Future College Parent Podcast

The guest of episode eleven is Mr. Andy Crawford, Acting Associate Director, Undergraduate & Graduate Admission Operations at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts.  In this episode we discuss graduate school preparation, choice, and finance!  Our focus is on the Master of Business Administration degree, but the discussion is relevant to admission to a variety of graduate programs.  Andy really enjoys the work he does he...

The guest of episode ten is Mr. Robert Beach, School Counselor and Student Equity Action Committee Co-Sponsor at Lockport Township High School in Lockport, Illinois. Robert has a large number of students assigned to him in a massive school district. In this episode Robert and I discuss how school counselors help support students in three areas: social & emotional, academic, and college & career support. It’s very obvious to...

The guest of episode nine highlights Matthew Brownstein, Assistant Principal at an elementary school – including grades kindergarten through 8th grade, in Queens, NY!  In this episode we discuss how parents can help students be authors of their own lives!  This may sound very broad and potentially overwhelming, but I think you’ll find the advice Matthew provides will give you a strong starting point.  I also hope you’ll...

I present to you the guest of episode eight, Ms. Denise Thomas, Chief Executive Officer and Debt Free College Coach of Get Ahead of the Class, where she “partners with parents to put their kids through college debt free.” Denise is a TEDx speaker, keynote speaker, author, podcaster, and has a mobile app! In this episode we discuss Denise’s five steps you can take right now to help your student not serve a college debt sentence. I h...

I concluded the 6 episode release by speaking with Dr. Mike McDonald, superintendent of my high school alma mater, Walton Central School! Mike began as the superintendent of WCS in the summer of 2020. Now, I don’t want to give anything away. But you’ll hear at the top of the interview how I met Mike, and I know you’ll see why I asked him to be a guest on the show. I’m so happy that he’s taking care of my alma matt...

In today’s episode, I had the honor to interview Ms. Susan Tripp, Director of Financial Aid emeritus from Herkimer College. Also appearing on the episode is Ms. Deb Sutliff, Bursar Emeritus at Herkimer college as well. I had the absolute pleasure and honor to work directly with Deb and Sue at Herkimer College and saw firsthand the care and concern they provided to individual students, and it was just unparalleled. Their baseline wa...

The fourth episode of the Future College Parent Podcast features Ms. Suzanne Gluck, Guidance Counselor at East Williston Union Free School District. This episode is special to me because Suzanne was actually a student of mine back when I worked in the college housing program at the University at Buffalo. I remember Suzanne as an undergraduate student herself, and specifically the joy, the energy, and the passion she has for life. I...

In the third episode of the Future College Parent Podcast, I had the honor to speak to Mr. Pedro Martinez, director of Admission at Cal Poly Humboldt. Pedro and I first met for the first time recording this episode. And I have to tell you, this is one of the most genuine humans I’ve met in my higher education career. I was really appreciative of Pedro sharing his narrative of being Hispanic, from a small town and the struggle...

For the second episode of the Future College Parent Podcast, I was excited to speak with Ms. Michelle Freidman, Director of Career and Technical Education at CVES BOCES. Michelle lives and breathes Career and Technical Education or CTE. Her passion for her work is so obvious and I so appreciative of how she is able to explain the work she does in an approachable manner.

Episode Timeline:

For the premier of the Future College Parent Podcast, I was honored to be joined by Dr. Jermaine Williams, president of Montgomery College and a first-generation student himself.   He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and he’s all about providing access and equity to higher education. I couldn’t think of anyone better to start the show out with!  Jermaine and I talk about college preparation, choice, and finance.

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