223: An Important Perspective: A Conversation with Rising Senior at Colby College, Heather Jahrling

Heather Jarhling is a rising senior at Colby College in Waterville Maine. She — like her peers — is facing an unsettled future. This cohort spent the last three and a half months running to keep up with a shift to online education that many of them did not sign up for.

Of course, no one signed up for the changes sweeping education as a result of the pandemic. And the rising voices around racial injustice will be additional concerns you will need to face. We need to listen to one other — now more than ever — as our expectations, needs, and requirements shift toward the fall.

Heather and Howard explore what the transition to learning from home meant for her and what students like her are looking for in their educational experience as we face the fall term. If you’re an administrator or a faculty member and you’re looking to understand your students’ expectations leading into next year, this is a must-listen. Next year’s class is looking for a signal for change ahead and as you’ll hear in this conversation, finding the middle-ground that demonstrates they’ve been heard today will go a long way when you need to ask for their flexibility tomorrow.

We invite you to use this podcast to open or continue the conversation with others.