IC Ulep
And so you know, like we exist out there and we’re available to you in very free ways as well. And so please, please, please reach out, you know, especially if you are feeling lonely or just like by yourself in this field, right? We are losing professionals by the day for whatever, whatever reason, either individual or environmental. And if all you needed was support to stay in, we are absolutely here to try and keep you in the good work that we do collectively.

Glenn DeGuzman
Hi everyone. This is, this is so cool that we’re doing this and we’re hanging out in the kitchen, so they’re at the kitchen table. And let’s, let’s kind of start with some introductions. You can do your name, pronoun and share a bit about yourself, your work role, and your connection to the Asian, Pacific American network, let’s kick it off with you. Sam, yeah,

Sam Thornton
hi everyone. Sam Thornton, she her pronouns. I’m currently an assistant director in housing and residence. I do our summer hospitality operations at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. But I have been involved with APAN Since 2018, or so, and am one of our current co chairs for APM.

Glenn DeGuzman
Yeah, you are Wilson.

Wilson Deng
Hey everybody. My name is Wilson Deng I use he him pronouns, and I serve as a case manager at San Jose State University in California. I also currently serve as a scholarship, research and advocacy chair with a pen. And my previous role with a pen was a regional ambassador for California

Glenn DeGuzman
Go Spartans. Go Spartans. I was gonna say my son just recently got accepted to San Jose State. Emily or Em, yeah, so

Em Nakamura
I’m Em Nakamura. I use she, they pronouns. I’m currently a second year graduate student in College Student Personnel Administration at Illinois State University in normal go red birds. And I also work at Portland Community College as a graduate assistant. So I’ll go hawks, and I’m a regional ambassador for APM this year.

Glenn DeGuzman
Very cool. IC.

IC Ulep
I’m IC Ulep. I’m a case manager with the University of San Diego, and I’ve been part of the APN directorate board since 2020 as part of the conventions Programs team.

Glenn DeGuzman
And you. Yi Xuen

Yi Xuen Tay
My name is yuxuan. I use she, her pronouns. Currently, I’m a resident director at University of California, Berkeley. Go Bears.

Glenn DeGuzman
You didn’t say.

Yi Xuen Tay
I am currently a community engagement co chair within a pen. This is actually my first year being involved in a pen. In the past, I’ve always just kind of be a, kind of been a friend to the A pen community.

Glenn DeGuzman
Very cool. Well, let’s get started. And co chair, Sam, you get to start us off. So you’re one of the chairs, the co chairs of the Asian Pacific American network. And for those in our audience who are not familiar with APAN, can you tell them a little bit more about it, its mission and purpose?

Sam Thornton
Yeah, in my definition and view, the Asian Pacific American Network is a coalition network within ACPA. But really our main focus is not only bringing folks of the Pima Community together, but specifically those working in student affairs and higher education together in community. It’s a great opportunity for networking for our graduate students who are looking for jobs, even professionals looking for jobs, but also coming together to talk about current events that we’re facing and are facing our community, as well as resources and that we can share with one another across our regions and our own universities in supporting our students who are part of the apida community and, yeah, and putting on programs that help foster that sense of community and biology.

Glenn DeGuzman
You know when and for those in the audience, I was a member. I’ve been a member of a pen for as far back as I can remember. I think when I first started, 30 something years ago, I did say 30, and I know that it has been very integral in sort of my development and my understanding of some of the issues that are that are going on. And I hadn’t been to an A pen meeting, admittedly, in a couple of years. And so I got to go to this one this year, and it was one I was just amazed how far along this organization has come and getting to hear some of the cool things that was happening, like the accomplishments within a pan. And I don’t know if Wilson or IC if you can kind of speak to some of the accomplishments this past year that you shared at the business meeting. What was, was there one or two things that you all feel that a pen is just most proud in accomplishing?

IC Ulep
Yeah, I, I had, I had an initial thought, but I think I do want to share, like,

IC Ulep
back at the opening ceremony, when, when the convention chair for the entire in this entire space gave recognition to the President and past convention chair from the virtual year, that was so powerful to me, because for me, that was like that was the first year that I had joined a pen and so now that. This is like my last year as on director board, prior proper. I think for me, just an accomplishment is that several of us are stepping down this year just from being a part of the organization for so long. But I’m so proud of the engagement that we’ve done over the past three years, where people are constantly referencing both instances in this in this convention Chicago and New Orleans about, oh my gosh. I love this. I love that. I really want to be a part of what you all do here. I want to be a part of director board. I want to be a part of leadership team. And so I think being able to get ourselves past the COVID, the unprecedented changes in the world, and bring us back to the in person engagement after a virtual year has been really powerful for me to observe, be a part of, and then also support and passing it on to the next group of excited individuals.

Glenn DeGuzman
Yeah, yeah, there were so many people at the events I’ve been able to attend so far, and it’s just amazing to see the energy and just people coming back and coming in person. So, you know, is there Wilson, is there another event, you know, or a thing that you are just proud of accomplishing?

Wilson Deng
Sure, I think just on to IC’s point in my short two years with a pen, which I felt like it was a quick two years, I’ve been impressed with how people from many years ago are still involved in different ways. I think it’s been important to continue to invite new folks that are interested in ACPA or APAN, but also with new folks that get engaged. And so for me, my interest into a pen was really from someone that was involved. And so in my SRA role, I think it’s the beauty of bringing reconnecting, connecting and bringing folks from different backgrounds to do the work as we were born, especially for to sustain us. So I think that that’s to me, it’s an evolving, proud moment, I guess.

Glenn DeGuzman
And you know, I think you spoke to a little bit about, like how, how this is a place where professionals, your first professionalism, those may who have an AP identity, also get involved. I’m curious, maybe from other folks on this leadership team, what led you, you know, what was your why to get involved in an association like a pan that that advocates and supports many of the top issues within the APIA community?

Yi Xuen Tay
I first want to thank I see, I think we actually talked about it a little bit on our walk here, just like thinking about the transition of, like, so many individuals that have made this a pen community, that community that was very much what I felt. I felt like I was always like previously, I’ve always just kind of came to a pen for like, different events, different socials, and just met like very different individuals. Last year, I made the decision to join a pen and to be a part of the leadership team, the director of work, because of just how welcoming and just how much comfort that I feel within this space, and that, because of that comfort that kept bringing me back to coming to ACPA Convention, I was like, I want to do the same for others. And I feel like as community engagement co chair this year, I was able to do some of that, which has been really, really fun. I would say, another thing that led me to want to be involved in a pen is just thinking about my positionality as an A as a woman of color, working in spaces that may not have traditionally have people who look like me within leadership spaces may not have individuals who look like me, who supervises me, right? So I think that a lot of the feelings that I feel just being able to like, share that authentically with individuals within a pen and know that my perspectives are understood and then my challenges is something that I can process with with different individuals within a pen has been just extremely empowering and just grounding Me within the higher education field as

Sam Thornton
a whole. Yeah, I can add on to that. I think similarly, I want to give a shout out to Amanda Aslan and bigger lamb who, um, they, they fully put me in to a pan, and I absolutely loved it. They were extremely welcoming and just inviting myself and my cohort member at the time, Thomas Winn. I’ll give you a shout out as well. But yeah, just just really helped us feel like we belonged, invited us to things, and then similarly, I wanted to create the same experience for others and really help folks feel welcomed in to APAN and continue building that community.

Em Nakamura
Yeah, so in my experience, so I, I kind of threw myself in day pin, in the sense that I, when I was interviewing for a co I internship last like, well, last March, but like, for this, for last summer, um, I interviewed with Lucy Wong at um. I’m at MIT, who is also a part of API, and unfortunately, she wasn’t able to make it to Long Beach this year, but I was interviewing with her. At the end of the interview, they were like, Okay, any questions. Like, like, the interviews were like, any questions. And I was like, Lucy, I heard your mom a hand. Please, please, please, please, get me involved. I really want to get involved. And like, she seems so excited to tell me about it. And that’s when I knew. I was like, I need to join this stuff. And thankfully, that year ACPA, it was last year APA was in Chicago, and so I was able to get involved, because I live only, like, two hours South Chicago. And it was just really wonderful to be able to be in community with a bunch of other Asian student based practitioners, like, if you have seen the British practitioners, and so, yeah, that was kind of what got me into a PAM and now I’m regional ambassador. So, yeah, very

Glenn DeGuzman
cool. So, Lucy Tom Amanda, bigger, so your name is written, toss that onto this podcast. So there’s a lot of lot of love, lot of love out there. Y’all. So, you know, it’s kind of funny and talking about connectivity. So this morning, vigor and I had breakfast and so, and thank you, vigor for covering my coffee.

IC Ulep
Vigor also hosted last night’s impromptu APN social Wow in his Hyatt suite, and we played mahjong. And no, we had a lot of Asian snacks and just a lot of Asian community.

Glenn DeGuzman
Oh, that’s so phenomenal. So one of the cool things, I mean, y’all are talented, and you have stepped up and are on the leadership team, and one of the things that I wanted to know like are some of the things that you think about, but particularly as it relates to Asian American students or professionals, and so I’m going to just ask a serious question based on from from the conversations that we’ve already had. I’m gonna start with you Em, you mentioned in conversation that you were currently a graduate student and you and you just shared that just now as well, and you spoke about your journey to me about your what it was like being an undergraduate and graduate student at a predominantly white institution, a PWI if you can share a little bit about that journey and how it has influenced you in your aspirations entering the field of student affairs,

Em Nakamura
yeah. So I was lucky. So the thing is, my my mom is even though she’s not in student affairs, she is in higher education administration. She works along the faculty side of things. Shout out to mom, love you. But yeah, I was thinking about how she was a really important role model for me, an Asian woman in higher ed succeeding. And she was also a part of this organization at ISU illness university, my institution called Asia connect, that is a faculty staff and graduate student organization for apida professionals, APIA or Akita American professionals, and so, yeah, that was even though it was at a PWI that was really how I realized that, like, we could carve out our own spaces and find that community. Even in white spaces, we still have our like, like, even beyond spaces, we can still have our own Asian spaces that are centered around our asianness and the ways that we connect in within, like, you know, this like big, broad diaspora that exists of Asian, Asian individuals. So, yeah, when I was in undergrad, though, I went to undergrad at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, which is also Edwardsville, which is also PWI, and I found myself a lot of the time. I was very involved with genders and sexualities Alliance at my undergrad. And while I loved it, it was a very it was very white organization, and I think because I was trying to fit in with my white peers there, I found myself being less and less like, like, like, open and discussing my age and identity for fear of like, just, I don’t know, for fear of like, like, not being understood in that way. But yeah. But now, because I am a graduate student, I’ve realized more about like, how I want to express my identity. I’ve been trying to synthesize my like queer joy and like Asian identity into like one thing, as as for how i As for how I internalize my identity. Because the thing is, like, Yes, I’m queer, but I am also definitely Asian. And it’s like, it’s, like, it’s, it’s a matter of making sure that both of those parts of me are as salient to others as they are to me. Um, and so yeah, I just now that I don’t feel like I have to make myself choose one or the other. I felt like a lot more holistic person. So yeah, that’s just my experience with PWI. Is it shaped me in a lot of ways. But I think even though I would have liked to have had maybe more community in certain situations going up, I still had some Asian community that really like helped me conceptualize myself as a professional. So

Glenn DeGuzman
thank you. I. Should you sharing that? Because I think sometimes, too that the journey that many folks who have maybe multiple identities at a PWI it can be very difficult, and sometimes and you are sharing an awareness of kind of like your growth and sort of like you going through your identity development. And what does that mean, right? And there’s so many folks who may not be able to have that conversation, to be able to process and stay in a certain place in terms of how they want to maybe not share and just continuously not share or express their full, authentic and holistic self. So thank you for sharing that. This one this, I see I want to direct this. I love this question, because this is something I, too, am very passionate about, and supporting API professionals and graduate students, is something that was mentioned that you deeply care about. You also bring a very unique perspective as to why you’re passionate about that. Could you expand further?

IC Ulep
Yeah, growing up Asian, for me, was definitely interesting. I grew up in a multi ethnic, Filipino, Chinese household with Hawaiian culture tied into it, but in Virginia and so like that, as a as a Navy brat. So, so there’s, there’s, there’s so many connection points to the Asian I take to the Asian diaspora for me, or Asian Pacific diaspora, but also with, like, a very heavy undertone of the white and black culture that exists in Virginia. And so for me, like I had this younger self who wanted to just prove that I was a part of the group that I was in the community. And when I attended my first NASA back in 2017 one of the people that earned an award at the opening ceremony. His name is Henry G, for those of you who are NASA engaged, you know that name. If you’re in California or Asian, probably know that name. But Henry G had won an award. And when my university, like, because they brought us his undergrads, when we came back and talked about, like, our experiences over dinner, I talked about that was the first Asian professional I had ever seen on this, on stage or in this, in this field, in this profession. So for me, it was powerful of like, Oh, I see myself in this field. I don’t have to prove to those of you who I started out this work with to show that I’m enough, like there, my community is enough, which means I, too, am enough. And then I moved to Rutgers, and there’s just Asian people everywhere, out in New Jersey, and that was really affirming for me and I I had Asian mentors there. I had Asian faculty there who I can be Asian. That’s something I didn’t have in Virginia. So moving into my professional years at the University of San Diego, which also has quite a quite a bit of Asian diversity there too, we had a big cohort of Asian grad students and our student affairs program, and so I took it upon myself to just bring them together into space, talk about what it’s like to be Asian, and talk about what makes them happy, you know, like the the Panda, the pokey, right? Like all of all of those little things are just taking them out to restaurants. Because I think when we enter this field, there’s this, this need to prove ourselves as professionals, and then we overlook what it is to be who we are. And so revisiting those things, of like, what are your favorite foods? Or even last night, when I really pressed a lot of you, of like, do you know Baja, you don’t, I’m going to teach you right? But like, you know, reclaiming your culture in such soft and unapologetic ways that don’t have to be based in proving yourself, or based in work ethic, or based in this or that. And so for me, it is important, because that’s how I found to be comfortable with myself. And a lot of new professionals I think, are navigating, oh, I need to prove this to whoever, or I even need to prove my asianness like, No, you don’t. You don’t. You just need to be yourself and find what makes you happy and really internalize that.

Glenn DeGuzman
Wow. Thank you for sharing that. That’s that’s pretty powerful. And shout out to Henry G, so interesting

Glenn DeGuzman
when you were sharing your story. Add flashbacks to my I my very first professional conference was the Asian, Pacific American and higher education conference, and I remember, so that’s obviously in a pocket. It’s a very Asian space like so, and watching senior administrators and I was a young professional time, go on stage and take the mic speak, receive awards. I was like, This is so cool. We’re being honored for being ourselves. And that was just a it just sort of motivated me to continue in the field. So hearing your story just made me feel kind of firm, too. Yeah, I’m feeling really good right now. All right, so let’s keep rolling. Wilson, this is a big question. It, API. Students on college campuses face a myriad of issues. We can go on, we can have, we can have many, many different episodes just on that. And it gets even more nuanced if we consider the reality of the unique complexities between subgroups, generational status. And I just would love to hear some of your takes on some of the API, and we focus on student needs and then the trends that you are observing.

Wilson Deng
Sure, yeah, just to provide some context, I serve as a case manager, but my position is under Housing and Residence Life, which is a little different than maybe more common case managers for basic needs or case managers for mental health. The similar clarity that we have though is that we or at least for me, I serve on a behavioral inventory team. I serve on a crisis intervention management team, and I work with a bunch of campus partners, and the purpose of that is for me to really understand what’s going on on campus, be familiar with resources, and hopefully minimize the time that a student needs to get connected to the resources that would be beneficial for the for them. And so with that context, I think some of the things that I’m seeing are commonly behavior of like the mental health. Some of them are with adjustment to college, homesickness. Those are the common ones. But I think it gets more complex when I see the congruence of mental health with their first gen identity, and when they don’t have a good relationship with their parents. And what I’m seeing more commonly is I don’t have a good relationship with my parents and my parents in this political way. So the tough piece for me, which I kind of love, I love the complexity, is, of course, creating space to listen to the student, understand what they’re going through, while simultaneously connecting them to resources and coming back to them and say, Hey, you’re connected to CAPS now. How are you doing now? And providing that continuous support from the residence life perspective, I think the cool thing about being at SJSU, I’ve only been there three months, but the cool thing is that as I’m getting to north campus partners, one of the common spaces that I support at PETA folks is when the students from the CAPI se center comes to me. So capisce stands for center for Asia Pacific Islander student empowerment. And so while their students might not know my resource because I work with Residential Life students, they may or may know someone that lives on campus. And so I think that in order for me to really hopefully do the work that I do, is to be available. And so that’s a partnership that I’m cultivating to support the APS students, and I think for us, if we have the privilege to have that center on our campus, whether that’s apida, PC, meta, whichever the acronym is, I think really to work with those residential students, because we know that students, especially their first year, are probably not going to reach out for support, or they will, but it’ll take time, and whether that is a semester or two or after their faculty member reaches out, it takes all of us to reduce the time that a student takes to get connected to someone that’ll listen, and then hopefully that person will take that person to the next person to provide that support. But again, like you said, I can go on and on about what is happening with our students that identifies API, there’s a lot of complexity in

Glenn DeGuzman
that. Yeah, the complexity like, and, you know, it’s so interesting listening to you speak and, and I’m an administrator, but first and foremost, I’m a parent of two college age students, and I think about my my kids peer group, who primarily are Asian, and I interact greatly with with their parents, and I I see the relationship that many of them have, and for the most part, they’re pretty good. But then there’s also a number where there is, you know, we can pull in, like the tiger mom, the tiger dad sort of kind of mentality. And what I see sometimes is that there’s oftentimes a disconnect between the parent and just from the observing perspective, like a disconnect in that relationship. And I don’t, you know, I think about it in the sense of, then my kids will tell me, yeah, so and so is kind of sharing some stuff on their, their IG account, or their their burner account, whatever it is about the relationship that they have with their parents, and it’s broken sometimes. And then, as an administrator, I see that on my campus when students are engaging in behaviors or activities that sometimes they’re not doing well, or they’re struggling and they don’t have that ability to outreach and connect at home, and then they find themselves maybe in a situation where, let’s say, for example, they’re hospitalized, or alcohol or something to the effect, and when we have to make that phone call the parents like, Oh no, my child would never do that. And then there’s this really unique kind of like, oh, you know, it is my child, right? And so it is a it is a really interesting dynamic as well.

Wilson Deng
Yeah, and just to add on to that point, it’s interesting to also win this. There are parents that are still like, I don’t understand mental health. I don’t believe in that, but is that? And there’s also the I’m a parent, and I understand that, why my students transported, but what do I do next? Because I don’t know what to do. It’s interesting to always figure out the next step, because it’s not always cookie cutter, right? It’s figuring out with the parent, it’s figuring out with the Dean of Students. It’s figuring out with Accessible Education Center or the Disability Services Center and caps and all those things. And it’s really interesting to see how that evolves, and for the most part, getting those students connected those resources.

Glenn DeGuzman
Sam, I want to ask the same question that that I just asked Wilson, but I’d love for you to touch on what I think is becoming more and more prevalent. And honestly, as a as a younger professional and mid level professional, for me, this was not something that was even on my radar screen, but the the importance in the merging multiple the multiple intersections of identities, right? I don’t M kind of spoke to it a little bit earlier, but can I get your thoughts, and if you could expand on what you see?

Sam Thornton
Yeah, I think the two that are most prevalent are on my mind right now. And just talking with my students and me one is so far as we have a lot of international students at George Mason. I think about their intersecting identities. I think about financial status as well as stuff comes down the pipeline, just like the implications of it. I think it’s definitely weighing on our students mental health, and trying to figure out, you know, what’s going to happen in uncertainties, and just trying to be there for them and supporting them. I really liked a lot of the things that you were saying, and I also think of like, my own intersectional identities. I applaud my students, and just with like, changing times and things, a lot of my students have helped me be more secure and comfortable with my own intersecting identity as a queer apida individual, just being, yeah, more accepting myself and be more open about that as maybe somebody who used to be more private, and then also kind of what you were saying of having to prove yourself. I think in the initially, in the APAN space, I was like, as somebody who’s multiracial, am I Asian enough to join this space? I felt that when you know, but a Pam has always been really welcoming and open to that, and I think we work very closely with other, the other coalitions in networks, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, intersecting identities is on my mind a lot. I a point that I’m proud of us for this year is I think we nearly like doubled our affinity spaces and socials that we offer this year in trying to be more conscientious about those intersecting identities. So the queer apida Social that we held, so the first gen one, we had a number in the past, but we were able to, like double that this year, and so that’s a point of pride for this year’s team.

Glenn DeGuzman
So this question is going to open it up to the group, but when a new person, or I should say, when a student affairs professional goes to ACPA, and you really can be at other professional associations that are similar groups, like a pen. I give shout outs to the API, KC, knowledge community out in NASPA, when a new person gets involved with an identity based professional association like a pen, what advice would you give them about navigating this network or ACPA so they can maximize and make the most of this gift of face to face time.

Yi Xuen Tay
I really say show up and ask questions. I think those are the two quickest things that you could do. I think for ACPA, for example, this year, we were at connection point, and connection point had all the rest of the differing entity groups within ACPA that were there just being in that space and do your best to interact with as many individuals as you are, physically and mentally able to and don’t be afraid to ask questions. I think that’s one thing that I am doing a lot more this year in terms of like just me talking to people just trying to ask questions. There is no stupid questions. There are only questions that are not asked. So please ask the questions. I think that all of us are really eager to connect with you all as well. Anyone else? No. Dancing, you asked all the good questions and giving us here, what’sthe story with it?

Glenn DeGuzman
How, like, how did this podcast come together?

Yi Xuen Tay
Glenn approached me good question.

Yi Xuen Tay
Yeah, I think he proposed it. And then I just brought the question back to the A pen space. I was like, hey, Glen wants to do this. Who would like to be a part of it? And then I think I know some of you approached me. I approached some of you because I wanted y’all to be in this space. So really, just just finding ways to bridge that opportunity for folks. I think that has been really, really really powerful. But yeah, I do think that there is such a big community of us, like it’s almost essentially like a professional family. We have so much wealth within our spaces, within the within each of us as individuals and us as a collaborative that anyone could tap into that. And I think all they really need to do is just like, ask a question, ask them about themselves, ask them for advice, just like, anything like that, and then we’d be able to, like, just help connect the pieces

Glenn DeGuzman
that’s so good, professional, family trademark. So so we are, we are running out of time and that we have, but this is, this is our this is our trademark question right here. This podcast is called Student Affairs NOW, and I you know, as you think about this conversation, maybe you think about your experience at the conference at the used to be a conference in Long Beach. What are you thinking? What is troubling you, or what is what are you pondering about now, as it relates to your time here, that’s the first part. And then also, where can folks connect with you? Like, if you are on social media, Instagram, like you want to share that with the audience. Maybe, if you can share, like, how they can learn more about a pen. I’m thinking, you know, like, I don’t know, the website, Instagram, Facebook, you can share more about that. And then we’ll close it out. Because, you know, we had some really cool team building questions at our visit the business meeting. But this one, I’m gonna ask, what is your go to boba tea drink. So. So if you need remembering the question, just ask me. But who would like to close it out? What are you thinking, troubling or pondering now, as it relates to this kitchen conversation,

Em Nakamura
sorry, I was just gonna say one thing, when I see about, like, soft ways to reclaim agent, I really like felt that because I was thinking about it, and I’ve been trying to incorporate that into some of my, like, professional life. Like, I mean, like, I packed, like, Domini, like, rice bowls for lunch, that kind of thing I’ll pack. Or, like all I advise the global student union at my at the institution. I work at Heartland Community College. And when I when we talk about global issues, I bring up my Japanese American perspective, and just the ways that I can, like reclaim that have been really important to me. So I really appreciate you saying something like that. That made me think about that my favorite boba flavor, I guess it would be a time to honey do and Thai milk tea.

Glenn DeGuzman
So yeah, that’s good. That’s good. And how do people get hold of you if they want to contact you?

Em Nakamura
Yes, my LinkedIn is Emily Nakamura, or, I think the URL is just m nakura, and then my Instagram is m the novel letter. Very cool.

Yi Xuen Tay
I can go, this is gonna be a little I think I’m pondering and a lot of things are troubling me as of right now, in terms of the future of Student Affairs and future for education, I do speak on it, very much so, coming from my perspective, I spoke about being a woman of color working in a lot of these type of spaces, and I’m thinking through also just the burnout and compassion fatigue that a lot of us feel very quickly and very easily. I have been, I have been in this role, like as a graduate student and as a new professional. And I think every day or every year, I learned that more and more people are leaving the field, and it does sadden me, because I think a lot of them, I regarded them as like mentors, or as someone that I looked up to as role models, or just someone that I’m like, wow, like, This is who I would like to be, that who I aspire to be, and they are making the very, very hard position to leave the field, to protect your peace, to protect themselves. Some of them do end up coming back. They probably just need a little break, which is perfectly fair, and I think much needed, but I do think of it like long term. Room. Where would I go? How? How would higher education be like? How would it be and how are we going to, going to continue to retain so many of the newer, younger professionals who come into this field, very powerful drink. So this is very important, oolong milk tea, but it had and you have to add it with boba, but it has to be less than 50% sweetness. Oh, have to be sorry. That’s the Asian way to do it. So when we say something is not that sweet, it is a compliment. So

Glenn DeGuzman
So very cool. And how can folks connect with you. Yes,

Yi Xuen Tay
Yes my LinkedIn is Yi Xuen Tay, yeah, that will be the best way to reach me.

IC Ulep
I resonated with a lot of what you shared. I really sit with like, you know, we’re at this conference, and everybody here has spent X amount of dollars to get here. And for a lot of folks, I know that that’s stressful, like, oh, I want to connect, but I don’t have the funds, or don’t have the backing to be here. And you know, don’t let that be the obstacle, right? Like, we’re providing whatever contacts we have our organizations, whether here at another another conference are on the websites reach out to us. See community with us. I know Facebook isn’t everybody’s favorite platform anymore, but that’s where some of us are holding our last strongholds. And so you know, like we exist out there and we’re available to you in very free ways as well. And so please, please, please reach out, you know, especially if you are feeling lonely or just like by yourself in this field, right? We are losing professionals by the day for whatever, whatever reason, either individual or environmental. And if all you needed was support to stay in, we are absolutely here to try and keep you in in the good work that we do collectively. My favorite boba is no boba in my roasted golden oolong tea. Yeah, and that is the only tea that I will have salted cheese foam. I don’t, I don’t accept salted cheese foam on anything else fair. Yeah. Else,

Glenn DeGuzman
fair I can, yeah, approve, approval.

IC Ulep
You can find me if you find my suits and my hair at a conference, or if you’d like to look me up on LinkedIn, and IC Ulep.

Sam Thornton
I think I’m just feeling very grateful for the time here, both folks that have said this is their first conference, and folks that this may be their last one for a while, just very grateful for the time and space to be able to be together and have this community and kind of affirm that we are all going through this together, and that, you know, we will continue to do this work and support our students as best we can, and I think doing so by being our authentic selves and not having all the answers or have it, you know, worked out, but being able and open to those conversations with our students and being there with them, yeah, I think about that. And then my favorite boba or is usually, like a peach long or a green tea Jasmine. Yeah, that’s my go to green tea, Jasmine, yeah, yeah. Some today was great. Sweetness level, less so now, okay, I used to be very sweet. Now less so less about 25% some guy, but I put, I still need a little bit of sweetness. Yeah.

Sam Thornton
You can find me on LinkedIn under Samantha Thornton or Instagram sthornton1414, yeah, please follow us on a pans, Instagram as well, ACPA, Okay, cool, I never know, as well as our other platforms and our website through ACPA.

Glenn DeGuzman
Wilson closes out,

Wilson Deng
I do want to echo all the points that were shared. I think the beauty of coming to a convention in ACPA, and specifically a pen, is just a reminder that was community out there. I feel like it can be very scared to be vulnerable and be very scared to outreach first kind of like that, at least for me, my first experience as a student, right? But there is community out there, and when we take that first step, there are people that are willing to extend around to support and build that together. I’m gonna We’re. Into this proverb, if you want to go far, you go with people. If you want to go facile alone. And so I hope that whether it’s in our profession that we come in community to go far, and maybe sometimes invite people back and they join us again. So that’s what’s been my mind and my favorite drink. I don’t have favorites. I usually just ask, because I can’t decide to ask the person at the time, like, what’s your favorite? Just reduce the sugar level, because I know that as an aging adult.

Sam Thornton
I want to add on to that about bringing folks back in. I do want to highlight, in two years time, we’ll be celebrating 40 years for a pan. So this is my shout out to all of those previously involved in a pan, our former co chairs, if it’s been a while since you’ve been back, but please come back. Join us. Come back. We want to do some special programming and leading up to our anniversary and and come join us in

Glenn DeGuzman
Toronto. Oh, I got them on my facebook we can.

Glenn DeGuzman
Oh, my goodness, just for audience, their their contact information will be on our website. It’ll be on the episode page. And so you can, if you want to outreach to them, please do. So this is an amazing group of folks, and so I am going to wrap this up and say thank you to this amazing group of individuals who, with very little notice, rallying to come to my Airbnb and share space with me and just talk story. I did learn a lot from all of you, and I’m just inspired deeply that you’re just taking the time to record this episode and helping Student Affairs now with your insight, your wisdom, these are a good one. Thank you for just helping shape the future student affairs. I truly, truly mean that you’re emerging leaders in our profession, and I just wish you all the very best. I want to thank Nat Ambrosey, because you are going to edit this and make us look all beautiful on this podcast. And your efforts do not go unnoticed. We truly appreciate all that you do behind the scenes to make this happen. And of course, our sponsors, let’s let me talk a bit more about them Evolve. Help senior leaders who value, aspire to lead on and want to unleash their potential for transformational leadership. This is a program that Keith Edwards, along with doctors Brian Arau and Don Lee, offer a personalized experience with high impact value the asynchronous content and six individual and six group coaching sessions, maximize your learning and growth with focused time investment, greatly enhancing your ability to lead powerfully for social change. Her on is the other sponsor, collaborates with colleges and universities to create sound strategies, optimize operations and accelerate digital transformation by embracing diverse perspectives, encouraging new ideas and challenging the status quo. Huron promotes institutional resilience in higher education. For more information, please visit. And to all our listeners, and probably a lot of you watching on YouTube, if you’re tuning in today and you haven’t already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please take a moment to enter your email on our website, www.studentaffairsnow.com Stay in the loop. The latest episodes delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. And while you’re there, be sure to check out our archives. And I’m not exactly sure when this episode is gonna drop, but you gotta check out the ACPA Live episode that we recorded, Dr Raechele Pope and Dr Heather Shea hosted a phenomenal, powerful live presentation with Sean Harper and Lori Patton Davis. It was incredible. I hope you tune on to that one. Once again, I’m Glenn DeGuzman, see ya.

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