Satoya Isophe '24 and Myles Johnson '24 join us on the podcast to discuss their work as mentors for the Friar Foundations program, which helps to ease the transition from high school to college for a small group of incoming Providence College students. Isophe and Johnson discussed their paths to their majors and minors and the many extracurricular activities they have enjoyed as Friars.
Creators & Guests
Host
Liz Kay
Director of Social Media & Special Projects
Producer
Chris Judge
Multimedia and Live Event Producer
What is Providence College Podcast?
The Providence College Podcast features interviews with interesting members of the Friar Family. These in-depth conversations with PC students, Dominicans, faculty, staff, and alumni provide a rich look into the lives of noteworthy Friars. Occasionally we will also bring you on-campus lectures and presentations. Go Friars!
00;00;01;14 - 00;00;24;25
Liz Kay
Hello and welcome to the Providence College Podcast. I'm your host, Liz Kaye. And I'm joined by producer Chris Judge of the Class of 2005 here on the Providence College Podcast. We bring you interesting stories from the Friar family. This week we were talking with Stoya Azoff and Myles Johnson. Both members of the Class of 2024. So Toya is a health policy and management major and business innovation minor from Malden, Massachusetts.
00;00;25;04 - 00;00;38;21
Liz Kay
And Myles is a business economics major from Lawrence Township, New Jersey. He's also minoring in political science, finance and Asian studies. Both Latoya and Myles served as mentors for the Fire Foundation's program last summer. So 20 Miles, thanks so much for joining us.
00;00;38;27 - 00;00;40;01
Myles Johnson
Thank you for having us.
00;00;40;11 - 00;00;40;25
Satoya Isophe
Thank you.
00;00;41;01 - 00;00;46;26
Liz Kay
So situating Myles, for listeners who are unfamiliar, what is Fire Foundation? Can you give us an overview of the program so far?
00;00;46;27 - 00;01;13;18
Myles Johnson
Foundations is a program that helps assist incoming freshmen to kind of kind of like assimilate to the college experience. So the point of it is kind of to get some academic work under your feet and also the kind of social skills kind of navigate what Providence College is like. So you come first, come towards, I think, kind of the middle of the summer, July, late June, and they spend about a month on campus with mentors.
00;01;13;19 - 00;01;32;04
Myles Johnson
So those are upperclassmen who have come in to help for the summer to kind of help assist with academic work, assist with social inclusion and things like that. And so the whole purpose of the program really is to get the freshmen acclimated before they can come on to campus. And so they feel much more comfortable by the time that it's August and orientation.
00;01;33;07 - 00;01;41;28
Myles Johnson
And, you know, sometimes those things are very overwhelming for freshmen. So it's kind of to get them feeling like they're at home for their officially enrolled at Providence College.
00;01;42;13 - 00;02;02;20
Satoya Isophe
Alongside what Myles already said. The students get the opportunity to take some of courses here, and with those after taking those courses, they're able to kind of like come into college with a few credits underneath their belt. So definitely a program in which, like students who come in that they're looking to get a little bit more experience on just like what college courses are like.
00;02;02;20 - 00;02;13;08
Satoya Isophe
They're able to kind of take those classes and then along with the mentors, you kind of help them in terms of homework, in terms of anything else they might be struggling with, struggling with academically. And so, yeah.
00;02;14;03 - 00;02;28;14
Liz Kay
I mean, it's a big transition to go from high school to college for anybody. So I imagine that starting off with just two classes during the summer when, you know, everything's a little bit more low key probably helps a lot. So what are the some of the highlights of the program for participants?
00;02;28;28 - 00;02;55;26
Satoya Isophe
I would say, like the highlights of the program is just the relationship that you build with your mentor. So in this past Friday Foundation's program, we had about seven mentors and we had about like 20 or so students. And so with that, each mentor had a small cohort of either one or two students, maybe three. And so with that, you kind of like build like a one on one relationship with your mentor and any questions that you may have, like going into your freshman year, you kind of talk about with with your mentor.
00;02;55;26 - 00;03;16;21
Satoya Isophe
So I feel like that's kind of a bit of a highlight on building that relationship. So knowing that when you come onto campus, you are familiar with some upperclassmen that's available to help you because you were able to kind of like foster that relationship during the summer, kind of enjoy like the weather, the quietness of campus, but then also to other outside events we have available.
00;03;16;29 - 00;03;37;27
Myles Johnson
Mm hmm. I would definitely say one of the things that I think the program does a good job of in like introducing you to people that you're going to need to know to answer for you is a PC. So they have workshops with different places on campus that you would want to get to familiarize yourself with. But I think in terms of the overall highlight, I would have to be schizoid.
00;03;37;27 - 00;03;57;08
Myles Johnson
Like when you live together with people for a month, you get to know each other really well. And I think like once those relationships starts to form, obviously, you know, the first time as mentors that we all got together, we didn't know each other as well. And when the kids came, we didn't know each other as well. But by the end of the program, you know, all it takes is that month.
00;03;57;08 - 00;04;19;17
Myles Johnson
And then everybody is really there's really that sense of closeness amongst everybody. So I think, you know, just getting to the ins and outs of every day and just kind of the small moments that may are unnecessarily planned, but that adds the environment of like everybody living with one another. I think those to me are the differences. And what makes for our foundation so special.
00;04;19;25 - 00;04;39;14
Liz Kay
Is there are a number of pre orientation programs that PC students have available to them. And so this is just one more and it seems like five foundations is definitely a little more academically focused to give people that taste of academic life. Right, Right. I'm curious what some of the benefits of the program were freed, the two of you as mentors like.
00;04;39;14 - 00;04;42;14
Liz Kay
How do you feel like this experience helped you learn and grow yourselves?
00;04;42;27 - 00;05;04;03
Myles Johnson
I think I would say the first benefit I have not even I think for myself, but more so for myself in relationship to the students that we had was I was an orientation native this fall, and so I was able to have one of my kids in my orientation group and I think as a person of color, and that student was a person of color as well.
00;05;04;03 - 00;05;25;23
Myles Johnson
Like those kind of things make all the difference. I think like seeing me around and having me as the orientation leader can be the difference between somebody, you know, feeling really overwhelmed and really uncomfortable, but also, you know, someone that feels a little bit more at home. So I think in general, all the students being able to see me in August and also I think that's why I would say the same thing with transitions.
00;05;25;23 - 00;05;43;28
Myles Johnson
I think it makes all the difference of just being able to see that you had that relationship before. It makes my job easier as an orientation leader, that I have a student that I already know and that it makes their job or their experience, I should say much easier coming in. But I think also just the time management of it all.
00;05;44;09 - 00;06;17;08
Myles Johnson
I was also working the job this summer, so I was away during the mornings and I think having to balance that with making sure I was there for the students and making sure I was also there for other mentors and kind of doing my part. I think that was the main thing coming into junior year, obviously, and my opinion, I think junior year is where you have to put everything come together in a way that the other years you don't exactly have to for other reasons, but just having that kind of practice to do the things that I would need to be putting into practice now.
00;06;17;19 - 00;06;25;16
Myles Johnson
I think for me that was the biggest benefit. And I can, you know, manage my time much better and I can take on a lot more because of the things I was doing in the summer.
00;06;25;19 - 00;06;44;01
Satoya Isophe
Yeah, I feel like Miles said it beautifully. Honestly, I kind of have like this running joke that I was on campus all year and it really did feel that way. But as much as I say that, I say that with pride and I really did enjoy it. Something that I kind of benefited from the program was just like Myles said, having to like, build our relationships with the incoming freshmen.
00;06;44;21 - 00;07;16;02
Satoya Isophe
I definitely, like, enjoy speaking with freshmen and like hearing their worries and like what they're kind of like nervous about coming into freshman year because I had those same exact words as well too. And if I were to tell my younger self like you'd be thriving in college, you'd be busy things like I wouldn't really believe myself. So then to kind of like put that belief into or kind of bring that confidence to the student, know, let them know that they are going to thrive here in college and that they are going to find their group in whatever ways that they're concerned about, like will be like, I guess not really forgotten, but I guess
00;07;16;02 - 00;07;39;19
Satoya Isophe
like accomplishments. I really benefited from just seeing them, seeing how their foster growing throughout the school year, especially going into the summertime in transition. So knowing that, however they were in July, in August, I'm still going to be the same person, still going to be available. And then also to just like showing them the resources, they'll be on campus as well.
00;07;39;19 - 00;07;50;19
Satoya Isophe
So that's what I benefit of. Just seeing them thrive made me feel good knowing that I was able to play a part in that process. But ultimately it was their courage and their willingness to try something new in being in new space.
00;07;51;13 - 00;07;58;11
Liz Kay
And we've referenced a few times transitions. Kids talk a little bit, just give a brief overview of transitions as well, because you certainly are involved in that group as well.
00;07;58;22 - 00;08;21;29
Satoya Isophe
Yeah, So Transitions is a multicultural prioritization group. So it's for our first generation, our multicultural students. And this summer I served as a head dream coach. So all summer, alongside being in FFP for five foundations, I was kind of like behind the scenes planning what our team coaches would be doing, what I guess sessions the incoming freshmen would be learning about.
00;08;22;06 - 00;08;35;21
Satoya Isophe
And ultimately it's just a week long program, just up until orientation, where I pretty much hand off the kids to Miles in their list, learning about like what resources are available on campus for first generation students, or if you identify as multicultural.
00;08;36;04 - 00;08;57;18
Liz Kay
Just like the two of you both worked with students, some of the students that you worked with in five foundations, you ended up seeing them again in in transitions and then orientation. And I'm sure you're seeing them in clubs and orgs and just activities that you're doing on campus going forward. So really is that sounds like it creates a really strong bond between all of you.
00;08;57;28 - 00;09;13;11
Liz Kay
Yeah. I'm curious if you again, sort of I think this is kind of a great Segway. You alluded to situé your experience like as a young student at Providence College. I'd love to talk to you both about what led you to Province College in the first place.
00;09;14;24 - 00;09;35;23
Satoya Isophe
So mine's a little bit of a cheeky story. So senior year I was like applying for colleges and I stumbled on PC at the time. Greg Gregory or Cherry. Greg Cherry was the outreach coordinator or like different high schools. And so he came to my school and I was like really like moved by his words and like how he talked about like fostering a community.
00;09;35;29 - 00;09;52;27
Satoya Isophe
As I came from a small high school. So with that, I wanted to like go to college that talked about community, but then also to made me feel welcome. So I participated in, I want to say it is a Night for Our Town. I don't think it was nine very town. It was like one of like the night programs those here.
00;09;53;18 - 00;10;07;25
Satoya Isophe
And when I was there, like I live it. I fell in love with it and I was like, I'm going to go here. I'm going to go here. And so then I will tell it. I went back to my high school advisor and I was telling her, Oh, I'm going to play the PC like I want to apply like early decision.
00;10;07;25 - 00;10;25;23
Satoya Isophe
And she was like, Slow down, slow down, because like, you know, she wanted me to explore my options. But ultimately, like, I knew that I wanted to come to PC after visiting that time, there was like being able to, like, go to panels and, like, hear from, like current students, like how they were experiencing their life. Your PC and that kind of all they were in.
00;10;25;23 - 00;10;33;17
Satoya Isophe
That kind of like made me like, eager to like, want to make some sort of difference on a campus. So that's what kind of like letting see in me stay here.
00;10;34;01 - 00;10;36;20
Liz Kay
That's a great story. Miles, how about you?
00;10;37;20 - 00;10;55;15
Myles Johnson
Yeah, I think I came to PC for the first time I visited in the summer. We as a family, we were kind of doing like a group of, like north Eastern schools because me and my brothers, I'm a triplet, by the way, as sailor. But me and my brothers were like kind of in the process of doing all that.
00;10;56;25 - 00;11;13;08
Myles Johnson
So now I'm here with one of my brothers and that definitely was not the plan. I think going into college, I was personally of the mindset and I think we all were, that we were going to go separate places. So the fact that I'm here with one of my brothers is not at all what I intended, but it does have definitely its benefits.
00;11;13;08 - 00;11;31;03
Myles Johnson
And I think one thing we could both say is that I think that one thing that sticks out to me is something that I was actually talking about in class with my sociology professor yesterday is like, it's a small school, so it's easy to effect change. And I think that that's one of the things that kind of sticks out to me.
00;11;31;03 - 00;12;04;16
Myles Johnson
Like I wouldn't want to be a small fish in a big pond. I think for me personally, I like being kind of more of a someone that can can go to different spaces and affect change for the people around me. I think I'd rather be that way and I'm proud of my college experience like that. So I think that's one of the big benefits for me being here is that I can go to different places and join different things and really change and impact my community rather than feeling like I spent four years just kind of head in the books doing everything that I need to do academically, but not really exploring who I was
00;12;04;16 - 00;12;05;23
Myles Johnson
as a person or as a leader.
00;12;06;04 - 00;12;22;03
Liz Kay
Now, I'd like to ask you both about your majors, because you both have these very disparate collections of academic interests, city health policy management. Did you always think that you'd want to want to enter this field or.
00;12;22;20 - 00;12;53;27
Satoya Isophe
Honestly, I came in as a management major, so that's kind of an insight like the business innovation minor. I came in as a management major. I like the major, but I think that it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. I knew that like my heart was in health care, having like my family who are going usually in and out the hospital, going to doctor's appointments, like I knew that something wasn't right in terms of just like, I guess like the overall idea of health care and like how people from marginalized communities are being treated.
00;12;54;03 - 00;13;14;13
Satoya Isophe
So that's something that I wanted to like take part in and evoke change in. So that's why after like visiting PC and like speaking to like current students, I PM and I didn't know what that was exactly, but it was something that was willing to try. And then after like learning like those courses and actually taking my first one of the course in BPM, I like fell in love with the major.
00;13;14;19 - 00;13;34;12
Satoya Isophe
And so now, like anytime somebody talk about HP, I'm like the number one advocate for it. I'm like, if you want to go and change or evoke change, then that's the major that you should know. And so I wanted to keep that business background because I still essentially wanted to do management. So that's why I had the innovation minor and luckily, like all my classes were able to fill it really well.
00;13;34;21 - 00;13;39;03
Satoya Isophe
But it was just really that I wanted to effect change in health care. So that's why I kind of led to HP.
00;13;39;16 - 00;13;40;24
Liz Kay
And it sounds like a perfect fit.
00;13;41;21 - 00;13;42;10
Satoya Isophe
Thank you.
00;13;43;17 - 00;13;44;14
Liz Kay
Miles. I think.
00;13;45;02 - 00;13;45;12
Myles Johnson
That.
00;13;45;19 - 00;13;52;06
Liz Kay
All of our listeners are intrigued to know how you hit upon this array of majors in minors. Could you could you enlighten us?
00;13;52;16 - 00;14;20;02
Myles Johnson
Yeah. So I think coming into college, I came in undeclared, actually. So that kind of start a little bit my my process of looking back on the now, I think I definitely could have used that extra semester to definitely take some classes, but it's all working out just fine. I knew that I liked economics, but I felt like I hadn't taken enough because there's macroeconomics and microeconomics and so I had taken microeconomics in high school.
00;14;20;02 - 00;14;45;15
Myles Johnson
And so I was like, if I like macroeconomics, do not declare, but for now, I'll keep it undeclared just so I can keep my options open. So that's how I kind of came to economics with my major, the finance minor. I think I wanted to learn a little bit more about the business side because business economics is not in the business school, but I felt like I wanted to have a little bit of that, a little bit of those skills as well.
00;14;45;15 - 00;15;10;04
Myles Johnson
So I decided pretty quickly to do the finance minor in addition. And then one of the things that was most important to me coming into college, regardless of where I went, was I want to do what I want to do in the classroom. So I wanted to make an effort to take classes that I wouldn't normally take. And so the reason why in my Asian studies is because coming in to college, I wanted to take Chinese.
00;15;10;29 - 00;15;43;24
Myles Johnson
And so I took Chinese for my first four semesters of college. And so those four classes, all I need to do is take two more classes and then I would have the minus. So I was like, okay, I might as well do that. But I think in general, like I wanted to learn like a different language and learn about different cultures because I like the idea of like sometimes with what we're learning and especially like when we're growing up, like we very much see things from my own perspective, but I wanted to know what it felt like to have to really switch and do something different and feel different and have that feeling of like,
00;15;44;02 - 00;16;11;03
Myles Johnson
I know this is extremely different and maybe even that times uncomfortable learning a completely different language in a completely different culture. But I wanted to get better at that almost. And so I'm glad I took Chinese for that reason. And then political science, I think, again, those are classes that I'm very interested in and those are probably almost always my favorite classes in the semester because I think what I'm learning is just like interesting to me.
00;16;11;27 - 00;16;27;19
Myles Johnson
Political science I think is the minor that I kind of use to really just learn whatever it is that I want because there's so much that you can learn within political science and so many different things you can learn and so many professors you can learn from. I just wanted to let you know, take whatever I wanted to take.
00;16;27;19 - 00;16;52;11
Myles Johnson
So I got to race and politics in the Americas. That was a great class for me, just because I was interested in like, what? You know, how minorities are impacted by politics. And now I'm taking like Latin American politics because I've never taken a class about Latin America before. So I kind of use that as like my minor to just take what it is that I'm really interested in or I feel let down and learned about enough.
00;16;52;25 - 00;17;08;03
Liz Kay
I think you kind of anticipated my next question. I was going to ask you a little bit about some of the classes that have stood out. You're both more than halfway through your college careers. Satya, how about you? What are some of the classes that you look back on within your major, outside your major? It's up to you.
00;17;09;23 - 00;17;31;10
Satoya Isophe
I have an array of classes that I liked within my major specifically. I mean speak highly about HP, but I definitely I would say, Oh my goodness, I have people, professors within HBO, but I'll say like the classes that I like the most was health care management, because that definitely combined, like my minor and my major into one class, which I was like really excited about.
00;17;31;10 - 00;17;50;09
Satoya Isophe
So I think it was human resource management. It was my favorite class. I recently took a class with Jessica mulligan. I think I'm forgetting the name of the class, but it was about like disasters and politics. And so in like how health care kind of like wraps around into that. And that class challenged me a lot because I had to write a research paper on my own.
00;17;50;16 - 00;18;12;02
Satoya Isophe
However, it kind of like pushed me into thinking critically and analytically about disasters and like how that is impacted by health in like how there's like different other socioeconomic factors that kind of go into that. So those were like my fever. And then in my freshman year, my favorite class with my woman in gender studies class, it was my first college class ever.
00;18;12;02 - 00;18;29;06
Satoya Isophe
You was the first class that I cried for because of an essay that I was trying to do, but I didn't feel like I had it in me to get it done. But then I guess I was like, telling myself. But then I got a lot of reassurance from my professor that what I was doing was correct. And also, like, the way that I was thinking was a lot nuanced.
00;18;29;16 - 00;18;52;20
Satoya Isophe
And so like that kind of like instilled confidence in me in like how I participate in the classroom currently. So I would definitely say it was those two. And then my microeconomics class, just because of the professor, the professor just kind of like pushed me to think about like in the world, because that was something that I did like in my high school years, like when I did take economics, I really did like econ.
00;18;52;20 - 00;19;15;13
Satoya Isophe
So then kind of like going into college after taking it with Professor Steven Abdo, he kind of just like instilled in me that, you know, the world changes all the time. But it's not something that you should just kind of like neglect and not think about that, something you should always think about. If you want to be like an active citizen, like in today's world, just making sure that you are kind of like paying attention to everything that's going on around you.
00;19;15;13 - 00;19;17;24
Satoya Isophe
So I would say those are my favorite classes.
00;19;18;10 - 00;19;34;11
Liz Kay
You're both also such involve students on campus. I feel like it's hard pressed, like when I'm traveling across campus are going to events not to run into to see or recognize you. To tell us a little bit about some of the activities you've been involved with and what have been your favorites so far.
00;19;34;22 - 00;20;02;18
Myles Johnson
Yeah, okay. I so I yeah, I definitely have a lot of different extracurricular things going on. So right now I'm a part of the Board of Programmers and so that is like basically our event planning club on campus. So my role right now, I'm responsible for some of the bigger events that we put on. So some of our like biggest events that we have are called like prova and Clam jam.
00;20;02;18 - 00;20;24;09
Myles Johnson
So those are my direct responsibilities. Those are the events that I plan and Citoyen, those are about that because that's what I spend the summer figuring out. I'm also the treasurer of the African American Society. And so right now we are doing we're in the process of preparing for our fashion show this spring, this April, which I will also be in.
00;20;25;13 - 00;20;47;00
Myles Johnson
That's definitely one of those that after the show I think we all look back and there's just you spent so much time with people doing especially the past and so that we see each other three times a week and that that's one of those things that a lot of the hard work pays off at the end. I'm definitely happy to see all the progress and all of the things that we've done.
00;20;47;06 - 00;21;12;23
Myles Johnson
When it's time for the show, I would think. I think those are kind of my highlights. So it's going to be a very busy April for me because I have the fast and so I have plans and I have other things for Bobby that I need to take care of as well. I think extracurriculars, I'd say in general, are just a great way to get to know different people and to kind of challenge yourself, to get to know maybe people you wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.
00;21;12;23 - 00;21;33;25
Myles Johnson
So that's kind of the thing that I like about it, like it forces me to kind of go outside and I kind of start to connect with people that maybe I didn't think I had anything with in common, or maybe I felt like I couldn't talk to. And I think across the board, regardless of what extracurriculars you involved in, like it's always you're always kind of like, as you said, involved people running to involve people.
00;21;33;25 - 00;21;51;08
Myles Johnson
So it's not necessarily just the people that you're in your club with, but also maybe the people in a different club that you just see all the time. Because everyone is just a lot of people are extremely involved here. And so I think that that's definitely one of the benefits of of having such an evolved aspect to me.
00;21;51;22 - 00;22;04;13
Liz Kay
And I mean, forums fashion show is always a highlight of the spring semester. I think people look forward to it, but it is an undertaking for certain toy. How about you?
00;22;05;23 - 00;22;29;17
Satoya Isophe
For me, I am the vice president of Madeline Dance Group, so similar to Myles. We have our fashion show in the fall semester, so this past fall semester I was extremely busy. I was everywhere, but definitely it's one of my highlights. Just going into the club, I definitely enjoyed dancing and choreography and moves. So Motherland Dance is an Afro-Caribbean dance club on campus that was established in 2013.
00;22;29;17 - 00;22;50;14
Satoya Isophe
So with that, I'm speaking with a lot of alumni who haven't haven't am my trying to say who definitely resonate with the club and love the club alumni who always come back and talk about it, hearing from them like how is it, how should we make the club better? How can we still keep the club alive? So that's like something I'm extremely passionate in, regardless of if it's a difficult or if it's easy.
00;22;50;14 - 00;23;10;05
Satoya Isophe
Like I'm always going to be in that club. And then I also serve as an R.A. on campus, and it's my first year, currently has an aria on campus, but I definitely love the job because I think like building relationships and talking with people is something that just comes natural to me. So with that, I'm just intimate. You're like a building or an array of buildings.
00;23;10;05 - 00;23;28;26
Satoya Isophe
Just speaking with residents, getting closer with them. So honestly doesn't really feel like a job unless I have to be on duty and kind of like IRL the building every now and then. But it just feels like second nature just talking with the residents, seeing how they're doing, what always I can help them enhance their college experience, at least like while they're living here residentially.
00;23;28;26 - 00;23;51;02
Satoya Isophe
So being an Ariana campus is another thing. But then I'm involved in kind of anything and I related. So that's like any boards or like meetings there has to do with just convincing ID efforts. You're on campus. I'm definitely a part of those things just because I feel like it's a way for me to kind of like give back and try to make the community better than I found it.
00;23;51;02 - 00;24;13;14
Satoya Isophe
So knowing that when other students of color who come campus, if you just come over, they're able to kind of like enjoy campus and also take what they can from the school, but know that they're also welcome. So it's not really extracurriculars, but in my way, kind of as extracurriculars whenever we do meet every now and then. But yeah, those are like my passion projects that I am heavily involved in.
00;24;14;19 - 00;24;26;21
Liz Kay
With If Motherland. I'm curious if most of the members come in with some background in Afro-Caribbean dance or do they come and do they learn the choreography in the steps of the dance and that part of the culture through it.
00;24;27;23 - 00;24;49;08
Satoya Isophe
They just come and learn. And sometimes some people do have a background in Afro-Caribbean dance, some people don't have any background. And for me, I just see that all are welcomed with teaching a style so that it is easy for anybody to be able to come and join. But then also to me, I kind of like try to push people out their comfort zones because as much as we want to stay in their comfort zone, it's good to try something new.
00;24;49;08 - 00;25;09;15
Satoya Isophe
Although you may not be sure if you're good at it or not. But I think by keeping the energy high and making sure that all smiles and it's fun, I think it's why members always keep coming back and they're always like coming to see whatever we have planned. So we usually practice and marvel in the dance studio. So with that, if you hear music loud, they know it's us.
00;25;09;15 - 00;25;24;29
Satoya Isophe
We're kind of always in there Mondays and Thursdays. But then also too, we have like events that we host throughout the year and we try to promote that heavily. It's like have a presence on campus, but then also to invite other members or nonmembers who are interested in Motherland and want to know what is it that we do.
00;25;25;16 - 00;25;34;22
Satoya Isophe
But we are mainly a dance based club. But then we also kind of partake in a little bit of everything so you don't have to have a background in Afro-Caribbean dance. All is welcome.
00;25;35;22 - 00;25;49;01
Liz Kay
Is one of the things that is definitely at a premium on this campus is dance studio space. Like the dance studios are booked from morning to night and well into the night, right? I think from that mistake, mistaken motherland practice is pretty late at night.
00;25;49;13 - 00;26;05;02
Satoya Isophe
Yeah, we usually practice from 7 to 9, but if you have like performances, you practice a little bit later. But we're always trying to get a dance studio because, like you said, they're always booked, whether it be in Paterson or if it's in Smith or if it's in more. More is definitely like highly used because a lot more central.
00;26;05;24 - 00;26;15;23
Satoya Isophe
But luckily there are more whole. So for us, he's been extremely helpful with helping us get the dance studio whenever we need it and just like being there for my go in. So yeah.
00;26;17;01 - 00;26;33;11
Liz Kay
I think both of you talked a little bit about moving out of your comfort zones. I'm curious if you can think of an experience or situation that like kind of surprised you, that like you weren't sure what it was like at PC going into it, but then like you're like, Oh my gosh, this was so much better than that.
00;26;33;11 - 00;26;33;29
Liz Kay
I thought it would be.
00;26;34;17 - 00;26;57;15
Myles Johnson
I think I would definitely say bop for me. I would also say my work as a writing tutor. But before I even get there, I think I used to joke with the president of the GOP all the time. Last year I was like, I don't know why you guys told me because I want to tell myself, Look, I'm not that kind of person that that's, you know, has like that huge personality or anything like that.
00;26;57;15 - 00;27;20;28
Myles Johnson
I'm not really that kind of person as something that I think when I first joined it, I didn't know what I was getting into. I kind of just applied and was just kind of hoping for the best and I got in. But I think ever since I've been on Boppy, definitely when I talked about before, like wanting to make change, I think that's one of the places where, where we've definitely seen a lot of change.
00;27;20;28 - 00;27;48;24
Myles Johnson
And I think I would say this about our junior class in general, but I think we're led by a strong group of policy leaders and I think BOP is one of those places that has seen a lot of people see leaders kind of step up. And I'm proud to say that I'm definitely a part of that group. But I think that's one of those places I think kind of going into it, like as a person of color freshman year, like we didn't have all these different things that are being done now.
00;27;48;24 - 00;28;09;07
Myles Johnson
So to even envision myself doing something like that when I had never seen an action before was definitely challenging for me. But I think, you know, myself and a lot of the of APAC leaders and are great have definitely taken on the challenge not just to advocate on behalf of people of color, but also to kind of find that balance of also just being a leader, period.
00;28;10;01 - 00;28;29;16
Myles Johnson
I think we do that well across the board and we kind of, you know, do whatever we need to do. And I think it's great to see in general that we're now kind of being asked to do more in terms of leadership sense. And now we're in all these different clubs and doing all these different things and we all kind of see each other around a lot.
00;28;29;16 - 00;28;40;26
Myles Johnson
But I think that's been one of the things in terms of leaving a legacy. I know this is kind of a tangent on the question, but in terms of leaving a legacy, I think we can all say that we've definitely been a part of that.
00;28;41;09 - 00;29;05;09
Satoya Isophe
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I was going to add on to that. I realize that now. I feel like for me, so me and Myles are both class of 2024. I mean, our freshman year was a covered year in Honestly, I couldn't have imagined me being as involved as I am now in my freshman year because we didn't know what kind of like the peace community is like and like what it means to be a fighter in that sense.
00;29;05;09 - 00;29;21;16
Satoya Isophe
So kind of coming on to campus, like seeing everything is kind of shut down. We didn't know like what clubs would look like, what like a normal campus would look like. So kind of like when we opened back up in our sophomore year, it's kind of like where we started to take on leadership roles as like those positions were available.
00;29;22;07 - 00;29;45;22
Satoya Isophe
And for me, I was always a leader on campus or in high school. So coming into college is a lot more nerve racking with a different demographic. But then also I'm kind of like putting yourself out there and not knowing how people are going to take you. So with that, going into like the clubs that I'm involved in, I feel like now I kind of like have like a sense of like confidence knowing that, okay, I know how to run a club.
00;29;45;22 - 00;30;03;04
Satoya Isophe
I know like how to like host events, like put on productions and stuff like that. But in my freshman year, I would have never imagined it. I would have thought it was too daunting, honestly. But now that, like I'm involved in these clubs, I feel like there's like a sense of humility when you're doing these when you're in these leadership positions.
00;30;03;04 - 00;30;25;28
Satoya Isophe
I feel like my I can kind of attest to this, too. We kind of like want to leave the place better than we found it. So with that, as much as like the clubs might seem scary or even might seem daunting just because of the fact that it's new and it's not something that you're used to doing. We obviously just want to make sure that we're able to kind of like evoke change and like talk about issues that need to be talked about as well as like also like celebrating like diversity and like people.
00;30;26;05 - 00;30;47;17
Satoya Isophe
So with that, I feel like with my club that I'm a part of, it's not as scary, kind of like came as like second nature. I started to get more involved into it, but it definitely needed help along the way. Just like advice on simple decisions on should I say yes to this or should I say no to that, or talking to administrators on what is like our budget that we need in order to be able to kind of like put on this production?
00;30;47;17 - 00;31;04;23
Satoya Isophe
Like what our limitations and having to like sit in those conversations, especially when you don't know exactly what are the right things to say or what are or what are the right thing supposed to be doing. It's kind of like a learning curve that you're going through, but now there were three years in. It's crazy to say that now we are kind of like pros at this almost.
00;31;05;12 - 00;31;15;02
Liz Kay
So you still three years in, you still have another year of college left to go and plenty of time to make these decisions. But I wanted to ask you about what you're thinking now about post-graduate life.
00;31;16;03 - 00;31;37;03
Satoya Isophe
I could start off for me post-graduate life. I'm looking to go into grad school. I'd like to get my master's in health administration. I feel like within the HBO program I want to learn a lot more about administration and what it means. Like kind of like run a health care facility. So with that, I'd like to go into grad school, but ultimately I want to become a health administrator.
00;31;37;03 - 00;32;06;10
Satoya Isophe
So either if it becomes opening like my own practice or like managing my own practice, something I'm really interested in doing, I'm definitely focusing on reducing like health disparities within marginalized communities is a I'm extremely interested in like I want to pursue. I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to get there, but I know that I'm talking to the right people and kind of having idea of what are entry level positions to kind of like work my way up and just like learn about health care in general and like what that route looks like.
00;32;06;10 - 00;32;11;06
Satoya Isophe
So ultimately I want to go to grad school and walk out with my master's emails.
00;32;11;24 - 00;32;37;13
Myles Johnson
Yeah, I also want to go to grad school. Maybe not right after college, but I do want to get my MBA. I don't know what I want to do it and yet, but that's for me to kind of figure out as I get acclimated with the job world and everything like that. As for this summer, I'm working as an intern in New York City with being a watermelon in the finance department, so I'm hoping that that internship answers some questions that I need to have answered.
00;32;37;20 - 00;33;04;01
Myles Johnson
Kind of going into senior year. But honestly, I think I'm just kind of taking it like year by year, day by day. I just I don't want to ever lose sight of the fact that, like, I'm curious and what I'm learning as well. And so I think while there's maybe a little bit of pressure to kind of, you know, at least start thinking about some of these things post-grad, I also don't want to take it for granted that like I'm able to take classes that I want to take and learn, material that I want to learn.
00;33;04;17 - 00;33;17;22
Myles Johnson
I was saying to one of my friends the other day like, there's going to be a day ten years from now that wish I was doing this. So I do want to take them to account before I get too far ahead of myself. But I do want to end up getting my MBA and kind of see where it takes me from.
00;33;17;22 - 00;33;34;16
Liz Kay
There didn't mean to rush you. No one is showing you the door. We are. We are definitely excited that we have more time with you on campus for sure. So situated, Miles, we're talking during Women's History Month. So I'd like to ask you about influential women in your own lives.
00;33;34;23 - 00;33;54;22
Satoya Isophe
I was thinking about this earlier. I think for me, like my personal heroes are obviously my parents, my mom specifically, and like how hard she works in how she still, at the end of the day, has a heart and is very kind and wants to help others in her job feel, but also like at home taking care of me and my sister.
00;33;55;15 - 00;34;14;18
Satoya Isophe
I would say if we're talking about like a celebrity, like someone who's like kind of influential, I would say is Michelle Obama. To me, I feel like she walks with grace and humility as well as like, but also like kind of like this, like presence of like a strong woman able to get things done. And I kind of like, admire that about her.
00;34;14;18 - 00;34;31;28
Satoya Isophe
And I that's like something that I also want to carry as well, too. So, I mean, I wasn't the president. I'm not the wife of the president, but on campus here, like, I try to, like, move with grace in humility, but then also to know how to get things done and push for change. And that's like something that I see in Michelle Obama every day.
00;34;31;28 - 00;34;39;25
Satoya Isophe
I feel like everyone kind of sees that in her. And how much of a leader she was. So I feel like she's like somebody who's like really inspirational to me.
00;34;40;02 - 00;35;07;12
Myles Johnson
Yeah, I think there are so many answers to this question. I'll try and get I'll try and get all the shout outs I need to get out. I don't want to leave anybody behind. I think first and foremost, definitely my mom, my grandmother, those are probably the two people that in terms of growing up and where I'm at now, I would I would have I would have to think that I'm definitely the most you know, they always tell me growing up like be what's called a Renaissance man and just kind of have all the different tools in the tool kit.
00;35;07;12 - 00;35;33;20
Myles Johnson
So I think that's where my curiosity and want to do different things, both inside and outside of the classroom comes from. I think the second thing that I thought of was the fact that actually over the summer, five foundations, I was actually the only guide mentor. So that it kind of made me think of that too, that, you know, we had a lot of great women doing work there, both as mentors and then all the people that ran the program where I actually wanted to.
00;35;33;20 - 00;35;55;17
Myles Johnson
So I was really the only guy, but any sort of, any sort of like authority or power. But, you know, being able to learn from them and kind of how they move and how they do things, I think definitely learned I definitely learned a lot. And again, going back to that feeling of being like uncomfortable, but also like in a good way, kind of like I think it was a great experience to have that.
00;35;55;17 - 00;36;21;17
Myles Johnson
Like I was kind of the odd one out and learning more and kind of like broadening my perspective in that way. I think definitely relationship wise, I have to give this to my other half. She's awesome and she's very talented. I always tell her all the time that like she makes me look like a regular person. So with all the majors of mind that I'm doing, it's nothing in comparison to what she's doing this.
00;36;21;17 - 00;36;41;04
Myles Johnson
She's definitely doing both as a student and as a leader. She's definitely questioning self and she's doing amazing things and I'm very, very interested, but also excited to see where she goes after college and all the work that she does. And then I think lastly, I would say I have to give a shout out to all the women leaders on campus.
00;36;41;22 - 00;36;58;27
Myles Johnson
One of the things about being involved that I've realized this year is that I can't think of a club on campus that is run by a male, and I think that's a great thing. I think that it's really good to see women in positions of leadership, not just doing things, but kind of being the movers and shakers of what's going on.
00;36;59;15 - 00;37;20;27
Myles Johnson
So I think that I'd have to give a shout out to all the all the women in leadership positions and they know who they are. But, you know, being able to work with a lot of them and get to know a lot of them and seeing how passionate they are and how driven and motivated they are. And again, just like not not just participating, but leading, I think that that's definitely a very inspiring thing to see.
00;37;21;05 - 00;37;52;17
Liz Kay
It's an interesting progression because obviously the roots of Providence College, it started as an all male institution in when Doors opened in 1919 and the first students walked in. They were all all men from the neighborhood. And now the private college is changing. It evolves in so many ways. But I think what you are noting, Miles, is kind of, you know, when more than a hundred more than 50 years ago when women started to enroll in PC, you know that change, you know, it's taken time.
00;37;52;17 - 00;38;05;04
Liz Kay
But I think there's definitely lots of places for women leaders in opportunities, and they're taking those opportunities as such where you demonstrate with that. So it's a great observation. Thank you.
00;38;06;14 - 00;38;06;25
Myles Johnson
Thank you.
00;38;07;03 - 00;38;07;24
Satoya Isophe
Thank you.
00;38;07;29 - 00;38;10;18
Liz Kay
So it's Joy and Miles, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
00;38;10;19 - 00;38;21;13
Satoya Isophe
Thank you for having us. I think we could both say we enjoyed it, talking about our experience, the APC, but then also to talking about fire foundations and how much was a special program to both of us.
00;38;21;15 - 00;38;34;01
Myles Johnson
Absolutely. Thank you for having us. I know we always used to joke in the summer, like with our students, that they were going to make us famous, so I'll definitely be sharing this with them. But in all seriousness, thank you for the opportunity is a lot of fun to chat.
00;38;34;13 - 00;38;35;03
Satoya Isophe
Thank you.
00;38;35;19 - 00;39;06;24
Liz Kay
Subscribe to the Province College podcast in all the usual places, including iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify, as well as your smart speaker. If you like what you hear, please review and share with others. Thanks for listening and go Friars.