Latest / The Wesley Word / HoW Ep.7 Simon Says

Transcript

HoW Ep.7 Simon Says · The Wesley Word

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wesley Word.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Humans of Wesley.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: My name is Bailey Meehan, and today I'm joined by Emma Simon.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Emma.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: So Emma, can you start off by introducing yourself?
0:24
SPEAKER_01: Hi, everybody.
0:25
SPEAKER_01: My name is Emma Simon.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: I am a senior industrial engineering major and I'm getting some minors in sustainability as well as international engineering and science.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just super excited to be here.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: So thanks for having me, Bailey.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: So Emma, right off the bat, what is your favorite snack from Trader Joe's?
0:42
SPEAKER_01: Oh shoot.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so in the fall season, they bring out this thing called a pumpkin spice flavored pumpkin seed.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: And it is basically the best pumpkin seed you've ever had.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: And they put pumpkin spice flavoring on it, and it's fantastic.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: But um Parker has recently introduced me to dipping dunkers.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you know what they are.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: They're like cookies, but they have like a chocolate coating on them.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: Dipping them into icing.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's like a TV snack go-to for me now.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: So I'd have to go to that.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: I feel bad for trying my pumpkin seeds, but it's the truth.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: And Emma, what is your favorite restaurant in Clemson?
1:24
SPEAKER_01: I would uh have said Backstreets with the grilled cheeses, but it's gone now.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Oh really?
1:31
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, they eliminated it from their menu entirely.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: I know they revamped their menu, but I didn't so it leaves me a little bit lost.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: I really uh I know Steve likes loose and I like a good, like loose quesadilla, so maybe loose change.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Great choice.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: So Emma, being from Pennsylvania, I think you are the farthest away from home of anyone we've had on the podcast so far.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Um was that a difficult transition, moving so far away for college?
1:58
SPEAKER_01: I would say yeah.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: I've never really like experienced that kind of separation from my family.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: And so I struggled with that for the first couple weeks, but I did a summer program that kind of allowed me to adjust more easily into college life, and then I got to go home after that for like a couple weeks and then um like see everybody still.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: So that was pretty nice.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: And I got to go home for Thanksgiving, my freshman year, so it kind of helped me adjust into the whole uh college away from home thing.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: And so much like me, you're from a small college town, but state college, Pennsylvania, uh being the home of Penn State University instead of Clemson.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: Um what do you think is the biggest difference between State College and Clemson, South Carolina?
2:43
SPEAKER_01: That's hard.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: They're very they're very similar because they're both state schools.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: Um I don't know.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: If I had to say something, I would just probably be size in general.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: Penn State's a little over twice the size of um Clemson, and so football games are just more of an ordeal, and like classes are just that much bigger, and so I'm glad to be here where everything's a little just a little smaller.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so speaking of that, um, I know growing up in Clemson, everyone is sort of forced to be a Clemson fan.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, did you grow up as a Penn State fan?
3:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: Um every Saturday I was either a football, a knitteline, which is our mascot at Penn State, or little cheerleader.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: I had all the costumes, and then when my sister grew into those, I got the duplicates of the older size so we could match all the time.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I was very much raised in like a this is this is a Penn State household.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: We bleed blue and white.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: Um so I think it was kind of hard for my parents to come to terms with the fact that I wanted to leave um Penn State because they were on relatively like equal caliber of like level of education.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: Um and it's they're alma moderists, so they love it so much.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: It was hard for them to like see me choose a different path, I guess.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I guess I was on the opposite side of that, right?
4:06
SPEAKER_00: I really wanted to go somewhere else um because I had grown up in Clemson and been here my whole life, but I yeah, couldn't manage to fight away from the fact that I've been a Clemson fan my whole life, and um, you know, everyone in my family went to Clemson, and also it happened to be, you know, free essentially.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: So what brought you to Clemson?
4:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I had seen all of the schools I had applied to previously already through like running and stuff.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: Um I would race at those schools.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: So Clemson was like the big step forward.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: My mom's old boss had moved down here, and so he just recommended I apply, and I was like really cranky about it.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: I was like, I the only reason I did is because there wasn't an essay involved.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: And um, but it got to that time of like the spring where all the seniors were traveling to see schools, and I was like, mom, can we just like go to Clemson?
4:56
SPEAKER_01: Because like I was just feeling like I did the thing and I went somewhere.
4:59
SPEAKER_01: And so we came down here for a weekend and I like immediately fell in love.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: I loved the lake.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, people seem to just genuinely care about me as an individual, and they it seemed like they were already invested in my success.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: And we did like a bunch of tours all day Saturday, and we hear that smoke and pig is the place to go.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: So we end up there, and I just start bawling into a plate of brisket because I want to go here so badly.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, I think from there on, I kind of knew this was where I wanted to be.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Like that morning I got into my dream school and I was still crying into the brisket about how bad I wanted to go here.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: So I think ever since that moment, I've just like known this was where I belonged, I guess.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: So you say you visited other colleges by running?
5:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um, I don't know if it's like a common thing down here, but colleges will host races like Penn State hosts states and that sort of thing.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: So I had like traveled around a little bit while racing and got to like see places like um there's a big race at U Penn every year, and so I had been to like a lot of like those schools up north.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: So I was trying to think around here.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: I think Furman University hosted a race for us, but I think most of them were hosted by parks or sponsored by different, you know, companies and things.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: So so here at Clemson, you are an industrial engineering major.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, what made you choose industrial engineering?
6:32
SPEAKER_01: I just was born an industrial engineer, I choose to believe.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: I really wanted to be like an architectural engineer at one point because it was the first type of engineering I was introduced to, and I really liked that type of problem solving.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: But um no, I am just all about a schedule.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: There's a plan for everything, and it's very clear to me and frustrating when other people don't understand the plan because it just seems so obvious in my mind sometimes.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, of course we would do this, then that, or something like that.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: And so I think that like once I kind of introduced the topic to my parents who thought I was really wanted to be an architectural engineer, I was like, I heard about this new thing.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: And they were like, Oh yeah, that's you through and through.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: So I I just love it.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, do you like all the parts of IE?
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Or that may just sound like uh do you like more of the kind of process improvement parts than the human factors parts and different things?
7:22
SPEAKER_01: Definitely not a human factors girl.
7:24
SPEAKER_01: We had to take a class and there was like a whole lesson on what fonts were most visible and what colored letters you could put over different types of backgrounds.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, it felt like I was drowning in information and we had to learn about like how your cornea works in relation to fonts, and I was just like, this is not me.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: Can we get back to the spreadsheets, please?
7:44
SPEAKER_00: Through your kind of industrial engineering major, I know you've gotten to do a couple of internships, right?
7:50
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I have.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: Um were those?
7:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, I worked at Hubble two summers ago and Tesla this past summer.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: So um, what's been your favorite part of getting to do those internships?
8:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, I really like them because they've taken me cool places.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: When I was working at Hubble, I was living in Christiansburg, Virginia.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: And then this past summer, um, Parker and I were in Fremont, California.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: So I like getting to kind of explore the area around where I'm living too.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: It's a unique chance to move somewhere and like kind of give it a taste test for three months.
8:21
SPEAKER_01: But um, I really like how much the companies have trusted me so far and like actually like let me um take the lead on some projects.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like I'm slowly starting to figure out where I belong in the industry, but I'm just not quite there yet.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: Like if you asked me what I was gonna do two years from now, I would have no idea.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: But um, I'm like slowly starting to narrow down what I think I might actually be interested in after I graduate.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: So I know you know Tesla is a pretty lucrative internship there.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: So um you you're not just dying to work for Tesla?
8:57
SPEAKER_01: Um I really did enjoy my time at Tesla.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: I am like slightly hesitant about some of the manufacturing aspects.
9:09
SPEAKER_01: You spend a lot of time um just doing the same thing every day.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: And like it's kind of like the way I pictured in my mind, manufacturing is like there's a bolt and it's slowly coming loose, and every day you're just sitting there cranking it back, back, back.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: So like you're just constantly tightening the same process.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: And um, there's some opportunity in our industry with consulting.
9:32
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm hoping to maybe try that out at some point because that way you get like a new, a new bolt at least every few months to tighten.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think I don't know.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: I I just worked with a lot of people who had been there for like, we've been here five years, we've been here seven years.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I don't know if I could see myself being content solving the same problem over and over again.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: So I know at the top you mentioned uh that you have a sustainability miner as well.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Um and I know that's something that you're pretty passionate about.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Did that influence your desire to work for Tesla too?
10:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I think I thought I was gonna be involved in a lot more sustainability stuff than I was working for a sustainability company and like solving problems through the mind.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: So sustainability are very different things.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's what a lot of my study abroad had been focused on was like sustainability stuff.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: And so it was hard coming back and being like, look at this plastic part.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: Now look at this other plastic part.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: What are the differences?
10:25
SPEAKER_01: And like I was like, man, this is nowhere near what I thought electric cars would be like.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: But I guess it's an important part of it, you know?
10:33
SPEAKER_00: So did you like the ability to do different internships instead of something like a co-op where you get more involved with one company?
10:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, I think a co-op would be a great option if you already knew exactly what you wanted to do.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I'm still trying to narrow down exactly where I'm gonna fit um into the workforce.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: And so I've really liked the opportunity to kind of like taste around.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: And I also feel like it gives me a little bit of like mobility um and I can like keep shooting for like a higher goal every summer.
11:04
SPEAKER_01: So I like that.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: And then um, I know you've mentioned to me that you're thinking about coming back for a master's.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's official.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: It's official.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: So I'm very excited about that.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm not quite ready to leave Clemson.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: So will that be a thesis master's program or a non-thesis?
11:23
SPEAKER_01: I haven't officially decided yet.
11:25
SPEAKER_01: They recommend if you're going into industry to not do a thesis, but I feel like um it'll let me focus on potentially more sustainability-related issues, which I am interested in.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: So we'll see where I end up.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: I fortunately have got some time.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be my next question is do you get more specialized when you do a master's in IE, or is it just more training on kind of the same stuff?
11:50
SPEAKER_01: Um if you just focus on classwork, it's kind of just further knowledge and the same topics.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: But if you do research, you can kind of become more specialized in something you're passionate about.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: So hopefully I can find something I'm passionate about before I start my master's program so that I can specialize in it.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm excited to have more uh grad students around in Wesley.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: So I'm glad you'll be sticking around with us for uh a little bit longer.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: So, as you mentioned, you've been doing a lot of traveling recently.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, you've been gone for most of the year.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: You started off the year in Italy, right?
12:22
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, studying abroad.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: So, what was that study abroad program for?
12:26
SPEAKER_01: So I was studying in a school called Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, Italy.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: It was super fun.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: I was taking a lot of gen ed classes as well as some classes for my sustainability minor.
12:36
SPEAKER_01: So I really enjoyed the program overall.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: Plus, we got Fridays off, so I could travel a lot, which was a really good time.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: So, did you stay mostly in Italy traveling around or did you go all over Europe?
12:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say about 50-50.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: I spent like a lot of my weekends in Italy, but then also traveled around um as much as my schedule would allow me.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: So were you with a Clemson group, or did you go to a third party?
13:02
SPEAKER_01: I went through um one of the schools that Clemson had recommended, and it was honestly super awesome because I got placed with um all Clemson girls for my roommates, and so we bonded a lot and we're still really close.
13:14
SPEAKER_01: And I really appreciate the fact that we all go to school together now and like we can hang out and like see each other downtown and stuff.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: So it's really fun.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: What was your favorite Italian food you got to eat?
13:24
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: So we had a favorite restaurant and we would go there a lot.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they did this thing called a pasta sampler.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: And so you show up um and you're we are all like speaking in English, like, we don't know what we want.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: This guy comes up to us and he's like, get the pasta sampler.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: So I didn't.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: I don't trust the chef that much.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: But all my friends got it.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: And one of the first things that came out, it was um a cheese ravioli um with like a cheese sauce on it, but it also had pomegranate and avocado.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: And I was like looking at it.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: It comes out and I'm like, oh thank goodness I didn't get that.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm just like eating my like um Gorgonzola and gnocchi or something.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, thank goodness, that looks terrible.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: And then they all tried and they're like, Emma, this is so good, come try it.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: So I did, and it was so good.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Like we went back so many times, all we would all get that.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: We would just be like, around this, please.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't even know what it was in Italian, but it was fantastic.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, did they try to teach you any Italian foreign language uh as part of the program?
14:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, it was definitely an option, but I didn't feel like it was something I was super interested in.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: I spent a lot of time studying Spanish, and so honestly, I was hoping to go to a Spanish-speaking country, but because of COVID, it wasn't really an option.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I chose to focus more on my classes and stuff so I could have a more relaxed senior year.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: That's what I've you know been to Europe a few times, but never been to a country where either me or someone I was with didn't kind of speak the language.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Did you have any trouble getting around in Italy, or is everyone pretty fluent in English?
14:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, most people are pretty fluent in English, and we knew like enough Italian to kind of get by, I guess.
14:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, but where we were living in Florence was very much so like the center of tourism.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, we were living in like the downtown center where most people kind of moved out of um after the financial collapse in 2008.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: So it's not very many residents and mostly like Airbnbs as well as like hotels and that sort of thing.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: So people were primarily using English all around us all the time, and all of our classes were in English.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: So it didn't end up being too much of an issue.
15:27
SPEAKER_01: I wish I would have learned more Italian, but um yeah.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: And then when you came back from Italy, you uh didn't stick around for too long before you were headed off to California for your Tesla internship that we were talking about earlier.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, how'd you like living in the Bay Area?
15:43
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it was fantastic.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: There are so many fun things to do out there.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, I love going into the city, but I also loved like leaving.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: There's so much fun nature to explore outside of there.
15:54
SPEAKER_01: And so we really took advantage of that.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: I was like, okay, so I would spend every day in class.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't do a whole lot of classwork in Italy.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: I would plan all my weekend trips during class, and it got towards the end of my study abroad time, and I was like, I have nothing to plan in class.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: So I just started planning all these camping trips.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm a text parker, and I'd be like, You want to go to Sequoia um four months from now?
16:14
SPEAKER_01: And he was like, sure.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, okay, great.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: So I had like all of these like plans kind of lined up, um, which was really fun.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: We got to do a lot of camping, which I enjoyed.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: I got to do a trip out to the kind of like a specific northwest um when I graduated from high school, and I did not realize how much California there is north of San Francisco.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: Like there's so much.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: We were driving at one point, we went to see Redwoods.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: We drove for like eight hours and uh above San Francisco, and we were still in California.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: We were close to our game, but not that close.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: So, what was your favorite park that you got to visit?
16:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, we spent only a day in Pinnacles National Park, but it was really fun because the whole trail was kind of like Indiana Jones style.
16:55
SPEAKER_01: Like they carved like footholds into like these slanted rocks, and you would like climb up it.
17:00
SPEAKER_01: And so Parker and I did like about six miles out there in the morning.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: And by the time it was reaching the afternoon, we were like, thank goodness we're done.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: We left so early because I was like, we got to get out of the heat.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: But it was really fun to kind of they're like very cool rock formations, kind of like um canyon lands would look like, but if it was um less red, so it was really fun.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I know, you know, speaking of camping and hiking, you you're a huge kind of outdoors person.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, what do you think makes you like being outside so much?
17:31
SPEAKER_01: I spent a lot of time outside growing up as a kid, and I think that that's primarily what my family would do together.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: Like on weekends we would go hiking, or in the evenings we would spend time in our garden.
17:42
SPEAKER_01: And so I think it was kind of like the family bonding aspect of it, and also I feel very much so at peace.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Like it's my second church.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, I just feel like my soul can actually breathe whenever I'm away from other people, I guess, and only near trees.
17:58
SPEAKER_01: So Parker doesn't count as a person, Parker is a tree, so it's okay.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: But so, what's your favorite kind of outdoor activity, hobby, hiking, camping?
18:08
SPEAKER_00: I know you do some rock climbing too.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not confident enough in my skills to go rock climbing outside quite yet.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: Maybe someday.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: But um, right now I am really into hiking actually obviously after the summer.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I also really do like spending time on the lake here.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: So probably kayaking or paddleboarding, stuff like that too, is a close second.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: So, what do you think your favorite hike near Clemson is?
18:35
SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't stay near can be in quotation marks too.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was gonna say I don't stay close very frequently.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: Something you could do on a day trip, maybe.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, well, this past week, Parker and I went to Issaquina Falls, and it's not very much of a hike.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: It's more of like a leisurely stroll and then a steep descent to the waterfall.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: But I like how close you can get to the falls, and there's like this big rock that I like to sit on.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: So I'll probably say Issaquina Falls, even though I wouldn't classify it as a hike, but it's very easy and beginner-friendly.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: So if you're looking for something like that, it's only half an hour away.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: And then um obviously you're from the northeast.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: Do you go to school in the southeast?
19:13
SPEAKER_00: Do you spend all summer out west?
19:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, what's your favorite national park?
19:18
SPEAKER_01: Ooh.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: I in high school, my family and I did like a tour of the southwest kind of driving, and I went to Zion, and it was like the first scenery that's like ever really, really took my breath away.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: And the valley is just absolutely gorgeous.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I'll ever get over it.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm afraid to go back because I've idealized it so much in my head that I don't know if it could ever live up to what I believe it is, but I really, I really did love Zion.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I agree.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: I think that's the most visually impressive one I've ever been to.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: It was fantastic.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: So I know you know outside of school here in Clemson, you also have a job.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of outdoor recreation.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: It's true, yes, Bailey, I do.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me about that?
20:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I work at Core Outdoor Recreation.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love it.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: If you're looking for a campus job, um, it's pretty fantastic.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: You just get to hang out um at Andy's um all the time and help people get excited about being outside.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite things is we lead trips, and so um last weekend we took a bunch of first-time hikers out, and that's just always the best.
20:26
SPEAKER_01: And they were all um, they're all foreign exchange students too.
20:29
SPEAKER_01: So they were really excited about seeing like the nature in South Carolina.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: I I'm passionate about teaching people about what I love and how to care for it.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: So I love that part of the job.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: So, what do you think the most underrated thing you can get from core is?
20:47
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a good question.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: We do paddle boards for$5, which I think is like a pretty good deal, but there's a sneakier deal.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: There's um these things called high lifes, and we only have four of them, and like we don't really like advertise them a whole lot, so you kind of gotta go and ask for them.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: But it's a combination of a paddleboard and a kayak.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: So I I never take out paddleboards, I only take out high lifes because it allows me to kind of like kayak near boats and when there's large wakes and stuff, but then once I get to like inlets, I can like paddleboard and stuff, and it allows me to move a lot more quickly, like if I have to.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's a lot more steady than a paddleboard, and all of your things stay dry, which I really appreciate.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: So that might be that might be a sneaky little deal.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm really impressed by the sheer variety of stuff that Core has.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: You could practically walk in there, get everything you need to go camping or something, right?
21:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's pretty fantastic the amount of supplies that they've kind of built up in such a short period of time.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, I know one time Gracie, Lauren, um, Ashley and I, we went on a spring break trip and we got like most of the stuff we needed from there.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: So it's got everything you could ever need, I think.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm impressed.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: The some of the bikes they have are nicer than mine, and you can get them for a weekend for like$15.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Or something.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're really inexpensive.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Outside of Wesley, are you involved in other any other student organizations?
22:06
SPEAKER_01: Um not a whole lot.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: I do Clemson Running Club, but um I mostly just race with them.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't do like their regular weekly runs.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: And I was also really involved in my honors in the honors college starting off.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Um and I'm still involved in one of their programs called Dixon Global Policy Scholars.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: I actually have Sarah Mount in my group this semester, which I'm really excited about to have a familiar face.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: So we just mostly talk about foreign policy, which I love.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: So it's a pretty good time.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: So you just meet with your group to discuss foreign policy?
22:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: Every every other week we just well, sometimes it's domestic policy as well.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, this week um I'm leading our group discussion, and I think it's on um oh yeah, changes in the UK right now.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: So what's happening as the monarchy switches over as well as the prime minister.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: So I know Dixon GPS tends to take summer trips and things.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Did you ever do one of those?
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we were supposed to go this past spring to Paris, and I ended up missing it.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: They told us the dates of the trip the day after I signed my Tesla offer.
23:07
SPEAKER_01: So I ended up having to be like, I'm so sorry, but I can't go.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: I was really disappointed.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: I was looking forward to that trip a lot.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: You've been in Wesley since the very beginning of your freshman year.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: What's been your favorite thing you've gotten to do in the past few years with Wesley?
23:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a tough one.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, I am honored to live at the WB.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: I feel like that has just been the peak of my Wesley experience.
23:32
SPEAKER_01: It's really nice to just be around the community more frequently and to feel really at home in the Wesley building.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: So I I enjoy that a lot.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: Does it not bother you having people come in and out of your house all the time?
23:46
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, I'm like a really like intense sleeper.
23:49
SPEAKER_01: Like I think there were people there like really late the other night, and I like couldn't hear a thing.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: Um also there's the study volume, too.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: So after after like study hall gets going to a certain degree, like you can't hear anything that's happening downstairs.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: So is there, you know, any advice you'd like to give Wesley members about taking care of the Wesley building?
24:09
SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: Um just pick up after yourself as you would in your own house.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: That's about all I gotta say.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: I don't have problems with dishes in the sink and stuff, but if you use a dish, if you could if you could kindly migrate it there, that would be appreciated.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: So one thing I think um in Wesley, you've been a small group leader for the past few years, right?
24:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been a super awesome experience.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell So you you start as a fresh leader, right?
24:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: And then you did a small group last year um that I really enjoyed.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: How would you explain that?
24:45
SPEAKER_01: We were we were attempting to dive into um some of the injustices that the um church has a hand in and how um we can actively try to dismantle that injustice.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: I thought you did a really great job with that.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: And this year you're taking a completely different swing at the small group formula.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: So can you explain what your small group this year is?
25:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um I wasn't nothing was really calling out to me as I was like trying to find like a topic all summer.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: Um and I had multiple discussions with Steve, and I was really just hoping to focus more on fellowship and creating like um more relationships and stronger relationships within Wesley.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: I feel like we do a good job of talking to each other, but sometimes it's not about the things that are really important or like really deep.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I'm just trying to create kind of like a forum where we can have like those deep discussions that you can't really get into around a dinner table of eight.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, you've gone anywhere from welcoming new freshmen to having really deep discussions to kind of more fell in fun fellowship activities.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: So what brings you to, or what's your favorite part about being a small group leader?
25:56
SPEAKER_01: I really like the personal like interactions of it all.
25:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, I feel like that's kind of where my spiritual gifts lie is like in the face-to-face conversations um and like really getting to know who people are, what inspires them, what motivates them, and like how I um as a sister can support them in that.
26:18
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any questions for me?
26:20
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, I wasn't expecting this part of it.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: Give me a second here.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: This is a new twist we're adding to the humans of Wesley formula.
26:30
SPEAKER_01: Um what has been your most impactful Wesley moment?
26:37
SPEAKER_00: Most impactful?
26:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's interesting.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: It can be a person too.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean there, I mean, okay, yes, lots of impactful people and moments in Wesley.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: I would say probably the most impactful person for my Wesley journey was Grays Ann Dukes, probably.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I talk about the reason that I'm in Wesley is because of Jad Taylor, the youth minister that used to be at C UMC, um got me involved with a group, and you know, he was super influential in my life.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: Um so he's the reason that I'm at Wesley, but Graysanne is probably the reason that I stayed.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: Um she was an RA on the floor below me freshman year and would take me to Wesley Things and um really welcomed me into the community and really made me feel loved and appreciated.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: So um she was a great freshly leader too.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: Um and then obviously went on to do that for a million other people uh when she was the assistant director.
27:34
SPEAKER_01: Um she's also the reason I ended up staying, too.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: So my home pastor had talked to Steve at annual conference and um kind of like dropped my name in and um gave me Steve's email.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: And so I'd been emailing him and like, can is there like a way that we can come and talk?
27:49
SPEAKER_01: Because I really wanted to make sure that Wesley's values also aligned with mine.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: Um and I was really nervous coming to the South that people wouldn't kind of see Christianity the way that I see it as like a loving and accepting community.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we ended up meeting up with Grace Ann, like over at Spill the Beans for ice cream with my parents, and she gave us a tour of the WB.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: And so I feel like she was the first one that was like, Yeah, you were your Christianity will fit into like southern Christianity, which I think was like a really big fear of mine.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: I like picked, I picked out C OMC before I agreed to come to Clemson because I was that scared about.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, in terms of most impactful moments, actually, the beginning of this semester, I did an episode with the Freshly Leaders, the new Freshly Leaders this year, um, and talking about how I became a Freshly Leader.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: I went on a spring break trip, my freshman year, to Eleuthra in the Bahamas, and um was just sitting on a beach in the Bahamas with Steve, and he asked me to be a Freshly Leader essentially, and I was super nervous about it.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: I thought I'd be really bad.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, and he did a really great job of kind of instilling confidence in me that I could do it, and um being just being kind and uh reminding me that you just have to make them feel welcome.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: So um that was probably in terms of my Wesley journey, like very impactful into you know what I became or whatever.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you, Emma, for joining me.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: Of course, thanks for having me, Bailey.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: I enjoyed this.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: The Wesley Word is a production of the Clemson Wesley Foundation.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Clemson Wesley, check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, get out there and love your neighborhood.