Podcast Meets Purpose: Recent Episodes
Lead and Serve
A series of conversations that we hope will challenge and inspire our listeners to recognize that discernment doesn't end with a college degree.
Faith, Representation, Community, Organic-ness, and Genuine-ness . These are the themes that arose during my conversation today with Fox Wilmot. Fox’s campus experiences have led him to the intersection of faith and teaching in ways that speak simultaneously to the intentionality and spontaneity of our journeys in purpose. Fox has been a leader of SweetWine, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Boxing Club, and participated in the CAPS fellowship among other things. Through these experiences he has come to the conclusion that we do not live in isolation. Though we live simultaneously in multiple different circles, the impacts of each percolate throughout our lives. Consequently, our singular personhood is a representation of the multitude of different groups of which we are a part. We talked about the impact this can have on our behaviors, and the importance of being able to show consistency throughout all facets of our lives, not only for the sake of an outward image, but also for our own personal equilibrium.
Today I had the absolute pleasure of talking with Dr. Carolyn Whittier, the assistant vice president for student life. Over the last 12 years, Carrie’s vision and direction have helped to reform what it means to be a student at Valpo. Our conversation was incredibly rich and touched on just about every element of calling and purpose you could think of. Though we talked about many things, there were a few threads that were constant through it all. The first one that came up was family. Carrie’s passions for education and fraternity and sorority life, her calling to live in the Midwest, and her desire to achieve were all traditions that were handed down to her by her parents. These traditions profoundly influence the choices that she makes every single day. One way they do so is through her calling to live her authentic life and encourage others to do the same. To me, this was the most salient theme throughout our episode today. This calling has shaped her career, her personal life, her interactions with students, and has quite literally become the standard by which she lives. I left our conversation wondering what the world would look like if everyone took the initiative to do the same. Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode of Listening for Purpose.
Today we talked with Essence Roberson about youth service week, the upcoming series of events hosted by Alpha Psi Omega, the mens and womens service fraternity. Essence has been the president of APO for the last two years, and has also been heavily involved on the E-Board of BSO, the Black Student Organization during that time, in fact, she was one of our guests during our episode with BSO from February. Our conversation mostly revolved around the upcoming Youth Service Week, but we also talked about intersectionality in identities and about the difficulties of managing the transition from college to life after college. Essence emphasized the importance of passing down knowledge as one way of leaving college well and brought up the transition of expertise between old and new executive boards as one crucial example for that process. Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode of Listening for Purpose.
Today we talked with Hailey Morse who is a freshman Meteorology major in the sustainability scholars program. This program is one branch of the Uplift Valpo initiative, and it aims to help students to think about the world through an environmental lens regardless of their field of study. In her short time at Valpo, Hailey has already become involved across varied areas of campus. She was the Co-Chair of choreography for the Christ College first year production, she is a member of Hooked on Tonics (HOT), the campus acapella group, and she is a regular attendee of the Candlelight evening service. She, like Sarah Martin, introduced me to a new conception of calling. Hailey discussed calling as something that you don’t understand until the calling has been fully realized. This is interesting, as it indicates that we know when we are called, but we don’t necessarily know until we get there. This feeds her initiative to try everything available to find what she is called to do. Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode of Listening for Purpose.
Today I talked to Adam Monnette who is the first person who comes to mind when I think about a campus leader. He is the president of the University Programming Council (UPC), Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, and the Honor Council, but his leadership extends far beyond his formal roles. Adam has participated in a service trip each spring during his tenure here at Valpo, this past summer, he spent over 500 hours with the red cross as a fellow for the Calling and Purpose in Society fellowship, or CAPS, and he has sought to open up opportunities for those who may not have found their place on campus yet. Despite having accomplished all of these things, Adam claims that he is still looking for his place in college. We talked about many things from the importance of communication and community in leadership, to the difficulties of imposter syndrome, to a couple tips for finding one's place on campus, but throughout it all, the theme of searching was very present. No one’s life is complete in every way. We are all still seeking something, whether it be a group to fit in with, opportunities to grow in our career or major, or even just a friend to cry or celebrate with. Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode of Listening for Purpose.
Sarah Martin is a first year Christ College student at Valpo who is exploring what it means to pursue calling and purpose in a collegiate space. We talked primarily about getting involved and getting out of one’s comfort zone, but we also talked about the distinction between calling and purpose. Sarah struck on a key idea that I wish we would have explored more, namely that there is a difference between the implications of calling and those of purpose. Calling is present oriented. We feel a calling now, something is attracting us in this moment, however, purpose seems more eternal. It is the idea may be that we are predestined to work toward a goal or accomplish some task. This distinction is something that we might gloss over at somewhere like the Institute for leadership and service, but for many others, it can have huge implications on the way we think about our intentional activity in the world.
Today we are joined by Abbie Valicevic who is the president of Omicron Delta Kappa (the leadership honor society at Valpo), former president of Valpo's chapter of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, and an aspiring oncologist. Abbie shared some of the some of the things the she believes to be central to her experience here at Valpo and essential to her as a person. She emphasized elements of servant leadership and education and tied it all together with gratitude. Abbie talked about the opportunities she has been fortunate to have throughout her life, and how they have given her a sense of responsibility to devote her life to serving other people. She also emphasized that education does not only happen in the classroom. College is a time to grow and explore beyond what we are learning for our degrees. There are opportunities every day to have formational experiences that don’t just teach you content. She ends by encouraging us to think about the things we are grateful for, namely the amazing opportunity to be here at Valpo, our roles around campus, and the relationships and experiences we have been fortunate to have during out time on this campus.
Today, we talked with Sophia Ullery who is the president of AAPIC (the Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition) and the Vice President of the Pre-law society here on campus. Our conversation took us many places, but throughout it all, Sophia emphasized that our collective calling is pursuing a deep seated sense of happiness. Because of this, calling isn’t necessarily some huge project that you learned how to do through a revelation from God. Calling and purpose can be found in the little things, in the daily tasks that we choose to do. She also emphasized the necessity of finding a solid support network of people who are driven the same way you are.
For today’s episode, I was joined by Chris Gatlin, Essence Roberson, Tekeidra Masters, and Elijah Morris: some of the members of the 2023 executive board for the Black Student Organization. Recurrent themes in our conversation were community, healing, vulnerability, and service. Service, especially, seemed connected to everything that this E-Board does from planning to open free or reduced cost healthcare clinics for those in need to helping out BSO members when they couldn’t pay for their textbooks. These values not only center BSO in their mission and purpose as an organization, they also make its members into a bonafide family. These values are unified and expanded through the 3 Ps as Tekeidra emphasized during this recording: Pain, Pride, and Progress.
This is the second part of our first episode introducing the director and assistant director for the Institute for leadership and Service: Dr. Anna Stewart and Kat Peters. In part one, we discussed different conceptions of calling and purpose, and how they arrived at theirs. This episode was recorded about a week after that one and covers some of the same topics but leans into the purpose and mission of the Institute. The multifaceted nature of our society struck me as one one of the most important things we discussed. Each of us comes to this university with a unique background, has a unique experience here, and leaves Valpo to lead a unique life afterward, but right now, right here, on this campus, all of our paths are crossed. For many, this intersectionality is a beautiful source of insight into the lives and cultures of those around them. Part of our goal at the institute is to foster spaces where these moments of realization can occur in order to promote flourishing and understanding across campus. Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode of Listening for Purpose.
This is the first episode of a podcast where we hope to reflect with members of the Valparaiso University community on who they are and how they show up in the world. Through this, we can start to understand the complex web of interactions, institutions, and relationships that make Valpo Valpo. This podcast is hosted by the Institute for Leadership and Service, where Kat Peters, and Dr. Anna Stewart recently joined the team as Assistant director and Director respectively. Most episodes of this podcast will focus primarily on the student experience, but we wanted to start by introducing ourselves, and our mission here at the institute.
A theme that carried throughout our conversation was that we all live in and react to a real, imperfect world where we have to make choices every day that may not have a correct answer. These choices can be daunting, but they are also what makes the human experience exciting. Regardless of your opinion on them, they are extremely characteristic of the college experience. At the institute, we thrive on helping students navigate these gray areas, and figure out where to go when there may be many correct answers. Our goal is to be reflective, relational, and responsive, so that we can help students explore tough situations and examine the world around them. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I hope that you will as well.
Listen to a conversation with Candidate for Student Body President Kaitlyn Steinhiser! Don't forget to vote on April 17. The information will be in your Valpo emails. :)
Join me in a one-on-one interview with Candidate for Student Body President, Isis Zaki! Don't forget to vote on April 17th. The information will be in your Valpo emails. :)
You're not alone. We're in this together. Reach out to one another, take care of yourselves, and thank you so much to our Homecoming Queen Megan Williams for having a tough conversation about her Valpo story.
Join us in celebrating President's Day with an interview with Valparaiso University's Student Body President, Annika Brown.
We're joined on today's episode by Rebecca Deng, of South Sudan's Dinka tribe. She is one of the 89 Lost Girls who came to the United States in 2000 as a refugee after living eight years in Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya. The violence she experienced as a child during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) has given her a deep empathy for children and young adults who face similar situations today. She became a US citizen in 2006. Today Rebecca is an international speaker and advocate for women and children who have been traumatized and victimized by war. She has spoken at the United Nations and served as a Refugee Congress delegate at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Washington DC. She also led a sixty-five person team of referendum workers at the 2011 Out of the Country Voting Center for the South Sudanese Independence Referendum. She worked with the American Bible Society's Mission Trauma Healing program, formerly called She's My Sister.
Dr. David Henreckson is the new director of the Institute for Leadership and Service at Valparaiso University. We learn about what his purpose his, his vision for the position, and how he plans to encourage students to find their identity outside of their degree. Join us in welcoming him to Valpo! Feel free to stop by his office in the Helge Center for coffee.
Jason Greer is a highly regarded thought leader, speaker, and consultant who provides expertise and solutions for government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, higher education, and community organizations on how to create and lead an effective workforce in a diverse, global, multicultural and hyper-connected world. Join us in a motivational story about perseverance with a Valpo alum.
Our third episode of the season features NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Engineer Aaron Yazzie. Aaron is a member of the Navajo Nation and Stanford graduate who is currently working on the Mars 2020 rover. We cover all things STEM, Aaron's favorite binge watch, and how to conquer imposter syndrome. You don't want to miss this!
Artists are the people who will change the world, and our guest on this episode proves this to be exactly true. This week, Tyler and Liz are joined by Dr. Michelle Ramos, a retired professional ballet dancer who is now working through the arts to spark a new generation of prison reform. Dr. Ramos is the Executive Director of Alternate Roots, a regional arts service organization championing social and economic justice through uniquely collaborative artistic efforts.
Join us on a brand new season of Podcast Meets Purpose as we welcome two new hosts along with a must hear interview with renowned journalist and author Evan Narcisse. Evan is best known for his work on the prequel to the "Black Panther" series entitled "Rise of the Black Panther".