We're Lowkey So Back

In this episode of That’s What They Said, hosts Kieran and Julia catch up after their summer breaks, sharing stories about remote classes, summer jobs, and awkward encounters while reflecting on the start of their senior year of college.

That's What They Said is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2, student-run radio from NC State University. Like what you hear? Consider supporting it with a gift to the WKNC Enhancement Fund. Visit our podcast page to hear more and follow us on all social media platforms @WKNC881. Thanks for listening.

Creators and Guests

Host

Julia Laursen

Host

Kieran McClean

What is That's What They Said?

Join hosts Julia and Kieran as they address the myths and stereotypes surrounding the campus community.

“That’s What They Said” is a space where we pull back the curtain on the college experience — the myths, the stereotypes and the late-night thoughts nobody puts in the brochure.

No topic is off-limits! We’re talking about everything — from expectations vs. reality, to campus culture, academics, friendships and the messy in-betweens. If it’s part of student life, we’re navigating it together.

"That's What They Said" is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 at NC State University.

00:03
Julia
Hey, Kieran, what's up?

00:04
Kieran
Julia, did you hear what they said?

00:07
Julia
No, what did they say?

00:08
Kieran
Oh, my gosh. I have to tell you right now. Meet me in the studio in five minutes.

00:12
Julia
Okay? I'm on my way. I'll see you soon.

00:19
Kieran
Hey, guys. Welcome back to the podcast. It's Kieran and Julia, and we're here for. That's what they said.

00:26
Julia
Yay. We're so back. And, guys, I didn't know if we would be, seeing as we're not paid to do this anymore, but we're here for the love of the game. Yeah.

00:34
Kieran
Yeah.

00:35
Julia
And we also forgot how to do. Well, and by we, I mean me forgot how to do the recording of the video situation. So we're working with just audio going.

00:43
Kieran
Back to our roots.

00:44
Julia
Right. So you can just really going back. You can just pretend like we look completely different than we do. And, like, you can just, like, you've.

00:49
Kieran
Had a massive glow up.

00:50
Julia
Right, Right.

00:51
Kieran
And because. No.

00:51
Julia
Because we have no one's behalf, obviously. I have a bob now. Okay.

00:55
Kieran
I have a shorter hair than I did before.

00:58
Julia
A singular shorter hair. One.

01:00
Kieran
Just one.

01:00
Julia
Just one is a little bit shorter, though. But you can tell it looks really good.

01:03
Kieran
Thank you.

01:03
Julia
You're welcome.

01:05
Kieran
The last few people I've asked about, like, oh, like, do we like it? Because I like. I also, like, dyed the ends of it to match closer to, like, the top of my head. Like, my roots, and they're like, oh, I, like, didn't notice. Well, yeah, I was, like, awesome. At least lie three inches. And I also dye my hair, like, not brassy orange. Right. But it's okay. It's okay.

01:24
Julia
See if I care.

01:25
Kieran
No, I have never cared once. Name a time when.

01:27
Julia
No.

01:27
Kieran
Right.

01:27
Julia
And, like, why would you even say that?

01:29
Kieran
I would.

01:29
Julia
Guys, somebody left a tech deck in the studio, and it's a little bit silly.

01:34
Kieran
It's like one of those, like, tiny skateboard things that you use your fingers to ride, you know?

01:38
Julia
I don't know how to work it.

01:39
Kieran
All right.

01:40
Julia
Okay. Sorry, guys.

01:41
Kieran
It's a fun party trick. I feel like that I need to learn at some point.

01:44
Julia
I like that.

01:45
Kieran
But catch me up on your summer or since, I don't know, like, May of this year.

01:50
Julia
Yeah.

01:51
Kieran
It's August 31st when we're recording this, so it's been a few months.

01:55
Julia
Time flies, y'.

01:55
Kieran
All.

01:56
Julia
It really does. Right. In terms of me, I was in Reidsville, North Carolina, this summer because I had an internship in Greensboro.

02:03
Kieran
How was that?

02:05
Julia
It was Reidsville, North Carolina, for sure. Yeah, it was. It really was. There's about nothing going on there.

02:10
Kieran
A top three travel destination of that, yes, of course.

02:13
Julia
But no. And now going into the summer, my goal was to, like, be okay with relaxing, because when it's time to relax, I just feel guilty that I'm not being productive, you know?

02:23
Kieran
Yeah.

02:25
Julia
So it kind of forced me to be bored and be okay with it, which is probably good. And it was, like, okay for, like, a while, but then I started to be, like, okay, this is, like, probably the worst thing ever. Because I'm like. Because I don't know. I didn't have any friends there, and I wasn't going dancing. And, like, it was just. It was weighing on me.

02:41
Kieran
Yo. Right?

02:44
Julia
So that's what my summer consisted of. Personally. I went to Maine for a wedding. That was fun. I saw a whale. Oh. And, oh, my little boyfriend came to visit me all the time. We went. We went glamping. It was fun. Went to Wilmington, Hung out with Roddy. I think that's all the interesting stuff I did.

03:09
Kieran
Yeah.

03:10
Julia
Yeah.

03:10
Kieran
What about you? Not a ton. I spent a lot of the summer working and taking summer classes.

03:16
Julia
Oh, I took classes as well.

03:17
Kieran
I forgot.

03:18
Julia
Yeah.

03:18
Kieran
I took accounting, and these are all. Classes were all remote. So, like. Like, I never met anybody once. So there was accounting, yoga, and, like, fitness and wellness. I can't.

03:28
Julia
With the yoga.

03:29
Kieran
So in terms of yoga, what Julia is preliminarily laughing, too, is the fact that to submit for yoga, you have to take a picture of yourself doing the various yoga positions and just, like, with a timer or, like, a video, and then you, like, screenshot it, and then.

03:43
Julia
Right.

03:43
Kieran
And so there are literal photos of me laying in my. Because I still work at student media in my office on the floor in, like, Upward dog. It's pretty bad. Like, you need to do a front and a side view. So sometimes if I'm, like, laying completely on the floor, it's just, like, a photo of my feet.

04:00
Julia
Wait, you know what you need? Have you seen those things that they have at, like, events where you stand on the middle and the camera goes, like, around? Yes. That's what you need for yoga.

04:06
Kieran
I really don't think we need that. A 360 view of me hitting tree pose is, I think, the last thing I need.

04:13
Julia
That is really.

04:14
Kieran
But that was really humbling because that was the only, like, perception that the professor had of me is, like, my. Like, the photo I took of myself doing a lunge. That's pretty tough. So that got me good. And everybody. I Show the photos to. Also hysterically laughed. So I'm not really sure where I'm going to take that. I took accounting online. Best decision I ever made. Got an A plus, thank God. And it was a second accounting, so I'm officially done.

04:36
Julia
Yay.

04:37
Kieran
Whoop. I never want to go back, but I actually don't have to. And I don't have to. I didn't even have to take a final for that class. Speaking of final, I actually forgot to take my final for my yoga class.

04:46
Julia
I do recall this. Yes.

04:48
Kieran
Oh, it was bad. Basically, like she posted the final. But what I didn't realize when I read it is that it was only open for like 12 hours. So she posted it open at like 9am and then it was like closed by 9pm or like 7 and 7 or something. And I had. When I read it, I was like, oh, I just have to do the final that week. So I like put down on my calendar. I was gonna do it on Wednesday. Cause I had time on Wednesday that I could do it in naturally.

05:07
Julia
Naturally.

05:08
Kieran
On Tuesday I open up my email to like clear the inbox and I see that like the submission's overdue. And I was like, wait, what? Like, it's open all week? Like it was not open all week. So I got a big fat zero. It was 20% of my grade. Big fat zero or 15 or something like that brought my grade down like 20 points, 25 points.

05:25
Julia
I was like,.

05:28
Kieran
Well, luckily the it was through Wake Tech, so it didn't count towards my grade or my gpa.

05:32
Julia
Oh, for some reason I thought you were taking that through NC State.

05:35
Kieran
I didn't take any of them through NC State. They're all three tech because it's cheaper.

05:38
Julia
Whoa. Did you see that? I just did a trick.

05:39
Kieran
Hold on.

05:42
Julia
That was pretty cool.

05:43
Kieran
Basically the skateboard was like wheel side up and she just did like. It did like a triple flip and it landed wheels.

05:48
Julia
Yeah, pretty much. I'm a skateboarder now, so I now I really fit in with WKNC because I can skateboard. So.

05:55
Kieran
Wow. That's the requirement when you join.

05:57
Julia
It's true.

05:57
Kieran
Is to learn skateboarding.

05:59
Julia
That's why we don't work here anymore because we can't actually skateboard.

06:02
Kieran
When I was younger, my aunt had a skateboard that we like had in our garage. And sometimes I would take it out, but. And I was like going to try and teach myself how to skateboard, but instead I would sit on the skateboard in like fetal position, but like right side up. On the skateboard and just like wheel down the sidewalk.

06:14
Julia
Oh yeah, I'd be doing that now.

06:15
Kieran
And I was like, yeah, okay. I skateboarded. Like I moved and you did, and.

06:18
Julia
You're on a skateboard.

06:19
Kieran
So I boarded and there you go. Tada. Yeah, so that was pretty funny. But yeah, over the summer I did that. I took classes, I worked and I had a serving job that was humbling.

06:30
Julia
Serving?

06:31
Kieran
Yeah, it was funny cuz in my Google calendar it was like from 4 to 10 serve. And sometimes I was like, sometimes I would like have my calendar, but my friends like, why are you like eating down for four hours? And I was like it's just like I need to remind myself who I am as a person. Make sure that I'm really like taking.

06:48
Julia
Care just to kind of.

06:50
Kieran
But I was like, no, I'm. I actively like dealing with people. Right. And that led to some fun stories. Fun times.

06:57
Julia
Not a lot of money.

06:59
Kieran
No, not a lot of money. But it was okay one time. The, the flattering story that I love is one time I was serving and there's like no one there except for like this guy who was like 26 or something like that. At the time I was still 19. And so I'm like serving them and whatever. And it's like at this place you don't have to do a ton of like going to the table. They like do an activity or they're doing other things and you kind of just like check on them to see if they need anything. And I was like, hey, like, we're all good. Like live.

07:25
Julia
Love, love.

07:26
Kieran
Like where are we at? And he was like, yeah, like I actually just had like a quick question for you. And I was like, yeah, like, what's up? You need like napkins or something? And he's like, you know, like, I don't know if this is weird or not. And I was like, are you about to ask about like a triple dipper sauce? Like what is happening right here? And he was like, you know, like, if you're free, you're not seeing anyone, like if you wanted to get like coffee or something, blah, blah. And I was like, I'm really loving this. However, I. I think I responded with literally, do you. How old are you? And he was like, I'm like 26 or something like that. And I was like, okay, that's not that bad. I was 19.

07:56
Julia
That's not that bad.

07:57
Kieran
That's pretty bad.

07:59
Julia
I.

07:59
Kieran
What are we gonna go do together to bond?

08:02
Julia
I don't know. I You know, I can't speak on that though.

08:05
Kieran
Girl. 19 And 26 is. I like. I know. I. I like, yeah, but no, right?

08:13
Julia
And we all have our own journeys. And I think that's beautiful. And I think that's very beautiful.

08:17
Kieran
Yeah, I like. And I was like, hey, like, yeah, like, I'm 19. And he was like, oh, have a great rest of your day, ma'. Am.

08:25
Julia
Oh.

08:25
Kieran
And then he left.

08:26
Julia
Okay, man.

08:26
Kieran
Like the building. And I was like, oh, yeah. So I, like, gained a couple brownie points and then like, lost them in the same conversation.

08:34
Julia
Well, that's still, like. I feel like that's still net positive.

08:37
Kieran
No. Yeah, like, I gained three, lost two.

08:39
Julia
Yeah, yeah, I like that.

08:41
Kieran
So I still gain one. But that. That was funny. I had that happen a couple times, but sometimes they were like 60 years old, and I was like, hey, like, I don't know how old you think I am, but it's not the age you think it is. Oh, my God.

08:50
Julia
I was contra dancing this weekend and an old guy was like, oh, you're flexible. And I said, oh, I feel sick. I feel sick to my stomach. I feel sick to my stomach. I said, oh, don't touch me.

09:01
Kieran
Get away from it.

09:02
Julia
Oh, my God. Also, a cockroach crawled on my back at the Contradance.

09:05
Kieran
So I said, oh, I would run. I would physically. I had to kill a cockroach that was like the size of my palm of my hand, my kitchen.

09:12
Julia
And I.

09:13
Kieran
It was at like, also 7:30 in the morning. So I already, like, don't want to be alive at 7:30 in the morning on like a Tuesday.

09:19
Julia
Yeah.

09:19
Kieran
And then I look, I'm like, making my coffee, trying to, like, get through life, and I see this, like, hawkers just, like, skedaddling on the floor. I think I to myself was like, well, yes. And then I started physically, like, dry heaving as I killed it for some reason. That's like the one bug I cannot do.

09:35
Julia
Like, there's just something about him. There's just something about him.

09:37
Kieran
Yeah, I can't.

09:39
Julia
Sorry.

09:39
Kieran
Especially when it's that big.

09:42
Julia
Yeah, we don't do that here. Well, guys, we're seniors this year.

09:48
Kieran
This is true.

09:49
Julia
It's true. This is our last year. Yeah.

09:52
Kieran
I don't know how I feel about it yet. When I was a freshman, I was like, get me out of here. Get me out of here.

09:56
Julia
Get me out of here. I want to do it.

09:57
Kieran
I want to do it.

09:58
Julia
Wait.

09:58
Kieran
And now I'm doing the thing, the stereotypical thing where you're like the senior. And you're like, wait. It's kind of fun all the time.

10:03
Julia
Go. I like, well, here's my situation. I, like, feel fine about it most days, but then I'll go to, like, PCM or something.

10:12
Kieran
Yeah.

10:12
Julia
And I'll be like, oh, this is my last August at pcm. Or, like. And then I think about how all my friends are gonna be freaking hanging out next year without me. And I'm like, oh, so I just could be at home alone and you're gonna be having fun. Oh, awesome.

10:25
Kieran
Perfect.

10:25
Julia
Perfect.

10:27
Kieran
Yeah. I don't know. I haven't fully accepted it yet. I think. I think the thing that's, like, getting me the most is because I'm gonna graduate when I'm 20 years old because my birthday's late, that, like, I'm gonna be 20 in the workforce that I'm supposed to be in for the next, like, 40 years.

10:46
Julia
Yeah, but that means you retire early. Sure. Got him.

10:49
Kieran
Like, loving that. However, like, I don't know if I'm ready to just be into the thing that, like, I do for the next 40 years. Like, in the school system, you're always moving towards the next thing, and it's always for a certain amount of time. And you're in elementary school and you're going to middle school, so you're preparing for that. And then in middle school, you're preparing for high school, and there's three years you prepare for that. And then, you know, you're preparing in high school for college, and there's four years you prepare for that. And then in college, you're preparing for, quote, the real World. And then that's just an indefinite amount of time. Like, there's no next thing. You just, like, do it.

11:16
Kieran
Well, like, on a general level, obviously, you can get promotions and, like, you know, travel and, like, do all these things. But, like, that's like, the next big stage is you just, like, work, like, the ta da. Like, you did it, like, and now I'm supposed to.

11:28
Julia
I agree.

11:28
Kieran
And I'm so used to doing things for, like, at most, like, elementary school was, like, five years or six years kindergarten or whatever. Like, at most six years, like, doing a general principle. And every year is different. Anyways, I'm not used to doing something for 40 years. Like, I'm gonna get bored in, like, three months.

11:43
Julia
Like, right. I. I've had the same thought. That's why I'm, like, really stressed about, like, what my first job will because I don't want it to be Like, I just do the same task every single day. And there's. Because I like to work on like a project. Like, I like to see, I like to start something and work on it and see it finish and see it implemented, but like doing one task mindlessly. Right. I just can't, like, I, I just can't. Like, I. That would just be awful.

12:06
Kieran
I mean, and obviously we never worked a big job like that, so maybe it's not all, you know, thunderclouds and dark storms.

12:12
Julia
Well, it's definitely not.

12:13
Kieran
But I still like my perception of it isn't as wonderful as I would love it to be. So I'm like, I'm considering getting a remote job and then just going in, living in different places in the US and like traveling.

12:25
Julia
I knew somebody that did that and they really enjoyed it.

12:27
Kieran
Yeah, I just want to, like. Because I can't go to grad school for a couple more years because. Well, I mean, I could, but most grad schools want you to have three years of full time experience, like at a minimum. And I have three years of part time experience and it's great part time experience and it's multiple different versions of it, but none of it's full time, so it doesn't really count. I want to like work for three years before I go get my masters. Yeah. Just so I have more options.

12:52
Julia
Yeah.

12:52
Kieran
But I like, I don't know, I don't remember the original point I was gonna make, but all that to say is I have so much time. Like, I just.

12:58
Julia
Yeah.

12:59
Kieran
I'm going to be still so young when I go into grad school. Like, I'll most likely be one of the youngest people in my class. Like, and that's fine. Like, I don't care, but like, I want to like live life and like, still, like, I don't know, I want to have stories to tell and do something fun. But also like I don't have to pay rent. I just reserve a verbo for a month.

13:16
Julia
Like, I don't know, paying rent is awful.

13:20
Kieran
Yes.

13:20
Julia
I'm sorry. I like this year because I've been living on campus for my entire college career of oh yeah, this three years or whatever. But yeah, this year I'm living off campus and I'm paying rent out of my own bank account instead of it being just like kind of combined on my tuition bill that I like pay in various ways. So now it's like I.

13:40
Kieran
There's multiple bills, right?

13:41
Julia
There's multiple bills because you gotta pay for food and utilities and yeah. It's terrifying. And then I still want to have fun. Like, I don't know. But like, I don't really like. Fun for me just means like eating food. Yeah. Outside of my home. So that's like, not crazy. But I don't know. It's been a journey.

14:05
Kieran
Yeah. The first of the month is really humbling for me.

14:07
Julia
Yeah.

14:08
Kieran
I get really put back down on my roots.

14:09
Julia
Yeah. Yeah.

14:10
Kieran
You see me, like go through an evolution where like, I'm eating just ramen for three days and then I go to like meal bread. Then I go up to like, wait, I'm gonna eat out this week. And immediately then the next week I.

14:18
Julia
Go back to like. I'm kind of. Kind of sitting with that. I finally. I got to go grocery shopping yesterday.

14:23
Kieran
Yeah.

14:24
Julia
Because I had a gift card, so it wasn't even real money. It was a gift card.

14:27
Kieran
Yeah. You didn't spend anything.

14:28
Julia
Right. So that was pretty great. But then rent goes through tomorrow, so.

14:34
Kieran
Yeah, I'm really excited about that.

14:36
Julia
Yeah.

14:36
Kieran
I did Life hack. Saving up money for rent over the summer is the craziest thing you'll ever do. Guys, do it.

14:42
Julia
Yeah.

14:42
Kieran
I've saved it up over three months of rent over the summer. Pretty great. So I'm pretty excited about that.

14:49
Julia
Pretty excited.

14:50
Kieran
Because now it's not all coming out of just like the like savings or like the checking account or whatever.

14:55
Julia
Right.

14:56
Kieran
Oh, that. It gets. You good. Yes. You good.

14:58
Julia
Yeah.

15:00
Kieran
I don't know. Changing topic. I don't know in terms of the podcast, how much we'll be filming.

15:05
Julia
Right.

15:06
Kieran
However, we do plan to like pop in here and there at least once.

15:09
Julia
A month back in, you know.

15:11
Kieran
You know, and it'll be longer than 20 minutes. I just happen to have a lot of like, meetings. We're busy lined up today.

15:15
Julia
I also gotta write notes for my class. It's at 1:30, so.

15:18
Kieran
Yeah. Right, perfect. But I'm hoping that we can be here at least twice a month. Yeah, we'll probably have a new cover.

15:26
Julia
That's when twice a month counts as full time.

15:28
Kieran
We could be paid.

15:29
Julia
That's what we said.

15:30
Kieran
We can't.

15:30
Julia
We can't possibly do that. We could do that.

15:33
Kieran
Maybe they'll have an opening. We could Lowkey. We could email.

15:36
Julia
Wait.

15:37
Kieran
Hey, guys, we might be getting. We might do this full time. Wait, okay, so TPD on that. It just. It just won't be every week for an hour. It just might be twice a week for an hour.

15:47
Julia
That's when we make our job harder because we're like, we have to do it every week. But we don't actually. Don't.

15:51
Kieran
Yes, you don't. I keep looking at the camera, but there's no.

15:54
Julia
I'm not. I'm kind of clocking that. I'm like, that's really silly to me because there's nothing there.

15:57
Kieran
Because I keep trying to do, like, a dramatic face. Like, I feel like my stories are funnier because you can see my face when I'm doing it. And so. Or like whatever I'm saying is more like whatever because I always hit like a dramatic side eye because it's like. Anyways, that doesn't really make guys.

16:10
Julia
Like, I saw the toe shoe guy this morning and I got that fire picture. That was a really good picture.

16:14
Kieran
You were like. And you can really see the. It's distinguished toes happening.

16:18
Julia
Yes.

16:18
Kieran
Well, if we put a reel up, we'll put the photo up.

16:20
Julia
Yeah. Don't even worry. It's. And we'll blur out his face. Well, yeah, the side of his face. Yeah.

16:27
Kieran
We should make a compilation reel of like, just all of the photos of Toshu guy that we've collected over the.

16:32
Julia
Past year to know who he is. At the end of this year, we need to get him on the podcast.

16:36
Kieran
Did I need this man? Like, not. I don't need that man. I need to know who this man is. Sorry, I don't, guys. In the sense that I need this man to know that. Like, we know about. Like, I need to know who he is. I know the story. I didn't know his upbringing. What. What brings him to take so many walks every single day. In the winter, he goes out of.

16:54
Julia
Beard and he wears a little hat and a scarf. It's really cute.

16:57
Kieran
I need to know if he has seven of the same outfit or like one or two that he just washes every day. He has never worn anything but the same white shirt. Yeah, but it's a button up with the. And it's long sleeve. And then there's a white T shirt underneath. And then khakis with a brown belt and the toe shoes. And then in the winter, it's that same fit, but there's also a gray, like trench coat situation that's like wool with like darker but one singular scarf. And then that like grayish hat or whatever it is.

17:20
Julia
Yeah. So don't you know, my. My papa, he has. He has worn the same thing to work every single day since I was 5 years old. And it's a blue button down and khakis and shoes and a belt and he just has in his closet, it's just five blue shirts hanging up and then five pairs of khakis.

17:39
Kieran
That's so good. My professor at one of my classes, Lowkey wears the same thing every day.

17:42
Julia
And that's valid. I wear this outfit like at least three times a week.

17:45
Kieran
That's, that's fair. I mean, Lowkey, I only see him twice a week though. So like, I don't really know. But like every lecture he's worn the same exact thing. Or it's the same shirt, but a different color. But usually it's the same exact shirt and the same pants. So like, I. I just need to know his backstory. I mean, not his box stories. His box, I would say.

18:02
Julia
Yeah.

18:02
Kieran
But anyhow, expect potentially a lot or maybe somewhat expect something from here to there taking you through the senior year extravaganza. Lots of stories hopefully will be told. I do have to hop off because I have 101 things to do today, but I'm glad we got to, yeah, do a little communication.

18:23
Julia
Just a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

18:25
Kieran
You know, nuts and bobs. Well, guys, we are here to tell.

18:31
Julia
You the truth, cuz they don't always get it right.

18:34
Kieran
Bye, guys. Sat.
Transcribed by https://fireflies.ai/
We're Lowkey So Back.mp3
Meeting created at: 1st Sep, 2026 - 10:43 AM