Host Joy Walczak speaks with Madison Kietzman, 11th grade, Thornapple Kellogg; Audrey Robinson, 12thgrade, West Michigan Aviation Academy; and Jaylynn Madison, 12th grade, Godfrey-Lee
Joy Walczak, Host (JW): Welcome to the Your Dream Is Our Dream podcast where we celebrate student success. Today we're talking with three members of Kent ISD's Student Leadership Community. I'd love to have each of them introduce themselves. Why don't we start with you, Madison?
Madison Kietzman (MK): Hello, my name is Madison Kietzman and I'm from Thornople Kellogg High School.
JW: Welcome Madison. And next we have Audrey.
Audrey Robinson (AR): Hello, my name is Audrey Robinson and I go to West Michigan Aviation Academy.
JW: Wonderful. And our final student for this podcast is Jaylynn.
Jaylynn Madison (JM): Hi, I'm Jaylynn Madison and I attend Lee High School.
JW: Thank you so much for being here today. I'd love to learn more about what you're thinking about for your future. When we talk about dreams, what does that mean to you?
MK: It just means to me like what I want to do when I grow up, I guess, and like what I want for my future.
JW: And what would that be?
MK: Well, for my future, I want to become like a mother and have a family, but I also want to go and be an orthodontist.
Terrific dreams. And Audrey, what would you say to that question? What are you dreaming about?
AR: Right now, I'll be attending Livingstone College in North Carolina, majoring in psychology, because I really want to become a sports psychologist.
JW: That's a great goal. And how about you, Jaylen?
JM: I plan on attending at GVSU on full tuition for probably two to four years, get my basic credits, and then transfer to MSU for mechanical engineering.
JW: Mechanical engineering, wonderful. Can you share with me, Jaylynn, what you might be doing in school today that will be helping you to achieve those dreams? Are there certain programs you might be taking or teachers that inspire you?
JM: Currently I am in GVSU's TRIO program where they are helping me fill out FAFSA, apply to colleges, housing and everything like that and getting me ready to transfer over to their school in the fall.
JW: That sounds like a great program and a good place to start. Audrey, how about you? You go to a special program, a school that is unique. How does that help set you up for your goals?
AR: Yeah, with West Michigan Aviation Academy, we have a lot of opportunities for different people to go into different careers early. So dual enrollment is a big thing that I've been doing. I'm recently taking a sports psychology class so that I get into the learning and the interest early so that when I go to college, I know what I'm getting myself into.
JW: Where are you dual enrolled?
AR: GRCC.
JW: That's great. Okay. And Madison, how about you? What are you doing today to help you achieve your goals? What's happening in school for you?
MK: Well, so I've always known that I wanted to go in the medical field and right now I'm in an independent study for one of my strength classes and I'm learning about all like about the body. It's basically kind of like an anatomy class, but more of a strength and conditioning side of it. And I'm actually going to be interviewing a college like coach about it. So that's kind of getting me more into the medical side of the schooling or whatever. So I'm really excited about that.
JW: Are there also extracurricular activities that you're involved in that are related to the field you're aspiring to?
MK: Well, I run track and cross country, so a little bit, yeah, for sure.
JW: And how is your experience in your sporting endeavors also helping to inform what you're going to do in your future?
MK: Um, well, being in track, um, going through this independent study, it's making me, or helping me understand, um, why I'm doing what I'm doing in this sport. So I don't know. It's just like, I am learning about the muscles and the body and how to care for my body. It's really cool.
JW: That sounds great. And Audrey, you have a very interesting goal. Have you been inspired by any particular teacher or counselor to help you shape the goal that you're going to reach in the future?
AR: Yes, his name is Mr. McFarland. He's my AP psychology teacher and he inspires me so much because he's, no offense to my other teachers, but he is so passionate about psychology and it helps me learn more because I know that his passion is real and he like shares things in his personal life that he applies from the lessons that we're learning. So that inspires me to keep moving forward.
JW: That's wonderful. And Jaylynn, what do you think it means when educators like us ask students about their dreams? Why is it important?
JM: I think it's important because we really need to get our students thinking about what they can do in the future and how we can help them to get there. A lot of students I feel like wait until their last year and then they're like, oh, I want to do this. Then, if I would have waited that long, I wouldn't have had all the opportunities that I had throughout freshman to senior year to get me to where I need to be.
JW: And how has been part of the Student Leadership Community shaped your future?
JM: Honestly, I have loved being like a leader in a lot of things and being a part of this group. I've been able to express to hundreds of people how education could be better in the future and how I can be a part of that.
JW: And Audrey, why do you think it's important for us to have conversations like this to help inspire your dreams?
AR: I think, especially for me at the beginning of high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do and I didn't know what my dreams were. So I think having conversations like this where you can see other people's point of view might spark something in you to go find what that is for someone.
JW: And Madison, do you have any advice for maybe a younger student who might be just starting out and shaping their own dreams?
MK: Yeah, so I think that you have to understand, being young, you're not gonna know exactly what you wanna be or do when you grow up. And I'm still like, I'm only a junior in high school and I don't know what I wanna do when I grow up, like for sure. Like I know I wanna go in the medical field and most likely wanna be an orthodontist, but that's not set in stone. Like I don't even know where I wanna go to college and you just kinda have to trust that there's a plan for you and know that everything's gonna happen, like how it's gonna happen.
JW: Wonderful. And Audrey, could you share with us just one more time how education is supporting you for your future?
AR: Absolutely. I think, especially with psychology, this is a field where it's very important that you have qualified people because these are things that are going to affect people's lives in every aspect. So, being educated, whether it's a master's degree or a doctorate, is important because then you're qualified to take care of your clients in the way that you're supposed to.
JW: Wonderful. And Jaylynn, do you have any final words about dreams and how we would love to talk more about them in our futures?
JM: I definitely think that a lot of people take one dream and they focus on it. And I think that they need to focus on you can have a million dreams and they can change and they're always changing and you know, other people can help you achieve those dreams. So don't be scared to get new dreams and ask people to help you out with those.
JW: Well, I really hope all of you have an opportunity to make your dreams come true and new dreams ahead inspire you as well. I'd like to thank each of you for being with us here today.
All: Thank you.
JW: And thanks so much to everyone who's listening today as well. If you know of a student who dreams big, we would love to share their story. You can learn more about the Your Dream Is Our Dream initiative and find out about student stories on our website. That's KentISD.org/Your Dream.- The Your Dream Is Our Dream podcast is presented by Kent ISD in partnership with WGVU and I'm Joy Walczak.
