Life in Meadville

OK.

So to the best of my knowledge, it looks like I am here and talking out loud.

Excellent.

Hawaii.

Hello.

I'm here, I'm broadcasting, I just didn't want everyone to stare at me for 15 minutes before we started.

Yes.

Do they see our videos? Are faces OK? Just going to move that bad behind me.

Are you honestly it looks fine um?

If I lean back too far, you'll actually see all of our alcohol, so just something.

I mean, we're all just doing our best honestly.

We have moved it in a way that you don't up there it is, see.

I mean I have to like really kind of peer and be looking for it.

Yeah, if you don't know you don't, you won't see it.

Yeah, I feel OK with that. I showered for this and I'm pretty pumped.

I didn't, but I did put some mascara on which I'm I'm noticing you can't even tell so.

Same same, and I'm so backlit in my office at like.

Yeah.

Matter, but here we are. How are you doing?

Good good. How are you?

How?

Actually a little nervous. I haven't let one of these before, uhm.

And.

We have Austin to lean on. He's believe them.

OK.

Honestly, this is.

The best panel it could possibly ask for, like.

So that helps.

Yeah, I agree.

I I we are we got lucky here so you know thank you.

Yeah.

Uhm, yeah, so we're actually up to 68 registrants like people just keep coming, which is great, but I'm just surprised how much number is kind of jump last minute.

Yeah.

Woo.

Maybe they're just bored looking for something to do.

That's.

Thanks.

Yes.

4.

They have more or less.

Yep.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. Uhm, it's kind of a little hitter mess because this is all new to everyone. But at the same time, it looks like students are looking for a lot of content because they have more more flexibility. So our numbers have been.

Pretty good.

That's great.

Shut down.

Yeah, this is gonna be our uhm.

Word web now.

He had.

Ortiz.

And we've had like 140 something different people into that and so.

It's working.

Great.

Hello, welcome in my bag aggressively detailed in my work, so thank you.

Actually.

Uhm, it's not lost in the late. He's actually still working with.

Days, which makes me nervous.

Yeah.

Uhm yeah. So he he will be here. Danielle is coming down.

But here we are.

But yeah.

Sure.

Coming back here, I just left a 68 Register and so the number just keeps jumping.

Keeps jumping.

Wonderful.

Wow.

Yep.

Here.

And good news, I can see you guys, I can hear you guys.

And we're kind of ready to rock and roll.

No.

I'm just gonna.

Do you?

Need to chat and my job is really kind of just hanging out with awkwardly inside and read the questions to you. Danielle and I have.

But it's not going forward.

I don't.

He

Kenny, my audio is not great.

I.

I hear you clear.

OK, I'm just getting a ton of like.

I don't have a little over there.

Like it if the speaker was outside in the wind was blowing type of noise to know what noise.

On

Oh

Honestly, my tech fixes gonna try logging out and coming back in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do that now.

Gotcha.

Oh my word.

Oh, you gotta love it.

But we actually we heard from sleep just today that they you know they've had.

100

Something like a five 100% increase in their user is, you know, doing the webinars and everything so.

That then.

Yeah.

They think that they've resolved a lot of it, so I know I mentioned the possibility of tech issues, but it sounds like they're very aware of it. It's not on our end at all, you know, so it's it's just the huge increase in demand.

Yep.

Yeah, perfect.

Let me do.

Book.

Yeah, name is working in the background as well. I told him to pick up the phone as quickly as possible.

'cause they have like an intercom feature.

An one of his like.

Clerical will intercom and it's like she's yelling.

Ruin, like if it's hurry, you have to pick up the phone so fast.

Not.

I'm going to go get water. I'm not leaving you all, I'm just.

Cool.

I'm hydrating.

Um student like you aren't able to get in before the countdown is done so.

They can't get in.

Oh, that's Fair.

They just kind of see a blank screen with a countdown on it.

Cool.

So they can. They might be here, but like they can't see us, they can't hear us so.

Yeah, So what were you saying about Austin? My audio is much better now, so I don't.

Yeah.

Getting better.

Yeah.

Genius.

Turn it off and on, log in and out.

So.

Right?

Honestly like that's all it is. Uhm yeah no. So he's still working full time so he'll be here. If I was saying something else I don't remember.

Well, No.

It's good.

That was it, I think.

We actually uhm, went on a hike on Sunday.

Sing

Um, socially distance outside so.

Where did you guys go on a hike?

We went up to um.

Oh yeah.

Oh, just like Ernst Trail and I'm a lot about Ernst, which was cool.

Um?

I got him with long modernist.

But for some reason.

You know they invited us on a walk and you said, sure.

An I made the mistake of assuming that it was like a normal human walk.

Now I'm sure it wasn't.

Miles an 8 miles OK.

Work with this long. It goes away longer than you would think.

Yeah.

Perfect hey also welcome. I was just making fun of my inability to walk 8 miles.

But

Oh my gosh.

Awesome, so he at least managed to login, which is super exciting. My phone is not blowing up, which means it's probably fine. You have to click the broadcast video button.

I'm just assuming you can hear Maine.

I stand by he is here.

Oh, you gotta love it. Becky how's everything going for you? How was on line classing?

I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I hate it like.

Watt

I didn't leave like a big research institution to comment each on line an. I'm really bad at it, uhm?

All right?

Yeah hey hello. So I'm taking it one day at a time.

That's fair, I really.

I miss.

Netflix.

It is.

Try to figure out with my audio is working.

Thanks man.

Yes, we can hear you.

Yep, you.

No, it's a super intuitive system.

So welcome.

Is that a shared Shannon you can wave hello.

It's late.

No.

Hi Ann

Thank you.

Hi.

Hello.

I just wanted to say Hi Katie, I cannot currently here you.

Oh

Well.

I think it's personal.

Happy disappointment uhm.

Good luck.

You can try logging out and logging back in. It fixed my audio problem.

OK.

Seriously?

Look really old now, how to tell you?

Just exit out of the screen and then click the link again.

And now I'm good.

You just know what issues I'm having, it's fantastic.

Oh man.

Yeah, oh man is right.

It looks like he's just kind of frozen.

Who then yeah?

Yes.

In kind of like a weird.

Well shout out to getting that fixed before this starts.

Yeah.

We have four whole minutes for good.

That's way too much time.

Oh crap.

Oh weird.

Now I'm here twice now.

You are.

Can you hear Katie though?

Hawaii.

Sure can't.

Well thanks to it.

My name?

Oh, I heard her last very very like like down a long tunnel.

Well, that's the dream, so.

Each.

I'm gonna go with it, but everyone else is to Austins now.

Yes.

I'm gonna go with it.

Honestly, what we really need from this is the audio more than the visual, so it'll it's a little weird. I'll just mention it in my introduction.

Oh

No, there we go.

I like that.

Yeah.

Yes.

OK, the second me is gone, but I still can't hear Katy or see her. She should I be able to see Katie?

OK.

Cannot see you or hear her. Of course, I'm the one who's who couldn't practice yesterday and I'm causing the problems.

Can Katie hear me?

Totally fine, um. Can someone just let him know that I'm going to be speaking for a few minutes, will have kids rolling in? Um, yes.

Yes.

She's telling us something to tell you, so just stay quiet for a sack.

Doesn't have to answer every question. Don't mention you guys worked for admissions Becky, that's our secret there wringers uhm.

OK.

Hello awesome, can't don't mention. We worked for admissions were ranked.

And you don't have to answer every question. Katie's going to talk for a little bit at the beginning.

OK.

And I will need us. I mean, I'll read the questions out loud though. Also appear in the chat box.

She'll read the questions out loud and they'll also appear in the chat box.

OK.

Um?

This this is super easy.

Yeah, if there's any technical glitches.

Yeah.

I was like one of you answer first.

1.

We care a lot more about the audio than the visual.

Care a lot more about the audio than the visual.

Austin, can you see that Katie lights up green when she's talking at least?

I can see that.

OK well.

Baby, could you learn lip reading in the next minute?

Minute and 1/2.

Yeah.

Well, now he's just lacking then.

Uhm Yeah, but with 68 registrants, which is awesome. Ohmygosh Oh, just kidding up to 70, I literally just refresh the page and now it's 70.

There's gonna be 70 people don't mess up.

Facebook.

With Katie, with you not being able to hear Katy.

So I should just start talking when I don't see her talking. That sounds like the best thing to do.

I love it.

Danielle is here too, um, she's just gonna be moderating the chat like pushing things from questions to chat so.

No problem.

Is there any reason that we should participate in the chat or should we just be the ones talking?

Don't worry about the chat well, we'll just manage that on the back end.

OK.

Yep, that's much more for UM oh, hang on Daniels calling me with 20 seconds to go with that.

OK.

I turned my mic on and off to that help.

Looking like now.

Here Katie.

Things like a know still.

I cannot.

It'll be fine.

So we're doing this.

There we go.

OK, and I just saw a big jump in the number of participants from, you know, before of us all the way up into the 15 so.

I think we've started, uhm, so First off big. Welcome to everyone joining us today to learn about life in Meadville. I am Katie. I'm the assistant director of admissions with Allegany College and I'm just here today to kind of help all of us run smoothly. So we would love to have you guys engage with us during this webinar. If you have any questions, please feel free to type it into the comments box.

One important thing to know what this is, they will not automatically show up in the chat. One of my colleagues, Danielle, is also kind of here on the back end. So thank you Danielle and she will be putting questions through and let's just to help with the flow and make sure that we don't, you know, miss anything will also make sure to follow up if any questions don't get answered during the web and R, so no worries there. But while we're waiting a few minutes for other people to join us as ever, it's kind of trickling in.

We love if you wanted to start with saying You know where you're from and will just start to get an idea for Aaron's tuning in from help us be a little familiar with you.

I'm I'm just as a quick fun technology side of things. If you experience any hiccups are top recommendation is just exit out and come back in. That largely seems to fix a lot of problems. We will also be making this audio recording available afterwards. So again, if you have any problems, please don't worry about that. We can get it to you later on.

I'm kind of just chatting a little bit to fill time, but I also just want to mention that you know, during this time it can be.

A little trickier for you guys because you don't get to experience campus in the same way. So we introduced this webinar as a way to talk about Allegany as a whole, but also learn a little bit about what life is like outside of the classroom in Meadville. So all of our panelists have very strong Allegany ties. They are really able to talk about Meadville from the student perspective, explain a lot about what life is like here and there. I'm not just brag and take everything fun.

But they're great community leaders, so huge thank you to you guys. Um, so then great news is a lot of you wrote in questions during the registration process, so we have some really nice ways to get started already. So with that, panelists are ready to kind of jump in and I just saw that someone is here from Oh my gosh, we have a ton of states represented. We must have something typing in from Mexico which is.

Basically amazing, so our webinars and while international.

Welcome everybody.

So let's go ahead and do that.

The question is, what do I? Would you see this do outside of?

I can take it.

I'll jump in so I can answer this from the perspective of being a student at Allegany and then just encountering a lot of Allegany students in the things that I do in the Meadville community. And so I graduated 10 years ago in 2010, so not that long ago, but ten years. Also, when I say it out loud, feels like a really long time.

When I was a student, a lot of the connections that I made were with the school district because a lot of the interest that I had involved kids an education and I work in education now. So that makes sense. I was heavily involved in the arts and so I helped a lot of kids with after school arts programs. I have like very vivid memories of helping with the cutest talent show at one of the local elementary schools.

But also kind of in my time in the community, and I'll use cases. Where does a community leader, although I don't feel that way at all. I've encountered students in so so many ways, especially on the volunteer side of things, and I imagine you're going to hear that a lot throughout the webinars that the meatballs students or the Allegany students are really, really involved with community service. But I've seen them in a number of different projects helping throughout the community. I see murals, art projects, downtown that are done by students, which is super cool.

I'm in their ever present in a lot of the community events that goes on so we have like community markets like second Saturday. We have community events like first Friday. My favorite one is light up night and I always see student there out and about. So they they're really heavily involved in things that are going on in the community. I've seen them at the theater. I've seen them in cake making classes, so just a lot of opportunities for them to be involved and I feel like things that I'm doing as a community member.

The Allegany students are doing as well in kind of integrated into the community in that way.

Can I ask you a question and what do you do? What's your job?

Yeah, yeah. So I I work for an intermediate unit an if you're from Pennsylvania and you're in a public school, your school has an intermediate unit, but they basically are is they are the literally intermediary between the Pennsylvania Department of Education and your public school. If you think about us, there's a lot of us at work in the office and we all have an area of specialty. So minus college and career readiness. So I work with a lot of schools to not necessarily.

Compare their students, but to help their teachers and to help there.

School counselors deliver some type of career ready education.

I learned something new today. That's awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah, it all kind of happening this from a similar perspective of an alligator student 2014. And then I didn't hear the afterward.

I see a lot of alligator students as interns in the community, especially with where I work, and Becky before you ask. It is a acatech precision aerospace, which is a.

A manufacturer of flight critical aerospace components that's located in Meadville.

And we also see students. I also do students in the theater, which actually and I are both involved in.

Meadville has, I think it's three or four different Meadville or different theater groups in town.

3 yeah um and we consistently see alligators students kind of step in not that there aren't all kinds of opportunities at Allegany for that but we see Allegany students kind of want to get out of the community and meet people and they will join a group at the Academy theater or at the Meadville community theater or even direct shows with the children's Theatre it's pretty cool to see students so willing to be out in the community in doing community LED things not just things at the school.

Yeah, and so for the so I'm Becky Dawson and I actually when an said it's been 10 years for her. I I'm actually celebrating my 20th anniversary this year. So proud member of the class of 2000 who I'm on the faculty. So I came back Seven years ago when we started the new Global Health Studies Program Which.

I don't know in this moment kind of the foresight of Allegany to think that we needed this unique like liberal arts. Global Health Studies Program. I just think that were brilliant because in the moment that we're in right now, it's people who are setting global health that are solving all of the problems that we're all dealing with and also making you all stay home and will take responsibility for that. But somebody who I'm going to demonologist so I do a lot of community health worker. And you know.

A lot of my work involves students, so, um, the last time we do, community health needs assessment of all of Crawford County every three years. In collaboration with the Meadville Medical Center, which is like a stones throw away from campus. There, a Community Hospital, which is a really unique situation because the hospital is really committed to being a source of health care and health information in the community, but they're not willing to become part of one of these huge conglomerates like you, PMC, or high mark or anything, and so.

They just provide amazing opportunities for our students to do all sorts of work. Not just do the pre health type of things, but the last time we did a community health needs assessment there were 42 alleghenys students that help with the design of the study. Collecting data which gets you way out in the community 'cause you have to go all the way to Titusville and collect data. But really they've just been amazing partner for providing really unique experiences for our students and so.

Any given semester we have students you know between 2020 thirty students this semester working collaboratively with the hospital on whether it's clinical research or community health research, and I'm only I'm sure when we all come back to campus in the fall that those opportunities are only going to expand and grow because I think we've all learned well, we're all learning in the moment right now, and I think there's going to have to be some really reflective anvari research based learning opportunities.

As we kind of come out of this pandemic so the community is amazing, I'm just outside of like that, you know, living in the community as well. We can talk about those types of questions, but there are really a ton of opportunities. Depending, you know you've heard about the arts, but also in the Sciences and an intern ships through out mean villain. That's what's so great about a small town.

OK amazing thank you guys. Um so thank you so much for getting this started. Um, um students at this time. If you have questions we would love to hear them. Anas, you're kind of waiting for that to roll in. If anyone wants to adjust. Maybe like the relationship between the College in the town.

So College in the town, I, you know, I think again, I've looked at it. It's kind of their moments where I forgot. Like am I part of the college are part of the town, right? Like I feel like you know, some days you know I'm Becky, the professor, that's you know, out doing research and working and other times you know on my community member who is taking my family to events. Or, you know, going to whether I have a child who is very much into theater and dance. So we do spend a lot of time.

At the Academy an at different performances but you know out in the community doing sports or hiking trails or whatever. So I think that what's beautiful about Allegany is that it does kind of sit right in the middle of town and it really does provide a lot of opportunities to be both in Allegating student but also a resident of Meadville.

I would echo dot as well. I think every opportunity that I pursued as a student I always felt so welcome and wanted and my input was valued and I think that's something I really appreciated because you're getting real life experience. It's outside of the classroom and it's, you know their connections that maybe you have to pursue, but that's a skill in and of itself as well, so I really always felt welcome anywhere I went.

And in look this morning.

And I think the college is pretty open. Just I'm sorry. I think a town is pretty open to the people from the college just to even stop by and talk. Kind of a stranger story. I live like 2 houses from the main one of two main ways to get downtown from a college. So I see college students going back and forth decent amount when the weather is nice, which is all the time here.

Um?

Go back me up.

And I've stopped a couple of them stop seeing me on my porch and just said hello.

That's not something I think a lot of people get in larger towns in larger cities, but I think it's a little bit unique to a smaller place like Meadville and I think college students feel very comfortable just doing that.

Again, just walking back and forth from downtown and I've even this big scary guy with a big bushy beard, and they'll still say hello to me so.

Terrifying.

UM INI paused on this uhm photo, in particular because our first question coming in is can you talk some about outside dance opportunities?

Yeah, I'm happy too. If you're looking at that photo, I'm the one in like the Catholic schoolgirl outfit.

So as far as outside dance opportunities go, um, that's a picture of a show at the Academy Theater which Austin brought up, but I can tell you, I said on the board at the Academy as well, so I I can hear all of the time about, you know, not in every show. But I hear the casting lozenets dancers. They always want dancers, so if you, you know if you're looking for that side of things, they're always looking for dancers. I also teach a dance class at one of our local dance studios, which there are several.

Love and I would say about half our staff. If you're interested, half the staff is Allegany student, so I think that's a wonderful opportunity. The Allegany students that we have on staff there great. The typically start maybe sometime in their freshman or sophomore year and they stick it out with the studio for three or four years, which is really awesome. And then also the Academy sits right downtown. They bring in outside performances as well. So if you're looking to view some things

They do bring in outside dance companies and that's an opportunity. As an audience member that you can take advantage of. But I would see like the most work I've done is the kids who dance in our shows. The students who dance in our shows and then also the students who teach, which I just I love them. They're just so great.

OK, awesome um Austin, you mentioned that you're kind of sitting on your house, your outside and their students walking from town to campus, back and forth. How long is that walk? I'll often do students do it.

Can Austin hear us awesome? Do you need me to repeat Katie's question for you?

I think so. I turned on closed captioning which, if anybody else is having audio issues. Thank you for. I can't remember who which partition it was said to turn him on. Unfortunately, I'm also having some audio issues, so I'm kind of catching up as people get done talking the walk from campus to downtown. 10 minutes if you walk. If you walk semi slowly, it's really not that bad. The walk to downtown is easy to walk back up if you're from a flat state like Ohio. Seems a little worse.

Allegany is kind of purchased on top of a Hill, so to get downtown you get to walk down the Hill. But to get back up, you gotta walk back up.

Um, I've recently took up jogging and I realized jogging back from downtown is a terrible idea. Unless you're really good at it.

But yeah, it's it's not too far at all.

Hum, amazing, can maybe everyone or whoever wants to chat a little bit about diversity in the community.

Allegany

What time you go ahead, Becky?

I was just gonna ask a clarifying question. Diversity in the community, like Allegany as the college or as the community like Meadville. As a community, or both.

OK.

My vote is for approaches Meadville. We can always follow up on the Allegany side too, but for the panel, let's go with Meadville.

Go ahead and.

So I would say like my flat out answer to that question is like there's probably never enough diversity in most small towns like that's just my very honest, honest answer That being said.

I have come in contact with diverse groups of people in every single thing that I participate in the downtown community, so.

Yeah.

That goes for, like the theater side of things, but any community event and any community class or anything that I'm downtown like. I'm coming in contact with diverse groups of people, so I would say there is diversity, but the word enough is throwing me here. I don't think we could ever think there's enough.

Yeah, I think I'll echo what Anne said. A small town in Pennsylvania unfortunately does not have enough diversity in a lot of ways. There are diverse communities here, and it's not that hard to find them, but you do kind of have to search for them a little bit.

Other kinds of diversity. I know sometimes we talk about socioeconomic diversity. I think that is actually somewhere where Meadville kind of shines.

I can't come from a town that's a similar size to Meadville, and if you walk around town, you're going to meet people who do very well. And you're also going to meet their next door neighbors who were not. It's a very, very mixed Economic Community. I guess you could say that you could say, I think that's a good thing. It allows you to get different perspectives than you would normally in a suburb of a larger city or in a downtown of a larger city. I think it also gives a little bit more opportunity to both Allegany students and.

Meadville residents to kind of see what life is like outside of their socioeconomic circle.

I think that also to go off that like allows to show what a sense of community that we have. The way that organizations and individuals lift people up and support people and offer scholarships for different things or support. It's really, I mean, it's really uplifting to see and to work for or see organizations supporting the vast diversity of socioeconomic levels here.

The only other thing I would add, you know the word enough like an was throwing me so, but I think that one of the things that I've really come to appreciate and I've seen change over the past, you know, 767 years is that both the college the school districts are the local school district. He ran the Medical Center really are searching for diverse candidates. An really are doing a lot to bring in diverse leaders into the community. and I think for me like this one moment this in November we had local elections here.

And we had, you know, like I think it was the second African American man ever elected onto our City Council. And honestly, I mean and steering. But like this moment of like watching this gentleman who ran this collaborative campaign with one of our alums like come together and like really showcase what we envision Meadville to look like, I think his given me more hope and encouragement and excitement. Like I haven't like. I haven't been that like encouraged in such a long time watching them.

Come together and again, this Allegany Spirit. There were students on the corners downtown. You know getting people into vote and encouraging people to vote in campaigning for people. And so I think that there's a lot of hope and a lot of excitement and just a lot of momentum on both from kind of the big leaders in, you know, like the big employers in Canton in town, but also just within the community and seeing people rise up and wanting to take leadership and wanting to really see our community thrive and grow and become more than it is right now.

Uhm, it's in a really an amazing place to be at this moment. 'cause we're not there yet. But there's all this room to participate in. Be part of something that's potentially going to be amazing and not only life changing for you, but life changing for the people who call me the home and have lived here their whole lives.

I'm so glad you told that story. Becky, because I was thinking about it as soon as I finish talking. It's like favorite Meadville memories.

Absolutely.

It was amazing. Uhm, so we're just going to jump into a couple shorter questions, you know, as the students can't see town a little bit, would you guys be willing to talk about something like your favorite brush? Strong thing to do in and around the area? The different stuff like that.

OK, I'll start tonight. So I would say my favorite thing to do right? I love that we have the longest opening operating market house like farmers market in the state of Pennsylvania and.

I'm just props to the people that own the diner. They make the best pancakes ever. She tells me that she will share her recipe and I come home and I bring it home and whatever she does is just magic. So there's an amazing diner. It's open all week, they do serve breakfast all day, which is like a huge class, so the middle market house diner is just amazing in terms of like things to do. My favorite place in town is and actually the picture just went by.

Is the window Cemetery? Yes that's it. Uhm, so the Cemetery is I don't know. Three blocks from campus, two blocks from campus. And if you walk through the Cemetery like as like to the East is what you need to do. And now I have it saved on my phone so I can send people. There's a huge ravine in the bottom of this. I'm like behind the Cemetery and there are Roxy climb and there are animals to see, but honestly, I just think a book and sit on her log and I just read by the stream.

It's just it's amazing. I came from Washington DC and so like had everything at my fingertips and lived in the city. An coming here has been a huge adjustment, but when I think about the fact that like three blocks from campus, which is basically three blocks from my house, I have this amazing, amazing, beautiful place that is quiet and pristine and changes with the seasons. It's just kind of magical an you know, as fun as it is to go to like Smithsonian's and everything that I left behind left behind.

In Washington, DC, like the Cemetery and that ravine is just so so special and so so beautiful. It just. It's one of those places when you get to campus you need to find someone. Ask him how to get to the ravine and get there, or text me and I will send you the location 'cause I've now marked it on a map so the Cemetery is just amazing.

Yeah, I'll actually. I'll actually back you up on that. Becky. I know the Cemetery has made. I don't remember the society's name. I apologize, but uh, gardening societies list of must see place for a couple of years in a row because of the rhododendrons and the Flowers that are planted there, it's a really nice place to go. I know it kind of sounds strange where you want to go to see in Meadville. Oh yeah, you got to see the Cemetery, but trust me, it's really nice.

Say one of the favorite one of my favorite things that happens in Meadville is the Halloween Parade and I am doing a little bit of a shameless plug here. I am on the profit area. Young Chamber of Commerce or the Crawford area. Young professionals in the middle of the name change, and we actually run that parade. It's the largest nighttime parade in at least Pennsylvania. We think the East Coast. It's a little over 3 hours long. If you are a kid and you bring us a pillow case that you will leave with it full of candy.

It's a pretty major event in town. We actually get people from all over western Pennsylvania come to see it. Meadville's population is about 13,000. We usually have about 16,000 watching the parade like 10 people deep on the diamond and local nonprofits local businesses. They all compete to get to have the best float architect actually won this year. Like to point that out.

We had a Top Gun Theme, one get Aerospace Top Gun anyway.

But it is just a really fun event. Uhm, and it's amazing seeing how creative a lot of the A lot of the businesses in the area can be.

Um?

I will I'm gonna say two things in a safe place, an an event and so, uh, one of my favorite events is the first Friday events that happened downtown. And this is, uh.

Ten of our local consortium of businesses get together, and there's some sort of event that happens on 1st Friday. So there's been like a cookie walk where you can go from place to place with kids and get cookies. My personal favorite one, I think I said is light up night and took Austin mentioned the diamond, which I don't know if we've defined what the diamond is or not, but it's Diamond Park and it's definitely a gathering place downtown. It's it's very large. There's a gazebo and so light up night they light up the gazebo and all of that reason Santa comes and.

I was asked to sing out at one year and was just not expecting the the amount of people that were going to be there, so it was. It was really fun and I think I think Becky has said this to. There's something magical about a small town in the community that it creates and I definitely got that feeling during light up night. One of my favorite places and I'm going to give them a shot at his Confessions of a cake lover, bakery. and I say that because one there cupcakes are amazing. So if you want to text me I will ping you to that bakery when you can on campus.

But also they do Kate classes and as someone who never thought they could be a cake decorator, she's really made me feel empowered an I'm gonna decorate my own Easter Cake this weekend, so fingers crossed.

Call

Um fun fact? I tried to keep the slideshow unbiased, but Danielle, who is moderating with us. As I said she and I actually did decorate winter hat cakes together. Um, did it look professional? No did I eat 7 pounds of butter cream during the class? Absolutely uhm. And then just also sorry. Jump in if you were looking at this photo and you thought like oh OK, that's the Halloween Parade. That's actually not that ends meet those point 5K.

Race, which is really a competitive walk around town? Um, it's a ton of fun. Just like to highlight some of the local traditions that we have here and I'm going to say that's enough of me talking um to go back to questions. Can you guys talk a little bit about public transportation here? What you need to get to to have if you have a car? Stuff like that.

So.

Not.

And we do have a great bus system, right? So it's called Cada Crawford Area Transportation Authority. Yes, somebody know right whatever? Yes, ricotta. OK uhm. Nice thing about cotta is they allow you to ride for free with your ID. So all you need is your Allegany ID so you can take it. Nice thing about kinda there's loop sicko downtown, which is helpful if you don't want to walk back up the Hill so you can walk down and then catch cat and come back up the Hill.

Which is super helpful but cata also runs out to important places for movie theater. The bowling alley. Walmart places. I don't know if they stop at Dunkin' Donuts, but we did just get a Dunkin' Donuts here in Meadville, which is very important and kind of a point of pride. But I don't know if the bus stops there yet. Will have to ask him if he can stop the bus. Is it there? But the bus is really great. Schedules available online. There's pick up on campus at multiple places so.

Getting on and off of the bus is not hard, and they pick up at multiple places downtown. So as I said, if you walk down to the grocery store, you can always take the bus back, which is nice. You can also get out to other places.

No. I was in school 20 years ago, so I mean yeah, um, in terms of a car, but do you guys want to say anything about that? 'cause I didn't have a car on campus for four years.

I did for one of my. I was at Allegany for three years for one of my three years and to be honest, uhm, I mostly used it to get home and back so I didn't use it a ton when I was on campus because everything was so close. Some sometimes if I was doing something in a school that was a little bit further out I would drive, but it's everything so walkable and Iaccessible and it's they're nice walks that I never.

I I just didn't use it that much unless I was going home.

Yeah, I'll let go out and said I was lucky enough to have a vehicle for three of my four years at Allegany. Actually, it was my grand father. Let me his big Astro Van. Funny, remember that remembers those. So which was great? I mean I had a car like an I didn't use it that much, but I could also hold Seven people with me so you know.

So you're really cool is the impersonal getting, yeah.

I was not surprisingly popular with master event, but I'm.

I actually want to to continue kind of what Becky was saying. I know through an organization. I'm with a one of the gentleman who is a supervisor, Canada. They actually just added routes to some of the smaller cities in Crawford County as well, which are included as analogous student. If you want to take a trip to Titusville or Cambridge Springs and see what is there, that is actually available for you to do now as well, which wasn't when we were students and but.

Uhm, but they're really trying to expand their reach throughout the County. And I'll also mention that we do have Uber and Lyft here. My wife actually uses it relatively relatively often to get back and forth to the rental car place. She she travels a lot for work, but they are available for students. If you'd like to use them as well. And if you want to be a driver, you can actually sit on your couch in the living room and wait for a call to come in. So it's not quite the same as driving in.

Pittsburgh or New York City or something like that, but it looks like Anna's got suddenly got an idea, but.

No, I'm not gonna do that, but I'm learning a whole lot.

Yeah God, I'm glad you're here.

OK, amazing uhm so I don't know this might be a mbacke. A great question for you. Um, can you chat? Maybe a little bit if students can hold volunteer or paid positions with EMS or ambulance squads while in school.

Yeah, so the middle ambulance, the middle EMTs, do take students so that let's I'm going to backtrack a couple of Subs here. Number one. We usually do hosts an EMT class on campus. There's a student organization called Arrow and I would love to tell you what it stands for, but they're the ones that coordinate. There's too many acronyms at Alleghanian slick. The hardest part of the college, but this student organization does host AMT cost, so it's not part of the curriculum or your major minor, but it's kind of like an.

Extracurricular, uhm. So if you're interested in becoming an anti there will be opportunities on campus to do that.

If you either take the class or you already are in EMT, absolutely the ambulance service here in middle, just like everyone else, always has opportunities for people who are certified to work with them. My kind of my personal this would be my advisor. Voice coming in is if you are already an EMT, I would take your first semester to get used to Allegany to kind of find your rhythm to like figure everything out because you know it was a year ago now, but we had. There was a really serious fire here, I'm not like.

In Meadville, but kind of like out in Vernon County. So out towards Walmart. For those of you who've been here, an obviously this the IT wasn't a home, it was a building and it burned for hours and hours, and then it flared back up again and I had a couple of students who are EMTs that were.

Oh my goodness, they were at the fire and so they were working 36 hours so they miss class. They were exhausted for days and days and days 'cause they worked literally for 30 six hours. Kind of trying to support the firefighters and everyone else. So there are amazing opportunities. Yes and the meat Billy empties. Love Allegany students and they're really supportive. And what they do? Try to work with your schedule with your school schedule, but I think that it's one of those things that take a semester. Don't feel like you need to. Like get to know them.

This summer and then, like you know, start Day One when you're on campus, but you know, come to campus and then reach out. Maybe do a volunteer shift here. There get to know them. As I said, get involved with this student organization called arrow. That's AERO. Again, I would love to tell you what it means, but I can't remember but get involved there. Find out from other students. There's a couple of different ambulance.

Like I don't know what the word is right? Services in town find out. You know maybe who pays better? Who's more flexible with student schedules? So absolutely the opportunities exist. We have a lot of students that do work as in tease here in town, but I would absolutely wait until I got my feet underneath me and I started to maybe meet some upperclassmen before I like jumped in and was actually working as an EMT here and becoming a full time student at Allegany.

OK amazing so meet both kind of a fun weird town. Um, can you guys talk about maybe favorite traditions and I know you mentioned first Fridays stuff like that, maybe some annual events or a cool historic fact.

I'm waiting for Austin to jump in. Historic fact. Part of this.

How many do you want?

Yeah.

So spoiler alert I was a history major at Allegany. Uhm, so I have a lot of historical facts about Meadville, in case you're curious, the zipper, the guy the zipper was invented in town. The former talent manufacturing plant.

The guy who invented that wasn't Gideon Sundback. He lived in the house I currently own, which I'm pretty excited about.

Try that fact that way too much.

Um, anyway the balding Reynolds House, would, you know we had a picture of earlier that was built by Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin in the early 1800s. You plan to retire there. Why it's not just known as the Baldwin houses because he passed away before he could actually live there, and a guy named Reynolds bought it and the Reynolds Guy is the guy who brought natural gas and electricity and all this other kind of stuff to Meadville.

Thanks whoever is running slideshow's doing a fantastic job by the way.

So that's actually a house museum, and if you are into history, Historical Society runs it, and they're always looking for volunteers. I know there's been some Allegany students that have helped out there before as well.

Go on for a while, but I wanted to let you guys have some say as well.

I'm thinking about all the things I would butcher if I said them that you would tell me weren't quite rate.

I mean, as far as.

Like cool historic facts, I will say it was really cool to live in town when Allegany celebrated its bicentennial. I know that's a little bit less Meadville, but it was kind of this or less Allegany or morality. Let me go, I know, but it was kind of his all encompassing celebration and to just be somewhere that had a college and to have gone to a college that was.

That old and grounded in history. It was a cool time to be here. Uhm, and I think it highlights.

How like the relationships and how special Allegany it is for Allegany to be in Meadville? An for me, to have Allegany, it. It was just cool. It was really special.

I'll go tradition then, so I'll go a student tradition and then a meatball tradition because the student tradition is Meatball. So when I was here, I was a member of this woman dive team and one of the traditions, and I believe that it is shared by others sports teams as well, is to jump off the bridge into Woodcock Lake, Um, which was definitely a rite of passage in one of the scariest things I've done in my life. But it's just kind of fun to be part of a tradition.

And so I graduated in 2000, so jumped before then. But my high school coach swam here in the 80s and she also had jumped off the bridge, right? So did you feel like you know there's part of it? But I think it allowed you to like we did it when we first got to campus, and I think like go off of campus and realize that there are beautiful places for us. Swimmer's is beautiful, you know damned Lake that we actually got delayed kind of swim from the whole way across Batswomen just this kind of fun. And it was his great way of like.

Saying like yeah I am alleghanian I am a student but like there's so much here for me to explore and be part of an we can make it really really fun as well. So as a student that was one of my highlights in one other traditions that I really appreciate from the Athletics Department. I don't know if the athletics director knows that people do that so you know, but it is really fun and the water is deep so you're fine.

That's one of the things that I really enjoyed, but as somebody who lives here now, my favorite tradition is the balloon festival. So I know there are several pictures of the balloon festival, so the Thurston Classic happens. Kind of in June, and so this is my plug. You absolutely have to spend 1 summer at least one summer in Meadville. As a student, I know that I did, and it was life changing for me to be here to get to know people on campus, in the community better, but also to get to participate in this balloon festival so.

There is light up night which is the picture that you see here where all the balloons come together and they wait till it gets dark and then they turn their gas on and they glow an it's. It might sound corny but it is just this amazing experience and then for the whole weekend there's balloon races going on and so you're sitting. You know in your house and there's balloons coming over your house and you can hear it and you can go up to the field and watch them do these balloon competitions. It's just it's one of those things like I'm not a hot air balloon enthusiasts or anything, but it's just this magical weekend. Everyone's outside.

Everyone's a Pat Robertson at the field. It's just it's gorgeous. But it's also it just kind of like characterizes what this song is about. We take things that may seem like simple, right and make them into such a beautiful, wonderful community events, right? Hot air balloons become this just magical weekend here in town. And so I look forward to it every year and whenever, like the wind last year it was too windy for one of the days right? Like beautiful weather but too windy and it was just so sad that the Blues couldn't go up.

But it's in June, so I do. My recommendation is sick come spend the summer here. Whether you're working on campus or do research, or you know, working with one of the local agencies or interning somewhere, but at least one summer in Meadville, so that you can. You know if nothing else experienced the balloons, 'cause they're amazing.

And the Crawford County Fair. Another reason to stay here over the summer.

Yes.

He would wonderful. It's the best and not in August.

They bring in.

Who is great?

They bring in Tier 1 talents. If you're a country music fan, they bring in Tier 1 talents for a concert every year for the fair as well. It's it's really incredible. Some of the names they get to come to Crawford County.

OK, amazing, so I do want to be respectful of everybody's time, so we're going to go with one more question and there is a whole bunch that we didn't get to. So if you didn't get your answer during the session, please do not worry, your admissions counselor will be following up with you within the next couple days. Everyone, everyone will get answers to everything. So thank you guys so much for all of the questions and let's finish up the chatting a little bit about.

I'm sorry if you have other questions about more of campus life academics that we do have. A couple other webinars coming up as well as a student panel will. You'll get to chat with some of our current students about what they're involved with, what they're studying, what that side of campus is like as well. So there's a ton more opportunities for us to connect with you, so we'd love to see you in other webinars so.

Keep coming back, hopefully, and let's finish a little bit with chatting about do the different community service opportunities in town.

I feel like what isn't available to students as far as community service goes, uhm?

I, I think in terms of service you can be involved as much as you want to be involved and so there I participated in make a difference day when I was a student and this is a 1/2 day. Were you in a group of students? Oftentimes athletic teams will do it. Different clubs, Greek life will come together as a group and you're assigned a project for the day.

And you go out and you do it, and that's kind of the length of your commitment, and anybody is welcome to participate and make a difference day. But also we have different like long term service opportunities, so I know at the Academy theater we had, uh Davis leader, which is a long term service opportunity that you can be involved with and they helped us with all things education. And then I had friends who were Bonner leaders which is a huge undertaking of community service and you're given a site and you have a.

A specific number of hours, I believe that you need to hit for that, but in terms of service opportunities, I believe there are service clubs is, well, an just the number of organizations and places in town that welcome students for services. Huge huge.

If you want to, if you want to lead a service opportunity at Allegany, it's also.

Common, I guess you could say it's easy to do, um, Meadville does welcome Allegany students. Allegany students efforts as well. It's not again seeing as these college students that are coming down and helping out the people in town.

There's a lot of. There's a lot of people in Meadville who kind of concentrate in that effort as well, but there always willing to let people take kind of take the take the mantle of leadership on that as well. Not a lot of those things so.

Yep.

Yeah, I, I believe there's still a fair at the beginning of the year. Every year for leadership for. Yeah, for service opportunities that you can just sign up if you're interested in public health, or if you're interested in.

Serving, serving, doing more manual labor, which is always good for. Uhm, there's a lot of opportunities there available for you.

I hope to make a lot of wheelchair ramps. When I was a student and that is actually continued into my post student life as well. I go not as many of my friends as my friend Mike, but I've made probably 10 or 15 around the Meadville community, just for people who need them. So we often have Allegany students help out with that. We had a fraternity. I apologize, I can't remember which one helped out with one not that long ago.

I did have to teach one of them how to use a screw gun, but that's OK. That's what people are there for as well. A little bit of a learning opportunity there too.

Anyway, so there's a lot of opportunities you just kind of. Keep your eyes open.

And what I would add is that so community service. I think when you're coming out of high school is you know this opportunity to volunteer and to be involved in the kind of like figure things out. and I think what makes alleghenys so great. and I think that the thing that I loved as a student, an one of the main reasons that I came back, is that we take community service and we help you figure out how that helps you learn. So what Austin is saying about like building a wheelchair ramp, right?

He's learning about disability and about educating others and our job as faculty and staff is to help you take those community service opportunities and actually turn them into life transforming opportunities. So it's not just that you've done 100 hours of community service, but you know now how to get that community service on your resume. You know how to talk about it, you know how to actually help it catapult you to what you want to do next.

No, also, let's just brag a little bit here. We just got an enormous grant to do community based, participatory research. So kind of taking community service and turning it into research and academic work, and so, assuming that we move forward with summer research, there are more than 20 five students you will have paid community based research opportunities on campus, not on campus, in the community this summer. So that will be supervised by a community member by a faculty member, and they're going to be working not just on service opportunities, but.

There are actually going to be doing like research, so like kind of like taking what you're like everyone thinks about us service. We do an amazing job of saying OK, wait, that actually could be your life work or your research or like kind of your calling to be in that space and so.

That's why I mean, honestly, that's why I got started. Kind of that way when I was here as a student. But like all that, it is done during the past 20 years, is grow exponentially. And the fact that we have funds to support students who are not just doing volunteer work but taking the volunteer work and actually making it community based research is so so unique and so special. And those opportunities right like this summer is 25 students and we're just planning to grow and grow and grow it in the coming years so.

The opportunity to take like your desire to help others to want to be in the community, to be interested and actually make it part of your coursework. Make it part of your Allegany education experience is what we're really, really good at. An I mean just seeing kind of what was funded for this summer and who is actually going to be doing the work. The opportunities range from my field, which is like clinical medicine and public health, but all the way out to people who need art projects and murals done an you know different things along those lines so it's spans is huge gamut.

Of opportunity to say like wow, I could actually be an artist who's doing community work, but also like doing something that will like push me forward as an art and artist as well. And like in my education so community service is sort of. I don't know like on speed here like we really like ambit up and we make it part of your educational experience. It's not just as one off thing that you do.

Um, that you can do it as like a one off like be part of service a second Saturday or I would make a difference day. But like we really fold it into your whole education and I think that's what we do really well as a college and I think it's one of the reasons that I came back and it's what I'm most proud of in terms of like the work that I get to do.

OK, well thank you. I mean everyone but Becky, thank you. That was a phenomenal end. Really appreciate. Uhm, you know that. I'm from our panelists that I'm from our participants. So thank you so much to everybody really excited about how it went today and will get the audio recording out soon and will be in touch with any other questions and we hope to keep connecting with you. But thank you all.

Hi.

Thanks, Katie.

Take care.

Thank you.