Episode 10, Season 01 - Yale College Voices Transcription Kristin McJunkins
Empowering Voices: Kristin McJunkins’ Journey of Advocacy and Volunteerism
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Darice
So. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Yale College Voices, where we delve into the diverse and inspiring narratives that shape the Yale college experience. And I'm thrilled to have my distinguished guests with me today someone who plays a pivotal role in guiding and shaping the academic journeys of countless students. So today we have Kristin MC Jenkins. So welcome.
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Kristen
KRISTIN Thank you for having me.
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Darice
DAVIES My pleasure. I'm so happy to have you here. So I'm just going to read your bio and and then we'll, you know, just to chat and have a great conversation. Um, so we're going to explore Kristin's professional journey and her commitment to the DEIB within academic advising and the dynamic landscape of health and medical education. In 2004, Kristin joined Johns Hopkins University as a pre health and pre-law advisor, and since 2006 has worked with Yale University.
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Darice
So Kristin now serves as Director of Advanced degree Applications in STEM Career Advising where she oversees advising and counseling for Yale College undergraduates and alumni, as well as students from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Interested in pursuing further education in the health and medical fields. So a long time higher education professional, Kristin began her career handling event planning and facilities management at Weidner University, where she obtained a B.S. in business administration and Master's in education, and then transitioning to advising services at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Darice
She coordinated the pure faculty advising program for 1600 first year undergraduates as well as managed services for first year students and sophomores in the College of Arts and Sciences. So Kristin is also an active member of the National and Northeast Associations for Advisors in the Health Professions, the global community for academic advising, the national and Eastern Associations of colleges and employers, and also Northeast Association for Pre-Law Advisors.
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Darice
So thank you, Kristin. And so it's so nice to have you here today.
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Kristen
It's so weird to hear your bio read back to you.
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Darice
I know right? And it's amazing. So I'm wondering if we could just start off like tell me a little bit more about how you got into this field, like your college years. What drew you to this area?
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Kristen
I think with many people, at.
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Kristen
Least with myself, a.
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Kristen
Lot of it was a happy.
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Kristen
Accident.
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Kristen
Really. I actually started college. I grew.
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Kristen
Up in Rhode Island and started.
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Kristen
College at the University of Rhode Island, which was.
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Kristen
A much.
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Kristen
Larger state institution.
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Kristen
And I was unsure.
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Kristen
Of.
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Kristen
What I wanted to major in and had.
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Kristen
A good experience, but decided to take a year out of college.
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Kristen
And worked.
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Kristen
And throughout that really thought about.
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Kristen
What I wanted and valued in college. And I really for myself, felt a smaller environment was better. And Weidner is.
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Kristen
Just outside of Philadelphia, so it was about 5 hours away, so it was close enough to get home but felt like you were away from right where you grew up. And it was a great experience.
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Kristen
And.
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Kristen
The.
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Kristen
One of the.
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Kristen
The first job that I.
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Kristen
Got was as a student manager within the college union.
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Kristen
And so because.
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Kristen
I didn't go home on weekends or things like that, that's.
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Kristen
How I really.
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Kristen
Got involved in campus events and things.
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Kristen
Like that.
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Kristen
And when I was graduating college, my.
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Kristen
Thought was that I would.
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Kristen
Go into my concentration within the business major as human resources.
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Kristen
So I thought I would be.
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Kristen
In training and development or something like that within an organization.
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Kristen
And it was the early nineties.
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Kristen
The economy wasn't great.
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Kristen
And I interviewed and people, you know, said, We wish we had jobs for you, but there really.
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Kristen
Just weren't many jobs. And so I went home. But at the same time, my boss, the assistant director of the college union, she was leaving because her husband got a new job. So they were moving and she said.
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Kristen
You should apply here to be the assistant director. You would have.
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Kristen
Tuition remission to get your.
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Kristen
Master's. And I literally thought, Wow, I had no idea how people got.
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Kristen
Involved in.
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Kristen
Higher education jobs. And so I did. And the rest is history in a lot of ways. And at.
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Kristen
Working at a smaller institution before moving to these larger institutions.
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Kristen
Was a really.
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Kristen
Fantastic training ground in terms of understanding how universities.
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Kristen
Work, but also, you know, getting.
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Kristen
Involved in a lot of the major campus events such as graduation and.
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Kristen
Accepted student days and.
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Kristen
And I managed.
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Kristen
The whole.
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Kristen
College union with my.
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Kristen
Staff.
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Kristen
Which included.
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Kristen
A.
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Kristen
Fitness center and a post.
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Kristen
Office and meeting rooms.
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Kristen
And student activities and things like.
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Kristen
That. So it was really that's always a.
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Kristen
Lot of fun.
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Darice
Yeah, absolutely. So tell me a little bit more like since you mentioned that it was a smaller institution, what was your college experience like? Were you very involved with a lot of activities, you know, kind of leading into your role as is as you just mentioned?
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Kristen
AS So, I. Mean, my main. Activity was. Working. So again, yeah. Those days of. Financial aid wasn't necessarily as prevalent as it was now. And I wasn't a first generation college student, but I was definitely low income. I was raised. By a single mom. And so you know, she helped. Out as much as she could. And but working was my primary, but which was really exciting. Because, again, it really got me involved in a lot of the campus. Activities. And then. The. Community where. The school was WestChester, Pennsylvania. And so it was definitely, you know, a lower income, probably similar to New Haven and parts of New Haven. So I was actually really involved in, it was called a Big Friends program, but it was along the lines of Big Brothers, Big Sisters. So they would bring in children from local churches and, you know, once a week and so, you know, I really connected with them. I actually I'm still friends with one of the girls I meet on Facebook at this point. We haven't seen each other in several years. But you know, she and her family, I went to her high school graduation and things like that. So it was, you know really a lot of fun to connect with the community. And so I did a lot of things like that. On campus and, you know, just. Really like. Tutoring and those types of things. I get involved in the community.
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Darice
Oh, that's so awesome. And, you know, I'm curious about, you know, since you mentioned that that you were first generation or you were not a first gen, but.
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Kristen
Low income.
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Darice
Low Income. And did you did you find it difficult to gain access to resources or find information when when you were there? Or was it how was your experience with that?
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Kristen
It was just such it's hard in this day and age where. Everything's online and there's the Internet, right? I mean, we didn't have I still remember we had computer centers. Yeah. You had to go and type your resume there and you had it on a hard disk. And I remember the disk froze and freaked out over it. It's just such a different experience to think about. So everything was paper and offices and going to or trying to find resources, you know, to help you, you know, do those types of things. So you know, I mean, even studying abroad, I mean, studying abroad now from a financial standpoint is typically more in line with what students would pay for tuition. There's a lot of equivalency. I wasn't able to study abroad. So I actually tell students that all the time, if they want to study abroad, I say find a way to do it, because that was one of my biggest regrets from college, because it would have cost me, I think, twice as much as is really what my semester tuition would have been. So I just couldn't afford to do that.
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Kristen
So yeah, I honestly. Don't even remember how. I mean, I. Think we had to just rely on college fairs and things like that to find resources. And you know, FAFSA certainly wasn't a thing rght, either. So it was much different. I mean, Pell Grant, different experience, Pell Grant Recipient, and, you know, all of that. So and I definitely graduated with student debt. Yeah. I mean, I committed and worked for a few job part time jobs. In addition to my full time job. After college to pay that off. And I was fortunate because going to the State school the first year a lot was covered. And then because I took a year off and worked I actually paid for my second year on my own. So my student loans were really only my last two years, which was felt very significant at the time.
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Darice
But yes, yes, I know. And it's so, you know, I remember those days of of yeah, same thing. I worked on campus and had to figure out like, okay, how am I going to pay for this when I finish and write and all of those great things. And yeah, and the reason I asked that question was just going back to that time.
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Darice
Um, and, you know, I, of course I don't want to say age, but, it sounds like around the same time, you know, back then we had, you know, the campus center, they would shove all these fliers into your mailbox and that's how you found out about whatever was going on. And we didn't even have email at that time.
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Kristen
Oh, no. We still typed. Memos. You still typed memo in the office. Even the first six years of professional work, we would type. Memos and it was inter campus mail. But you. Had to live. Through that. Oh,
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Kristen
my gosh. And then we you know, we had a million mailboxes and you had to go to your box every day to make sure you picked up your flyers. And that's and if you didn't go through the fliers, then sometimes, you know, so yeah, you'd miss out if there is a career fair or, you know, whatever was going on.
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Darice
Mm hmm. Um, so it's really interesting and I'm curious, too, about in terms of your college experience with like career advising, did you find that you know, where you more of kind of go getter when it came to that or how did how was your interaction with with.
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Kristen
I actually had a pause that of interaction. So it was it was a smaller campus, smaller office. I think I because of where I worked and just. Different events were held on campus. I'm sure the courier service held meetings there. And so I became aware of it. But I did participate in I mean, so they had career fairs on campus and I definitely participated in and I did mock interviews. And I remember we actually videotaped them, and I remember that our dean of students was the prson who was doing the mock interview, and it was right around the time when my boss had said she might be leaving and this job would be open. And so when he asked me what type of job I actually used that as a job and he didn't know she was leaving or anything. And so we did the mock interview. And then over the summer, three months later, when I was interviewing, he actually said, Oh, I don't actually need to interview her because I think I already did that for kids. So I actually took advantage of career services and thought the resources were very helpful.
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Darice
That's awesome. That's awesome. Um, so how you know, when thinking of your experience as a as a college student, then and then, you know, the awesome experience of moving right into that position, How, how do you, uh, apply things that you've learned back then into your current role?
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Kristen
Uh, I will often tell students there are no answers. I mean, and I, I'm sure even in my late teens, early twenties. I actually remember I share this story with students a lot. My mother would say growing up, if something didn't happen, that I wanted to, she would say, Well it just wasn't meant to be. Which I found so frustrating. I think as a 16, 17, 18 year old and then I graduated from college and didn't have a job and had to move home. And my mother had actually she had been a teacher and trained teacher, but she didn't do that when I was growing up and she had just gotten back into teaching. And so she was very busy. And my grandfather, my grandmother had already passed. But my grandfather ended up in the. Hospital and so I spent those first two months after college just really helping him get settled. He had to transition to assisted living. And so I was taking him around and doing all of that and it was right when we got him settled that I got the job in Pennsylvania and there was just that light that said it was meant to be. Oh, gosh. Yep. Your mother's your mom's right. Yeah. And really, it always comes back to that. And but I tell students that story. Yeah. Sometimes what you see is obstacles may actually be. Leading you to something you hadn't even imagined. Yeah, Yeah.
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Darice
That's so true. Yeah. And you know, you want things to happen right at that moment or when you want it to happen. But it doesn't, right? It just does it all the time. And. And you're right. Like it, you always wonder like, okay, all of these experiences I'm having are leading up to me doing X, Y, Z.
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Darice
And it's like, so yeah, no.
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Kristen
Mom's right, you know? Right?
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Kristen
Like having patience.
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Darice
Having patience being.
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Kristen
Persistent, doing the work.
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Darice
Doing the work. Yeah. That's and that's important too right. It's, you know, continuing like to not get discouraged and just to keep, you know, stay at it or, you know, keep going through that process, whatever it is, until you get to that, you know, whatever point it is that you're trying to or whatever goal you're trying to reach.
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Darice
And so so yeah, it's it's always funny when those little, uh, uh, you know, reminders go off. It's like, I know you were right.
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Kristen
And I mean, and.
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Kristen
You know, all.
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Kristen
These years later, it's still just that.
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Kristen
Very much aha moment. And, and it's funny, I just remember laughing at myself and thinking.
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Kristen
Okay, stop.
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Kristen
Being so stressed and anxious.
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Kristen
All the time. Because it may not work out sometimes, but other times it will.
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Darice
Yeah. Yeah, it's so true. Um, so. So I was curious if you could tell us a little bit more about your current role here. Yeah, I know we talked about advising, but I know that you're involved with, with the STEM field, um, advanced degrees and STEM. So what? Just tell us a little bit more about what your job entails.
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Darice
And. And.
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Kristen
Sure. So the, the Office of Career Strategy has gone through actually several iterations.
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Kristen
Since I've been here for 17 years. And when I.
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Kristen
Started here, it.
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Kristen
Was the.
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Kristen
Undergraduate career services.
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Kristen
And as a health professions advisor. So when I was at Hopkins.
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Kristen
There was a.
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Kristen
Pre-professional advising office. And then but one thing I've learned.
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Kristen
Is every college does.
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Kristen
It differently. Sometimes it's an academic department, sometimes it's in college advising offices, sometimes it's in career services.
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Kristen
So at Yale, that's where it was. And the way our office was set up is we had.
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Kristen
A lot of general advisors. We had the employer relations team, and then.
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Kristen
There was the Health.
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Kristen
Professions team, and I.
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Kristen
Was part of that.
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Kristen
And so, you know, I've been working with students all these.
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Kristen
Years who are interested in med.
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Kristen
School, dental school.
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Kristen
Veterinary, public health.
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Kristen
You know, all.
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Kristen
Those types.
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Kristen
Of programs.
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Kristen
And, you know, the.
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Kristen
And again, different schools provide different levels.
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Kristen
Of service. But one thing.
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Kristen
I think is fantastic.
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Kristen
About Yale is that we both start.
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Kristen
Working with students as soon as they arrive on campus and continue working with them when they're an alum. So I've had alums that have come back ten years after graduation who weren't thinking of medical.
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Kristen
School at all, and for whatever.
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Kristen
Reason something happened in their life. And so it's nice to.
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Kristen
Be able to be available to help them through that process, because the one thing that keeps it interesting all these years is that the admissions.
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Kristen
Process for medical school and just the health professions is changing all the time.
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Kristen
So it's you feel like you're always.
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Kristen
Learning, which I really enjoy. And, you know, the one thing I try to stress to the students is there's certain benchmarks you have to meet.
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Kristen
Whether it's prerequisites.
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Kristen
Or, you know, those types of things.
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Kristen
But it's really about your narrative.
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Kristen
So, you know.
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Kristen
I will often.
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Kristen
Say medicine encompasses all kinds of people. I mean.
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Kristen
I've seen, you know, people who are very extroverted that.
00;17;41;01 - 00;17;41;22
Kristen
Might end up.
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Kristen
As.
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Kristen
Emergency medicine physicians.
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Kristen
To people who are very.
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Kristen
Introverted, that might end up in.
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Kristen
Pathology.
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Kristen
And then there's everything in between.
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Kristen
So to me.
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Kristen
That's one of the.
00;17;51;16 - 00;17;52;28
Kristen
Beauties of health.
00;17;52;28 - 00;17;54;25
Kristen
Professions, is that it can attract.
00;17;54;25 - 00;17;58;04
Kristen
All types of students. So we work.
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Kristen
You know, everything from academic advising to helping them think.
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Kristen
About extracurricular activities.
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Kristen
Post-graduate plans, if they're going to take some time before applying to medical school. And.
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Kristen
You know, I really feel like a lot of it is.
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Kristen
Just, you know, again, calming people down.
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Kristen
Yes. And, you know, because everybody thinks I got a B in a class and I'm.
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Kristen
Never getting into medical.
00;18;22;02 - 00;18;25;17
Kristen
School. So, you know, my response is you.
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Kristen
May or may not get into.
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Kristen
Medical school, but it's not going to be because of that or.
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Kristen
a C even. Right.
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Kristen
So, you know, to really help them put things into perspective.
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Kristen
And, you know.
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Kristen
Because.
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Kristen
My first and foremost, I.
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Kristen
Always tell students, you know, think about.
00;18;40;29 - 00;18;42;05
Kristen
What you want from college.
00;18;42;05 - 00;18;44;17
Kristen
Because you don't get four years like college, right.
00;18;44;18 - 00;18;45;16
Kristen
And you don't get four.
00;18;45;16 - 00;18;49;00
Kristen
Years like college at Yale. Yeah. Again. So, you know, to really.
00;18;49;00 - 00;18;54;13
Kristen
Take advantage of those opportunities, health professions isn't going anywhere. So even if it's a.
00;18;54;13 - 00;18;58;18
Kristen
Couple of years after graduation, but you're able to have.
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Kristen
These amazing experiences.
00;19;00;04 - 00;19;01;05
Kristen
In college.
00;19;01;07 - 00;19;02;03
Kristen
It's only going to make you a.
00;19;02;03 - 00;19;02;15
Kristen
Better.
00;19;02;19 - 00;19;03;23
Kristen
Human and.
00;19;03;23 - 00;19;05;05
Kristen
Health care in the.
00;19;05;05 - 00;19;35;19
Darice
Future. Yeah. Oh, that's so interesting. So I'm curious, how do you so as you're advising students for these different fields, like how do you address or try to, you know, promote diversity and in all of these things like the EIB among among students who are pursuing those areas, like do you is there outreach or how you know, or is it really just students who come to you?
00;19;35;19 - 00;19;36;25
Darice
Or how does that work?
00;19;37;00 - 00;19;38;11
Kristen
It's a little bit of both.
00;19;38;11 - 00;19;39;00
Kristen
I mean, we certainly.
00;19;39;00 - 00;19;39;24
Kristen
Participate.
00;19;39;24 - 00;19;42;18
Kristen
In admissions events.
00;19;42;21 - 00;19;44;01
Kristen
Accepted student stays.
00;19;44;01 - 00;19;45;26
Kristen
Things like that. And then.
00;19;45;29 - 00;19;47;13
Kristen
Over this, well, we used.
00;19;47;13 - 00;19;50;00
Kristen
To have it during orientation, but now over the summer.
00;19;50;03 - 00;19;53;27
Kristen
Since we have moved to virtual and a lot of things, we have.
00;19;53;27 - 00;19;58;13
Kristen
Sessions for incoming students to think about classes and.
00;19;58;13 - 00;19;59;12
Kristen
Activities.
00;19;59;12 - 00;20;05;11
Kristen
And then, you know, definitely driving out newsletters and things like that. I mean.
00;20;05;11 - 00;20;08;21
Kristen
I you know, I always feel like.
00;20;08;23 - 00;20;09;15
Kristen
Pre-med or.
00;20;09;15 - 00;20;10;18
Kristen
Pre health is a state.
00;20;10;18 - 00;20;12;25
Kristen
Of mind more than.
00;20;12;27 - 00;20;15;00
Kristen
You know, because other schools might actually collect.
00;20;15;00 - 00;20;16;16
Kristen
That information, like students have.
00;20;16;16 - 00;20;18;15
Kristen
To check off whether really they're.
00;20;18;15 - 00;20;19;03
Kristen
Going to be.
00;20;19;03 - 00;20;21;02
Kristen
That which.
00;20;21;04 - 00;20;22;00
Kristen
You know I.
00;20;22;02 - 00;20;22;21
Kristen
It to me it.
00;20;22;21 - 00;20;27;06
Kristen
Doesn't matter because I see students that come in thinking health professions and then find.
00;20;27;06 - 00;20;28;00
Kristen
Public health.
00;20;28;00 - 00;20;29;24
Kristen
And or, you know, some other.
00;20;29;24 - 00;20;31;02
Kristen
Type of field.
00;20;31;02 - 00;20;32;25
Kristen
And go in that direction.
00;20;32;28 - 00;20;33;12
Kristen
I actually.
00;20;33;12 - 00;20;35;06
Kristen
Remember a student apologizing.
00;20;35;07 - 00;20;37;09
Kristen
To me one time. She said, I.
00;20;37;09 - 00;20;39;15
Kristen
Don't think I want to be pre-med anymore. I'm so.
00;20;39;18 - 00;20;46;05
Kristen
Happy. And I'm like, That's great. You you've found your purpose. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know.
00;20;46;12 - 00;20;47;26
Kristen
And that's another thing that I'll.
00;20;47;26 - 00;20;48;03
Kristen
Tell.
00;20;48;03 - 00;20;48;22
Kristen
Students.
00;20;48;22 - 00;20;51;26
Kristen
And because I.
00;20;51;29 - 00;20;53;01
Kristen
Don't know if I should say this on a.
00;20;53;01 - 00;20;59;15
Kristen
Podcast, but the find your passion, I feel like that's an overused phrase and I feel like it puts.
00;20;59;15 - 00;21;00;15
Kristen
Entirely too much.
00;21;00;15 - 00;21;01;04
Kristen
Pressure.
00;21;01;08 - 00;21;03;11
Kristen
On anybody, but certainly younger.
00;21;03;11 - 00;21;04;24
Kristen
People. Yeah, because.
00;21;04;24 - 00;21;08;10
Kristen
I know I didn't know my passion. Right. 28 And.
00;21;08;10 - 00;21;09;20
Kristen
It's really about.
00;21;09;23 - 00;21;10;10
Kristen
Finding your.
00;21;10;10 - 00;21;11;00
Kristen
Purpose.
00;21;11;04 - 00;21;17;00
Kristen
And that's even for right now. And that's something that can change and grow. And again, to me that's.
00;21;17;00 - 00;21;18;23
Kristen
What college is about because you get to.
00;21;18;23 - 00;21;24;02
Kristen
Experience a lot of different things that may send you in a direction you hadn't predicted.
00;21;24;02 - 00;21;44;12
Darice
Yeah, exactly. When I think back to my college years, I mean, I was one of those people that I knew I wanted to be in technology, but I didn't know in what way or what aspect. And I can't imagine trying to make a, you know, a life, you know, a life decision when your early twenties and.
00;21;44;14 - 00;21;45;05
Kristen
Right.
00;21;45;07 - 00;22;23;29
Darice
You know, what can you really decide at that point? And like you said, you need some time to think about it and or even take a year off, like you said, and do other things that kind of contribute to figuring that path out. So, um, it's really interesting. Um, so one, one thing I wanted to touch on just because of our interaction with various projects that we've worked on together in, and then again, going back to the comment I made earlier as we were coming in, it's we've been in the same building for, for a long time, right?
00;22;24;01 - 00;22;44;29
Darice
And I, we hadn't met until I think you had reached out to me. Yeah. Like you reached out for some help on a project and, and now hearing from you. Now I'm like, we've been in the same building for years, and we never get, you know, And again, one of the one of the great things about doing this podcast.
00;22;44;29 - 00;23;09;26
Darice
But one thing that that really struck me in during one of our conversations was how you had mentioned that you volunteer, you do a lot of volunteer work. So I'm wondering if you can share a little bit more about, you know, your joy of of giving time to to various causes and activities. If you could tell us a little bit about that.
00;23;09;29 - 00;23;10;16
Kristen
Sure.
00;23;10;18 - 00;23;17;04
Kristen
I mean, I've always been somebody who likes to get involved in the community in different ways. But in the last 15 years.
00;23;17;06 - 00;23;18;10
Kristen
It became very.
00;23;18;10 - 00;23;19;14
Kristen
Personal. So I was.
00;23;19;14 - 00;23;20;06
Kristen
Actually.
00;23;20;12 - 00;23;22;16
Kristen
Diagnosed with cancer in April.
00;23;22;16 - 00;23;22;22
Kristen
Two.
00;23;22;22 - 00;23;31;27
Kristen
Thousand eight, Stage three melanoma, which is a malignant form of skin cancer. And I had only been in Connecticut less than two.
00;23;31;27 - 00;23;34;17
Kristen
Years and certainly grateful for.
00;23;34;17 - 00;23;37;13
Kristen
Being here. And luckily everything.
00;23;37;16 - 00;23;40;12
Kristen
Worked out well. But it was.
00;23;40;16 - 00;23;41;23
Kristen
I didn't know anything about the.
00;23;41;23 - 00;23;42;14
Kristen
Disease.
00;23;42;14 - 00;23;55;13
Kristen
And and then since then, I've had other, you know, family members, including my mom, who passed away from cancer and other friends and things like that. And, you know, and you really.
00;23;55;15 - 00;23;56;07
Kristen
Think about.
00;23;56;14 - 00;24;06;29
Kristen
It for me, it was really thinking about like, how can I contribute? And so getting involved in cancer advocacy and, you know, access to care, I mean.
00;24;07;04 - 00;24;09;03
Kristen
You know, and this is certainly something I talk about.
00;24;09;03 - 00;24;12;20
Kristen
With my students all the time who are interested in the health professions or.
00;24;12;27 - 00;24;13;05
Kristen
Even.
00;24;13;05 - 00;24;13;29
Kristen
Going into STEM.
00;24;13;29 - 00;24;17;03
Kristen
Fields that might contribute to health professions, because.
00;24;17;06 - 00;24;18;12
Kristen
Technology and health.
00;24;18;12 - 00;24;23;07
Kristen
As you know, really progressed in leaps and bounds.
00;24;23;10 - 00;24;25;11
Kristen
And when I was diagnosed.
00;24;25;15 - 00;24;26;12
Kristen
There.
00;24;26;14 - 00;24;27;02
Kristen
If you didn't.
00;24;27;02 - 00;24;27;18
Kristen
Qualify.
00;24;27;18 - 00;24;40;08
Kristen
For a clinical trial, which I didn't, then there really was no treatment. I mean, the kind of joke in the cancer community was melanoma was the cancer that gave cancer a bad name.
00;24;40;11 - 00;24;41;25
Kristen
Because there was.
00;24;41;25 - 00;24;50;07
Kristen
Just generally poor outcomes, especially in, you know, later stages. And then it was, you know, 2010, 2011 when more.
00;24;50;07 - 00;24;51;17
Kristen
Drugs or drugs.
00;24;51;20 - 00;24;55;22
Kristen
In general started coming on the market. And, you know, really through research and clinical.
00;24;55;22 - 00;24;56;14
Kristen
Trials.
00;24;56;14 - 00;24;57;12
Kristen
And.
00;24;57;14 - 00;24;58;09
Kristen
You know, so that.
00;24;58;09 - 00;25;01;04
Kristen
Was kind of my entry and, you know, really.
00;25;01;04 - 00;25;05;08
Kristen
Advocating for research, as you know, as well as diversity.
00;25;05;08 - 00;25;14;18
Kristen
In clinical trials. I mean, only, you know, cancer patients in general, only 5% of cancer patients participate in clinical trials.
00;25;14;20 - 00;25;15;28
Kristen
There's usually so.
00;25;15;28 - 00;25;16;08
Kristen
Many.
00;25;16;08 - 00;25;17;15
Kristen
Stipulations.
00;25;17;17 - 00;25;18;09
Kristen
On clinical.
00;25;18;09 - 00;25;19;21
Kristen
Trials, you know, rightly to.
00;25;19;21 - 00;25;24;16
Kristen
Get things passed. But, you know, we really need to look at more pragmatic ways to make them.
00;25;24;16 - 00;25;26;09
Kristen
Accessible to people who don't.
00;25;26;09 - 00;25;50;09
Kristen
Live near an academic medical center. And my mother, she had an aggressive form of lymphoma. And so, you know, again, that was just another entry point for research and, you know, advocate advocating for access to care. And so and but then, you know, just from the patient perspective in general, I have done a lot of, you know, different.
00;25;50;09 - 00;25;53;29
Kristen
Outreach with groups because it to me, it's.
00;25;53;29 - 00;25;55;27
Kristen
So important. I mean, it's.
00;25;55;29 - 00;25;57;10
Kristen
Hard. Health care is.
00;25;57;10 - 00;26;02;25
Kristen
Hard in this country and it doesn't need to be. And but, you know, particularly.
00;26;02;25 - 00;26;03;10
Kristen
People that.
00;26;03;10 - 00;26;04;14
Kristen
Live in.
00;26;04;17 - 00;26;06;01
Kristen
Rural areas and.
00;26;06;05 - 00;26;07;20
Kristen
You know, and don't have access.
00;26;07;20 - 00;26;09;05
Kristen
To specialists.
00;26;09;05 - 00;26;13;25
Kristen
I mean, there's some states that don't have specialists for certain, not even just cancers.
00;26;13;25 - 00;26;15;02
Kristen
But other diseases.
00;26;15;02 - 00;26;16;07
Kristen
And, you know, are having to.
00;26;16;07 - 00;26;17;17
Kristen
Travel hours.
00;26;17;19 - 00;26;24;01
Kristen
And so, you know, really just trying to amplify those voices so we can make it better for everyone.
00;26;24;05 - 00;27;07;19
Darice
Wow. Wow. That's a powerful story. Um, wow. And I didn't I didn't know that about you. And, um, I, I'm, I'm struck by that because, like you said, there are a lot of folks who don't have access to medical care or resources or knowing how to find, like you said, the clinical trials, things like that. And to share a little bit about just by not my direct experience, but my experience was my so, so my younger son actually had a lung condition before he was born.
00;27;07;25 - 00;27;08;25
Kristen
Oh, wow.
00;27;08;27 - 00;27;43;13
Darice
And it was called a C. Kim. So is a cyst in his lung. And, um, I forget what the statistics are for for babies who have this condition, but initially it didn't seem, um, you know, it survival was, uh, iffy. Oh, and, I mean, he's fine now. He's in fifth grade, right? And but at the time, there wasn't a ton of information at all that they could provide, um, regarding this condition.
00;27;43;16 - 00;27;52;12
Darice
Um, and, you know, eventually he had surgery at six months, and. And he's fine, you know, um, but.
00;27;52;14 - 00;27;53;21
Kristen
It's still such a scary.
00;27;53;22 - 00;28;09;00
Darice
It was, it was tiny. And, uh, so during that time, you know, I Googled like, crazy. Thank God for Google now, but. Right. I'm just imagining, number one, when, when there was no Google, you know, or.
00;28;09;00 - 00;28;10;12
Kristen
Know all of the statistics.
00;28;10;12 - 00;28;11;01
Kristen
On Google.
00;28;11;01 - 00;28;12;01
Darice
Were.
00;28;12;03 - 00;28;12;25
Kristen
Terrible.
00;28;12;25 - 00;28;32;01
Darice
Yeah. And, uh, or folks who don't have access to to find information. So long story short, I joined a Facebook group um, of the you know, a mom who had the same experience, her child had the same experience, decided to create a Facebook group for parents.
00;28;32;01 - 00;28;33;07
Kristen
Oh, wow.
00;28;33;09 - 00;29;03;13
Darice
And I was just blown away at, you know, the women who would find her parents who would find this group. Um, just didn't have access to really anything, anything, you know, and like you said, had to travel out of state to to find surgeons for this condition. And, you know, and, you know, I was just struck by the fact that I don't know what I would have done if I had to figure it out.
00;29;03;16 - 00;29;04;05
Kristen
Exactly.
00;29;04;05 - 00;29;05;09
Kristen
And that's.
00;29;05;12 - 00;29;06;03
Kristen
That's exactly the.
00;29;06;03 - 00;29;07;02
Kristen
Point. And then that.
00;29;07;02 - 00;29;10;03
Kristen
Is actually the upside of social media is to.
00;29;10;03 - 00;29;12;15
Kristen
Find those connections now, because I found.
00;29;12;20 - 00;29;13;02
Darice
That then.
00;29;13;02 - 00;29;14;04
Kristen
Connections that.
00;29;14;04 - 00;29;16;17
Kristen
Way, too. But they're.
00;29;16;19 - 00;29;18;00
Kristen
I mean, I.
00;29;18;03 - 00;29;18;16
Kristen
Was.
00;29;18;22 - 00;29;20;26
Kristen
You know, a young woman and.
00;29;20;26 - 00;29;21;23
Kristen
Relatively.
00;29;21;23 - 00;29;24;20
Kristen
And there weren't a lot of young women.
00;29;24;22 - 00;29;25;12
Kristen
And there wasn't.
00;29;25;19 - 00;29;26;17
Kristen
At the time when I.
00;29;26;18 - 00;29;30;27
Kristen
First first diagnosed, there wasn't even a support group locally and.
00;29;30;29 - 00;29;32;23
Kristen
I found one.
00;29;32;25 - 00;29;35;01
Kristen
At Yale Hospital, you know, towards.
00;29;35;01 - 00;29;38;04
Kristen
The end of my treatment, which was fantastic.
00;29;38;07 - 00;29;42;03
Kristen
But anybody would later stage disease.
00;29;42;05 - 00;29;46;09
Kristen
Was not surviving. And, you know, it's only an act. So I had to stop going for.
00;29;46;09 - 00;29;49;18
Kristen
A while because it was it was it was too devastating.
00;29;49;18 - 00;29;51;21
Kristen
But then, you know, again, as the treatments.
00;29;51;21 - 00;29;52;25
Kristen
Got better, but.
00;29;52;27 - 00;29;54;22
Kristen
You know, to find those connections.
00;29;54;24 - 00;29;57;10
Kristen
That's exactly it. It's it's so hugely.
00;29;57;10 - 00;30;00;24
Kristen
Important and even have gone to, you know, Washington, D.C..
00;30;00;24 - 00;30;03;01
Kristen
To advocate with.
00;30;03;03 - 00;30;06;20
Kristen
You know, our congresspeople and things like that. But just hearing other.
00;30;06;20 - 00;30;07;13
Kristen
People's stories.
00;30;07;13 - 00;30;10;21
Kristen
From other parts of the country, you know, similar to.
00;30;10;21 - 00;30;11;24
Kristen
What you are.
00;30;11;24 - 00;30;12;23
Kristen
Experiencing.
00;30;12;23 - 00;30;17;18
Kristen
That some of these people just had no access to know where to go or.
00;30;17;20 - 00;30;18;12
Kristen
It's not The.
00;30;18;12 - 00;30;23;17
Kristen
Medical debt issue is. Yeah, yeah, I was actually just reading an article this morning about.
00;30;23;17 - 00;30;24;11
Kristen
You know, increased.
00;30;24;18 - 00;30;26;20
Kristen
Medical debt for people.
00;30;26;20 - 00;30;29;13
Kristen
And they don't know how to handle it.
00;30;29;13 - 00;30;43;15
Darice
Right. Or like what resources there are or how to even approach figuring out like, how do I pay for this or how do I or are there programs that can help me or.
00;30;43;18 - 00;30;45;06
Kristen
Right. And I don't even think you know.
00;30;45;06 - 00;30;47;07
Kristen
I think the first.
00;30;47;07 - 00;30;49;09
Kristen
Thing is to blame providers, but I don't even think the.
00;30;49;09 - 00;30;52;24
Kristen
Providers are aware of all of the resources, which is.
00;30;52;24 - 00;30;53;19
Kristen
Again, supplement the.
00;30;53;19 - 00;30;57;28
Kristen
Problem with the health care service and being so dispersed.
00;30;57;28 - 00;31;00;12
Kristen
And in many ways because they think.
00;31;00;16 - 00;31;01;12
Kristen
The providers.
00;31;01;19 - 00;31;02;08
Kristen
Want to.
00;31;02;08 - 00;31;04;11
Kristen
Help. But.
00;31;04;14 - 00;31;04;25
Kristen
You know, it.
00;31;04;25 - 00;31;06;00
Kristen
Really takes but.
00;31;06;00 - 00;31;08;24
Kristen
Their time is, you know, so administrative.
00;31;08;24 - 00;31;11;07
Kristen
Nowadays to there's you know.
00;31;11;10 - 00;31;12;17
Kristen
We need kind of another.
00;31;12;17 - 00;31;13;21
Kristen
Level to help.
00;31;13;27 - 00;31;14;15
Kristen
People now in.
00;31;14;15 - 00;31;15;25
Darice
Between this. Yeah.
00;31;16;00 - 00;31;16;12
Kristen
Mm hmm.
00;31;16;17 - 00;31;39;11
Darice
Wow. I mean, that's amazing. Um, and it's an ongoing problem, right? It's and like you said, it's like you need that sort of, um, in between, like, between the provider and, patients, but also the resources that are out there to sort of, I don't know, you know, have some sort of central, you know.
00;31;39;11 - 00;31;40;02
Kristen
Right.
00;31;40;05 - 00;31;42;16
Darice
Repository of all this stuff. Yeah.
00;31;42;16 - 00;31;46;13
Kristen
It's, you know, and again my, I mean all of my care providers.
00;31;46;13 - 00;31;46;24
Kristen
At Yale.
00;31;46;25 - 00;31;50;03
Kristen
Were fantastic, but my oncology nurse, Molly Meier, who.
00;31;50;03 - 00;31;56;19
Kristen
Was censored, tired, Oh, you see, she was a force and see.
00;31;56;22 - 00;31;58;13
Kristen
If it wasn't for her, I don't know what.
00;31;58;13 - 00;32;01;29
Kristen
I would have done because I was just completely clueless on navigate the.
00;32;01;29 - 00;32;05;14
Kristen
Process in general. And she was like, Nope, you need to do this and nope, you.
00;32;05;14 - 00;32;09;08
Kristen
Need to talk to this person that you need to do this. And yeah.
00;32;09;10 - 00;32;11;05
Darice
And how would you know if she didn't share.
00;32;11;05 - 00;32;12;03
Kristen
That? Yeah.
00;32;12;03 - 00;32;13;27
Kristen
And then when my mom.
00;32;13;29 - 00;32;14;21
Kristen
Was sick.
00;32;14;21 - 00;32;15;00
Kristen
And, and.
00;32;15;00 - 00;32;15;10
Kristen
She was.
00;32;15;10 - 00;32;16;21
Kristen
Retired and.
00;32;16;23 - 00;32;17;14
Kristen
She was a retired.
00;32;17;14 - 00;32;18;13
Kristen
Teacher and had good.
00;32;18;13 - 00;32;20;11
Kristen
Health care, but because she had.
00;32;20;11 - 00;32;25;06
Kristen
Medicare and then the separate plans and all of the providers were not in one.
00;32;25;06 - 00;32;26;02
Kristen
Place like.
00;32;26;08 - 00;32;27;16
Kristen
In a in. Right.
00;32;27;16 - 00;32;28;28
Kristen
Yale. Yeah.
00;32;29;00 - 00;32;31;19
Kristen
And she lived in Rhode Island. And I thought.
00;32;31;21 - 00;32;37;15
Kristen
Honestly, this is why people die because I felt relatively competent but still.
00;32;37;15 - 00;32;42;25
Kristen
So incompetent in so many ways and helping her navigate, you know, the different.
00;32;42;27 - 00;32;43;18
Kristen
Approvals.
00;32;43;18 - 00;32;46;08
Kristen
For scans and tests and.
00;32;46;11 - 00;32;46;25
Kristen
Just.
00;32;47;01 - 00;32;47;12
Kristen
Seemed.
00;32;47;12 - 00;32;48;08
Kristen
Ridiculous.
00;32;48;11 - 00;33;09;18
Darice
Oh, yeah, I can imagine because I you know, so my dad passed away from, from myeloma. Oh, um, a few years ago. And so he was sick for a very long time. My, mother took amazing care of my dad like, but she had a, she literally carried a binder.
00;33;09;21 - 00;33;15;23
Kristen
So that I guess every time you walk into an office, you hand them the papers so they can make copies. Right.
00;33;15;25 - 00;33;40;01
Darice
And I mean, she was. And to think one person was really handling, you know, handling all of that and keeping all of that straight. And, you know, I mean, she would share it with us, but she was his caretaker, you know, And yeah, it's just so much put on the patient and then the caretaker to the caregivers.
00;33;40;01 - 00;33;44;15
Kristen
And I I've actually spoken to advocacy groups.
00;33;44;15 - 00;33;46;07
Kristen
And said I've been both a patient and a.
00;33;46;07 - 00;33;47;03
Kristen
Caregiver. Yeah.
00;33;47;04 - 00;33;49;11
Kristen
And I actually think it's harder being the caregiver.
00;33;49;14 - 00;33;55;21
Kristen
Because as a patient, your job is to get better. Yeah, yeah. As the caregiver, your job is everything else.
00;33;55;21 - 00;34;17;11
Darice
Right? Right. It's, um. That's a lot. Um, so thank you. Thank you for sharing that because that and then, so I know that that sort of prompted you to want to give back. So what was like the first, uh, you know, the first volunteer experience that, that you had after, after your own personal experience.
00;34;17;14 - 00;34;20;01
Kristen
It was so it was that few years after.
00;34;20;01 - 00;34;25;23
Kristen
When the drugs started to come to market, and I found the Melanoma Research Foundation, which I'm.
00;34;25;25 - 00;34;28;18
Kristen
Pretty sure I was getting emails from them but.
00;34;28;20 - 00;34;29;20
Kristen
Wasn't in a space.
00;34;29;20 - 00;34;32;17
Kristen
To contribute. But they had these hildi, so.
00;34;32;17 - 00;34;35;01
Kristen
They have them every year in March and.
00;34;35;04 - 00;34;38;22
Kristen
I just thought that was such a great opportunity to.
00;34;38;22 - 00;34;39;27
Kristen
Go and advocate.
00;34;39;27 - 00;34;42;23
Kristen
Because a lot of the their research.
00;34;42;25 - 00;34;47;24
Kristen
Comes from like government funded or like the defense budget in terms of.
00;34;47;24 - 00;34;48;15
Kristen
Research because.
00;34;48;15 - 00;34;52;06
Kristen
They can, you know, take on more aggressive forms of research.
00;34;52;08 - 00;34;53;12
Kristen
But, you know, it.
00;34;53;12 - 00;34;56;17
Kristen
Also benefits different types of cancers. And so I really.
00;34;56;21 - 00;34;56;25
Kristen
You.
00;34;56;25 - 00;34;58;10
Kristen
Know, there have been some things like like.
00;34;58;15 - 00;35;00;04
Kristen
Everybody's heard of KEYTRUDA.
00;35;00;06 - 00;35;01;15
Kristen
And that's one on the market.
00;35;01;15 - 00;35;01;23
Kristen
That.
00;35;01;23 - 00;35;08;00
Kristen
Certainly helps melanoma patients, but it helps many other types of patients. And it come out of, you know, a lot of.
00;35;08;00 - 00;35;09;24
Kristen
These types of research.
00;35;09;26 - 00;35;17;26
Kristen
And so I just, you know, think that's hugely important and, you know, and from there it kind of you learn more. And so military members.
00;35;17;26 - 00;35;18;14
Kristen
Are actually a.
00;35;18;14 - 00;35;21;22
Kristen
Population that's highly diagnosed with melanoma.
00;35;21;22 - 00;35;22;21
Kristen
Because it's.
00;35;22;21 - 00;35;23;19
Kristen
Usually younger.
00;35;23;23 - 00;35;25;04
Kristen
Males eyes that are.
00;35;25;04 - 00;35;25;25
Kristen
Going into.
00;35;25;25 - 00;35;27;18
Kristen
Areas that are very.
00;35;27;18 - 00;35;30;10
Kristen
Warm and, you know, in the sun and.
00;35;30;12 - 00;35;31;08
Kristen
Nobody's talking.
00;35;31;08 - 00;35;35;16
Kristen
To them about skin care. And, you know, there's so many things.
00;35;35;19 - 00;35;39;00
Kristen
So they actually have a very high rate of melanoma.
00;35;39;00 - 00;35;41;13
Kristen
And so, you know, really advocating to.
00;35;41;15 - 00;35;46;08
Kristen
Help our service people. And that way, you know, which has led me to other.
00;35;46;08 - 00;35;47;19
Kristen
Organizations.
00;35;47;21 - 00;35;49;27
Kristen
That work with service people.
00;35;49;29 - 00;36;13;23
Darice
Oh, wow. That's and so what is there a certain experience, that really Um, I know that really resonated with you, uh, during all of your volunteer experiences? Was there something that really just sticks out in your mind that I don't know, just, you know, gives you the warm fuzzies or, you know, or just.
00;36;14;00 - 00;36;15;28
Kristen
Yeah, for me, it's really it has.
00;36;15;28 - 00;36;16;24
Kristen
Been the.
00;36;16;26 - 00;36;17;26
Kristen
The advocating.
00;36;17;26 - 00;36;22;01
Kristen
So I've done the going to D.C. so I've done that with a.
00;36;22;07 - 00;36;22;18
Kristen
Couple.
00;36;22;18 - 00;36;26;07
Kristen
Of different groups now. So there's the National Cancer.
00;36;26;07 - 00;36;29;16
Kristen
Survivorship group which it it's like all of a sudden you.
00;36;29;16 - 00;36;31;14
Kristen
Get connected with one and you find all of.
00;36;31;14 - 00;36;34;22
Kristen
These different groups and, and so I was.
00;36;34;29 - 00;36;44;06
Kristen
Down there with them last year and the same type of thing, you know, advocating with our, our congresspeople for, you know, a national cancer.
00;36;44;06 - 00;36;46;14
Kristen
Survivorship act.
00;36;46;16 - 00;36;48;07
Kristen
I'm sure I'm not getting the acronym right.
00;36;48;07 - 00;36;49;22
Kristen
But, you know, because.
00;36;49;22 - 00;36;54;10
Kristen
Again, with cancer patients and and more younger people are being diagnosed.
00;36;54;10 - 00;36;55;05
Kristen
But you.
00;36;55;05 - 00;36;57;09
Kristen
Finish your care and then.
00;36;57;12 - 00;36;58;00
Kristen
Most people.
00;36;58;00 - 00;37;04;03
Kristen
Don't have a care plan after. And, you know, and when you're diagnosed with cancer at a younger age.
00;37;04;05 - 00;37;07;06
Kristen
You have a higher risk of developing, whether it's that.
00;37;07;06 - 00;37;15;17
Kristen
Cancer or a different type of cancer later on. And so, you know, and then even just again, in the health care system.
00;37;15;19 - 00;37;17;08
Kristen
You have your oncologist.
00;37;17;12 - 00;37;19;25
Kristen
And then a lot of people are forgetting to go to their primary care.
00;37;19;25 - 00;37;28;06
Kristen
Doctors or get their eye appointment surgery. And I that to me, too. And I actually ended up, you know, with a.
00;37;28;08 - 00;37;37;12
Kristen
Like kind of weird, I think after and they thought it was caused by my treatment but it wasn't and you know, it's fine. But but I hadn't gone to the.
00;37;37;12 - 00;37;44;14
Kristen
Eye doctor in probably two or three years because I was in the middle of a cancer job. And so what you know, so.
00;37;44;14 - 00;37;53;02
Kristen
It's just kind of this coordination of things and, you know, and then after my mom, so my mom passed.
00;37;53;02 - 00;37;54;00
Kristen
Six years ago.
00;37;54;00 - 00;37;59;12
Kristen
And, you know, and that's where I got involved in the leukemia and lymphoma, too.
00;37;59;12 - 00;38;01;16
Kristen
So, you know, I've really kind.
00;38;01;16 - 00;38;08;06
Kristen
Of just found my space. And, you know, that advocacy. And I think actually during COVID.
00;38;08;08 - 00;38;11;06
Kristen
Yeah, you know, because we were all home, I was reading.
00;38;11;06 - 00;38;17;28
Kristen
A lot more and getting a, you know, a lot more involved in, you know, different organizations or, you know, whether I was doing online training or.
00;38;17;28 - 00;38;19;10
Kristen
Things like that just because.
00;38;19;13 - 00;38;20;14
Kristen
I had more time to.
00;38;20;19 - 00;38;52;28
Darice
Write. Right. And that, you know, that's that's an amazing quality because I think that, you know, like you said, some some people go through that experience and then maybe they they don't follow up with with appointments or maybe they're not as involved as you are. Um, to, you know, advocate for, for a patient, you know, patient trials or clinical trials rather, and all of these things.
00;38;52;28 - 00;39;14;17
Darice
And sometimes you know, when I do see things like that or hear about them, I'm always amazed because it's like, what would it be like if people like you weren't, you know, doing this kind of thing? And it's you know, it's just amazing to have individuals like you who are willing to give up their time to to do this.
00;39;14;17 - 00;39;18;15
Darice
And, and, um, it's just a you know, I.
00;39;18;17 - 00;39;20;16
Kristen
Think you and I, if I'm.
00;39;20;16 - 00;39;22;12
Kristen
Being honest.
00;39;22;14 - 00;39;26;11
Kristen
Was some of it was survivor's guilt because like I said, you know.
00;39;26;13 - 00;39;28;02
Kristen
Even before my mom passed, I.
00;39;28;02 - 00;39;28;29
Kristen
Had three.
00;39;28;29 - 00;39;31;15
Kristen
Family member, two family members and one friend who.
00;39;31;15 - 00;39;32;16
Kristen
Passed.
00;39;32;19 - 00;39;34;01
Kristen
In within a year.
00;39;34;04 - 00;39;34;19
Kristen
Of different.
00;39;34;19 - 00;39;47;14
Kristen
Types of cancer. And they were all around my age. We were all in our mid-forties. And, you know, some of them were engaged or parents or grandparents. And I kept thinking, why them and not me?
00;39;47;19 - 00;39;49;00
Kristen
And, you know.
00;39;49;00 - 00;39;50;15
Kristen
And I think that spurred me on a little.
00;39;50;15 - 00;39;55;19
Kristen
Bit, too, because I do. Yeah. We were talking earlier about, you.
00;39;55;19 - 00;39;56;12
Kristen
Know, finding your.
00;39;56;12 - 00;39;58;17
Kristen
Purpose. Yeah, sometimes.
00;39;58;19 - 00;40;04;14
Kristen
Those things come to light. And I thought, if I'm able, then, you know, I just feel like I need.
00;40;04;14 - 00;40;08;07
Kristen
To help be a voice for others.
00;40;08;10 - 00;40;16;10
Kristen
And, and, you know, and again, we just don't know so much. I mean, you know, just with melanoma alone, I mean, certainly more.
00;40;16;12 - 00;40;19;12
Kristen
People of Caucasian or lighter.
00;40;19;12 - 00;40;20;07
Kristen
Skinned descent get.
00;40;20;07 - 00;40;23;14
Kristen
Diagnosed. But, you know, people of color get.
00;40;23;14 - 00;40;25;29
Kristen
Diagnosed and usually have worse prognosis.
00;40;25;29 - 00;40;26;24
Kristen
Because.
00;40;26;26 - 00;40;27;07
Kristen
They don't.
00;40;27;07 - 00;40;28;25
Kristen
Notice it initially or.
00;40;28;25 - 00;40;29;09
Kristen
Don't get.
00;40;29;09 - 00;40;29;23
Kristen
Checked.
00;40;29;23 - 00;40;32;11
Kristen
And so, you know, advocating it.
00;40;32;13 - 00;40;34;24
Kristen
But it comes back to access to care because.
00;40;34;24 - 00;40;37;20
Kristen
Things like going to a dermatologist, unless it's.
00;40;37;22 - 00;40;38;10
Kristen
Part of your.
00;40;38;10 - 00;40;42;29
Kristen
Health plan, which for most people it's not right. They're not getting skin checks.
00;40;42;29 - 00;40;46;26
Kristen
Because they have to pay out of pocket for it. So.
00;40;46;28 - 00;40;50;26
Kristen
You know, that that's definitely as an organization, one thing you know, we would.
00;40;50;26 - 00;40;52;27
Kristen
Love to push forward.
00;40;52;27 - 00;40;56;28
Kristen
And and then certainly like tanning bed bands and I mean, Connecticut's.
00;40;56;28 - 00;40;58;22
Kristen
Great because they, you know, don't.
00;40;58;23 - 00;41;04;13
Kristen
They ban for anyone under 18. So, you know, which I think is.
00;41;04;16 - 00;41;04;26
Kristen
Hugely.
00;41;04;26 - 00;41;05;09
Kristen
Important.
00;41;05;09 - 00;41;06;07
Kristen
And a lot of it.
00;41;06;07 - 00;41;10;23
Kristen
Really just comes down to education. Yeah. You know, for all of this and.
00;41;10;25 - 00;41;13;05
Kristen
Just how you get the word out.
00;41;13;05 - 00;41;42;24
Darice
Get the word out. Yeah, that's that's amazing. Um, so I'm curious, do you do you find that, you know, your experience with your personal experience, first of all, just what you went through with having cancer and getting, you know, getting through that and then going into volunteerism, do you find that you pull from those experiences and how you approach your academic advising?
00;41;42;26 - 00;41;47;00
Kristen
Absolutely. And it's definitely changed over the years. I think.
00;41;47;00 - 00;41;48;09
Kristen
That is one of the nice things of.
00;41;48;09 - 00;41;54;13
Kristen
Age. Yeah, I feel like I've seen things that I can share with students. So, you know.
00;41;54;17 - 00;41;55;11
Kristen
One of the things that.
00;41;55;11 - 00;41;55;28
Kristen
Is really.
00;41;55;28 - 00;41;57;00
Kristen
Exciting to me.
00;41;57;00 - 00;41;57;27
Kristen
Is, is.
00;41;58;00 - 00;42;04;18
Kristen
When I am talking with students and trying to understand what they're interested in and if I, you know, know something about it.
00;42;04;18 - 00;42;05;10
Kristen
Through.
00;42;05;13 - 00;42;07;19
Kristen
You know, my work, I'm always sharing.
00;42;07;26 - 00;42;08;16
Kristen
Resources.
00;42;08;16 - 00;42;15;14
Kristen
With them to get involved. And, you know, again, there's a lot of like online modules and things like.
00;42;15;14 - 00;42;17;18
Kristen
That people can take for free. So.
00;42;17;20 - 00;42;18;13
Kristen
You know, to to.
00;42;18;13 - 00;42;19;26
Kristen
Share that with students just.
00;42;19;29 - 00;42;22;12
Kristen
They can help become more knowledgeable.
00;42;22;12 - 00;42;25;01
Kristen
About the health care space if that's a career.
00;42;25;01 - 00;42;28;11
Kristen
They want to go into. And you know and.
00;42;28;11 - 00;42;29;08
Kristen
So I've really.
00;42;29;10 - 00;42;31;00
Kristen
Seen some students take advantage of.
00;42;31;00 - 00;42;32;05
Kristen
That over the years.
00;42;32;05 - 00;42;34;00
Kristen
And or even.
00;42;34;00 - 00;42;35;03
Kristen
You know, just.
00;42;35;06 - 00;42;36;20
Kristen
Personal experiences.
00;42;36;20 - 00;42;42;03
Kristen
You know, I, I don't lead with. Yeah, you know, my health background. But if.
00;42;42;05 - 00;42;43;06
Kristen
You know, if a student ever.
00;42;43;06 - 00;42;45;09
Kristen
Talks about it or had a.
00;42;45;09 - 00;42;51;08
Kristen
Family member or something like that, then you know, I can certainly empathize with them.
00;42;51;11 - 00;43;22;29
Darice
Um, what's interesting about that is, um, for students who are, you know, once they come to you and they're interested in this field and you know, hopefully or, or not, but for those who end up moving on and into the field, into a stem field, um, that your approach or sharing kind of influences their I don't want to call it like bedside manner, but you know what I mean?
00;43;22;29 - 00;43;39;13
Darice
Like just how, how they treat their patients, right? Have you ever had any students mention, you know, how, how their interaction with you has sort of influenced their, um, you know, their experience in working with, with patients?
00;43;39;15 - 00;43;43;18
Kristen
Uh, well, one example I remember from actually one of my first.
00;43;43;18 - 00;43;44;04
Kristen
Years here.
00;43;44;04 - 00;43;45;04
Kristen
At Yale, and I remember.
00;43;45;04 - 00;43;45;20
Kristen
Meeting with a.
00;43;45;20 - 00;43;48;20
Kristen
Student and he was very interested in applying to MD.
00;43;48;22 - 00;43;48;25
Kristen
PhD.
00;43;48;28 - 00;43;50;23
Kristen
Program. So, you know, a bulk.
00;43;50;23 - 00;43;51;20
Kristen
Of the career.
00;43;51;20 - 00;43;52;18
Kristen
Would have been.
00;43;52;21 - 00;43;56;11
Kristen
Research and but he had zero.
00;43;56;11 - 00;43;56;25
Kristen
Clinical.
00;43;56;25 - 00;43;57;23
Kristen
Exposure, had.
00;43;57;25 - 00;43;58;23
Kristen
Volunteered in a.
00;43;58;23 - 00;44;00;20
Kristen
Hospital or anything.
00;44;00;22 - 00;44;03;12
Kristen
And, you know, I said to him, I'm like, well.
00;44;03;15 - 00;44;04;23
Kristen
You might.
00;44;04;25 - 00;44;05;15
Kristen
Want to just.
00;44;05;18 - 00;44;08;15
Kristen
Check it out. Yeah. You know, and to see if you like.
00;44;08;15 - 00;44;09;20
Kristen
Being around patients.
00;44;09;20 - 00;44;09;28
Kristen
Even.
00;44;09;28 - 00;44;11;02
Kristen
If you're looking at MDP.
00;44;11;06 - 00;44;18;24
Kristen
See programs. And he did. And I remember he came back and all of a sudden changed his whole trajectory. He loved it so much.
00;44;19;00 - 00;44;22;09
Kristen
He got involved in like three different types of clinical.
00;44;22;09 - 00;44;23;20
Kristen
Experiences I think.
00;44;23;22 - 00;44;25;10
Kristen
Didn't end up going into M.D..
00;44;25;13 - 00;44;26;17
Kristen
Ph.D. but really.
00;44;26;20 - 00;44;28;22
Kristen
He was still an M.D. who ended up doing.
00;44;28;22 - 00;44;32;08
Kristen
Research. And it so it's been.
00;44;32;08 - 00;44;33;09
Kristen
Fun, you know, to.
00;44;33;09 - 00;44;33;16
Kristen
Hear.
00;44;33;16 - 00;44;39;08
Kristen
Students, you know, do things like that. And, you know, more recently.
00;44;39;10 - 00;44;43;01
Kristen
Some resources I had shared with a student. She had reached.
00;44;43;01 - 00;44;47;12
Kristen
Out and, you know, had connected with an organization and, you know, is looking to get.
00;44;47;12 - 00;44;48;19
Kristen
Involved a little.
00;44;48;19 - 00;44;50;05
Kristen
More. And.
00;44;50;07 - 00;44;53;04
Kristen
You know, so when they do things, I more think of it as.
00;44;53;04 - 00;44;54;06
Kristen
Planting the seed.
00;44;54;07 - 00;44;56;29
Kristen
Yeah. And like I said, you know, because the students are so.
00;44;56;29 - 00;45;01;02
Kristen
Busy and get involved in so many different things.
00;45;01;05 - 00;45;05;09
Kristen
You know, but to always come back, you know, I always say.
00;45;05;10 - 00;45;12;02
Kristen
You know, come back and talk at any time. And actually one of the most rewarding things recently was an alum, and she.
00;45;12;02 - 00;45;13;21
Kristen
Graduated.
00;45;13;23 - 00;45;15;06
Kristen
Probably ten years ago.
00;45;15;07 - 00;45;16;17
Kristen
And she.
00;45;16;17 - 00;45;22;03
Kristen
Went to med school in the Midwest and she had taken some time off before going back.
00;45;22;05 - 00;45;22;16
Kristen
And we had.
00;45;22;16 - 00;45;26;23
Kristen
Talked a lot when she was a student and she emailed and she said, I'm at a.
00;45;26;23 - 00;45;27;17
Kristen
Crossroads.
00;45;27;17 - 00;45;29;11
Kristen
I am graduating. And, you know, I would.
00;45;29;11 - 00;45;30;29
Kristen
Just love talk to you, because.
00;45;30;29 - 00;45;31;28
Kristen
I just remember talking.
00;45;31;28 - 00;45;37;19
Kristen
With you. And that really just warmed my heart and and, you know, and she.
00;45;37;22 - 00;45;42;06
Kristen
She'd gotten involved in some startups in health care, but she ended up finishing med school and now.
00;45;42;06 - 00;45;48;04
Kristen
She's oh, gosh, she's she's got a big job in health care.
00;45;48;04 - 00;45;48;17
Kristen
In.
00;45;48;17 - 00;45;49;17
Kristen
A state.
00;45;49;19 - 00;45;54;20
Kristen
I think it's out in Oregon. And, you know, so I'd seen that on LinkedIn recently.
00;45;54;21 - 00;46;01;10
Kristen
It's you know, it's just so excited for her. Yeah. So, you know, I like I think most.
00;46;01;10 - 00;46;04;21
Kristen
Of the time I don't ever know the impact, if any. Right.
00;46;04;23 - 00;46;04;28
Darice
Right.
00;46;05;05 - 00;46;05;16
Kristen
You know.
00;46;05;17 - 00;46;08;17
Kristen
And I don't know if any of us do when we're working with students and.
00;46;08;20 - 00;46;10;04
Kristen
You know, but all that I can hope.
00;46;10;04 - 00;46;12;16
Kristen
Is that I planted that seed.
00;46;12;16 - 00;46;14;05
Kristen
Did you know And that.
00;46;14;08 - 00;46;14;13
Kristen
It.
00;46;14;13 - 00;46;16;15
Kristen
Helps them, right.
00;46;16;17 - 00;46;55;08
Darice
Yeah. In their journey and that that's kind of been a common theme that has come up in, uh, past episodes where, um, whatever seed you planted, right, whether it's sharing your experience or, you know, just help guiding them in their decision making process, what, what they want to go into. Um, even though even though they may not come back and tell you, but, but I'm sure that some aspect that, uh, resonates for them, that, that, you know, their experience with you is, is helped.
00;46;55;11 - 00;47;21;15
Darice
Right. And helped them. Uh, you know, in some ways it's a life decision in terms of what direction they want to go. And, and, you know, so that's been a common theme in terms of how we interact with students, even if it's, you know, like a small. Right, We think it's a small thing, but it really does influence, you know, influences their experiences.
00;47;21;15 - 00;47;24;09
Darice
And, and, it's, it's a pretty cool thing.
00;47;24;09 - 00;47;25;20
Kristen
So.
00;47;25;22 - 00;48;20;17
Darice
Yeah, so I'm, wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about, I don't know, was there sort of a moment when you first began advising, peace and in your role here at the university, Like, was there sort of a like a pivotal moment that really struck you in terms of, I don't know, like your, your approach or, you know, that sort of influence, your commitment to, to helping students and, and then, uh, it's kind of a two part question like, in terms of, uh, what, what you've experience and everything you shared earlier, in terms of DEIB like how, how do
00;48;20;17 - 00;48;30;25
Darice
you, was there a moment where you felt like, okay, this is sort of a something that I want to make sure that I share with every single student in their journey.
00;48;30;25 - 00;48;32;06
Kristen
So yeah.
00;48;32;06 - 00;48;34;10
Kristen
One of the things so.
00;48;34;12 - 00;48;35;18
Kristen
Many schools do this.
00;48;35;18 - 00;48;37;06
Kristen
But and we did this at Hopkins.
00;48;37;06 - 00;48;39;28
Kristen
But you know, the process we have at year at.
00;48;39;29 - 00;48;41;27
Kristen
Yale when, you know, students are starting to.
00;48;41;27 - 00;48;42;27
Kristen
Apply is we.
00;48;42;27 - 00;48;45;28
Kristen
Have what we call the health professions applicant.
00;48;45;28 - 00;48;48;02
Kristen
Preparation. And it's really just a long.
00;48;48;02 - 00;48;50;02
Kristen
Form with many questions that they'll.
00;48;50;02 - 00;48;50;17
Kristen
Fill out that.
00;48;50;17 - 00;48;56;03
Kristen
Doesn't go anywhere but our office. And I always tell students it's more of a reflection.
00;48;56;03 - 00;48;57;05
Kristen
For you so you.
00;48;57;05 - 00;49;00;22
Kristen
Can think about your journey, you know, before applying to.
00;49;00;25 - 00;49;02;20
Kristen
Med school or whatever health.
00;49;02;20 - 00;49;05;07
Kristen
Professions you're going into. And.
00;49;05;10 - 00;49;10;24
Kristen
You know, certainly over the years, as I read those each year and.
00;49;10;26 - 00;49;11;13
Kristen
And again, I.
00;49;11;13 - 00;49;13;00
Kristen
Think it kind of comes back to.
00;49;13;00 - 00;49;13;29
Kristen
You know, we don't know much about.
00;49;13;29 - 00;49;16;27
Kristen
Our colleagues if we don't see them regularly. The same with.
00;49;16;27 - 00;49;19;21
Kristen
Students. I mean, students come in and, you know, might ask.
00;49;19;21 - 00;49;22;16
Kristen
Well, which math class should I take or something like.
00;49;22;16 - 00;49;25;17
Kristen
That. And it can be very transactional. And then to.
00;49;25;17 - 00;49;26;15
Kristen
Read these.
00;49;26;15 - 00;49;28;12
Kristen
Documents and, you know.
00;49;28;12 - 00;49;29;10
Kristen
Realize.
00;49;29;13 - 00;49;38;03
Kristen
Again that these students are coming from so many different backgrounds and experiences and it's such a young age, and I don't think they.
00;49;38;03 - 00;49;39;13
Kristen
Even realize how it's.
00;49;39;13 - 00;49;45;12
Kristen
Shaping them. And, you know, and so I.
00;49;45;14 - 00;49;49;06
Kristen
I really try to have take the approach, you know, even with first years.
00;49;49;06 - 00;49;52;13
Kristen
Coming in, just, you know, even if they want to know which math.
00;49;52;13 - 00;49;54;05
Kristen
Class they should take, that.
00;49;54;08 - 00;49;59;27
Kristen
I'm trying to ask questions of, you know, how are things going, what types of activities are you getting involved in.
00;50;00;00 - 00;50;01;24
Kristen
You know, So to allow.
00;50;01;24 - 00;50;02;08
Kristen
Them that.
00;50;02;08 - 00;50;03;12
Kristen
Space to talk.
00;50;03;12 - 00;50;05;28
Kristen
A little more and share more about themselves.
00;50;06;00 - 00;50;08;04
Kristen
And, you know, which helps me.
00;50;08;04 - 00;50;20;28
Kristen
Find that connection with them and, you know, the things that they're interested in. And it helps me as an advisor as I see things that might come across my plate and somebody, you know, I can remember, oh, I can forward this to somebody.
00;50;21;05 - 00;50;24;00
Kristen
It actually happened yesterday. I was talking with.
00;50;24;02 - 00;50;27;07
Kristen
A student who.
00;50;27;10 - 00;50;27;14
Kristen
She.
00;50;27;16 - 00;50;28;16
Kristen
Was actually in the School of.
00;50;28;16 - 00;50;29;01
Kristen
Public Health.
00;50;29;01 - 00;50;31;02
Kristen
So she wasn't, you know, one of my direct.
00;50;31;02 - 00;50;32;02
Kristen
Students, but she was just.
00;50;32;02 - 00;50;34;01
Kristen
Asking some information about applying to med.
00;50;34;01 - 00;50;34;24
Kristen
School. But.
00;50;34;26 - 00;50;38;08
Kristen
You know, I knew her background was in. You know.
00;50;38;08 - 00;50;39;05
Kristen
She.
00;50;39;07 - 00;50;42;13
Kristen
Had done a sign language as her language in college.
00;50;42;13 - 00;50;43;09
Kristen
And, you know.
00;50;43;09 - 00;50;48;23
Kristen
And things like that. And I was on a meeting last night and somebody was mentioning.
00;50;48;25 - 00;50;53;01
Kristen
I forget the organization's name, but it was, you know, about like deaf health and.
00;50;53;04 - 00;50;53;27
Kristen
You know, providing.
00;50;53;27 - 00;50;57;21
Kristen
Services for people who need it. And so just immediately I thought of her.
00;50;57;21 - 00;50;59;19
Kristen
But even so many of my other students, because.
00;50;59;19 - 00;51;01;16
Kristen
We have a lot of, you know, college.
00;51;01;16 - 00;51;02;22
Kristen
Students that take.
00;51;02;24 - 00;51;03;17
Kristen
ASL.
00;51;03;17 - 00;51;04;15
Kristen
So, you know, that's.
00;51;04;15 - 00;51;05;04
Kristen
A resource.
00;51;05;04 - 00;51;05;28
Kristen
That I'm going to share.
00;51;05;28 - 00;51;08;29
Kristen
With students. And, you know, and.
00;51;09;01 - 00;51;14;24
Kristen
So for me, it's like finding these things that again, might, you know, connect with students, right?
00;51;14;27 - 00;51;25;11
Darice
How do you how do you keep track of all all of these things? Just and of course, I'm asking from a techie vet from a techie perspective. But.
00;51;25;13 - 00;51;36;19
Kristen
You know, it's a bit well, a lot of students will ask questions over email. So I love to do email searches to find out which students are asking, you know, some of these questions.
00;51;36;21 - 00;51;38;05
Kristen
And try to connect them that.
00;51;38;05 - 00;51;43;23
Kristen
Way. And but I mean, just our system. Yes, there's make a point.
00;51;43;26 - 00;51;48;23
Kristen
I think we can jot down little notes up there. You know, some of the things that we talked about.
00;51;48;23 - 00;51;51;03
Kristen
So, you know, I can do searches that way.
00;51;51;03 - 00;52;21;05
Darice
Yeah. And the reason I ask is just like, it's awesome that you have, you know what I mean? It's like it's all up here, right? You have all these resources up here and, you know, I'm just curious about that. Do you ever intersect with other departments, whether here at Yale College or outside of your college, that, you know, are looking for those kinds of resources?
00;52;21;05 - 00;52;22;19
Darice
And maybe.
00;52;22;22 - 00;52;24;24
Kristen
Sometimes I mean.
00;52;24;24 - 00;52;27;19
Kristen
We so we we have graduate.
00;52;27;19 - 00;52;30;08
Kristen
Students in our office that send out faculty newsletters.
00;52;30;08 - 00;52;31;16
Kristen
So, you know, we all have the.
00;52;31;16 - 00;52;32;08
Kristen
Opportunity to to.
00;52;32;08 - 00;52;33;02
Kristen
Highlight.
00;52;33;04 - 00;52;34;18
Kristen
Some of these different interesting.
00;52;34;18 - 00;52;35;26
Kristen
Resources to.
00;52;35;29 - 00;52;36;26
Kristen
Try to connect with.
00;52;36;26 - 00;52;38;06
Kristen
Faculty.
00;52;38;08 - 00;52;39;28
Kristen
And I mean, I think it's.
00;52;40;05 - 00;52;43;13
Kristen
It's so hard at larger institutions because.
00;52;43;13 - 00;52;43;26
Kristen
Everyone.
00;52;43;26 - 00;52;45;17
Kristen
Is so busy all the time.
00;52;45;17 - 00;52;47;12
Kristen
And I think people want to connect.
00;52;47;12 - 00;52;48;08
Kristen
Yeah.
00;52;48;10 - 00;52;49;24
Kristen
But sometimes we don't think about.
00;52;49;24 - 00;52;50;25
Kristen
The resources until.
00;52;50;25 - 00;52;51;13
Kristen
We actually need.
00;52;51;13 - 00;52;53;12
Kristen
Them. Yeah. And then go looking.
00;52;53;12 - 00;52;58;00
Kristen
For them and, you know, and then there's student groups.
00;52;58;00 - 00;53;00;24
Kristen
And so, you know, we try to help just.
00;53;00;24 - 00;53;02;07
Kristen
In our office in general, a lot.
00;53;02;07 - 00;53;03;06
Kristen
Of it because I.
00;53;03;06 - 00;53;04;28
Kristen
Think the student driven initiatives.
00;53;04;28 - 00;53;05;28
Kristen
Are our best.
00;53;05;28 - 00;53;12;26
Kristen
So if we can help support them in any way, then I think it's a good learning experience for them. But then they're more invested.
00;53;13;02 - 00;53;42;20
Darice
Right as well. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Um, so, so I'm curious, have you noticed any kind of, um, sort of trends I guess, and I'm not as familiar with, with, you know, the, aside from tech, uh, because I would techie, but um, have you noticed any trends in terms of student interests in STEM and, and, you know, their pursuits in their careers?
00;53;42;22 - 00;53;44;25
Kristen
Definitely. I mean, you know, Yale's made.
00;53;44;26 - 00;53;45;12
Kristen
A big.
00;53;45;12 - 00;53;54;11
Kristen
Effort in recent years to increase STEM students in general and, and we see a lot in our office and you know one of my colleagues has some good connections with.
00;53;54;17 - 00;53;54;26
Kristen
School.
00;53;54;26 - 00;53;58;08
Kristen
Of Engineering. And so, again, trying to, you know.
00;53;58;08 - 00;53;59;01
Kristen
Filter that.
00;53;59;05 - 00;54;00;11
Kristen
Information.
00;54;00;13 - 00;54;03;11
Kristen
That she shares with all of us. And, you know.
00;54;03;11 - 00;54;11;10
Kristen
Some computer science, you know, certainly. But again, from a student perspective, there have been, you know, some students that.
00;54;11;10 - 00;54;12;08
Kristen
Have really taken.
00;54;12;08 - 00;54;13;12
Kristen
It upon themselves this.
00;54;13;12 - 00;54;14;05
Kristen
Year to.
00;54;14;08 - 00;54;16;21
Kristen
You know, generate some.
00;54;16;23 - 00;54;19;11
Kristen
Either career fairs or, you know, things like.
00;54;19;11 - 00;54;23;08
Kristen
That. And then, you know, with help from our office.
00;54;23;10 - 00;54;23;25
Kristen
But, yeah.
00;54;24;01 - 00;54;27;15
Kristen
You know, students are definitely interested in engineering.
00;54;27;15 - 00;54;28;07
Kristen
Fields.
00;54;28;08 - 00;54;30;25
Kristen
And, you know, and I think like more from a.
00;54;30;25 - 00;54;32;15
Kristen
Practical side, we've always had.
00;54;32;15 - 00;54;33;02
Kristen
Engineering.
00;54;33;02 - 00;54;34;11
Kristen
Graduates, but.
00;54;34;13 - 00;54;37;22
Kristen
You know, a lot of times they may end up a little more in the business world.
00;54;37;22 - 00;54;39;02
Kristen
So.
00;54;39;05 - 00;54;40;07
Kristen
You know.
00;54;40;10 - 00;54;41;08
Kristen
The words.
00;54;41;08 - 00;54;42;21
Kristen
Quantum computing get tossed.
00;54;42;21 - 00;54;52;17
Kristen
Around a lot. And, you know, so we're all trying to learn what that means and. Right. I mean, some of these fields are moving so fast, you know.
00;54;52;17 - 00;54;53;02
Kristen
But then New.
00;54;53;02 - 00;54;55;08
Kristen
Haven has made great strides.
00;54;55;08 - 00;54;56;13
Kristen
In recent years.
00;54;56;15 - 00;54;56;20
Kristen
To.
00;54;56;20 - 00;54;57;18
Kristen
Become more.
00;54;57;18 - 00;54;59;08
Kristen
Of a biotech space.
00;54;59;12 - 00;55;00;20
Kristen
You know, outside of some of.
00;55;00;20 - 00;55;01;26
Kristen
The larger cities, like a.
00;55;01;26 - 00;55;04;05
Kristen
Boston or San Francisco.
00;55;04;05 - 00;55;05;03
Kristen
Or things like that.
00;55;05;03 - 00;55;14;03
Kristen
So I think there's going to be, you know, some really interesting opportunities for students. And, you know, and of course, all of these things ebb and flow with the economy.
00;55;14;03 - 00;55;19;01
Kristen
Right, too. So it's, you know, trying to, you know, keep track of of those.
00;55;19;01 - 00;55;20;19
Kristen
Types of things also.
00;55;20;22 - 00;55;23;16
Kristen
But I do you know, I think students are very.
00;55;23;18 - 00;55;24;19
Kristen
Interested in.
00;55;24;19 - 00;55;27;23
Kristen
Research still. But I always think historically.
00;55;27;23 - 00;55;28;10
Kristen
There's been a.
00;55;28;10 - 00;55;29;25
Kristen
Separation between research.
00;55;29;25 - 00;55;31;16
Kristen
And.
00;55;31;18 - 00;55;32;27
Kristen
The corporate world.
00;55;32;27 - 00;55;35;00
Kristen
Or business and, you know, I feel.
00;55;35;00 - 00;55;35;07
Kristen
Like.
00;55;35;07 - 00;55;45;08
Kristen
There's, you know, kind of more of a meshing of that nowadays. And, you know, and students are interested in utilizing skills in a lot of different areas.
00;55;45;08 - 00;56;17;20
Darice
Wow. Wow. So believe it or not, we we're almost up in our hour or so it went by like that, right? Um, so, so yeah, I'm going to just ask a few closing questions and so just kind of looking, you know, and as you know, I'm on the Yale College, the DEIB Advisory Committee, and, and um, you know, we're crafting our goals and action steps for the coming year.
00;56;17;20 - 00;56;50;06
Darice
And I, I would love to somehow, um, incorporate like, you know, the volunteer work and opportunities for that, right? Because I know there, there have got to be other staff who are maybe have gone through similar experiences as you have and, and have that interest but maybe not sure where to start or you know, figuring out, uh, you know, where they'd like to, uh, commit their time and things like that.
00;56;50;09 - 00;57;18;01
Darice
So, So I'm curious just from your perspective, like what would you like to see when it comes to whether it's, uh, you know, some of our, DEIB initiatives that we, you know, discussed during our staff meeting a few months ago or, you know, just work that you enjoy like the, the volunteer work that, that you enjoy. Like, do you, do you see yourself sort of sharing that with with staff a bit more?
00;57;18;03 - 00;57;20;16
Kristen
And sir, I mean, so that, you know, the funny.
00;57;20;16 - 00;57;20;23
Kristen
Thing.
00;57;20;23 - 00;57;22;22
Kristen
Was.
00;57;22;24 - 00;57;23;19
Kristen
When I.
00;57;23;21 - 00;57;26;22
Kristen
Was sick, again, you know, I told.
00;57;26;24 - 00;57;27;28
Kristen
The people in my office.
00;57;27;28 - 00;57;29;00
Kristen
I needed to tell.
00;57;29;00 - 00;57;30;08
Darice
That you need it. Right.
00;57;30;11 - 00;57;31;11
Kristen
But my life.
00;57;31;11 - 00;57;37;05
Kristen
Just I know was so up ended that, you know, I didn't really tell anybody else. And it.
00;57;37;05 - 00;57;38;07
Kristen
Wasn't. And, you know.
00;57;38;07 - 00;57;39;29
Kristen
And I've talked to other.
00;57;40;01 - 00;57;40;20
Kristen
Patients.
00;57;40;20 - 00;57;42;02
Kristen
Cancer patients or other types of.
00;57;42;02 - 00;57;45;14
Kristen
Patients. And, you know, it wasn't that people wouldn't care.
00;57;45;14 - 00;57;48;01
Kristen
We knew that they would. But from a day to day.
00;57;48;01 - 00;57;50;16
Kristen
Basis, you never know how to answer the question, How are.
00;57;50;16 - 00;57;52;00
Kristen
You? Yeah. Yeah. And so.
00;57;52;05 - 00;57;55;14
Kristen
From a protection standpoint, but then when I really got involved in.
00;57;55;14 - 00;57;56;29
Kristen
Advocacy work a few years.
00;57;56;29 - 00;57;58;20
Kristen
Later and was doing things.
00;57;58;20 - 00;58;08;26
Kristen
I thought I should probably let, I mean, because I still coworkers I'd worked with now for several years that had no idea. Yeah, and including me and you know so it's I'm.
00;58;08;26 - 00;58;12;07
Kristen
Certainly comfortable sharing it. But I mean, you know, listening to.
00;58;12;09 - 00;58;14;02
Kristen
The previous podcast that you've.
00;58;14;02 - 00;58;18;10
Kristen
Done, I think just learning again about the diversity of experiences.
00;58;18;10 - 00;58;25;13
Kristen
Of staff and, you know, having that in one place. So, you know.
00;58;25;13 - 00;58;28;09
Kristen
People can reach out to learn more, ask questions.
00;58;28;09 - 00;58;29;11
Kristen
Or.
00;58;29;13 - 00;58;29;28
Kristen
You know, just.
00;58;29;28 - 00;58;37;13
Kristen
Hear about that because I think that's, you know, really makes that's the rich tapestry of, you know, Yale College and.
00;58;37;18 - 00;58;40;11
Kristen
Yale in general, you know.
00;58;40;13 - 00;58;41;19
Kristen
Because otherwise people.
00;58;41;19 - 00;58;44;06
Kristen
Just wouldn't know unless you stumble.
00;58;44;06 - 00;58;45;03
Kristen
Across somebody.
00;58;45;04 - 00;59;10;03
Darice
Right. Right. Is so true. And, you know, even in terms of our interaction, I definitely wouldn't have known. And, um, I can't even remember how the topic came. I think we were just getting on a Zoom call and. And you happened to mention, Oh, I went here during winter break, you know, last year, Right? and that's how I started learning about Oh wow.
00;59;10;03 - 00;59;43;14
Darice
That, like, that's really fascinating that you spent your, your break doing volunteer work, which I found to be so, you know, that's amazing. Yeah. Um, I'm wondering, you know, if you could offer, I guess, a piece of advice, whether it's to students or even staff who want to contribute more to this, you know, this inclusive environment that that we're trying to I don't want to build that we're, you know, we're trying to enhance.
00;59;43;16 - 00;59;48;18
Darice
Um, what what would it be if you have, if you had an idea?
00;59;48;21 - 00;59;58;15
Kristen
I, I, I mean, I think we all need to be curious. Yeah. And I mean, just as guilty probably of everybody else. You get caught up in your daily lives.
00;59;58;15 - 01;00;01;10
Kristen
And things are busy and things break home and.
01;00;01;13 - 01;00;08;21
Kristen
Yeah, right. Yes. Yeah. Quicksilver thing is. Yeah. And you know, but I think we're all better.
01;00;08;21 - 01;00;09;16
Kristen
When we can, you.
01;00;09;16 - 01;00;10;16
Kristen
Know, step back.
01;00;10;16 - 01;00;14;17
Kristen
And reach out and, and you know, have conversations and.
01;00;14;24 - 01;00;17;05
Kristen
You know, and I feel like.
01;00;17;07 - 01;00;21;22
Kristen
I mean, we've had the combination is certainly in, you know, of in-person and Zoom.
01;00;21;22 - 01;00;22;28
Kristen
Meetings. But I actually think.
01;00;22;28 - 01;00;24;02
Kristen
That's been good.
01;00;24;02 - 01;00;25;16
Kristen
Because.
01;00;25;18 - 01;00;33;10
Kristen
You know, sometimes you have breakout rooms and I'm often in the breakout rooms with people I've never met before. And then when I see them at an in-person meeting.
01;00;33;18 - 01;00;35;17
Darice
Yeah, you're more likely. Yeah. Yeah.
01;00;35;21 - 01;00;37;19
Kristen
So you know which.
01;00;37;19 - 01;00;39;02
Kristen
Is definitely happened in the.
01;00;39;02 - 01;00;40;14
Kristen
Last couple of years.
01;00;40;16 - 01;00;42;06
Kristen
Since we've been back on campus after.
01;00;42;06 - 01;00;44;10
Kristen
COVID. Right? Because there was.
01;00;44;16 - 01;00;45;19
Kristen
Definitely more Zoom.
01;00;45;19 - 01;00;47;26
Kristen
Meetings with, with staff people.
01;00;47;28 - 01;00;49;21
Kristen
And so, you know, and I.
01;00;49;21 - 01;00;52;21
Kristen
Think which is, you know, just led to.
01;00;52;21 - 01;00;55;26
Kristen
Participating or going to other events on campus.
01;00;55;26 - 01;00;56;17
Kristen
That.
01;00;56;19 - 01;00;58;00
Kristen
I wouldn't have otherwise known about.
01;00;58;00 - 01;00;58;16
Kristen
Because.
01;00;58;19 - 01;00;59;06
Kristen
I've.
01;00;59;08 - 01;01;04;27
Kristen
With these people. And so, you know, I think that's probably just the tip for all of us.
01;01;04;29 - 01;01;07;02
Kristen
To remember to, you know, try.
01;01;07;02 - 01;01;07;28
Kristen
To step.
01;01;07;28 - 01;01;13;17
Kristen
Out, you know, certainly not every every week because everyone's busy. But if, you know, once a quarter.
01;01;13;17 - 01;01;16;19
Kristen
If you know you're going to if you have the time to do something else and.
01;01;16;22 - 01;01;16;25
Darice
Make.
01;01;16;27 - 01;01;17;22
Kristen
That commitment for yourself.
01;01;17;22 - 01;01;39;11
Darice
Right Right. I agree. Um, because there you know, there are so many. What was it I saw the other day? It was a tour, I think it was from a newsletter I received and it was like a tour of the Klein Uh, uh, building. Oh. And I said, Oh, my gosh, that would be so cool to check that out.
01;01;39;12 - 01;01;48;02
Darice
Is I've driven by it probably a million times and I've never even been inside. I thought, yeah, so opportunities like that.
01;01;48;05 - 01;01;51;02
Kristen
Um, and I know some people in my office have done things like.
01;01;51;02 - 01;01;54;28
Kristen
That, like the tours of the carillon bells, and.
01;01;55;01 - 01;01;58;00
Darice
I haven't done that either, which I'd love to do.
01;01;58;00 - 01;01;58;18
Kristen
Right.
01;01;58;20 - 01;02;21;02
Darice
So that's, that's neat. And so yeah, it's one of those little ideas I'd love to put down. Like if, if it's, uh, you know, hey, if you want to sign up and have this group tour and we all go, do something, you know, take one afternoon in a in a month to do something on campus and, you know, venture out and see some other part of campus.
01;02;21;02 - 01;02;44;16
Darice
And I think would be a nice way to connect somehow because like you said, we're remote or hybrid and. Right. It's so hard otherwise. Right. And we have lives, you know, and other stuff comes up. But I think that would be wonderful if we had something like that. So now I hate to wrap up because I, you know, I want to know more about you.
01;02;44;19 - 01;03;10;21
Darice
But, but we have two, so. But my last question, just, just reflecting, on, on your journey up to this point and your experiences, is there a particular accomplishment that you're most proud of, whether it's in your current role or prior role or, you know, your volunteerism? Is is there something that really stands out for you?
01;03;10;24 - 01;03;14;28
Kristen
I mean, my journey in higher education and I.
01;03;14;28 - 01;03;17;29
Kristen
Will tell students this because I.
01;03;18;01 - 01;03;25;27
Kristen
Started more in the student activities, events, space and, you know, wound my way more into advising and counseling space.
01;03;25;27 - 01;03;27;09
Kristen
But, you know, all of that.
01;03;27;09 - 01;03;28;07
Kristen
Along the way.
01;03;28;13 - 01;03;36;04
Kristen
You know, I try to share that with students because it's been such a learning experience.
01;03;36;04 - 01;03;43;22
Kristen
And I feel like I'm always continuing to learn. And even in recent years, as I've gotten more involved in STEM career advising.
01;03;43;25 - 01;03;45;11
Kristen
I was always.
01;03;45;13 - 01;03;49;25
Kristen
In the health professions, advising space. So, you know, I'm still learning, you know.
01;03;49;27 - 01;03;55;08
Kristen
About the space. And, you know, so I think.
01;03;55;10 - 01;03;58;03
Kristen
For myself, you know, something that.
01;03;58;05 - 01;04;00;04
Kristen
I feel proud of is that.
01;04;00;07 - 01;04;03;20
Kristen
You know, I try to be open and say, yes.
01;04;03;22 - 01;04;04;15
Kristen
When I when.
01;04;04;20 - 01;04;07;09
Kristen
Learning opportunities come.
01;04;07;12 - 01;04;08;00
Kristen
And, you know.
01;04;08;00 - 01;04;11;01
Kristen
Because again, I think, you know, when I was much younger and.
01;04;11;01 - 01;04;18;21
Kristen
Would get very frustrated and I would close myself off and really, you know.
01;04;18;23 - 01;04;27;29
Kristen
Being open to these experiences is, you know, makes for an amazing journey. And, you know, and I think, again, listening to other.
01;04;27;29 - 01;04;29;17
Kristen
Podcasts, but even, you know, talking.
01;04;29;17 - 01;04;35;02
Kristen
With students, that's the thing that excites me most is, you know, I.
01;04;35;04 - 01;04;36;17
Kristen
Think I'm.
01;04;36;19 - 01;04;38;11
Kristen
Probably one of the things I'm most.
01;04;38;13 - 01;04;41;17
Kristen
Proud of. I, I hope that.
01;04;41;17 - 01;04;44;18
Kristen
I'm, you know, a listening ear for.
01;04;44;18 - 01;04;45;08
Kristen
Students.
01;04;45;08 - 01;04;45;15
Kristen
In.
01;04;45;15 - 01;04;46;18
Kristen
Whatever capacity.
01;04;46;18 - 01;04;49;00
Kristen
That they need. And, you know, and.
01;04;49;07 - 01;04;50;29
Kristen
I've always felt, you know, for.
01;04;51;02 - 01;04;53;04
Kristen
Young people and even when I was.
01;04;53;04 - 01;04;58;23
Kristen
There just coming out of college, I tried to do that and.
01;04;58;25 - 01;04;59;19
Kristen
You know, and.
01;04;59;20 - 01;05;00;14
Kristen
I just.
01;05;00;14 - 01;05;01;14
Kristen
Have continued that.
01;05;01;18 - 01;05;31;16
Darice
Yeah, that's that's awesome. And I and I think that that's, um, it's important, right, whether whether it is for, for students or even getting to know you. Um, as my colleague, uh, I would be more comfortable, you know, just having a conversation with you and, you know, all of these things that you shared about your journey. Um, I think, you know, it it pulled me in.
01;05;31;16 - 01;05;57;12
Darice
And in terms of just like, you know, now that I know these things about, about Kristen, um, I don't know. It just, it makes me feel more comfortable and, and, uh, having that safe space, you know? And I think that's important. Um, so thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that and so enjoyable. I appreciate the time, and I wish we had more time because I told you, it goes by so fast.
01;05;57;12 - 01;05;59;07
Kristen
It really does.
01;05;59;09 - 01;06;07;16
Darice
But Chris, I just want to thank you so much for for joining me today and, you know, sharing more about your journey and.
01;06;07;21 - 01;06;09;21
Kristen
Oh, and thank you for doing this podcast.
01;06;09;21 - 01;06;13;04
Kristen
I think it's a great service for Yale.
01;06;13;04 - 01;06;46;16
Darice
I appreciate that. You know, I always say to my guests, like, it kind of happened by accident, but, you know, I've come to really enjoy it because I it gives me an opportunity to get to know my guests and, you know, just realizing this is my 16th year here at Yale and just realizing what awesome people, you know, awesome people are, I get to work with and and all of these different backgrounds and experiences and it's pretty, you know, it's pretty amazing.
01;06;46;16 - 01;06;52;24
Darice
Um, and yeah, I just, I just want you to know, like, you know, I appreciate you.
01;06;52;27 - 01;06;57;01
Kristen
Thank you. And I appreciate you too.
01;06;57;04 - 01;07;15;15
Darice
Thank you. So, yeah, we're going to end here and I always end with letting you know it will be on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We're also on SoundCloud and you can check us out on Instagram so you'll college voices. And just thank you again so much for your time today, Kristin. I really appreciate it.
01;07;15;15 - 01;07;16;10
Kristen
Thank you.
01;07;16;11 - 01;07;19;13
Darice
Thank you and we'll end now.