Lauren Mandel--a high school senior on meditation, collaboration and the source of life - Descript

Joe V: 00:00:00

Welcome to this.

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The 14th episode of who needs.

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Today, we talked to Lauren Mendell, a senior at St.

Joe V: 00:00:07

Ignatius college prep in San Francisco.

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And this is something that I have been wanting to do and hope I can

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do a lot more of that's to interview students and to get their perspective.

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Now, Lauren is the editor in chief of the school's newspapers called inside SIA.

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And she'll refer to that during the episode.

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And in many respects, Lauren is a student who excels in this.

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She's an outstanding student.

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Uh, she's deeply engaged in activities outside of the classroom.

Joe V: 00:00:35

She offers some great insights into some of the important things in her

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educational journey, working with others, passion, uh, the wellness importance of

Joe V: 00:00:45

wellness, importance of lifelong learning.

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And she'll refer to something in lit ladder into the, uh,

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episode called the examine and.

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Moment that our students will take to, uh, collectively review their day, uh,

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to examine it in a peripheral sense.

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And so she speaks to that a little bit.

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Enjoy.

Joe V: 00:01:06

Well, a warm welcome to Lauren Mendell to who needs school.

Joe V: 00:01:10

Lauren, if you wouldn't mind, um, tell us a bit about yourself.

Joe V: 00:01:14

Where are you now in your educational journey you were in?

Joe V: 00:01:17

Where have you been, and more importantly, what does that

Joe V: 00:01:20

educational experience been like?

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:23

Well, I am currently a senior at SSI and I know.

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:30

Going through the entire college app experience.

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:35

And actually next Monday, I have to submit all of my early action applications.

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:42

So that is a bit stressful.

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:44

Um, and let's just say, I'm looking forward to Christmas break.

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:49

That is for sure.

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:51

But I guess if I'm starting with just like my educational journey, We can start

Lauren Mandel: 00:01:58

with pre-K if we want to go back that far.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:02

And I don't remember much about that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:06

I mean, my mom has some stories about it, of course.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:09

And like the main things, I guess, from preschool were like the birthday parties.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:15

That's all I got from preschool.

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And then K through sixth grade, I was at St.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:21

Cecilia's elementary school.

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And.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:26

Then I kind of feel like learning was just the normal thing to do.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:32

Like I went to school because everyone else went to school

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and I was just expected to learn and that's all it was about.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:42

So K through six, that was kind of my mindset.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:45

But then I feel like seventh and eighth grade was when, I guess I had

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:50

like an end goal of what I should.

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Like what learning was and that's to get to high school.

Lauren Mandel: 00:02:58

So the end goal of seventh to eighth grade was getting to high

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:01

school and that was taking the HSPT.

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And that was a lot because I'm not a great test taker.

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And I had to study for that spend like money on tutors.

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:18

Figure all of this new stuff out and half of it, like, I feel like I didn't

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:23

even learn in school, but I took the HSPT and I applied only to two high

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:30

schools actually only sh and SSI.

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:34

And I felt like I was kind of always geared towards SSI because my two

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:40

brothers went there, core MC and Ryan.

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:43

Um, both of them, one of them graduated from college and the

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:46

other one is still in college.

Lauren Mandel: 00:03:50

So whenever I got accepted into both of those, I kinda just knew

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that I was going to go to SSI.

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And so I went, I kind of left behind all of those people in

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:04

my elementary school that I had known for what, like nine years.

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And.

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I was kind of put into this area.

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That was so new with all of these new people.

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:17

Like a thousand people in a school was crazy for me coming from like maybe 300

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and to all of these different people, especially when you're a freshman and you

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:29

see all these seniors, but it was a little easier since I had my brother there.

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:34

And I feel like his friends kind of treated me like their

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:38

little sister and I was just.

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:41

Kind of there with all the rest of the freshmen, everyone in the same boat,

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:45

but I don't think that's stressed enough that everyone is in the same boat because

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:52

kids don't realize that we just see these movies and think, oh God, this

Lauren Mandel: 00:04:58

is what high school is going to be.

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People are going to be shoved in lockers or like into bins.

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:03

And that's what I thought for like most of my life going, and

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:07

especially in seventh and eighth.

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But when I got there, it was just so different.

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:12

It was actually really, I guess, welcoming, especially at SSI with

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:18

, just like wild cat welcoming club.

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:21

That's one of the clubs there where they take around students

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:24

on tours and like everyone, I know it's just a good community

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:30

atmosphere, I guess you could say.

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:32

But, um, freshman year.

Joe V: 00:05:35

Uh, Lauren, just to you, you did seventh and eighth grade saints, correct?

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:41

Yeah.

Lauren Mandel: 00:05:41

Yeah.

Joe V: 00:05:42

And then in your dad went to SIS as well?

Joe V: 00:05:46

I believe.

Joe V: 00:05:48

Correct.

Joe V: 00:05:48

Right.

Joe V: 00:05:49

So did you, as you went through that process and then be curious about, what

Joe V: 00:05:55

the highlights have been in at, , in high school for you so far, but when you

Joe V: 00:05:59

went through that process as an eighth grade, Did you feel like it was your

Joe V: 00:06:03

decision to make, like, I mean, or did you feel like this kind of already made,

Joe V: 00:06:07

cause you had family members go there or, you know, did you have a pro-con list

Joe V: 00:06:12

as you were going about that decision?

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:15

That's a good point to bring up.

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:17

Actually, I do feel like it was slightly already made because they

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:24

knew that they were like, okay, she has a pretty good chance of going.

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:29

Getting into these two schools based on my grades and based on the score of,

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:34

I got on the HSPT and just like Ryan and Cormack went there and it was just

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:39

kind of expected of me to go there.

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:42

And I kind of always had that feeling too, that it wasn't completely.

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:49

But I was kind of fine with that in a way, because I felt that I'm alive.

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:55

Yeah.

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:56

And I feel like at that age, you're kind of like, all right,

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:58

we'll just go along with it.

Lauren Mandel: 00:06:59

As long as I got into a high school, I was content with that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:07:04

Um, but

Joe V: 00:07:04

I'll, and I think B be candid and honest.

Joe V: 00:07:09

You've been, you're an academic rock star, you know, your thing.

Joe V: 00:07:13

You're very well in school.

Joe V: 00:07:14

Right?

Joe V: 00:07:15

You've got, you're taking four APS.

Joe V: 00:07:18

3.9 GPA unweighted.

Joe V: 00:07:20

And, um, you're going to have a lot of doors open for you in that next chapter.

Joe V: 00:07:25

You just don't know what it is yet.

Joe V: 00:07:26

That's the, that's the anxiety, but you will go to college.

Joe V: 00:07:31

We just, we it's the curiosity and the mystery of exactly where

Joe V: 00:07:35

that's going to be over these next months is we figured that out.

Joe V: 00:07:40

Here's what, here's what I'm curious about.

Joe V: 00:07:42

What, as you look back on your three and a half years, Of high school, which has

Joe V: 00:07:47

obviously had a major interruption in terms of what we would consider a normal

Joe V: 00:07:51

high school career with COVID and having to take remote classes and all that.

Joe V: 00:07:55

But what, what do you think are the things that will stick with you in terms

Joe V: 00:08:01

of your educational experience and why?

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:05

I guess probably one of the main things.

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:10

Would kind of be how to work with other people, to be honest,

Joe V: 00:08:14

you talk about working with others?

Joe V: 00:08:16

Right.

Joe V: 00:08:16

How did that, how did you learn that?

Joe V: 00:08:20

Like, did you, was there a particular class or.

Joe V: 00:08:23

Or every class, like where did, where did that become part of the experience?

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:28

I think you're kind of just thrown into it and every single

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:33

class, because there's always going to be some group projects or you have to

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:38

kind of learn how to learn off of others as well, because sometimes you don't

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:45

understand something in the class and that means you have to find someone who does.

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:50

And of course, there's the.

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:51

But then sometimes I feel like when you work with the pier,

Lauren Mandel: 00:08:56

there's some, it's more of a basic understanding of what you're doing.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:01

So that's when you kind of learn how to bounce ideas off of each other.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:05

And then there's always like group projects where you figure out, okay,

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:09

who's going to do what, and it's true.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:11

There's some people that don't do something and then

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:14

others who do all of it.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:16

And so you kind of have to balance in between and figure out, okay, how can I.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:21

Either be the leader in this group or be one of the followers,

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:25

but that does their own part.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:27

If that makes sense.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:28

I guess you could say it makes

Joe V: 00:09:29

total sense.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:31

I guess another thing I've always really loved English and

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:36

that's a reason I'm on the newspaper as well, but it started freshman year.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:42

Getting like super passionate about something in high school,

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:46

that's kind of what I've found has carried me through it all.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:49

And that has been English.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:51

I've just loved all of my teachers.

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:53

And I've found a group of people in each of my English classes that

Lauren Mandel: 00:09:58

kind of share that same passion.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:01

And so taking that like into the real world, I guess it would just be.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:08

You need a passion to kind of pull you through life in a way,

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:11

something that you really love.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:15

I don't know.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:15

It just makes you feel kind of complete in a way, I guess, gives you some guidance.

Joe V: 00:10:20

Where do you think that comes from that, that passion?

Joe V: 00:10:24

Is it, was it something innate?

Joe V: 00:10:26

Was it, or was there some people along the way that kind of

Joe V: 00:10:30

sparked that, that passion for.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:33

Oh, I would a hundred percent say it would be my teachers.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:37

I had miss Denning actually.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:39

She's she left, but, um, Ms.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:42

Dannon was my freshman year English teacher.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:45

And the main thing was how in love with the, with English.

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:50

She was so even though we could be talking about something super boring, or like

Lauren Mandel: 00:10:56

maybe read in Shakespeare, which half of it, most students don't understand.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:01

She made.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:02

So that we would fall in love with it too.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:05

And then it just kept going with my English teachers, like Mr.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:08

Devine loved what he was doing.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:10

He would extract like all of these different things from a story.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:15

And I was like, how does this man do this?

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:17

And I was like, I want to be like that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:20

And then even not English, like not in an English class.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:24

Um, it was chemistry with Ms.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:26

McGuffin.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:28

She loved teaching.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:30

And you could tell, and I guess that was like one of the main things that

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:34

made me passionate about something was whenever the teacher really loved it.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:39

Cause I was like, oh, maybe I should really love this too, in a way.

Lauren Mandel: 00:11:43

So

Joe V: 00:11:43

yeah.

Joe V: 00:11:43

It's like fire, right?

Joe V: 00:11:44

When, when there's a fire, you take a stick like that stick that

Joe V: 00:11:49

fire is still, still goes right.

Joe V: 00:11:51

And if that teacher has that fire and that passion, it can be passed on.

Joe V: 00:11:55

Students without diminishing that fire.

Joe V: 00:11:57

Right, exactly.

Joe V: 00:11:59

So you're involved with the student newspaper inside SSI.

Joe V: 00:12:03

And is that a major commitment for you?

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:07

Um, I would, I was actually a managing editor last year.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:11

And that was a big commitment because you had to deal with these small teams and

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:16

like nitpicking and trying to get all of these writers to get their articles in.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:21

And then this year I'm the editor in chief.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:24

So that's like leading, I guess you would say leading more people.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:29

But not as closely, if that makes sense.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:35

Not as nit-picky exactly, but, um, I would say close it's basically at the

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:42

beginning of an issue it's hectic.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:45

And at the end of the issue, it's hectic.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:47

In-between we leave that to the managing editors, which I had to do last year.

Lauren Mandel: 00:12:52

I know credits to them, but, um,

Joe V: 00:12:56

Would you say that this you're learning a lot by, you know,

Joe V: 00:12:59

doing this, cause this is not a party, you know, that you see a

Joe V: 00:13:03

requirements on your transcript script.

Joe V: 00:13:05

Right.

Joe V: 00:13:05

But it's nice to have, but it's not a requirement to graduate and yet

Joe V: 00:13:10

you're spending a lot of time doing it.

Joe V: 00:13:12

Do you find it to be rewarding?

Joe V: 00:13:14

And are you learning stuff?

Joe V: 00:13:16

And if so, what are you.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:17

It's absolutely rewarding seeing like the finished newspaper.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:21

And then you just see your name.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:23

Like, even though it's like 12 point font, but you still see it.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:26

And it's like, I helped to make this thing.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:29

And I guess one of the main things I'm learning.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:32

His confidence and leadership, because I get my confidence from the leadership.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:37

I guess you would say I have to lead or talk to all of a whole room of students.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:44

That was like my first meeting.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:47

I was the one leading it.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:48

And I was nervous.

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:50

I will admit before, even though I had to say maybe like three

Lauren Mandel: 00:13:53

sentences, but just being able to stand in front of all of those people.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:01

And tell them your ideas.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:03

And I guess I wouldn't say command them, but just guide them in a way.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:09

I don't know.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:10

I thought that was really cool.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:12

So I guess the main thing I learned is leadership also working with

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:16

the team, I guess, bringing up the topic of working with others

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:20

again, because you kind of have to.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:23

You have to bring in the voices of everyone in the newspaper.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:27

It's not just, okay.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:29

SSI.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:30

Let's just focus on SSI.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:32

You have to go outside of SSI, focus on the sports.

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:35

Um, we even have a humor section, so it's just, I guess I'm trying to get

Lauren Mandel: 00:14:42

the cumulation of all voices of SL.

Joe V: 00:14:47

And they're in license, some excellence.

Joe V: 00:14:50

Right.

Joe V: 00:14:50

As we study, um, education as administrators, we look to what

Joe V: 00:14:57

do graduates do when they're done after aside from going to college.

Joe V: 00:15:01

And there are very few jobs out.

Joe V: 00:15:03

There were people work by themselves, you know, Lot of stuff that gets that's

Joe V: 00:15:09

in terms of innovation or, in terms of business is done in collaboration

Joe V: 00:15:14

with a team or leading a team.

Joe V: 00:15:17

And that's, we want that to be part of the educational experience so

Joe V: 00:15:21

that our graduates are prepared to lead because that's such an

Joe V: 00:15:25

important part of what happens after.

Joe V: 00:15:28

So is there a particular, uh, Over the three and a half years.

Joe V: 00:15:34

So far, that really sticks out.

Joe V: 00:15:36

Now you talked about your English teachers, but maybe in the realm of

Joe V: 00:15:40

science or math or language, was there a particular unit or project or maybe

Joe V: 00:15:47

class in general that, when you're 50 years old, you'll look back on and

Joe V: 00:15:53

remember, really remember that as being a formative part of your education.

Lauren Mandel: 00:15:58

I guess actually I think it's bio because especially

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:04

this year, even in the smallest little unit about learning where life comes

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:09

from and everything, it opens up your perspective a lot because you

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:15

think, okay, um, everyone's different.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:18

Like we all look different.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:19

There's all of these organisms that are super different.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:23

But then they tell you, we all descend from one common ancestor

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:27

and you're like, what is going on?

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:29

How is everyone kind of related

Joe V: 00:16:32

in some way?

Joe V: 00:16:35

Where, where does life come from?

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:38

Good question, Mr.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:39

Wall.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:42

That is one.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:44

I cannot answer.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:49

Trying to answer, but I'm thinking a single celled organism is what Mr.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:56

Rock China's telling us.

Lauren Mandel: 00:16:58

So I will go with,

Joe V: 00:17:01

and it's in some, some spark along the way, right?

Joe V: 00:17:04

Some spark.

Joe V: 00:17:06

Right.

Joe V: 00:17:07

I got things going, let me ask you this.

Joe V: 00:17:09

Now.

Joe V: 00:17:10

This is the tougher question than that.

Joe V: 00:17:13

You've been.

Joe V: 00:17:15

You've been a model student in some respects.

Joe V: 00:17:17

And I, and I know I'm sure there have been challenges and ups and

Joe V: 00:17:20

downs in your educational careers or is there is for all of us, but

Joe V: 00:17:24

you've stepped up to meet those, those challenges by all appearances.

Joe V: 00:17:28

So you've kicked the ball through the goalpost that we've laid out for you.

Joe V: 00:17:33

But if you were to design an educational experience, What would you do?

Joe V: 00:17:40

Like your stewed now, knowing what you know, and doing what you do as a

Joe V: 00:17:44

student, what would you really wish school was like, if you were to design,

Lauren Mandel: 00:17:50

I guess, should I focus on like my ideal class?

Lauren Mandel: 00:17:54

Let's say,

Joe V: 00:17:56

well, what's the first thing that comes to mind when I asked you that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:00

One of the first things is the whole idea of participation.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:05

Because even though I'm decent at learning things on my own.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:12

Figuring out the homework and the class.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:15

Like you can all do all of this stuff, but then there's that

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:18

whole idea of a participation grade, I guess you could say.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:22

And in some classes I'm more nervous than others to participate in.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:28

And I'm just focusing on this because it's something that I've

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:31

experienced all throughout high school, like trying to participate

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:35

and just be an active in a class.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:38

And one of the main things I would suggest would be to let the students

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:43

know what's going to happen, because I feel like when a student knows what's

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:49

going to happen in the class, even if that's just like writing a schedule on

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:52

the board, it kind of eases that anxiety.

Lauren Mandel: 00:18:56

And you know what you're in for, in a way, I guess you could say, because when

Lauren Mandel: 00:19:02

I don't know what's going to happen next.

Lauren Mandel: 00:19:05

That brings me some anxiety.

Lauren Mandel: 00:19:07

And I feel like that's for most people, when you know what's happening, you

Lauren Mandel: 00:19:11

can better prepare and you kind of think more, you're able to take a

Lauren Mandel: 00:19:17

breath and then participate more and just say what you need to say, because

Lauren Mandel: 00:19:24

you know what they want you to say in a way, does that, that doesn't.

Joe V: 00:19:29

Element of, of learning and critical thinking is having some

Joe V: 00:19:32

context and knowing what's coming, here's what we're going to learn today

Joe V: 00:19:36

and put your mind in that framework.

Joe V: 00:19:39

And then that's what you are trying to learn in that that particular day.

Joe V: 00:19:43

Right?

Joe V: 00:19:44

Let me ask you this.

Joe V: 00:19:45

Do you think, and this is, I know the answer is probably a little bit of both,

Joe V: 00:19:49

but I'd be curious on your personal.

Joe V: 00:19:52

In terms of your formation as the person you are today over the last three and

Joe V: 00:19:59

a half years, since you started gracing the halls of San Ignatius, do you find

Joe V: 00:20:04

that you've been formed more in the classes that you've taken in the classroom

Joe V: 00:20:12

or in the experiences you've had?

Joe V: 00:20:15

Outside the classroom.

Joe V: 00:20:16

And I assume you've been on, say some retreats Bobby's had been involved

Joe V: 00:20:20

with insider side and maybe some of the things you've been involved with

Joe V: 00:20:23

outside of the classroom that are associated with the high school experience

Joe V: 00:20:26

what's your perspective on that?

Lauren Mandel: 00:20:29

Well, I think definitely my classes shape who I

Lauren Mandel: 00:20:33

am because every class I feel has.

Lauren Mandel: 00:20:38

There's a purpose to it.

Lauren Mandel: 00:20:39

Now, math, I'm a little iffy on like, if there's a deeper meaning maybe, maybe

Lauren Mandel: 00:20:47

there is, but I feel like in every class you do learn something like in English,

Lauren Mandel: 00:20:53

we go through these different units.

Lauren Mandel: 00:20:56

I think it was, um, junior year, I learned about like what

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:01

it means to be an American.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:03

And you take parts from all of these different novels that give all these

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:08

different perspectives on what it means.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:11

And then you form your own, I guess you could say.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:13

And then my Spanish class taught me that there were more.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:19

Like there's struggles within America too.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:22

Like, especially with immigration.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:24

We were looking at the frontier and how people are struggling

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:28

to like cross the border.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:30

So that opened up my eyes.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:31

I was like, okay, not everything is all.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:34

My friend has been using this word a lot, so I guess I'll use it hunky

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:38

Dory in America, if that makes sense.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:42

And then of course, This year, I'm taking con law and we learn

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:49

about current events, every class.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:52

So now I see the political side of what's happening outside of school.

Lauren Mandel: 00:21:58

And I guess for like programs

Joe V: 00:22:04

been awakened, right.

Joe V: 00:22:06

Totally.

Joe V: 00:22:07

Right.

Joe V: 00:22:08

And that's, I mean, there's some deeper, critical thinking there, right?

Joe V: 00:22:11

You're, you're beginning to delve into the more complex issues of society

Joe V: 00:22:17

and in our world and our political system, it sounds, and the classroom

Joe V: 00:22:21

is really awakened that it sounds like.

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:24

Yeah, because before that I was just going along with

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:28

the flow, like I was saying, I was learning to learn and that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:33

It learning the basics.

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:36

And now we're kind of applying those basics to real life in a sense.

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:42

And I don't know, just every class and also the teachers, they

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:47

kind of shape who you are and.

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:49

What I usually do is I take some of the personality traits

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:53

that I like from a teacher.

Lauren Mandel: 00:22:55

And I try to incorporate that into my own personality traits.

Lauren Mandel: 00:23:00

So I would say, um, I have a little bit of each teacher that I kind of.

Joe V: 00:23:06

That's a nice way of putting it.

Joe V: 00:23:08

And you know, if there's anything, we talk about this, these past 20

Joe V: 00:23:13

months and have this experience of COVID and remote learning.

Joe V: 00:23:19

And one of the things that we knew going into it's probably been accelerated

Joe V: 00:23:24

with COVID is that knowledge is, you know, information is ubiquitous.

Joe V: 00:23:28

You can find just about anything you need to know on Google

Joe V: 00:23:31

or even Tik TOK these days.

Joe V: 00:23:33

Right?

Joe V: 00:23:34

But what's not ubiquitous is the personal relationship and there's something

Joe V: 00:23:38

very important for us as human beings, socially in school, that social contact

Joe V: 00:23:44

with our friends and classmates, but also with the adults who, um, do kind of

Joe V: 00:23:51

impart a part of who they are into all of their students in that becomes part

Joe V: 00:23:55

of your, you know, part of your story.

Joe V: 00:23:58

That's hard to replicate via zoom.

Joe V: 00:24:00

Right.

Joe V: 00:24:01

You get some of it, but it's certainly not the full impact that you do in person.

Joe V: 00:24:06

How about, you speak very eloquently about the impact

Joe V: 00:24:11

of your classroom experiences.

Joe V: 00:24:12

What, what about the experience outside the classroom?

Joe V: 00:24:14

And I, and I know you talked about some of the things you learned as a

Joe V: 00:24:17

managing editor and as an editor in chief, but in terms of the overall

Joe V: 00:24:21

experience outside the classroom, what kind of an impact does that have on you?

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:26

I used to do sports.

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:27

I did, um, long distance track.

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:31

I'm not athletic at all, but I did long distance track

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:34

and I tried softball as well.

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:37

And I guess from those.

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:39

Again, the whole idea of team building comes up and just, I also kind of

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:44

figured out that I should do what I'm good at because I'm not good at sports.

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:51

And so I took that and I was like, okay, so I'm not good at like

Lauren Mandel: 00:24:57

these competitive sports, but maybe I'm good at something else.

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:00

So I started running on my own and so it kind of made me see that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:08

All right.

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:08

I can't do this one thing.

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:10

I'm going to try something else.

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:11

So I did the newspaper or I focused on how much I loved writing.

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:17

So I joined a different club and yeah.

Joe V: 00:25:20

And that's part of , the journey, right?

Joe V: 00:25:21

It's that self discovery of our innate gifts?

Joe V: 00:25:24

It's like, a block of granite becoming a sculpture and just done,

Joe V: 00:25:30

chosen away to who you really are.

Joe V: 00:25:33

And by trying those things, you find out where maybe I don't want,

Joe V: 00:25:36

I'm not that good at it, or don't want to do that as father resell.

Joe V: 00:25:38

He says, if it's not fun, why do it, why keep doing it?

Joe V: 00:25:42

If it's not a lot of fun.

Joe V: 00:25:43

Okay.

Joe V: 00:25:43

I got two more questions for you.

Joe V: 00:25:46

And the first is you're the principal for a day.

Joe V: 00:25:51

What would you do?

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:54

I would give everyone detention.

Joe V: 00:25:57

You might only last a day if you did that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:25:59

I know I definitely would.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:02

If I was the principal for the day first, I would, I like the time.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:08

So I would make everyone come in at nine still, because any later I feel everyone's

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:14

all over the place to be honest.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:15

So it would stay at nine.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:18

And I would allow free dress.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:22

No SSI pride, just complete free dress because lately at least for

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:27

me, clothing has been like my form of expression and just who I am so

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:34

free dress for sure for everyone.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:36

But then of course that creates controversy, but I won't get into that.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:40

Um, so free dress.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:42

Um, and then.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:46

Definitely no zoom classes.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:49

It would be all in person.

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:51

We would maybe go outside for like two of the class periods of the day

Lauren Mandel: 00:26:59

and just definitely do an examine or maybe a meditation, because I think the

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:07

examine just clears your mind and just closing my eyes for those five minutes.

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:14

I can do something, maybe it's just for me, but I don't think so because it just

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:22

is like a refresh, if that makes sense.

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:25

So maybe

Joe V: 00:27:28

yeah, I would,

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:31

yeah.

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:31

I actually have tried meditation a few times and it does change.

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:37

So wellness, maybe a wellness class for every year, because

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:42

that's super important.

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:43

And just that time to relax and wellness and just meditate.

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:48

It just gives me life in the middle of the day when you're working so hard.

Lauren Mandel: 00:27:55

So

Joe V: 00:27:56

that change as you get older, I hope that stays with you.

Joe V: 00:28:00

Yeah.

Joe V: 00:28:01

Good and great insight.

Joe V: 00:28:03

That second question.

Joe V: 00:28:04

I want you to talk to your eighth grade self.

Joe V: 00:28:07

So you're an eighth grader.

Joe V: 00:28:10

Probably stressed about where you're going to go to high school and finishing

Joe V: 00:28:14

your first semester at Sansa is what advice would you give to your.

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:20

Well, I would say Lauren, you're not going to be shoved in a locker.

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:27

Number one.

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:29

And then next, I would say that it's all kind of going to lay

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:36

out, even though if sometimes it doesn't play out as you want it to.

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:44

Life is just going to go the way it goes.

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:47

And you're going to get to the stage where you're repeating the exact

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:53

same process that you're repeating.

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:55

Now, the goal is high school, but then the goal is going to be college.

Lauren Mandel: 00:28:59

And then I'm going to have, I don't know how many other goals in

Lauren Mandel: 00:29:05

the rest for the rest of my life.

Lauren Mandel: 00:29:07

But there's always going to be something to work towards and there's

Lauren Mandel: 00:29:11

always going to be new people.

Lauren Mandel: 00:29:13

You're going to meet and new connections, new things.

Lauren Mandel: 00:29:17

You'll learn you're on a podcast right now.

Lauren Mandel: 00:29:22

There's some things that are going to happen, random things, but yeah, just that

Joe V: 00:29:31

that's good advice.

Joe V: 00:29:32

I suspect Lauren that.

Joe V: 00:29:35

Your future self might give the same advice to your current self, right.

Joe V: 00:29:40

Things do have a tendency of working out, especially if we are

Joe V: 00:29:44

kind of open to the possibilities.

Joe V: 00:29:46

Right?

Joe V: 00:29:47

Great.

Joe V: 00:29:48

Alright, now I'm going to flip things a little bit.

Joe V: 00:29:50

I'm gonna give you a chance to ask a question as you're an editor

Joe V: 00:29:53

in chief of a school newspaper.

Joe V: 00:29:55

So I assume you know how to do some of that.

Joe V: 00:29:58

So I'll give you a chance to answer a question and then we'll wrap things up.

Lauren Mandel: 00:30:02

All right.

Lauren Mandel: 00:30:03

I guess one thing I would ask and I think this is coming from just

Lauren Mandel: 00:30:10

me personally, because I would like to know do you ever stop learning?

Lauren Mandel: 00:30:16

Like, does it ever, how do I word this?

Joe V: 00:30:19

Good way of doing it.

Joe V: 00:30:21

Right.

Joe V: 00:30:21

Do you ever stop learning?

Joe V: 00:30:22

Right.

Joe V: 00:30:24

So I would say, um, a number of things.

Joe V: 00:30:26

One, I think that's one of the things that we hope for at OSI.

Joe V: 00:30:31

And I would venture to say at all, secondary schools in the country is

Joe V: 00:30:35

that we want to infuse our students with a sense of curiosity, right.

Joe V: 00:30:40

To learn more about.

Joe V: 00:30:43

Where does life come from?

Joe V: 00:30:44

Right.

Joe V: 00:30:44

That's a great question to ask and pursuing it all it's facets.

Joe V: 00:30:50

So I do think that we do want to do that, and we also want to equip

Joe V: 00:30:53

our students with the skills to be able to teach themselves right, to

Joe V: 00:30:57

be a life, to be a lifelong learner, to have the skills, um, to learn.

Joe V: 00:31:02

And that then includes, some nuts and bolts, like.

Joe V: 00:31:06

And being able to write well, but also to ask good questions and to have that depth

Joe V: 00:31:10

and sense of curiosity for me personally.

Joe V: 00:31:14

No, not at all.

Joe V: 00:31:15

In fact, I, try to learn as much as I can.

Joe V: 00:31:18

And I find conversations like this to be a real conversation is where you get

Joe V: 00:31:25

converted and I've had a chance in the last 15 years is the head of advancement.

Joe V: 00:31:31

To talk to some fascinating people, including students like yourself

Joe V: 00:31:35

to, to learn about education, and learn about what we could be doing to

Joe V: 00:31:40

prepare students to be future leaders.

Joe V: 00:31:42

And I've had some fascinating conversations about that, and I've

Joe V: 00:31:44

learned a lot from that read a lot.

Joe V: 00:31:47

And, um, and then turn, COVID started listening to some podcasts

Joe V: 00:31:52

and, um, found them to be a very interesting format because I

Joe V: 00:31:56

could listen to them at any time.

Joe V: 00:31:58

Um, podcasts can be an event, any length, they could be 20, you know, but an episode

Joe V: 00:32:02

would be 20 minutes would be 45 minutes.

Joe V: 00:32:04

And I think , the medium forces you to listen a little bit differently

Joe V: 00:32:09

because when we watch something there's so much our brain processes, visually

Joe V: 00:32:14

when you shut off the visual part, you focus on the, the auditory part.

Joe V: 00:32:19

And so I've, I just find it to be an interesting medium.

Joe V: 00:32:21

And, um, so I started my own PI.

Joe V: 00:32:25

And it took a little bit to do it, right.

Joe V: 00:32:27

You had to learn how to record on Zencaster that I

Joe V: 00:32:30

use and edit with descript.

Joe V: 00:32:32

And I use captivate as a host to post it.

Joe V: 00:32:35

And so those really took some time to learn.

Joe V: 00:32:38

Um, and so I found, I found that to be a great experience, very curious

Joe V: 00:32:42

and challenging, uh, to do that.

Joe V: 00:32:44

So it's a long way of saying, um, I think when you stop learning.

Joe V: 00:32:50

You kind of stop living, right?

Joe V: 00:32:54

Yeah.

Joe V: 00:32:54

So when so much time we have in there so much out there, that's a mystery

Joe V: 00:33:00

and beautiful and, and whether to experience it or to understand it.

Joe V: 00:33:05

So, anyway, there's your question answered.

Joe V: 00:33:07

I hope

Lauren Mandel: 00:33:09

that was a very good answer to that question.

Lauren Mandel: 00:33:12

Thank you.

Joe V: 00:33:13

Well, Lauren, I have absolutely thoroughly enjoyed this conversation.

Joe V: 00:33:17

You're a wonderful young woman and I I'm excited about and grateful for what you do

Joe V: 00:33:24

for the school and the contribution you're making to the students and the faculty

Joe V: 00:33:29

and staff and others at Sandy Ignatius.

Joe V: 00:33:31

And I'm excited to see how the path unfolds for you ahead

Joe V: 00:33:35

and thank you so much for your insights in this conversation.

Lauren Mandel: 00:33:38

Thank you

Joe V: 00:33:39

Thank you for joining who needs school.

Joe V: 00:33:41

If you have any comments or suggestions, please email me@joevollardatgmail.com.

Joe V: 00:33:48

And if you haven't already, please start following the podcast.