Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Messenger Mic'd
Up. My name is Jennifer Smith, and I am a student
here at Johnson County Community College. Welcome
to the Messenger Mic'd Up, our second student
stories section. Today, I am joined by Carlyn
Jones. Hi. Hi. Welcome, welcome to the show.
How are you? I'm doing well today. How are you?
I am good. I am good. Did you guys get through
the storm okay last night? Did you guys lose
power or? No, we didn't lose power. We got really
lucky, but we did have a couple branches fall
down. Well, I'm ready for spring. I don't know
about you, but I'm ready. Absolutely. I was telling
Zach, our podcast editor, I will complain this
summer when it's 104 degrees, but I would rather
have that than this. Yeah. So, Karlyn, tell our
listeners a little bit about you. Where are you
from? What are you studying here at JCCC? That
sort of thing. I was born and raised here in
Overland Park, Kansas. I'm an accounting major.
You know, I really just trying to figure it out
along the way, explore my options. Perfect. What
made you interested in accounting? I've always
been really good at math. One of my big things
is that I have a lot of hobbies. So for me personally,
I really wanted to sit down and have something
a little more stable. And then be able to, you
know, make enough to afford my hobbies. Speaking
of hobbies, we talked a little bit about that
offline, just you and I. But can you share with
our listeners some of your hobbies and the things
that you like to do? Yeah, I'm really active
for the most part. I weightlift. I did wrestling
all throughout high school. I'm big on photography
and culinary and all that sort of thing. Wow.
Very, very cool. What do you like to cook or
make? I really like pasta dishes. That was kind
of like my staple with experimenting because
it's just really versatile. Yeah. And everybody
likes pasta. Oh, of course. How can you not like
pasta? You mentioned being an accounting major
and talked a little bit about how you want to
work in a fashion where you can support your
family, support your hobbies, that sort of thing.
Is there something specific in accounting that
you're interested in, like budgeting or finance
or? I do like finance accounting. I feel like
I'm leaning more towards the managerial accounting
side of things. I'm not too big on tax. Okay.
Very cool. Very cool. What led you here to JCCC
to continue your studies? Like I said, you know,
really just exploring my options. And I felt
like it was an affordable way for me to just
test the waters with certain things. Absolutely.
Absolutely. How do you think that JCCC and your
studies and your time here will be of benefit
to you in your accounting career? I think it's
been a really great way for me to adjust out
of high school. Just, you know, being able to,
like I said, explore everything. But also it's
been really... working with my schedule it works
with my schedule very well and I think that it's
been really helpful to just you know have have
the finals the way the finals are set up is a
major help with with stress and adjusting to
to college life. Right. Do you, when you say
finals, do you mean with like stop week and yeah.
So with stop week and, and how they have it set
up to where you really only should have one final
a day. I think that's such a great thing that
they did for, for the students. I think we can
all remember a time where that was not the case
where you might have three plus a paper, you
know, it's like, I can't do this. When are you
graduating or do you know yet? I should be in
line to graduate at the end of the next school
year. Awesome. Me too. Me too. Awesome. Awesome.
So I'm going to get to the question I am most
excited about. When we met, you shared some beautiful
photos with me of a very pretty, amazing, special
someone in your life. And I was wondering if
you could tell our listeners about this wonderful
person. right um so i am a new mom i have a two
and a half week old her name is ainsley um and
she's she's perfect uh she's been a lot to adjust
to for sure but i Couldn't really ask for anything
better. No, being a mom is such an incredible
experience. My baby is 23 and we were able to
share some pictures of our babies together. And
I'm so excited for you for this new journey.
Give me a call if you ever need mom to mom help.
I've been there. I've been there. I can help
you out, Fred. Can you talk a little bit about
the challenges of balancing your duties as a
new mom and also your studies and your homework
here at JCCC? Right. So like I said, I mean,
it's a huge adjustment. There's nothing really
easy about bringing a new life to the world.
You know, you really don't know what you're doing.
But, you know, the hardest thing for me has been
trying to get in some sleep. Yeah. On top of
everything else is just really sleep. Right.
And that's not going to change anytime soon,
friend. I'm sorry. How do you stay organized?
I mean, you're juggling some pretty big responsibilities
all at one time. Do you have any tips that you
could maybe share with our listeners about how
to stay organized and not drop all the balls
that you're juggling at one time? um so i mean
obviously i anticipated you know having a kind
of a rough semester this this semester and uh
so i kind of prepared i'm only taking a one online
class right now okay that way so i'm able to
be home with the baby and be able to access my
studies without having any issues And then really
just a light workload. The online classes are
fantastic. And I work full time because I'm a
non -traditional student. As you know, we talked
about that. It is wonderful that JCCC makes learning
available to all different kinds of students.
You know, not everybody is able to come. You
know, like you and I are not able to come to
four every day, you know, and and of course,
there are some students who can. But how wonderful
that this community is welcoming and accepting
of all. Let me see what suggestions or advice
would you have if another young person were a
parent and they were to say to you, I can't I
can't go to school. I can't do that. Or, hey,
do you think I could do that? What would you
say to them? Really just, you know, one of the
biggest things is to know your resources. I mean.
johnson county has a ton of resources and the
staff is amazing i mean for me communication
is also a huge thing i've been communicating
with my online professor and really just trying
to work out something that'll work um for my
class so that i can you know prioritize my degree
and continuing my education while also being
here and being able to focus on my baby I'm glad
that you mentioned that about the resources on
campus. I was going to ask if you were familiar
with the Child Care Center on campus, but I'm
going to kind of expand the question out a little
bit. Can you talk to us about the resources that
are available here on campus and that you've
been utilizing? Right. So, like I said, you know,
really just reaching out and communicating and
having that online class. But you also have,
you know, the counselors that you can reach out
to. and set up you know maybe an extended exam
time or quiz time something that really you know
can benefit you and your education there's like
you said the child care center i've looked majorly
into that And I think it's great. I think it's
a wonderful resource. There's a discounted daycare
for students. Wow, that's fantastic. Thank you
for sharing that with us. I've seen it. It's
over by the Police Academy on campus. But unfortunately,
I don't get to that side of campus very often.
So, yeah, I think it's fantastic that that's
a resource here. There's so many times I think
life events get in the way of people going back
to school or finishing their degree. It's wonderful
that our campus makes those resources available
to make education accessible to everybody. Switching
gears a little bit, you kind of talked about
weightlifting and you talked about your sporting
activities. Are there other hobbies that you
like? Reading or you've talked about cooking
as well. Can you share a little bit more with
us? yeah i mean i'm really kind of just a jack
of all trades i i dabble here and there once
in a while and uh one of my recent things was
uh i picked up crocheting yay um so i started
on a little blanket for the baby i haven't quite
finished it yet but um that's been one of my
recent projects Love it. I've also picked up,
you know, some things here and there to help
around the house. I live with my mom right now.
And, you know, every once in a while she wants
to change something up, like, you know, fix a
light fixture, change a light fixture. So just
kind of. picking up things as I go. Yeah. Like
being a handy woman. Yeah. I mean, things like
that will follow you, you know, the rest of your
life. You'll be able to use those skills when
you have your own home, your own apartment. Yeah.
My husband and I joke all the time about, I don't
want a house anymore because I have to fix everything.
You know, I just want an apartment. Let them
deal with it. But yeah. So I have to ask you
with your crocheting. I started out as a crocheter
and I became a knitter. Someone else that works
on the podcast is also a crocheter. So we're
talking about getting a group of JCCC folks together
to knit and crochet. Can we call on you to join
our yarn ranks? Get me out and hopefully, I mean,
if I can bring my own project from home, I can
finish my blanket. Of course, of course. And
you can also bring your beautiful little baby.
Mine is 23. So my days of getting to snuggle
little ones are long gone. So thank you. Thank
you for sharing her with us. That was just wonderful.
Let me see. Talking about things that bring you
joy, who inspires you in your life? And can you
tell us why that person or those people are inspirations
to you and what they've done for you that's been
joy giving? I'd say that my mom is probably my
biggest inspiration. She was also a fairly young
mom. She was older than I am. She was 25 when
she had me, but she was still in college and
she figured out how to get through it, how to
work a career, build up, and she did that all
single. So I have a lot of respect to her and
her work ethic and just all of the support that
she's been able to give me while balancing all
of that. And that message passes forward with
your daughter, you know, because someday she
will be your age and she will be able to say,
you know what, my mom did it. My mom's pretty
cool. You know, and you're showing her as a young
woman that education is available and it's accessible
and, you know, there's nothing that should stand
in your way from learning. So that's amazing.
You think you'll play this podcast for your mom
so she'll know that you said that about her?
Oh, she knows. She asked before I came up here
to join and she was like, are you going to say
nice things about me? Yes, mom. We certify she
said nice things about you. She's like the new
podcast mom. Love it. Love it. What would you
say is a good... something that resonated with
you like a piece of advice or um something that
someone shared with you once that you've carried
with you that you might like to share with us
oh I know that's a big one I know that's that's
a hard one I would have to say you know uh my
coach for wrestling in uh in high school he um
He kind of gave me this, not necessarily saying,
but just more of a metaphor. He, you know, said
that life is kind of like, you know, oh my gosh,
what is the word for it? Scaffolding. Life is
like scaffolding. Oh, okay. I feel. You know,
you can either build it up and continue building
upon it, or you can just sit there and you can
just have that kind of shell. And that's really
depending on what you do, what you go out to
achieve and continue building upon. And I do
kind of just sit here and realize, you know,
I really do need to work in order to accomplish
the things that I want. And that's huge. You
know, I feel like sometimes a lot of people.
I may not necessarily realize that you do have
to put a ton of work in to really accomplish
your dreams sometimes. Yeah. That it doesn't
come easy. You know, and I'm kicking myself now
because I read a quote today on Instagram. On
my Instagram, I follow like lots of motivational
quotes and, you know, make you feel good kind
of messages. And there was one that was very
similar to that about how all the people who
have things. by and large, you know, put in their
heart and soul and they had to be afraid to fail.
I mean, had to not be afraid to fail. You know,
it's okay to fail because it's in that moment
that you're growing and you're getting better
and you're getting stronger. And again, I just
think that that sends such a wonderful message
to your little girl. You know, she doesn't know
it now, but one day she will know how awesome
her mama is. If it's okay to ask you some personal
questions, what's on your Spotify playlist? What
are you listening to right now? What do you love?
oh man that's a fun question everybody loves
music yeah so kind of surprising i am big into
like rock and metal nice okay A lot of my like
recent listens are of Korn and I actually was
able to go to the concert when they were here
in Kansas and it was amazing. No way. Wow. That's
awesome. Well, I'll give a shout out to the music
department because that's where I come from.
Harvey Fitzer teaches a class here called the
history of rock and roll. And if you get the
opportunity to take it, take it. It's fantastic.
I mean, I come from a different generation, you
know, I'm, I'm 53, but a lot. of the old classic
rock that my dad listened to, we talked about,
and then all the way up through, you know, Korn
and, you know, Kendrick Lamar, you know, like
all the way coming into today's music. And so
I think it's something that you would really
enjoy. But yeah, I do like Korn. I like Freak
on a Leash. I think that's a great song. And
I saw them do it with, what's the girl's name
that sang lead for Evanescence? Amy. You know
who I'm talking about? I do. Really pretty voice.
Blinking on her name. Yeah, me too. Doggone it.
Yeah, that's a really good one. What about movies
or books? I really like kind of more of the thriller
horror style. Really? Okay. I feel like sometimes
there are things that are way too predictable.
Um, so for me, it's kind of hard to sit there
and watch something and then pick out what the
ending is going to be within the first like 10
minutes of the movie. Yeah. So I really, I really
tried to aim for something that, you know, has
a lot of twists and turns and something that
you, you know, may not be able to predict right
off the bat. Right. That's the reason that I
don't watch Hallmark Christmas movies. They all
start, you know, boy meets girl, you know, Santa
comes in, everything goes bad, then it snows
and it's perfect. You know, like, it's like,
I've seen this movie. million times you know
um yeah um are you a reader at all do you like
to read thriller books as well or yes yeah can
you make a recommendation I just got a kindle
so I'm like eager for book suggestions there
is a book called the silent patient oh the silent
patient okay that was amazing and I mean I probably
knocked that book out in a couple days wow nice
nice Well, is there anything else that you'd
like to share with our listeners? Maybe about
you personally, about your experience here at
JCCC, about being a mom? Sure. I, you know, have
never been too fabulous at school. I, you know,
had to go to a alternative high school to make
up some credits. Okay. Just because, you know,
learning has never been too high on my... not
necessarily on my to -do list but it's never
been like one of my greatest accomplishments
like a priority yeah but you know I feel like
if you really do want to adjust your reach for
your goals you have to do something that adjusts
to your schedule um so if if that means you know
taking one class at a time each semester then
that's what it means um you know putting Even
though if you think you can do a full workload,
if you've previously not done so well in school,
tone it down. Maybe do a couple of classes and
explore. Make sure to incorporate some things
that you like. Like I have done a couple of weights
classes. I've done a couple of photography classes.
Me too, actually. Yeah, those are fun. Yeah.
And so really just balancing learning something
for your career. and something you enjoy while
also giving yourself enough time to really adjust
to everything. It's super important. I love that
you said that because I think people, I mean,
at least when I was in high school, which again
was 10 million years ago, I know, but I think
I thought I had to go straight to college and
I had to take a full load and I had to graduate
in four years, you know, and as I got older and
I mean, I'm living proof because here I am at
53 at JCCC, but not everybody's journey is linear.
You know, not everybody goes to school, gets
married, has a baby, buys a house, you know,
and that is okay. It's absolutely fine to have
a different beat, you know, that you march to.
And the good thing about JCCC, and more than
once you've said this during our talk today,
that you have wide opportunities to explore.
you know, and dip your toe in the water. You're
never going to know unless you try it. If you
try it and you hate it, okay, well, you gave
it a shot, right? If you try it and you love
it, hey, I mean, you could take a brand new direction
and find something that you love. And with having
a new, beautiful little girl, photography is
really going to benefit you. And as a mom of
a 23 -year -old, believe me when I tell you,
she will be 23 next week. You can read me. She
will be driving and there will be boys and yes.
I don't doubt it. I mean, she's getting close
to hitting that month mark and it does not feel
like, like at all. No, no. What a joy that is
to be a mom. Would you, if you don't mind me
asking, this is kind of personal, but what would
you say you've learned? And I know that you're
kind of new to your motherhood journey, but is
there anything that maybe you weren't prepared
for that surprised you or? Are you still waiting
to be surprised? I feel like I'm still waiting
for a big surprise. I kind of anticipated the
lack of sleep and the amount of eating that she
does and whatnot. And the unpredictability of
the scream. Oh, yeah. I guess one of my more
unpredictable things was... more of like the
labor process. Oh yeah. For me, it was a lot
quicker than I was really anticipating. So I
got lucky there, but it was, it was a lot all
at once. Good. I remember long before I was married
and long before I was a mom, my mother said to
me, she said, you know, there's nothing I can
tell you. There are no words I can give you to
properly explain to you what it means to be a
mom. The love and the fear and the panic and,
you know, all of the emotions that bubble up
in you. She's like, I can't impart that on you.
That's just something that you have to experience
for yourself. And I'm so excited for you to be
on this new journey and that you get to share
this with your mom, too. I just I just think
that's wonderful. My mom lives in another state.
So I just think that's wonderful that you get
that opportunity. My gosh, I've so enjoyed meeting
you and getting to know you. And thank you for
sharing your beautiful girl with us. Is there
anything else that you'd like to leave our listeners
with? Maybe a favorite coffee shop to try or
something that you really love that maybe we
might not know about that we could go try? Shout
out to Black Dog Coffee in Lenexa. That's my
favorite. There is, so I love international food.
I love trying a lot of things. Oh, yeah. There
is a Vietnamese restaurant that is a small family
owned right off of, I want to say, 129th and
Antioch. Okay. Okay. So here in Johnson County.
Okay. Yeah. It is called Pho Vietnam. It is amazing.
Nice. Great atmosphere. Love the family on, you
know, they're hard workers and they're so sweet.
Love that. Love supporting small businesses.
Love supporting family businesses. Love international
food. Do you think you'd ever go to Vietnam one
day if you had the opportunity? So I have. Oh,
you have. Oh, do tell, do tell. So for my graduation
trip from high school, we spent a month overseas
traveling across Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Nice. what can you give us some of your memories
from that time or something extraordinary that
happened or you know because i would i would
venture a guess that the majority of folks listening
to us have never been there right um it was it
was a huge photography opportunity oh yeah yeah
and i really took advantage of that i mean i
filled an entire sd card it was amazing you know
it's really hard to describe you know you can't
really capture the beauty with pictures you know
there's such a such a like rare beauty about
just being there in the moment yeah but one thing
that really stood out is just just all the different
cultures and and how it was so different than
you know what we're used to here and And they're
just so accepting and willing to accept into
their culture and show you what their traditions
are, what some of their traditional dishes are.
It's amazing. Yeah. Look at how much you grow
as a person. You know what I mean? When you open
yourself up to other worlds, there's so much
world around us. I'm so thrilled that you got
to have that opportunity. I have not been to
Asia. My husband has been to Asia when he was
in the military, but my father was stationed
in Vietnam twice. That's how old I am. And he
said he's never seen anything like it. He said
the beauty of the landscape was only triumphed
by the beauty of the people. He said they were
just the most loving, welcoming, kind people.
So that's definitely on my bucket list. Vietnam
is on my bucket list. Have you published any
of those photos? Or are they just something that
you've kind of kept personal? No, I've been kind
of debating if I wanted to. I'm not someone who
really has any social media or whatnot. I've
never been too high up on my list of things to
have. But, you know, if I really wanted to get
my photography work out there and try to monetize
it. per se. I would love to. I've got a lot of
great stuff that I'd love to share with people.
Well, if you do, let us know so that we can share
that with our listeners. Wow. So not taking into
consideration the places you've always been,
or have already been, excuse me, Thailand and
Vietnam and such. Is there another place in the
world that you'd like to go? Oh, that's... That's
hard. There's so many places I feel like that
I would love to just go and experience. I think
one of the biggest ones would be probably just
being able to experience Germany. Oh, I lived
in Germany for three years. Oh, yeah. I'm so
glad you said that. Keep talking. You know, I
think it'd be beautiful. I've spent. a tiny bit
of time like two days in helsinki for a layover
nice um and i didn't really feel like i got to
experience much of the culture as what i would
have liked to Yeah. I, my dad was in the military,
as I mentioned, and we were stationed in Germany
for three years and it was in the seventies.
So again, I'm an old lady. So it was before the
wall came down, you know, and things are so much
different today. And I was very young, so I didn't
get to have the adult ability to appreciate the
culture and the food and the people like you
did when you went to Asia. So I really hope you
get the chance to go to Germany. Where in Germany
would you like to go? Like Berlin or? I'm not
exactly sure. I mean, just I'm more concerned
about just finding somewhere and being able to
experience things rather. A specific location.
You grow again. You grow so much every time you
open your heart to a new culture or a new food
or a new music. And I'm so excited for you. What
an incredible journey lies ahead of you, both
as a mom, as a student, as a citizen of the world.
That's pretty incredible. Do you speak any other
languages or have you taken a Duolingo? Anything.
Yeah. I have Duolingo on my phone. And if you
don't do your lessons for like three days, that
like harassment that you get, they blow up your
phone. Are you coming back? We miss you. We miss
you. I am not fluent in any other language, no,
but I do partially understand, you know, some
Spanish enough to get me by if I really need
it. You need to, yeah. I really should do a better
job at, you know, getting out there and learning,
you know, more languages or at least some of
the basics if I'm, you know, traveling in a different
country that way so I can communicate and if
I need to, you know, in case I get lost or whatever.
Right. good news is you know youtube and tiktok
and you know there's so many free resources out
there um but you know i know like free time is
not something that you have a lot of right now
on that topic um if you were to have let's say
unlimited funds you had a gajillion dollars you
had a weekend of free time no baby no class no
nothing how would you spend that weekend um Right
now, I'd probably say sleeping. Yep, I can relate
to that. But if she was a little bit older and
getting a little bit more consistent sleep, I'd
probably just go out and have a day for myself.
What would you do? Go to the spa? uh maybe you
know maybe get my hair trimmed or go get my nails
done or have a special meal yeah good for you
good for you well anything in closing to share
with our listeners our friends out there on the
internet all right well thank you so much for
being a part of our um the messenger mic'd up
our podcast here at johnson county community
college all of you that are listening thank you
so much for joining us today take care stay safe
and we will see you next time bye