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New Hope - Solebury + Rebecca Gray · AccessCo Leaders Career Conversations

• Ilyne Deliquina: Welcome to Access Co-leaders. Welcome back. We are with our students from New Hope Solebury and joined by our guest, Rebecca Gray, who is the Senior Vice President of the Military Division with Boingo Wireless and also a Colonel in the ⁓ Air Force. Welcome, Rebecca. We're so honored that you spending some time with us today. So Rebecca, us. Rebecca Gray: ⁓ Thank you so much, Ilyne I really appreciate you inviting me. Ilyne Deliquina: So tell us in the simplest terms, what is Boingo Wireless? What are you guys doing? And then what does it mean for you to be the Senior Vice President of the Military Division? Rebecca Gray: Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you so much. And it's just really great to meet you, Elizabeth and Diane and Sophia and Joslin. This is really so cool to meet you. And it's really impressive what you're doing to spend this time to meet people kind of outside of school and stuff like that in the business world, because I think it'll really help as you're making decisions as you're going through the next couple of years of your life to kind of have this in the back of your head. So I really Ilyne Deliquina: You . ⁓ Rebecca Gray: I'm really proud of you for doing this. It's very, very impressive. Not a lot of people take this kind of time out of their day to do this. ⁓ Boingo does, it's a totally fun name, isn't it? Boingo. And so I don't know if you have ever on a plane, ⁓ but you get ⁓ off an airplane and you go into the airport and you're on... Wi-Fi, that's what our company does. So when you get off the plane and you get on Wi-Fi or if you've been on a train, we do the train systems in different places. If you go to ⁓ baseball games, we have some of those stadiums there. So just making sure ⁓ devices work and you have connectivity I run the military division at Boingo. And so what I do is I provide connection, connectivity, Wi-Fi on military basis. So I build cell towers. make people make sure people's laptops, phones, their iPads, their, ⁓ you know, Xboxes work on a military base. So that's what, that's what I do. So it's super fun. we serve bases all over the world. have over 100 bases all over the world. So all over the United States, we serve a base in Germany. We do Japan, Korea, Guam out in the middle of the ocean, Hawaii. So it's really super cool. We're starting to work on some, a cell tower up in Alaska. So that'll be our first one up there. So we're really excited. Ilyne Deliquina: You guys have a huge reach. That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that. Rebecca, can you also share with our students at New Hope Solebury, what does it mean that you are working full time with Boingo, but you are also part of the Air Force, you're serving in the Air Force. Can you share a little bit about ⁓ your role there? Rebecca Gray: Yeah, no, that's a really, that's a really great question, Ilyne, about kind of how that works. So I went into the military and it paid for my college degree. And it actually paid for my graduate degree. I was in the military and did that. And so when I graduated, I didn't have any college debt or anything like that, which was made life, you know, you can imagine you've probably heard of college debt and some, you know, how do you afford college and things like that? So I use. ⁓ benefits by going into the military to, to do that. and I actually, I was an athlete in high school. And so I went to the Air Force Academy, which is a college for the air force. so I went there and I was a diver and so I was on the swimming and diving team. So that's how I ended up in the military is the school. came to me, the coach came to me and they said, hey, we want to recruit you to the Air Force Academy. So I didn't really have any experience with the military or anything like that, but I realized it was a really great opportunity to, you go get that military experience, learn some things I didn't know about, and then be able to do a sport in college. there's a, so Air Force has a military school, so that's the Air Force Academy and that's in Colorado. And then there's one, the Navy has one it ⁓ in So it's called ⁓ the States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Yeah, in Maryland. And so, and then one in West Point. So there's an army one and it's called West Point United States Military Academy. You might've heard it as West Point and it's in New York. So I have stayed in the military because again, Ilyne Deliquina: Annapolis, yep. Rebecca Gray: Initially it was for education and then I continued to do it. And the military allows you to serve full-time or you can do it part-time. So I've done both. And so I really wanted to something in corporate and have a normal job. And then wanted to be able to do the military on the side. So that's kind of where ⁓ I... how I found my path my way. So I was able to do both. Ilyne Deliquina: That is so exciting. can very much relate to that story, Rebecca. Before we jump on to have our students interview, can you share? I have one question. Can you share a little bit? You mentioned that you were diving in high school. What kept you busy besides school? You mentioned diving in middle school and high school. What were you doing? Rebecca Gray: ⁓ that's really good. That's a really good question, because I think what you girls, the decisions you make today will really impact where you are, you know, and the opportunities you have down the road and the people you get to meet. my of my parents ⁓ went college. And so it was a new experience for me. My dad worked at a company and my mom stayed at home. And so So I kind of had to find my own way that way. And so one of the things I did, and especially in middle school, is I joined a lot of clubs. I did student government, I did different clubs and things like that. I did stuff through my church. So I did different volunteer stuff through my church when I was ⁓ in middle school. when I got into high school, I did soccer in the fall. Ilyne Deliquina: you you Rebecca Gray: I did diving all the time because it's a year round sport where I grew up in California. But ⁓ I did soccer in the fall. I did softball and then I did softball in the spring. So that's what I did. And then I did clubs. I did like, was, I took French. I wasn't really good at it, but I did a French club. I did every club I could. And I did stuff through, I volunteer stuff through the church. And then I did sports. So I kind of saw kind of like a stool, you know, how you have the three legs on a stool. really wanted to have I wanted to have, you know, something in the faith community there, because I think that can kind of that will that has grounded me. And then the, you know, the athletic side, you know, and even if you're not like a varsity athlete or, whatever, but even just doing a club sport or something like that. And then having ⁓ the clubs that I could do or any kind of extracurricular stuff, like anything. And then I did a little bit of work. I did a lot of babysitting because I have a lot of time with all those things. And I couldn't really commit like ⁓ a job or something. I did babysitting. So that got me my spending money. And it also got me a lot of experience. ⁓ Ilyne Deliquina: Okay. Rebecca Gray: babysats for some really cool families who made, who I got to sit down with them after, know, when you finished babysitting and you're waiting for them to pay you. And then I didn't have, I didn't drive at the time and then they drive me home like door to door service. But I would sit down and talk with them and I'd talk about what their jobs were and what they were doing. So I learned a lot through being around those kinds of families. Ilyne Deliquina: I love that, Rebecca. I love that you even give us a picture of kinds of conversations happening by accident, right? ⁓ hey, they were just bringing you home after you were babysitting their kids. But with our program with AccessCo Leaders, we are having these conversations intentionally and on purpose. thank you again, Rebecca. You did mention that you grew up in Southern California. So we have that connection. I love it. Where are you located now? And then we're going to jump in and have the students interview you. Rebecca Gray: I am, ⁓ so guys are in Solebury. I am in Newtown. So I'm 15 minutes from you guys. Ilyne Deliquina: love the connections and so for our listeners, this is a suburb outside of the Philadelphia area, but still there in Pennsylvania. Let's over to Joslin. Joslin, what is your first question for Rebecca? Rebecca Gray: Yeah. Yeah. Joslin: Yeah, so for me personally, as someone who doesn't know much about what being in the military is like, and most of the representation I've seen of it is from things like media and movies and stuff like that, can you give me a bit about a bit of information regarding what your day-to-day looked like in actual service? Rebecca Gray: Yeah, that's a really great question, Joslin. And of the things when you're looking at the military is that there's a lot of jobs in the military. There's a lot of different things that you can do. You can do something really technical. You can fly planes. You can be on ships. You can be in submarines. You can be kind of more like what you're saying, you know, what the media depicts, you know, like with a big backpack on and you know, tromping through the woods with the, you know, and doing that kind of stuff. I didn't, I didn't really do any of that, but there's a lot you can be in ⁓ security, be ⁓ a in the police, you know, we call it security forces. You can be a cook. I oversaw a group that did cooking and then did worked in the fitness center in our gym. We have a hotel on base. And so they did. They manage the hotel. And so you really can learn a lot of skills for something you do the military that can translate out. Or you could do something very military ish, you will, Joslin, like that you've said in the really well in the, you know, that the media depicts. So you can do something more with that of focus and very, very only military focus, if you will, like flying a fighter jet. Only the military does that. Ilyne Deliquina: I know. Rebecca Gray: But there's other career fields in the military and I did the other career fields that really support all the things that go on on a military base. So it gave me a really good, a good, and developed me in a way that allowed me when I left the military, you know, you can't come out of it from a full-time perspective. I had a lot of skills that I could take into the workforce. So, ⁓ your day to day, it's just depending on what you're doing, you know, And ⁓ ⁓ of the things I've, I liked about, you know, the military is they have a lot of resources. They're on base. ⁓ You know, they have fitness centers where you can go work out and cause they, one of the values is staying fit and physically fit. You know, they have an education office of helping you connect with university. So you can get your education at whatever level, whether an associate's degree or a or master's degree graduate school. They have, you know, just a lot of resources on a base that allow you to, you know, be on the base and have kind of everything you need there. They have golf courses, they have, you know, the library ⁓ and all of things. So it's really, it's like a little city on a military base. Ilyne Deliquina: It truly is, Rebecca. And thank you for sharing that. really, Joslin, that's a great question. And really, it's just what Rebecca was sharing with us. Really, the Air Force or the military becomes its own company. all the things that you would normally get from a different company outside of the military service, the military does it. And I would say for some times, depending on where you are located ⁓ even better. I'm little biased on that though, and having served in the Air Force. So let's jump over to Diane. What is your first question for Rebecca? Dianne A.: Hi, so you talked about the impacts of decision making. So my question would be, how do you handle uncertainty when you're making these big life decisions? Rebecca Gray: Well, I absolutely love your braids. So I have to start there. It's just gorgeous, nice, thick hair. have three daughters and they do the braids and they have gorgeous hair. So uncertainty ⁓ in decision-making. Well, I think, you know, if you, ⁓ there's two things that I don't know if there's a lot of uncertainty sometimes when making decisions. Dianne A.: so much. Rebecca Gray: really if you talk to really smart people around you and you find those smart people around you, whether it's at your school or ⁓ in neighborhood or through whatever entity, your family something, ⁓ and you really good advice, that's ⁓ super helpful. so I think when you get a lot of advice, not that you have to follow it, but I think what I try to do is, Ilyne Deliquina: you you Rebecca Gray: I people who do marketing. have people who do communications. I have people who are engineers and you know, different people. So they all have different perspectives. So I asked them for their advice on lots of different decisions that I have to make. And they give me a different perspective because an engineer obviously is going to think differently than somebody who does our, you know, social media stuff, right? And so, but I asked for a lot of advice. And so then I get all of that. And then I think sometimes uncertainty really just feels like fear. Like you're like, ⁓ my gosh, I don't know if I'm making the right decision or not. And a lot of decisions in life, there's more decisions in life where there's more options than sometimes we think we have. Like we think, ⁓ it's just one or this decision or that decision. And I'm like, even if you think of like school, you go one school and you can change schools if you have. or you go, that's not really a fit. You can go into the military and say, ooh, I don't really like this. want to, you know, and then you do it for a little while and then you get out or, ⁓ I really like it. I want to stay in. You can change careers as you go. So I think sometimes we feel like there's uncertainty when there really isn't as much uncertainty. It's more about the fear of making a wrong decision. nobody has a crystal ball. so nobody knows that. So there's a lot of uncertainty. Nobody. you know, really knows a lot of these things. But I think if you're grounded in ⁓ values and what you, you know, ⁓ what your standards are and what you're willing to, like you take a personal relationship, you know, for example, and you have your standards and your values and you say, this is what I'll put up with from a friend or you know, what have you, that you within a certain, ⁓ keeps from protecting you from uncertainty with people in your life. And then I think also having a lot of advisors is really great. Ilyne Deliquina: So what I'm hearing, yeah, Rebecca, what I'm hearing is that basically you just have to make a decision and you need to be anchored in something. And if that's your values and it's your values, but. just really just moving forward, not getting paralyzed and not making a decision. So that's so helpful. Let's move over to Elizabeth. What is your first question for Rebecca? Elizabeth V: Hi, you talked a lot about how you're working a corporate job and playing a sport and working in the military. So how did you kind of maintain a balance throughout all those activities? Rebecca Gray: ⁓ gosh, Elizabeth, is such a really, that is such a good question. think again, I just, kind of do prioritization. I prioritize. I, right now in my stage life, I work and I my kids and, and my husband and that's kind of, and then my dog. And so those are the things that are really important that really are kind of the only things on my schedule sometimes. And so I've had to just say, Sometimes you can only do two things, three things, but I think ⁓ we have a lot of time in the day. And I think by, for me, if I put my phone down and I get off the TV and I get off Netflix, just kind of, you know, I can do a lot in a day. I can read a lot of books. can prioritize, you know, my kids. can prioritize walking the dog and hanging out with my husband and going out to dinner and things like that. And so, Ilyne Deliquina: . You Rebecca Gray: That's, so in terms of balance, just really think about only just a couple of things that I only want to think about in a day. And I just keep it that, just that simple. Ilyne Deliquina: Staying focused, finding those big rocks, the priorities. Yeah, very good question, Elizabeth. you're up. What's your first question? Rebecca Gray: Great question, Elizabeth. Sofia C: What's something you struggled with early on but that you eventually mastered? Rebecca Gray: my gosh, Sophia, I can say million things. And I just probably the one thing was like, am I smart enough? Like, am I just, am I smart enough to do the things I need to do? Because sometimes people around me, I felt were so much smarter. And then now I realize it's, I don't know if can judge somebody by their smarts, like are they smarter than me? so ⁓ think, you know, and you, you, takes a long time to grow. takes a long time to grow. And it takes, you got to learn a little bit and then learn a little bit more and a little bit more. And you, you know, And it just takes a long time. I wish I was a little bit easier on myself, you know, and just wasn't so hard on myself and I was so hard on myself. And I ⁓ know but I just was, it just didn't need to be that. So I think now I'm not hard on myself at all. Ilyne Deliquina: Well, and you're helping our young ladies here hear that. that you don't have to be so hard on yourself. The rest of the world is already so hard ⁓ us with this whole screen of young ladies and ladies in the corporate world already. So thank you for sharing that that vulnerability, Rebecca. Let's hop to Joslin. We're back to you. What's your next question for Rebecca? Rebecca Gray: Yes! Joslin: Yeah, so I I know you said earlier that you hadn't really thought about joining doing anything with the military prior to being approached for recruitment, but I was wondering if like what you pictured yourself doing when you were younger has anything to do with what you do now or if there's anything that relates between the two? Rebecca Gray: ⁓ my gosh, that is such a good question, ⁓ Joslin, because my mom always tells me, she goes, you just don't, when I was little, wasn't like, my brother wanted to be a fireman and he's a fireman. My other brother wanted to be a photographer. He's a photographer. And I didn't have anything. I just really liked being, you know, being an athlete. I liked being at the pool. I liked sports. That's what I like doing. like being on my teams and being an athlete. That's what I liked doing. so I didn't really ⁓ really a lot of goals to be, to be frank. You know, we were pushed a lot, a lot in this world to have these goals and have big goals and ⁓ this kind of stuff. And instead what I have is when coaches called me. And I had coaches call me from several different schools and they said, we would like you to come be a diver at our school. I was like, ⁓ wow. Okay. I like that idea. And that really connected with me. And then I ended up in college. And that was something that, that not that I wasn't against, you know, or anything or that it wasn't something I was thinking about, but it didn't, it wasn't like a goal. Like, ⁓ my gosh, I have to have that or my life is not complete. I think. Like even like marriage, I had boyfriends in college, but I didn't say, ⁓ I got to get married. I got to get married. And then one was really kind of rising to the top, one guy. And I was like, ⁓ my gosh, I really like him. And ⁓ my gosh, I think I just love him now. And ⁓ my gosh, and then he proposed. And I was like, yeah. And so I think for me, don't see my life in this being I had because I didn't really have a dream for it. Ilyne Deliquina: You You Rebecca Gray: I just didn't have a dream. didn't have all this stuff figured out. And I think girls have, ⁓ think society today puts a lot of pressure to say, you've got to have all these ideas and what you want to do. And you might have that. You might say, I want to be a surgeon or a fighter pilot. And don't discount that. I just didn't have that. I have found my way very successfully without saying, I want to be this or be that. And instead I have just kind of found my way. based on what I've had an interest in at that moment. Ilyne Deliquina: Again, Rebecca, thank you for sharing that, that you can be so successful by really tapping into the natural abilities and the passions that you have. So, and it's the perfect response as we, ⁓ you know, ⁓ here a little bit on Joslin. Joslin is our 11th grader in this cohort. Yeah, so Joslin shared early in the school year that she ⁓ wasn't quite sure yet. Rebecca Gray: That's a good question, Joslin. Ilyne Deliquina: what direction she wants to go in. We do know that Joslin is a creative, right? You still like to read and paint and do art, you also are a researcher and you have some great questions. Share a little bit, Joslin, with Rebecca, if started to think about a direction you want to go in or if you have any more questions about what it's like to not define your white picket fence in a career or school or study and still land and be successful. Rebecca Gray: you Joslin: Yeah, I mean, as of right now, I'm still definitely exploring my options, you can say. I don't know what I want to do. So I really appreciate your answer. And I really resonate with you saying that there's a lot of pressure on people nowadays to figure out what they want to do and have all these ideas of where they want to go. And I'm one of those people who just doesn't. a lot of my friends, you know, they want to be doctors. They want to be engineers. I don't have any idea of what I want to do. So I really appreciated what you said. Rebecca Gray: It's a new depression! Terrible. I didn't have anything, Joslin I mean, when I say zero, my mother makes fun of me still to this day. goes, I never thought you would out so well. She goes, you just had no goals. And I'm like, ⁓ like you're supposed to be the one person that believes in me. She goes, yeah, I didn't think you were going to do very well. and don't have that person and I don't have that personality either. Like, I think, going to Ilyne Deliquina: You you Rebecca Gray: you know, if you want to go to school, you know, that'd be great. And, you know, find a school that has a lot of different degree programs, you know, the math, the science, the research opportunities, but then also the arts and do a lot of different things and see which kind of bubbles up and, versus I've been people that have those really strict goals and I just don't have any of them. I still today don't, I don't. Ilyne Deliquina: And that's totally fine and we love hearing that you're still successful. Joslin: Yeah, thank you. Ilyne Deliquina: That's awesome. We're going to move on to Diane. I know Diane actually is kind of a goal setter, also a researcher, has some interest in the medical field, but still has plenty of time. Let's see, Diane, you're in the ninth grade, right? We're still in the ninth grade. I feel like I've been with you guys for many years, and it's still the same, it's clear. Share, Diane, share it with Rebecca. Rebecca Gray: you Dianne A.: Yes. Ilyne Deliquina: what interests you and what direction you feel like you want to start going in. Dianne A.: For the field that I wanted to go in, think thinking of doing nursing and being in that medical field because I've had ⁓ good amount of exposure ever since I was young, since my parents are nurses. ⁓ I think as I grew up, I just heard stories of them in the hospital or like them telling me about their work. ⁓ I really fell in love with that. And I've been so interested in that kind of field until now. But then I also have some interest in arts and communications. I'm a people person. And I like that communication and that working together with other people. And I think that really collaborates and ties into the medical field really well. Rebecca Gray: It's so does that's and that's so nice that you have two parents that are in there. So in that space so that you can kind of navigate it because sometimes it's hard to, you know, like this whole program is called like access to kind of access some of that stuff. so, yeah, and I think I, you know, and I think Diane, the reason why ⁓ the military and doing my corporate, my civilian job, sometimes we call a civilian job is because I kind of like two things and I didn't want to pick. You know, I liked having, I was really sad going into college that I couldn't do soccer anymore. And then I also did cross country too in high school. So I was really sad that I had to do only one sport. And once you get into college, you really can't do, I mean, maybe you can, but I couldn't, but I couldn't have gotten my done well academically. But so I think, you know, sometimes you get to do two things, you know, you can do two things today. You know, you can do. Ilyne Deliquina: you Rebecca Gray: You you've heard, you guys have heard the term side hustles and stuff. So you can do these little things on the side and, then they can either be your full-time career or, or not, you know? And, and I think that's, that's probably why I've kept both because there's some, something I like of having two sides of my day or my life, I guess, I don't know. and it's ⁓ me to do two things instead of just one. Ilyne Deliquina: That's awesome. Diane, ⁓ what question do you have for Dianne A.: I wanted to ask if you had a role model throughout your career and what's the best advice that they gave you? Rebecca Gray: my gosh. ⁓ have had a lot of guys who have a lot of men in my life who my diving coach, some bosses along the way who have really helped me navigate some things ⁓ that were hard for me with my personality you know, that kind of thing just to make sure I did things right. probably more from a perspective, if that makes sense. Like just kind of help me with the those rules that aren't written down. And so that's been really helpful for me. I came with, you know, a good education and a good brain and you know, all those kinds of things. But sometimes you can do that. But if you don't know, you kind of when you go into a fancy restaurant, you don't know which fork to pick up. Yeah, I know how to eat. Ilyne Deliquina: Mm. Rebecca Gray: I know how to use a fork, I don't know which one to use. Ilyne Deliquina: And that's what a good mentor is gonna do. Some of these things are not written down and you don't know what you don't know, thus you don't know what to ask, right? So ⁓ what is right fork? ⁓ Where should I stand? Where do I put my hands when I sit like this and those things? that's such a good reminder, Rebecca. Thank you for that. Let's hop over to Elizabeth. Elizabeth, what's your next question for Rebecca? Elizabeth V: I was going to ask what was your favorite subject during high school and do think that had anything to do with what you're doing now? Rebecca Gray: I really liked English and I really liked science. And so those were my two that I really liked the most. I liked just writing books and ⁓ studying and ⁓ the and how they put that together. I thought that was just fascinating. And I really liked physics and chemistry and probably I really liked that because it was something you could do in the lab. And I like to be able to do something instead of just study. I wanted to be able to, so I think is it, who wanted to do the research? Joslin, you wanted to do research? I really liked the research side of, you know, things like, and I know it was in a controlled environment in high school, but still it was really fun for me to get in there and make chemicals explode and different stuff, you know, stuff like that. But I really liked the English and studying different authors and listening to, you know, reading their ideas and imagining what they were thinking. Ilyne Deliquina: Rebecca, can you share with us a little bit how you are able to integrate your interest in writing and in English, but you were also good at math as you shared. How does that all blend into your career Boingo Rebecca Gray: Well, let me tell you, English, knowing how to write an email and communicate is so critical that because a lot of things are done like this online. Even if you work in an office, you still send a lot of emails or whatever and you communicate and being able to make sure that you can communicate your thoughts well, making sure you conjugate your verbs, you put your commas in the right place. It ⁓ it ⁓ critical and if you can't do that, just kind of comes off like people don't people go. Well, they don't know what they're talking about. Even though you didn't communicate it right there like I didn't understand what you said in an email and yet it's because the commas in the wrong place or what have you. So I think having having a solid a solid command of the English language and really understanding how to write. Ilyne Deliquina: Right. Rebecca Gray: is so critical. Anything you can, and the only way you can learn how to write is to read. And so you've got to read, you got to read. And then if you are writing something, always have somebody, if it's really important, have somebody proof it, have an English teacher proof it when you're getting ready for your college essays and stuff, have somebody proof it. Ilyne Deliquina: Absolutely. Thank Rebecca Gray: It doesn't matter how old you are or how good you are, another set of eyes is always important. Ilyne Deliquina: I love that shout out too of teamwork and collaboration, right? So if writing was your thing and what you enjoyed, you're still able to integrate that with somebody else on the team. Elizabeth, we do know you shared that you have an interest in being a radiologist and your favorite subjects right now are math and science. Not reading, not writing, not communication, but right, like Rebecca shared, you will be able to tap into those others on your team. Do you have another question for Rebecca Elizabeth? Elizabeth V: What keeps you like you do a lot of work in different like Areas like you have your corporate job and then in the military so it inspires you. How do you stay motivated? Rebecca Gray: Well, first of all, I'm going to tell you, Elizabeth, by being a radiologist, you're going to save lives. And so I think in the future, that's something that will motivate you is kind of what the impact you can have on other people and providing connectivity. I don't know if you've ever not had ⁓ your cell phone work or you get out of range or you get to hit a dead spot. And you're like, ⁓ my gosh, I provide connectivity so people can call home, can call back to their families. They can play games, you know, so they can do their, you know, video games and stuff, have a break from work if they've had a stressful day of training out in the field in the military or, or, ⁓ they've, you know, doing their education, you know, getting their degrees and things like that. And so for me, I think what motivates me is the ability to, I don't think there's anything better in life than doing something for someone else. And so when you have that, whatever that is, It really, really matters. And so for me every day, I think ⁓ that. It's like, know I'm providing connectivity for somebody that if I didn't do my job, then don't, if I don't do my job well, then they don't have it. And I've been without connectivity and it's really terrible. Ilyne Deliquina: It is not my favorite place to be when I'm not connected. Thank you for that reminder, Rebecca. Let's go over to Sophia. Sophia, what is your next question? What is your question for Rebecca? Rebecca Gray: Yeah! Sofia C: there anything you had learned on the job or in the military that school didn't prepare you for? Rebecca Gray: that's a really interesting question. I don't think I've ever been asked that. ⁓ I can't, I can't, ⁓ can't really think of any one thing, Sophia. That's, I think school can prepare you for a lot. There's a really, a lot of amazing people in a school and a lot of people with, ⁓ have high skills in a school and they have a big heart. And I think that's why you can learn so much at a school. and so I really use my school. And my schools are still important to me to this day. I still have reached back into my school systems, my high school and my college still today. And so that I have realized really important because it's ⁓ right kind of, the right kind of people are attracted to schools and give their life to schools. ⁓ so what I have found is they're the kind of people that'll want to help you the rest of your life if they can. and whether it's a listening ear, bouncing an idea off of making a phone call for you to help, writing a letter of recommendation for you. And so to me, think ⁓ while allows you one aspect and prepares you, it's also the people that you're around at a school really prepares you to enter into the big world, the big girl world, because they'll usually go with you and ⁓ you know, lot of those people go with you and stay with you the rest of your life. That's a really good question, Sophia. ⁓ Ilyne Deliquina: That's so good. Yes, Sophia. know that you are interested in tech ⁓ not just tech, but genetics. She's also very well-rounded, a musician, and another one of our young ladies here that likes to do some research. ⁓ how can you see somebody like Sophia with those kinds of interests being able to apply that into different jobs that you've come across, either in the tech world, like with Boingo, or in the Air Force? Rebecca Gray: Yeah, no, that's a that's really interesting. think, you know, if you you if brain is a muscle, which we all know it is, if your brain's a muscle, you got to work it out in different ways. And the more ways you can work it out, the stronger brain is, whether it's learning a language, whether, ⁓ know, it's you know, you can learn English and just stay with English your whole life. You can learn English and Spanish, English and German, English and Chinese. That's going to make your brain stronger. ⁓ think anything you can do ⁓ create that well-roundedness of working all the muscles in your brain, if you will, is really critical. So I think music adds to that. The add to that. The science and math. So maybe you're really strong on the arts, but maybe not so strong on the science and math. Well, maybe there's a way you can still strengthen that muscle in your brain to make well, maybe that might not be your strongest. know, but it's like going into a weight room and you know, you'd lift up your dumbbells and then you do your squats or whatever you do and you get on the bike and then you get on the treadmill. Those are working different, different muscle groups. And I think anything you can do to strengthen your brain and be well-rounded, I think will add a lot of value to your life. Ilyne Deliquina: Yes, it's so true. Sophia, you're super well-rounded. you know, being interested in the arts, but also tech. Do have another question for Rebecca? Sofia C: ⁓ How did you learn to manage pressure or high-stakes situations effectively? Rebecca Gray: You know, I don't think you manage it. You learn how to do it and you just keep doing it and doing it and doing it then you get better just like anything, right? You know, when you're a little kid and you're like in kindergarten or something, you take your first little test, you think you're gonna, ⁓ know, stress out or, my gosh, how do you do this? And then you look at high school and you're changing classrooms all the time. You're like, ⁓ my gosh, in middle school, you're wondering how you're gonna do that, certain things. And so I think you just grow into it. I think you grow into it and it comes along the way. And if you're thinking about it you're like, well, how do I get better at this or what should I do differently? Nine times out of 10, you're gonna do it better each time and you get stronger in it. And so I think it's just not shying away from it and saying, oh my gosh, I don't know what to do and shying away from it. But really just going, okay. you know, do it when you're scared to do it and you just, you just kind of do it. And then, then you go, the next time is a little bit easier and the next time is a little bit easier. And, and then that's how you get strong in something, you know, like in anything. Ilyne Deliquina: It's that building that muscle. You just keep doing it, doing reps, keep counting those sets. There you go. ⁓ what did you pick up from our conversation today with Rebecca? Sofia C: think the military aspect of it because there's not a lot of things like that you see in like how Joslin said it how like the is portrayed in the media it's completely like different what Rebecca had told us what ⁓ she in the military and what she saw what type of jobs are actually in the military and can be Ilyne Deliquina: I love that. love it. Rebecca, I'll let you jump in there to encourage her a little bit about many types of jobs that are available. Rebecca Gray: Yeah, yeah, there's, I mean, we have photographers in the military. We have historians that track all the data and ⁓ it in. You know, we have a lot of, it's huge in tech. It's huge in tech. Usually the military, the military in our country usually leads the way with some different things. And... And so, especially in tech, they get getting the financing, you know, from the government to be able to do certain things. so the military is really strong in the tech world. Does a lot of unique things. And then ⁓ lot of times in that I'll spill into the civilian, you know, workforce and things like that. so, yeah, there's a lot of opportunity, especially in tech. Ilyne Deliquina: Yeah. And Rebecca kind of mentioned it earlier, as far as anything you do in the outside world, right, in a civilian job, we likely have a piece of that or something like that in the military. Speaking of that, let's go on to Diane. She's mentioned that she wanted to be a nurse. There are tons of nurses, tons of medical in all of our branches of service. Diane, what did you pick up from our conversation today? Dianne A.: think ultimately I picked up like to stay true to yourself because I feel like with you Rebecca like just the way that you present yourself it's very inspiring especially to me it gives me a lot of motivation to like stay true to myself and like we don't have to figure out we don't have to have everything figured out like if we want those layers get those layers I think just chatting with you right now it's just very motivating it gives it like reassured me that they are like women in these fields who are successful and who can do these things. to really stay true to what we believe, our values, our interests, ⁓ I think that's amazing. Rebecca Gray: Yeah, that's really, know, Diane, I appreciate that. when people ask you, ⁓ what's your, what's your job? What ⁓ now that I'm in the workforce, right? So they'll say, what's your job? And then they try to figure out what your title is. And then trying to figure out where you went to school. What they're doing is they're sizing you up. They're sizing you up. They want to know. Ilyne Deliquina: I love that. You Okay. Rebecca Gray: who, you know, and they're giving you like a value. And I feel like, they're going to give you a value, like you're either valuable or not valuable. And I don't like to deal with people like that because, ⁓ ⁓ title can be big, your title can be big one day, and then ⁓ might not have a title one day or whatever, you know, you, you know, my career has taken a lot of different twists and turns. And, and so, I always, really don't want people sizing me up. want them to value me for me, because I value them for them, no matter where they went to school or if they went to school or, you know, if they're, you know, have numerous kids or no kids, you know, all those kinds of things. And I don't want to be sized up that way. I don't want to be judged that way. Like, I'm like, my God, I got so much more to my life than just a title or a rank or whatever. my life is much more. ⁓ have just, there's just a lot more to me than that. So I think if you get that people to do that, cause you're going to get more pressure as that, as you guys go along and like, ⁓ where do you go to college or what are you studying? And then where's your internship and where's it? It just doesn't stop. It doesn't stop. And so if you can, at this stage in your life, say, you know what, I'm not going to let that ⁓ me. You're going to have to deal with it. You got to come up with an answer, but, but I'm not gonna let that internalize me and how I see myself and I value myself. think you'll really, if you can figure that out now, then as you go along and you go on and get older and stuff, then you can navigate those a little bit easier and have anybody impact the way you, what direction, how you wanna go with your life and the way you wanna contribute in society. Ilyne Deliquina: That's so good, Rebecca. I feel like I needed to hear that. And I hope the ladies, you're going to come back and listen to that and just hit repeat on that moment where Rebecca is telling you, don't let people size you up and define you by their measure. ⁓ it'll make sense even more as you go. Like Rebecca said, what college are you going to to? What are you studying? Where do you live? What do you drive? All those things. ⁓ It becomes noise and you just need to stay focused and treat yourself. Thank you for Diane for picking that up Elizabeth We've learned so much today's or what what did you pick up ⁓ from our conversation with Rebecca? Elizabeth V: I think one of the most important things I picked up was maintaining a balance in the different things you do because it can feel overwhelming when you're playing the sport and in clubs and having to do a job on top of all of that. So just maintaining a balance and prioritizing what feels the best for you. I think I learned a lot about that. Ilyne Deliquina: That's awesome. That's awesome, Elizabeth. Thank you. Rebecca Gray: That's awesome, Elizabeth. so good. It's hard. It's hard. ⁓ not easy, but just whittle it down to the things that make sense for your ⁓ of life and what you're doing right now. I mean, what you do as a ninth grader versus an 11th grader is very different, right? Or as 12th grader or a college freshman. College freshman is like, ⁓ my God, I think you to know what... where you are in life and say, okay, these are the things I can do right now. And then that's it. That's it. And again, don't let anybody judge you off of it and just say, well, you you can go worry about your other things, but this is what I'm going to be focused on. Ilyne Deliquina: That's right there she just gave you guys a script. Where about your other things? size me up. But love what you said there Rebecca. Just really be prep. Yeah, where about you? Be present in the season. Rebecca Gray: You worry about you! Ilyne Deliquina: that you're in and enjoy it. Like sometimes I look at even my own daughter and think you need to be more independent, blah, blah. But she's still just eight years old, right? So she still should do the eight year old things. But we have a different life where we have different lens and different perspectives. So to enjoy your ninth grade, your 10th, 11th grade years while you're there at New Hope Solebury Joslin, we're coming to you. Tell us what resonated with you today. What did you pick up from our conversation with Rekha? Rebecca Gray: I'm too lazy. Super cool. Joslin: Yeah, I I definitely came away with a lot of things I wrote down that I really love that you said. I have a couple quotes on here from you. I really liked when you said that uncertainty is just a fear of making the wrong decision. I thought that was really an impactful quote. Like, I thought that was really, really good. I liked what you were talking about just now about the value of yourself and not listening to people around you when they're trying to. You talked about before, you're not thinking people were smarter than you and not. comparing yourself to them because it doesn't make you any less smart because of how you hold them and also what you were talking about about ⁓ you know having specific goals, but going into things that you and that you have passion in and that you like I took a lot of good things away from that Ilyne Deliquina: We don't need AI. We've got Joslin. She wrapped it all up. You took all the highlights. I love that. That's great job with that. You know, we do have a couple more minutes here and I'd love to invite Ms. Sarah Reader, our site liaison with New Hope Solebury. Can you share with us what AccessCo Leaders has done for your students, bringing on these guests like Rebecca? differences that make for you ⁓ an instructor there at New Hope? Rebecca Gray: That's awesome. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that. We got Justin. ⁓ Ilyne Deliquina: And what changes have you seen in your students since we started this? Sarah Reeder: I think that in terms of the ability for students to hear real world of how professionals grown to become who they are today and how they've reached their success ⁓ is valuable because I think that ⁓ our are under a lot of pressure. And I think that sometimes students feel like searching for a career that they want to do is like finding a soulmate. Like there's one specific thing that they have to find. I just think that that's just not the case at all. And I think speaking with professionals in AccessCo Leaders has been so beneficial because it allows students to see the winding paths that people get ⁓ order and that they take in order to find their way to success. And just hearing from people like Rebecca and saying that like it's okay if you don't know what you want to do. You just have to be open to experiences. you know, like Rebecca was saying, like she may not have considered the Air Force Academy had she not been recruited for diving, but then once she became a recruited athlete, then she opened her eyes and her mind to all the opportunities. And then that led to further opportunities. And that's the kind of experience that I want my students to see. And that I think that they are taking away from these experiences is just that any conversation or any ⁓ opportunity can lead to new opportunities. And it's not that there's one path to success at all. It's just that they have so many different ways to become the people that they want to be. And most importantly is just holding fast to those values and those standards that they set for themselves. Ilyne Deliquina: Thank you, Ms. Reeder could not have said it any better. Talent is everywhere, access is not. So Rebecca, thank you so much for taking the time to speak into these young lives and sharing your story and the winding paths that you took, but ultimately just to dive right in. So I wanna thank our students from New Hope Solebury, Sophia, Diane, Elizabeth, Joslin, and of course, Mrs. Reader, Ms. Sarah Reader, and Rebecca, can remind us again? where you are applying your leadership skills, all the things that you've picked up there at Boingo. What is the website for Boingo Wireless? Rebecca Gray: Yeah, you can just Google boingoboingo.com. we have a really super great website. And just stay in touch if you want to reach out on LinkedIn or whatever. Just feel free to ping me anytime. Ilyne Deliquina: Thank you so much, Rebecca. You've been listening to AccessCo Leaders and we'll see you next time.