Empowering First-Year Students: Well-Being, Belonging & Breaking Barriers - Adventures in Advising

Guest host Raezheen Pascua, academic advisor at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa teams up with program director Pearlena (Lena) Sarono Stone for an inspiring episode recorded fresh off their presentation at the 2025 NASPA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Together, they dive into how First Year Experience courses can be powerful tools for promoting holistic student well-being, easing the college transition, and creating inclusive spaces—especially for students from marginalized communities.

From innovative engagement strategies to the success of their dual enrollment programs, Rae and Lena share insights, stories, and real talk about navigating higher ed—including their own experiences with imposter syndrome and personal growth.

This episode is a must-listen for educators, advisors, and anyone passionate about student success. 🌱✨

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Transcript

Matt Markin  
Hey, this is Matt Markin, and I'm excited to welcome you to another fabulous episode of The Adventures in advising podcast. We have a guest host today, and that is returning guest, Raezheen Pascua from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Rae last appeared on the podcast in Episode 98 titled cultivating development through mentorship. Rae, welcome back to the podcast.

Raezheen Pascua  
Such a pleasure to be back. Thank you for welcoming back, Matt.

Matt Markin  
Us recording today, I mean, this is going to be published later on in a month, but coming off the heels of NASPA, and I know it's gonna be part of this interview today, so looking forward to hearing about that, and I really appreciate you coming back on the podcast and to guest host. I know it's gonna be a fantastic interview, so I'll turn it over to you to start your interview with your special guest.

Lena Sarono Stone  
Perfect. Thank you, Matt. So just a reminder from our new listeners as well. My name is Raezheen Pascua. I go by Rae for short. I use she her pronouns. And I work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa as an academic advisor in our Manoa Advising Center. And then today, with me, I have a very dear friend and colleague on the call. So I'll pass it to her to fully introduce herself, but go ahead, Lena. 

Lena Sarono Stone  
Hi, Aloha, everyone. My name is Pearlena, serrano stone. I go by Lena. I also go by she/her pronouns. I am the program director for METS. It's a program that stands for Manoa Educational Talent Search. It is housed within the UH Manoa system, and I'm truly happy to be here, Rae.

Raezheen Pascua  
hey, yes, so happy to be here with you. And just as Matt mentioned, we're fresh off the hills of the 2025 NASPA annual conference in New Orleans. So we had the opportunity to present with each other, which actually we should actually share a little bit more about how we know each other. So I'll pass that over to Lena if you want to kind of start off like, where did we first introduce because our story is very intertwined from undergrad and now it's kind of like a full circle moment for us to be able to give this presentation.

Lena Sarono Stone  
Yes, I first met Ray when we both attended Leeward Community College in Waianae, and she was the student government representative for our little satellite community college, and I introduced myself. Little did we know that eventually our journeys would lead us back again together at UH West Oahu. And then we were pretty much voluntold to enter to join the NASPA program. And we got into that program. So Rae can talk a little bit more about our interaction at the program itself.

Raezheen Pascua  
Yeah, so I know most of our listeners are active members in NACADA. So NUF just stands for our NASPA undergraduate fellowship program. So through that program, we got to have kind of like a mini introduction, or like pre grad school feel of higher education, kind of learning about, like the politics the history of higher education also help us to find like where we might want to end up in the future. So we actually got to attend our very first conference, and I have our little timeline, so we attend our very first conference in 2017 and then we just both continue to be active members through NASPA up until that time. So Lena was a participant. With the region six board, and then she also did the Graduate Academic Program. And then for myself, because I was back in Florida at that point, I participated in, like the case study, and then became a part of the APIKC, or our Asian Pacific Islanders knowledge community. So it was really cool just to be able to have this opportunity together, because we used to talk about that a lot of when we were in undergrad, of like, one day we're going to be those people up there giving the presentations and sharing our story. So I think that is the perfect segue into our actual conversation, our conference presentation. So for our conference, we presented on promoting holistic well being, enhancing college transition and health through First Year Experience courses and to kind of start us off, I thought it was really important that we started with our beloved communities. So this is a lesson that was taught to Lena and I through our NUF program by Aunty Pua, who is a pillar and a foundation within our community. So I'll pass it back over to Lena so she can introduce the beloved communities, and then we'll walk through it so that way you all can hear it, and maybe you can use it for yourselves, arguing with your students, because we found that it's not only grounding for ourselves, but it's also grounding for our students, especially those with marginalized communities.

Lena Sarono Stone  
Thank you, Rae. So Aunty Pua is also known as Aunty Puanani Burges. She is a pillar within our white nie community. So she's basically a storyteller. And I first met Aunty Pua as an undergraduate at UH West Oahu, and it's just the way that she shared and she provided her framework, and that how she saw the value in each of us and in her sharing of her framework, she shared how there's a lot of times that the school system today does not really recognize or doesn't really see the gifts in students. We're not taught to for students to share about their gifts. And she just shared the importance of knowing what your gift is and finding the passion and that how your gift can help not only yourself, but also for your community. And when we're talking with or the our students that we either advise or we are having our early college classes, a lot of them, when you ask them, they don't even know what their gifts are until we allowed them to watch her videos, and we just kind of talked through it and guided them in a conversation to really recognize that a gift isn't something materialistic, But it's something that is just already in you. And there was a lot of discussions, because a lot of the students realize, like just having the gift of friendship, or having the gift of giving to others showing appreciation, those are little things that they really didn't consider themselves of having a gift, but it really helped the students see themselves in value for the things that that's their strengths, and it actually changed the dynamics of the class, because now they looked at each other in a different way, and kind of honored their strengths within themselves. Want to add anything to that Rae?

Raezheen Pascua  
No, I think you described it perfectly. And then just to kind of set an example for our listeners, we can kind of walk you through the framework, or like how you would do this as an activity with your students. So normally, you would start off by asking, what is the story of your name that becomes especially important in different marginalized communities, especially in Hawaii, because our names have a lot of power to them, right? Our parents gave us our names too for particular reasons, and that they were hoping we would embody those values when they gave provided us with our name. So that's how you normally would start. I'll skip that portion, and then I'll go to the next question, though. And so for Lena to ask, what is your gift?

Lena Sarono Stone  
So my gift, and I would tell the students, I would say my gift was the gift of gap or having the opportunity to be in a room and not necessarily knowing anybody, but allowing myself to feel comfortable to share and to be able to strike up a conversation. To be able to share my story, and I think that that has also helped me throughout all of my career in higher education, as well as other roles that I played within the community and for the students to hear that. I think they understood it, because they realized that I have the capacity of being able to just track up the conversation, being able to also, I think it's important with with my gift is also having the ability to listen and just to be empathetic to people and especially our students. It because of the marginalized community that they come from. A lot of times, people don't really hear them right. A lot of times, it's always because of the behavior or the community that they come from. They really don't take the time to listen to the students and they and to look beyond their their insecurities, or to look beyond their issues that they're having. A lot of times they're only looked upon in our community as everything that they're doing wrong and not the potential that they have. So it's important to just have conversations. I think you can't start anything without building the trust. And so a lot of the times that we do these types of lesson is to get the students comfortable enough to allow them to see themselves, to see themselves in in how we are and knowing that we're from the same community, we've had all these struggles with you and that we're sharing, we're being open and comfortable enough to share with you, right? Do you feel that way too, Rae?

Raezheen Pascua  
Yeah, I absolutely feel the same way, and it's funny that you share that as your gifts, because that's exactly what I share with my students is that I'm compassionate and I'm empathetic. Again, hitting back on our communities. Think it's oftentimes thought that like students from these backgrounds have to just be strong all the time, just so that way they can push through and get through these barriers, but also just to, I guess, meet the external expectation of those outside the community. Because, for reference, a lot of people say, like, Oh, you're from Waianae, or you're from Makaha, you must have like, a lot of attitude, or like, must be aggressive in that type of way. But the reality is that most of the time they are the biggest hardest, like students or people they really want to uplift and support those that are around them, and it actually truly is a power. It's their strength in the long run that like allows them to continue to give to others, even though they do have these challenges in their way. So just as Lina mentioned, like being able to have someone that looks like them from similar communities, say, No, my compassion and my empathy is truly my gift that's helped me to, like, uplift not only myself but others. It helps them realize too, like, oh, okay, so that isn't a weakness. I don't have to play by like, this external card of what people are expecting of me. I can just be me and find like, power strengthen them.

Speaker 1  
And I think a lot of times they think, not me, right? But it's kind of like someone is encouraging them to realize their potential. Because I think a lot of times these students in Hawaii, the culture is not to be boastful, not to brag about yourself, right? Or if you have anything that you're accomplishing, our culture is always taught to be just humble, be submissive, you know, acknowledge quietly, and they're not taught to talk about their strengths. And so this is like a perfect lesson for them to feel comfortable to having discussions in a group to just share about what their strengths and what they're good at, because that's just something that they're not used to. And so a lot of our local students, when they they go into settings where they're forced to have discussions in front of people and to talk about themselves, it's very uncomfortable. So I think just building that for these students is very important, especially because of the community they come from.

Raezheen Pascua  
Absolutely. And I think that's exactly why, with the third question that you had asked in that activity, it kind of like helps them see that you're focusing on these strengths, not just for yourself, but for your overall community. So the third question, and I'll post this to Lena, is, what makes up or who is your beloved community?

Speaker 1  
Oh, so for me, I come for, I would say my community, because when people ask that question, it's how you define it, right? So you can we. We would tell our students that we would define Community, the place that you come from, the people that you surround yourself, right? And a lot of times a community could also be the people that you associate with. So when I share with the students, I do tell them that I am from white and I community as far as the place, but the community, the people that I surround myself, is the people, depending on which group that I'm part of. So I can be part of many groups, for instance, with within higher education. I'm part of all these different wonderful colleagues, mentors, my support system that has helped me within higher ed. And then I can also say I'm part of a like being part of NASPA. That's another community having those type of relationships. And so for me, my community is also defined as the people that I surround myself to be supportive, for me to be uplifting. My community is also my family. So once we explain that, or we share that, then the students definitely feel a lot more comfortable sharing that information as well. And so now I oppose that question to you, Rae, who is and what is your community?

Raezheen Pascua  
Yeah, similar to leader, I also try to hit on the different facets of what makes up my own community I share with students like my beloved community does make up higher education, since it was one of the first spaces where I truly felt like safe, but that I also felt empowered to be a leader, which was also very new, because, again, that's something that people within our community don't really hear themselves like that's not ever told to them. So as Lena shared at the beginning of our, start of our story together as being the Waianae senator, but initially, I didn't actually, you know, see the application and be like, Oh yes, I'm gonna go ahead and do this. It was because of summer Miles, who was the Student Activities Coordinator at the time, who came up to me was like, Hey, I feel like you're a really strong leader. So you should encourage consider applying for student government. And it's like, from that experience, I want to share that exact same thing for other students, again, with your gift. And like having that understanding, you can uplift this like beloved community you're thinking of. And then something else too, Lena may talk about is our families. A lot. We see our, you know, brothers, sisters, so our present generation, we see the future generation. So Lena has children, I hopefully one day might have children as well. So like, what access will they have to higher education in the future, and then even our past generation? So we're thinking back to, like, our great grandparents, our grandparents, especially when you start incorporating, like colonialism, immigrating to the United States, they didn't necessarily have a lot of opportunities to go into higher education and to essentially move up that economic and social water. So it's always important that I share that with students too, because in Hawaii, often times people are living with their extended family members. So it's not just mom and dad and brother, sister at the house. You have grandparents, aunties, uncles, all types of people living at home.

Lena Sarono Stone  
Generational, right? Or we live in, I mean, because it's also so expensive to live in Hawaii, but it's that's just the culture, I think for for many of us here, is just be supportive of your family, whether they're your auntie or uncle and even your grandparents. So yeah, that's super important. And I think for for us, there's a lot of our family members that would never have thought that they would even get into the place where it's where Rae and I are in in higher education, especially from us, coming from Waianae, right? A lot of times, even for us to have be considered women scholars and and having our masters, and for me, especially, because I was a return student. So I initially went to college, dropped out, came back strong, got my degree, and so it's I feel when I mentor students, or when I advise students because of my background, as far as being a recent college graduate, also having a lot, a lot of these life experiences, I'm able to also relate to a lot of their parents, or just other females who are being inspired and want to return to college. I think it's, it's something where I'm fortunate to do, and then, you know, if I didn't go to college, I wouldn't have met Rae and I. Wouldn't have been in this position. So it's, it's such a awesome feeling to know, like just in our journey itself, too, and where we came from.

Raezheen Pascua  
Absolutely. And I love the fact that you did hit on storytelling. Are in Hawaii, it's known as molelo, because just like Aunty Pula, she was a storyteller. And then it's really important for us to continue to share our stories, just because, right sometimes, when you're being the instructor in front of the class, or you're on the Zoom room, students see you as this high up, like mythical creature, in a way, that's like inhuman. But then when I very openly pull up my old student record and show them like, nope. I was also a 2.9 graduate student that was trying to manage working three jobs and taking care of our beloved communities and within our households too. It gives them that realization, and I think that sense of relief, of like, okay, I can one get through it because my instructor got through it. But two that the GPA. And I tell my students this all the time in class, the GPA at the end of the day is not your end all be all like that does not make up new in the entirely. It does not share the background stories of like sleeping in the car and then showering in between. The, yeah, exactly the two hour bus ride as leader and I know just to get to the Pearl City Campus. None of it actually like factors into the GPA. Unfortunately, it's just a number, and we just remind them that don't let that number be the thing that defines you at the end of the day too, because there are aspects of your stories that other people don't get to see until you actually share it with them, right?

Lena Sarono Stone  
I don't think sometimes, I don't think the GPA, it doesn't reflect the resilience of a student, the perseverance of a student, right? As Ray shared like we are prime examples of having to deal with low GPAs I, for instance, I didn't realize when I came back to college 20 years ago, my bad grade still stayed with me, so me having to turn my grades around, and eventually I was able to be be on the Dean's list. You know that just is grades, to me, does not show the value of what a student can actually do. Yes, it helps. But in the end, if you can build up the resiliency and the perseverance in the student and to just have them gain the confidence that if it's something that they want to work hard for, they can get to it and and they can come back with vengeance, right, and be what they want to be.

Raezheen Pascua  
Absolutely. So these are lessons, conversations we constantly have with students in our is 103, introduction to college course, which I'll share a little bit more about what the purpose of the course is. But before we get into that, I want to have Lena share some about like the numbers when it comes to graduation rates, when it comes to the Waianae communities, just so that way, it also puts it in perspective of how important these dual enrollment courses are to help uplift these communities. 

Lena Sarono Stone  
So at Nanakuli, and Waianae, the background of the community is we have one of the highest dropout rates across the state. We have one of the lowest rates of students persisting to the next grade level. We have one of the highest absentee rates. We have one of the highest in the state of teenage pregnancies, low test scores, low enrollment in post secondary education. A lot of a lot of our students are first gen so their parents has never gone to college, and a lot of times they're the first in their families to actually graduate and even attend college, and a lot of them are a low income. And so all of these statistics, or what I'm sharing with you comes from our data that is being pulled from the Department of Education. And so a lot of times these students do not have access to WiFi at home. They don't have a healthy living condition, and a lot of times these students are when they come to school, it's all about survival once they get home, right? So a lot of times, school is a safe haven for them. They have the support that they need from teachers. They have a free meal, they can socialize with friends. They're in an air conditioned classroom, but once they get home. Home, it's a whole different scenario for them. So that's what we're also battling with these students. Is trying to, you know, advise them and mentor them the importance of their education and and wanting to get to college. But at the same time, we're also have to be mindful of the the things that they're dealing with at home that we don't see right? So a lot of times, these students are also having to work a job to support their family, having to be a caregiver to either their grandparents or even their younger siblings, or just not even having a place to comfortably call home, right? And so these are the struggles that the students deal with, in addition of them trying to just get through college or get through high school.

Raezheen Pascua  
Absolutely. Thank you, leader for sharing some of the numbers with us and just kind of having a better understanding of our communities. So for context, Lena and I both taught is 103 introduction to college. This course is actually offered through Leeward Community College. So we are very, very grateful that we had the opportunity to go back to our alma maters that we initially started with to teach this class and directly work with the community or the students from the communities that we were from as well. So just to share a little bit about the class, it's designed for First Year Experience course, our first year students that are dual enrolled in high school, so both of our students were ninth graders. Christina, yours was ninth grade as well.

Lena Sarono Stone  
Yes, it was ninth through ninth through 12th grade.

Raezheen Pascua  
That's right, yeah, like more of a mixture class, right, right? And then we both offered our classes in different formats, so I taught completely online for my course. And then Lena had the opportunity to go down to the high school to teach hard course and be with the students in a physical format. And so with our class, the learning outcomes, really, that were designed by our early college coordinators is one to develop, or, sorry, foster academic success. So having the students figure out their academic plans just have a overall understanding of like the academic requirements to before they get into college is just as Lena mentioned, their first generation college students. So there's not really an opportunity to go home to ask mom or dad, like, Hey, what is a prerequisite or what is a co requisite. So we really try to help break down the college lingo, you know that you always hear and gets thrown around two it's to connect our students to Leeward Community College, so that way they're aware of the different opportunities that's available to them, and that's free, well, quote, unquote, free to them, or paid by their student services that they can even actually start accessing while they're in dual enrollment for high school. And then lastly, we prepare our students for a responsible and diverse and interconnected world. So that's where we start really hitting on that your why your beloved community. So that way, when they do finally graduate, it's not just a focus on like, what they're accomplishing, but like, how are they going to uplift their communities as well? So now that you have a context of what our course is back, I did want to ask Leah, knowing some of the challenges that the binary community faces. How have you, like navigated that with your students through your course?

Lena Sarono Stone  
For me, I think it's the way that the course is outlined. I really appreciate what our our advisors, who's designed the format of of the actual course, because I think a lot of the students, they don't understand. They never understood what their values and so again, these types of conversations are not normally they don't normally have these types of conversations at home. So for them to understand what their values, what their their reasons, why was something that they never really thought about, but I think after talking about it, they understand now their purpose, why they want to go to college, why do they want to do good in school? And so that was the foundation of building on top of all the other lessons plans that we have, and then we also wanted them to understand the different types of mindsets that they have and what can prevent them from moving forward in and again, it's It's about allowing the students to really have more self reflection on themselves. Yes, we also, I, I also did lessons where they learned how to they learned their different learning styles, or their work styles, right? And so we did fun activities to engage them, to understand like, Oh, this is why I operate in this way. It's because this is my learning style, right? Or this is my personality. So it was, it was very interesting to see, because some of these students were like, Oh, I didn't even realize that I was doing that, because it was never presented to them in the beginning. And so what we also do a temperature. A lot of it, too, is in my class, we do a lot of discussions, we do a lot of hands on activities. So I think for them, the reinforcement of not, you know, because the students nowadays, they have a 10 their attention span is about, what, three minutes, if it's not said with TikTok. You know, time frame, you may lose the students, right? And I tend to talk a lot, but I do a lot of talking, but I also reinforce it with activity. So they do have a hands on activity, whether they're moving, they're writing or they're watching a video. We do a lot of discussions, so that was something that I think that was really important and and I'm very open with them, so I give the students the opportunity to ask me questions if they and I, I'm trying to get them out of that comfort zone of I don't want to ask any questions, because I don't want to be embarrassed, so I don't want to, you know, ask the wrong question, and I tell them, no question is a wrong question if you don't know, you have to learn to advocate for yourself. So a lot of the students, you can even see even with their presentations, the growth of allowing them to feel comfortable in a space and knowing that it's a safe space for them to to share and to to learn. I think that has to that has to be established from the beginning so that the students feel comfortable to make mistakes, right? Because to make mistakes, they need to feel comfortable, to feel like they can learn from it, they can improve and not look at mistakes as an end all be all, but ways to improve themselves. So I try to create a fun, safe, but structure, structured environment for these students. And a lot of times it's very different for them, right? Because they're not used to that. But when I reinforce it, this is just the I'm giving them the experience of what they would be if they choose and when they choose to go to college.

Raezheen Pascua  
And I love that of like creating that safe, brave space. And right, not only do we just tell them at the beginning, I think it's like a constant reminder to because just like you mentioned, like, with the culture of like, you don't want to come off as like, you're being forceful, or like, you know, essentially, like asking too much, like, there's what is the like shape, essentially, that's always like, so big, and why I'm like, Yeah, exactly. So it's a constant reminder of, like, just ask questions. And I think that really solidifies, for like, our growth mindset conversation with our students and showing them that, like, yeah, you might make, like, a mistake here or there, but like, what are you going to do to, like, change it in the future? And it is really fun to just see students have that like, Aha moment, just as you mentioned, and I have it click of like, oh, wait, that's why I care about that thing, or that's why I know for my students, when it came to the values I use therapist aid.com, and they like went through a values worksheet, and they like identified, well, I encourage them to actually speak with mom And dad first to figure out, like, where are your values? And then they listed out their own personal values. And then they kind of, when they spoke about it in class, it's like, oh yeah, it clicks. Like, I never really acknowledge the fact that my mom made sure to always give donations during, like, Christmas time, and that's why I naturally always want to donate. So that's like, the fun aspect. And then, because they're ninth graders, are, well, high schoolers too, I would say they keep us young. I know one of my students always wanted to do like a virtual TikTok dance with me at the start of class, which, Hey, it works really well. Students felt more and more comfortable, especially with that online setting where you can't, like, be in person and, like, touch them or...

Lena Sarono Stone  
Right, right

Raezheen Pascua  
Like, with a hug or, you know, um, so that was always fun, even then too. I always tell students, our other professors, Disney playlists will do you wonders inside of professor.

Lena Sarono Stone  
Right? We have a famous, yeah, one of our famous Hawaii singers, Mooli. He does travel, you know, across the United States as well, but that's something that I'll play that and they'll start like singing, or it's just a nice way to just kind of give them in a relaxed but, you know, ready for the class so and we do icebreakers. So that's a lot of things that they the students, look forward to doing that type of activities as well, just to give them a chance to move, because a lot of them prefer moving than just sitting and hearing me lecture.

Raezheen Pascua  
Oh yeah, absolutely, especially even on Zoom, you get to see it towards the end sometimes, right? Being in the way I keep up with the Nearpod activities, that's personally what I do, to do, like the engagement type of move areas, right? And then, from this, what would you say? Because I know you kind of did video recording of your students, of like, What were their key takeaways? Do you want to share some of that feedback that you received from students, of like, how much this course essentially meant for them and like, their future trajectory?

Lena Sarono Stone  
Yeah, so I had this one student that I didn't realize he had autism until he shared it. But he was a high functioning autism student, and his presentation at the end just blew everybody away. My class was constantly crying because we're so in tune with our emotions that I don't know it wasn't me, and I'm usually the biggest cry baby when it comes to like presentations or classes, and my students have, I have no shame. You know, my students is aware that I'm very I wear my my emotions on my sleeves. But the way that he he basically did his presentation in a forum of a letter to himself. So he did a reflection piece of part of their presentation was do like their past, their present and their future. And so he did a presentation of a letter to himself, sharing of who he was when he first started, and how he was a introvert. Didn't want to sit, you know, be part of the group, to him learning all these different strategies and helpful tips and habits for him. And then he shared how his future self, how he's confident, because now he feels like he does have a support system of teachers, of other students that can support him and that he feels now that he's able to actually take more college classes and perhaps aim to even get an associates while he's still in high school. So that was such a it was such an emotional piece to hear his essentially, like his testimony of what the class has done. And then we've had other students that shared in their videos how taking my course at first, they didn't want to take the course, because they were what we call voluntold, right? Their teacher said that they had to take the course, or, you know, and so they reluctantly took the course. But a lot of them were friends that took the course, but what they got out of it after they were so happy that they did because it the course gave them the confidence they needed to actually see themselves taking more classes and also helping them to prepare for their next step after their post secondary. So these students that I no longer have in the class anymore, when they do see me on campus because of my program does put me in the high schools at their drift campuses, they'll often have conversations with me, and they're all like, Miss Lena, I'm going to come and see you next year when they're juniors, or, you know, when they're seniors, and they're they're confident in applying for college now, they've already done their research. So I'm like, okay, my classes did work like they were. They were paying attention. They actually did what I asked them to or suggested for them to do. So it's kind of like that testimony that, yeah, these students, you know, if you give them a comfortable environment that's structured, that allows them to grow, they'll get so much more out of it than we could possibly imagine, right? And then, how did you experience? What was your experience like, Ray When, at the end of your semesters, when you taught your classes?

Raezheen Pascua  
Yeah, I will answer that question in a moment, but first, I just want to acknowledge how much of a powerhouse Lena is. She's absolutely incredible, because it's. Not just within the classroom, but I feel like you entirely like enrapture students and encourage them to like be their authentic selves, but you always build and boost up their confidence, essentially. So I know you like to do your one on ones, help them with their applications, applying for college, their scholarships, and constantly, throughout all of it, Lena reminds them of just like, how powerful their stories are. So just wanted to take that moment to put it in there, because Lena really this is absolutely incredible. So yes, and also just affirm her. And like, of course, your students took something away. How could they not when they get to meet with such an incredible person as their instructor? But to circle back now to the actual question, I think for my students, it was really cool, because at the end of our class, they do their vision board activity where they get to kind of like, sum up everything that they've learned and how they're going to take it with them. So it was really awesome to just see how they made the connection to every single piece. So not only do we talk about right, like, values, your why, we talked about your healthy lifestyle when it comes to your physical your mental health, we talked about finances. So how do you properly budget? And it was just cool to see students now weren't just thinking of like, Oh, I'm going to college, because this is another thing I have to check off my like, checklist of life here post high school, it was like, Okay, I was seeing students in their vision board saying, I want to make sure I incorporate healthy eating starting now, because I know how it can impact My studies in the future, I'm going to make sure that I'm going to get eight hours of sleep. I had one student share in his vision board that he was it was very eye opening for him to do the budget and just learn about, like, on a monthly basis, how much his parents were spending to help keep, like, the roof over his head and so and ensure that he could have these different opportunities, and then he could see that that influenced him more. So like, Yes, I always wanted to support my family with my future job, but now I know that I need to make X amount of money in the future so that way I can properly support my family. And yeah. So again, it was just incredible to see them put it all together and just see them leaving the space feeling a lot more confident and knowing that they can progress on during dual enrollment classes, because they have the opportunity to do that all through high school and potentially even graduate with their associate's degree and their high school diploma at the same time, and to see them feel like, fully empowered and say, Oh yes, like, I'm going to try my hardest to absolutely pursue that, or at least make it so that way, probably have like, maybe one or two semesters at the community college, and then they can transfer out either to a U H system university, or, most often, a lot of Our students, of course, want to know, explore the mainland or the continental US, I should say, and have that experience too, but then now they have a better understanding of, like, how much it's going to actually cost to have that type of experience. So that was some of what Linas and eyes NASPA conference was about, and I actually now want to just take a couple minutes and ask Lena, what was the vibes? How did you feel about attending your very first national annual, and you got to present at your first ask about annual. So, like I said, a complete power house here.

Lena Sarono Stone  
Oh gosh. You know, I just took Rae's lead. You know, I am so in awe and so inspired by my friend, and if it wasn't for Rae, so it's my turn now to give her props, because, you know, I was just so inspired by by her doing the annual conference. And you know, when she came to me and said, Do you want a partner? I was like, Yes, please, let me partner with you. But you know, Rae has just inspired me from the beginning and and all of her accomplishments that she's done, she's very much a powerhouse as well, and she has a heart to serve her students, too. And so I think that's what connects us so much as well is the fact that we only, we not only want to do good work in in the positions that we do, but it's the students. Ultimately, it's the students that we serve right that we're very we, you know, that's where our heart and our passion is, and I think that's what drives us now, as far as me attending the conference, I've done the the regional types of conferences for NASA, so it was, it's a much smaller scale to attend. The annual was like whoa, because it was just, you know, like, three times larger. There's so many different sessions. All at the same time, so it was so hard to choose. And, you know, I I'm very thankful that we got to go to these different sessions. I think what this, what I picked up from the sessions, is it was also a reminder of, you know, the things that I am currently doing within my program, that it's kind of a check system for me to to be sure that I am doing what I should be doing and my thought process. And it was like confirmation. When I did go to these workshops because of the the tips that I learned, it just reinforced like, Yes, I'm doing it, you know, and I'm doing what I should be doing, it's a good idea, right? But then I also picked up a lot of different strategies that I want to I'm want to implement into our, my current role. And then it's also another reminder of how our program, or our what we do can impact so much other people, right? And so it is wonderful, I think, you know, to just have the opportunity to go and also to present. I was so scared. I'm going to be honest, I'm old, but I was scared to present, as talkative as I am, it was a little nerve wracking, but I had to remind myself, right? That's when the imposters symptoms. You know, syndrome always kicks us. And so for Rae and I, we can share, we both can share our own insecurities on that it's a constant battle, right? No matter how high you get or what positions that you're sitting, because of where we're from, it's always feeling like we're constantly have to always prove ourselves to be worthy or to be at spaces like we've we've presented at. And you know, Rae and I and ray can jump in at any time with this conversation, because, yeah, we both battle with this imposter syndrome, even as as what we achieved, but we have to constantly remind ourselves we already brought the chair where enough to celebrate that it's just our own securities, feeling like we have to do more work. We have to do more right Rae, you can you can share more. 

Raezheen Pascua  
We always feel like we just have to do and like, put on more and more, and that, like, what we're doing isn't ever enough. And I think, well, it's like a mixture, right? Like Lena and I had a lot of conversations in the background of, like, how our teaching, our class was helping us, and, like grounding us again, and our own, like, beloved communities, and why we were doing this, because, you know, higher education is a lot. It's a little crazy, especially, you know, nowadays I won't get into all of that, but you can kind of get lost in it. And if, especially if you're constantly, like, doubting yourself, of like, Am I doing enough, and then you have, like, external people too are questioning, like, oh, like, can you actually, like, put it on this event, like reading in between the lines, you know, of like, how people were worded. I think a lot of you know marginalized people, especially women, do deal with that in their like professions. So it was cool to like, come into that space and one have Lena with me, knowing that I have someone that's going to, like, help support me, who's also going to write uplift and ground me at the same time. That's why I love our one on one conversations. Lee and I talk very honestly, of like how we're feeling in those moments, but then we remind each other too, just like how we did in this this podcast, is like, Hey, you're a powerhouse. You're doing these for your students. And then we both also like to acknowledge, though, that while we're doing these things, that we have the equal weight of our communities. Because it's not ever just about Lena and myself, it's about our students that live on this the wide angles. It's about our family members. It's about the future generations too. So yes, all that to say, although NASPA is ginormous and absolutely exhausting, it's still empowering, and it's a great reminder that we belong here. Just as Lena said, like we already have a chair at the table, you don't have to drag up a new chair. You just essentially have to wiggle over a little bit and make sure your other people with the same backgrounds and identities can sit there next is proud, yes,

Lena Sarono Stone  
Yes, and that's one thing too, I think, about the conference is, you know, it's so great to to be able to attend, because I think with everything that's going around now that's happening to just with the higher ed, just to be among other colleagues who understand, it was such a for the lack of better words, it was so refreshing, I think, to see old colleagues make friends with new people and just have that camaraderie of like, Hey, we're all in this together. And you know, we all know that we're just a phone call, email, a text away where we can support each other. So just as much as I feel that we're supporting our students, we ourselves as faculty, as professionals, we also need to have that time, to have the balance and to reset and and also to, you know, be networking with others. I think that is so important, that's so important for our well being, and it's so important for our students, right? Because if we can't take care of ourselves, there's no way we're going to be able to fully take care and to be supportive of our students, right? So it was a nice way to also just rebalance and reset for ourselves professionally.

Raezheen Pascua  
Absolutely, I think on that note, that is a perfect way to close out our podcast. So I want to thank everyone for listening, and I hope you tune in next time for the next episode, for Adventures and Advising.