you know, and I would call him around this time and I'd be like, Sammy, what's going on?

00:56:48:00 - 00:56:55:18
Sergio
Yeah. So the guy, you know, I'm over here in the restaurant selling gift cards for really good. So, you know, I'm like, Oh, you're about to go on like a 13 day.

00:56:55:20 - 00:56:56:14
Darice
Vacation, right?

00:56:56:15 - 00:57:05:02
Sergio
Well, yeah, you know, And I'm like, You should come. You should come over. Yeah, No, I'm good. They're going to promote me. I'm good. I did that like, two years in a row. Really? You could tell.

00:57:05:03 - 00:57:07:04
Darice
Finally he finally came over.

00:57:07:04 - 00:57:11:16
Sergio
Yeah, absolutely. You know, this. This university affords us the quality of life.

00:57:11:16 - 00:57:12:18
Darice
It really does.

00:57:12:20 - 00:57:42:11
Sergio
The position I have as an 11 month employee gives me an additional. Oh, yeah. That's thing. Yeah, but I can spend some time with my family and maybe some world travel. Yeah. And enjoy life with them. And so. So when you ask him my aspirations, it's going to continue in developing. SILLIMAN Yeah. You know, when when I came here and I saw it as an opportunity to run it like my own business, our own business out of college business, right?

00:57:42:13 - 00:57:49:01
Sergio
And whatever trickles down, I put that into place. Yeah. Um, I was like, Oh, there's so much work.

00:57:49:01 - 00:57:50:13
Darice
So much work. Yeah, so much to do.

00:57:50:13 - 00:58:08:19
Sergio
No, I'll never feel satisfied. Right? I want to get to the place where you can go into our files and you can easily find things. Yeah, comprehensive. Right? Right. You can go into every room and the function and everything is the way it's supposed to be, Right? And I think if I'd ever get to that point of Silliman, I want to do it another college too, right?

00:58:08:19 - 00:58:21:09
Sergio
Yeah. Yeah. I want every single one to be as easy as possible. And parallel to that, growing support in the university and, you know, college as a whole, you know, how can we make this thing work better?

00:58:21:10 - 00:58:47:19
Darice
Better? Yeah. Yeah. That's so amazing. I love that. Oh, there are so many things you mentioned today that that resonate for me because it's, um, you know, just your approach. Most folks, when I, when I think back to my college years and how the, you know, the dining halls were and how they were run, it was strictly just dining all, you know, you come here just to eat some food and go to class.

00:58:47:19 - 00:58:59:03
Darice
And that was it. It wasn't didn't feel like home. Yeah. You know, and I you know, I didn't stay on campus. I was a commuting student, but that made it even worse because I just had that kind of detached.

00:58:59:03 - 00:58:59:12
Sergio
You know.

00:58:59:13 - 00:59:13:09
Darice
Experience. And, you know, it's just wonderful to hear, um, just your enthusiasm for, for doing this and that, you know? It's not just a job. Yeah. For you. So. So that's really, really awesome.

00:59:13:10 - 00:59:32:11
Sergio
Well, the residential colleges are, they're in business for a reason. Yeah. Yeah. You know, there's a reason why we have them. Harvard has them, right? You know, Stanford has them. Yeah. Like, this is an additional special thing. Yeah. And we've been doing a disservice to the institution if we didn't try really hard to make it real special.

00:59:32:11 - 00:59:37:18
Darice
Yes, exactly. Exactly. Oh, so, yeah, I could talk to you all day, sir.

00:59:37:20 - 00:59:39:20
Darice
You're always saying so.

00:59:39:21 - 01:00:17:10
Darice
You know, I've got to start wrapping up. Do you have advice for for folks who maybe, you know, either want to work in the same kind of field of work that you're doing or or just in general? Like if they're looking to enhance their own, maybe in the colleges, you know, their own sustainability efforts, You know, like I'm curious how you, um, you know, coming into this role, uh, sometimes you don't know what your limits are, you know, So, so a lot of times people don't even ask, like, if who knew that you could transform a space?

01:00:17:10 - 01:00:20:04
Darice
And that's okay, you know.

01:00:20:06 - 01:00:20:13
Darice
And I.

01:00:20:13 - 01:00:27:06
Darice
Don't, I don't know if a lot of people even think to approach anything like that, because they assume that, Oh.

01:00:27:07 - 01:00:28:13
Sergio
Can you do it? Yeah, yeah.

01:00:28:15 - 01:00:37:18
Darice
Yeah. So do you have advice for for folks who who, you know, would love to do it? You know, do what you do. It's a little bit college, whether it's in the colleges or elsewhere.

01:00:37:18 - 01:01:00:11
Sergio
It just you have so many different expressions that people, you know. Yeah. You miss every shot don't take Yeah yeah. You know, you just be fearless and take ownership mentality and everything that you do, you know, And if you just follow those really simplistic things, you know, just do the things that you want to do and it will fall into place.

01:01:00:15 - 01:01:02:03
Sergio
Yeah. Yeah.

01:01:02:05 - 01:01:28:16
Darice
That's awesome. So, so, um, and then just to wrap up, um, if you could think of at least one, I'm sure there are many, but maybe the most significant lesson that you've learned, um, as you've sort of helped build this community at Silliman College and also the sustainability part. But, but, um, like, like we've been saying, it's a home away from home for students.

01:01:28:16 - 01:01:35:19
Darice
So has there, has there been one major lesson that you've learned along the way?

01:01:35:21 - 01:01:45:21
Sergio
Yeah, I think it extends a little further beyond that. But so many cultures have been a reaffirmation that you have to surround yourself with good people to. Be successful. Mm hmm. Um.

01:01:45:23 - 01:01:47:13
Darice
If you can do it alone, you can.

01:01:47:13 - 01:02:14:00
Sergio
You can not. And and so I'm in a successful because it's a testament to the people who work there. Not just one, but many. Yeah. Um, and, you know, you have to be able to find that. Yeah. Mold. Yeah. Oh, the people that are like minded or on the opposite side. Right, Right. Because exchange ideas and are always battling, but in a progressive way.

01:02:14:00 - 01:02:30:06
Sergio
Yeah. Good way that, that moves the needle forward. Right. Um, and so you want people that are willing to do those things with you. Yeah. And it involves a compromise finding common ground and like you just like if you're not willing to do those, then yeah.

01:02:30:11 - 01:02:32:09
Darice
It then it's not going to be a good experience.

01:02:32:09 - 01:02:35:20
Darice
Right? It's going to be a difficult one. Difficult. Yeah.

01:02:35:21 - 01:02:37:01
Sergio
The wheels are going to go. Yeah.

01:02:37:04 - 01:02:37:09
Darice
I mean.

01:02:37:09 - 01:02:46:06
Darice
You really have to, you have to figure out how to work with the team and and do it in a positive way so that we can make stuff.

01:02:46:06 - 01:02:48:21
Sergio
Happen. It's the same lessons I tell my ten year old.

01:02:48:23 - 01:02:49:07
Darice
Yeah.

01:02:49:07 - 01:02:51:22
Sergio
All day. Every day. Yes. Yeah.

01:02:52:00 - 01:02:53:06
Darice
Me too. Me too.

01:02:53:08 - 01:02:54:21
Darice
Even my 20 year old. You know.

01:02:54:21 - 01:02:56:13
Darice
I'm sure you know.

01:02:56:18 - 01:02:58:16
Darice
I tell them like, Yeah.

01:02:58:18 - 01:03:00:03
Darice
Same kind of thing. I think you're going to.

01:03:00:03 - 01:03:07:09
Darice
Encounter people that you just don't vibe with or, you know, things aren't where you want to be, but you have to figure out a way to.

01:03:07:14 - 01:03:08:14
Sergio
Work your five year old sisters.

01:03:08:14 - 01:03:11:18
Darice
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Have to be.

01:03:11:18 - 01:03:13:20
Sergio
Able to sit at this table, write food together.

01:03:14:02 - 01:03:14:21
Darice
Expect to make.

01:03:14:23 - 01:03:15:05
Sergio
Lunch.

01:03:15:09 - 01:03:20:19
Darice
Exactly right. You know, can we get through today? You know, But, um.

01:03:20:21 - 01:03:35:01
Darice
That's also, you know, again, um, Sergio, I'm really, you know, we appreciate you and appreciate folks like you who work in the colleges and you're sort of like that first line. Uh.

01:03:35:03 - 01:03:35:20
Sergio
Sure.

01:03:35:22 - 01:04:14:11
Darice
With students, they're the first experience. You know, literally, they wake up, you know, they go to sleep and wake up in the colleges and, you know, it's your commitment to making that experience a positive one for students. And it incorporates so many different things like their, you know, their mental health, their wellness, you know, And once they have just like for us, once we have all of those in place where we can sort of have room to grow, it's the same for students where they, you know, once they have that available to them, then they can focus on their studies and hopefully, you know, be successful.

01:04:14:11 - 01:04:23:20
Darice
Yeah, you know, and it's so important. Um, so I, you know, I, I had an awesome time talking to you today. We never we know we've never really had a chance.

01:04:23:20 - 01:04:25:11
Sergio
You know, we can do this without the material.

01:04:25:12 - 01:04:26:17
Darice
Yeah, exactly.

01:04:26:18 - 01:04:27:05
Sergio
The coffee.

01:04:27:05 - 01:04:31:17
Darice
So, yeah, I know. I got to come over. I keep say it. I will. But I definitely have.

01:04:31:17 - 01:04:34:09
Sergio
Just see me plop down the first one. Yeah. Yeah.

01:04:34:11 - 01:04:35:11
Darice
It's so awesome.

01:04:35:12 - 01:04:38:00
Sergio
Um, it was nice talking to you. Yeah, Same.

01:04:38:00 - 01:05:05:08
Darice
Here. Absolutely. My pleasure. You know, and like I said, your dedication to. To the residential experience, I think, is like, it's really inspiring because, um, it, you know, it brings me back to just, you know, just normal, normal values that parents instill in their kids. You know, your, your work ethic, you know, and how you approach your work, your job here as you know, this is my house.

01:05:05:08 - 01:05:15:15
Darice
And I you know, I'm creating something that, you know, it's my property, you know, And when you respect to your your own property, I think it just trickles down and and.

01:05:15:20 - 01:05:29:21
Sergio
It's just, again, the same as I said from my first job that I was getting paid, you know. Yeah. To learn. Yeah. I'm getting paid to remind myself of what good morals and all the different things are. Yeah. Every single day by just doing my job. It's so.

01:05:29:23 - 01:05:37:19
Darice
That's so awesome. I love it. So, yeah. Thank so much again. I'm so glad you made it. Even though it's pouring rain.

01:05:37:22 - 01:05:39:04
Sergio
That was fun.

01:05:39:06 - 01:05:42:11
Darice
Yeah. And yet you're way over.

01:05:42:13 - 01:05:46:10
Darice
You know, hopefully you didn't have to swim through a puddle or anything.

01:05:46:12 - 01:05:49:04
Darice
But I, you know, I appreciate, uh.

01:05:49:06 - 01:06:14:21
Darice
You know, taking your time today. I appreciate you giving me your time and, um. Yeah, just. Thank you. Thank you for everything that you do for the college. And, and, uh, so now we're just going to wrap up, uh, uh, as everyone knows, we, you know, we have our episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and also SoundCloud, and you can find our page on, on the Yale College site as well.

01:06:14:21 - 01:06:37:16
Darice
We have a your college voices page, your college voices on Instagram. So, you know, like share and follow. And, um, you know, again, I just want to, you know, thank you for, uh, uh, you know, taking the time today. And, uh, it's great getting to know you. Like, you know, we've always interacted in meetings, but never really on a personal level.

01:06:37:17 - 01:06:42:18
Sergio
My pleasure. Yeah. This is an awesome thing you're doing for the community. Also for you. This is great.

01:06:42:20 - 01:06:44:08
Darice
Thank you. I appreciate it.

01:06:44:10 - 01:06:48:00
Sergio
I can't wait to hear someone else's because I'm not listening to my voice.

01:06:48:02 - 01:06:58:06
Darice
I know that was one of the things I had to get over because even now, you know, when I go back and listen to the recordings, I'm kind of like not listening to my voice.

01:06:58:08 - 01:07:00:21
Darice
It's just.

01:07:00:23 - 01:07:15:03
Darice
But, um, yeah, I'm the same way. I, you know, I just, uh, I don't know. It's one of those things you don't want to hear, sir. You know? But, um, yeah, I mean, again, everything you do is is inspiring. Sergio.

01:07:15:03 - 01:07:15:20
Sergio
So thank you.

01:07:15:22 - 01:07:21:15
Darice
I really appreciate it. And we'll just wrap up for today, All right? You know, thank you again.

01:07:21:16 - 01:07:23:12
Sergio
Yeah. Till the next. Awesome.

01:07:23:14 - 01:07:24:23
Darice
All right, we're all set, right?