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Your public affairs program for north central Minnesota.

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Hello again friends.

I'm Jason Edens, your host of Lakeland Currents.

Thanks for joining the conversation today and thanks for your ongoing support of Lakeland Public Broadcasting.

Today's youth are making tomorrow's decisions which is why no season of Lakeland Currents is complete without a conversation with student leaders.

Throughout our region student leaders have a seat at the table through student governments.

It is therefore my privilege to welcome Alexis Trebesh and Joseph Anderson both of whom are student senators at Central Lakes College in Brainerd and I'm eager to learn what's top of mind.

Alexis and Joe, welcome to the program and thanks for making time for our conversation.

Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

Absolutely.

Well first of all without necessarily being specific about your high school, I'm curious, do you feel as if high school prepared you for the college experience Alexis?

I would say my high school, no.

I definitely wasn't prepared and I think that I at first didn't even think I was going to go to college so it was definitely something that I had to learn as I went.

Okay.

Now Joe, I know that you described yourself as a non-traditional or returning student right?

You've served in the military.

Yes.

So although high school was a second ago, I was wondering if you could think back and just let me know your impressions on that question.

I think high school academically prepared me.

The thing I didn't feel prepared for I guess was the direction, like the choices we could make and where I wanted to major in and that's kind of what led me towards the Army plus the other, you know, wanting to serve and all that but so I did a year college first and then kind of broke away from it, enlisted and now I'm coming back to it with more direction.

Okay and what encouraged you or how did you make the decision to come back to college?

It did take me quite a while to learn what I really wanted to do but once I honed in on wanting to help fellow veterans and found the path to do that and just set my sights and pedal to the floor since.

And how do you want to help fellow veterans?

Hoping to get my Master's in Social Work and get a job ideally with the VA doing therapy and helping provide mental health resources for fellow veterans like myself.

So, Alexis you said that at first you weren't really thinking about going to college.

What led you to decide to ultimately go to college?

I've gone through a lot of experiences in my life where I, you know, wasn't always well.

I was in a harsh home environment growing up.

I've been surrounded by addiction my entire life and so my experiences made me think that hey I could help other people in the same position that I was in that, I'm in, so I wanted to make a difference.

And why did you choose to go to CLC to Central Lakes College here in Brainerd?

So, I was actually originally living down in St. Paul but you know due to the pandemic I had to leave my apartment and my grandparents lived in Cross Lake so I said I would like to, you know, move closer to them.

Brainerd is a nice area and then I realized there was a college there.

So, I thought hey this would be the perfect place for me to settle down in and so it's mainly location.

You know a lot of students that are leaving or graduating from high school sort of go to college lockstep.

Right?

That's the next thing to do.

Do you think there's value in a gap year or some sort of experience like you've had potentially Joe, where you do something in between high school right and and college?

Do you think there's value in that Alexis?

Due to my own personal experience I would say yes.

I think that it is very valuable to gain experience in a workplace and just learn how, you know, working works I guess and by being able to do that and take a break from your studies to see what you really want to do in life before you just dive into your, you know, courses.

I think that is very beneficial and can help direct where you want to go in life.

Mm-hmm.

How about you Joe?

I think a gap is definitely useful especially if you know exactly what you want to do then you can go ahead and go for it.

But for me and a lot of other people coming out of high school, you don't really have that sense of direction yet so a little time to figure out yourself, figure out what you want to do.

Also, it's good because I feel like coming back as an adult, I appreciate schooling.

I enjoy learning a whole lot more than I did when I was younger.

It doesn't feel like a chore.

It's more of a choice.

It's a direction.

It's something I want to do.

I second that.

So you want to help other veterans as a clinical social worker correct?

Yes.

What was it about CLC that attracted you to its programs?

Why did you choose CLC?

A lot of it was just, it was local.

I'd been there before.

That's where I went before the Army and I know there's good staff there.

I appreciate the smaller atmosphere, the smaller classes, where you can get that one-on-one time with your teachers and really get to know your peers and that's about it.

Well to what extent does does college affordability affect your decision or you can even speak on behalf of your peers or fellow students, to what extent do you think college affordability affects one's decision with regard to where they go?

Personally, that's why I didn't think I would go to college in the first place was the affordability, the cost of it.

But, I definitely, I've heard students say that I wanted to go to a university but I just couldn't afford it.

So, you know, community college is the way to go or they're doing this to get their generals and then go on to focus on their majors in another college.

So, I think affordability plays a major aspect in, well affordability and location are two of the biggest things on why I believe students choose like community local community colleges.

For the past 10 to 15 years approximately, two-year colleges have seen a rather precipitous decline in enrollment and the pandemic certainly didn't help.

I'm curious if either one of you have friends or family members people in your circle right that have decided to bow out of college or decided not to go.

Is that the case?

Do you know any folks that are making that decision?

Yes I do.

So there was one student who was a student parent and she originally joined college because of COVID so she could do online classes, online Zoom classes and once classes started becoming in person she was worried.

How am I going to be able to watch my kids while my husband's at work and attend classes in person and so that wasn't an ideal situation for her and she just wasn't able to continue.

Do you think anything would bring her back?

What would the college need to do in in order to encourage her to come back to school?

I would think be more accommodating to student parents and allow more, I would say grace as well because when you have children it's kind of your life is kind of all over the place.

Is that right Joe?

It is for sure.

And how do you know that?

I have three children aged eight, two and seven months and a full-time parent, full-time student that's that's my life.

That's a big responsibility.

Sure is.

Both of you are student senators.

In fact you're senate officers correct at Central Lakes College?

So what office do you hold?

Senator, I'm sorry I'm a senator and I'm the secretary.

You're the secretary?

Yes.

And so what exactly does that role entail?

What do you do on behalf of the senate and the student body?

So, I take attendance, that way we know who's going to become a senator.

So, you become a senator after you attend three consecutive meetings and then I also take notes and I, you know remind people of like hey we're going to be talking about this and I also help sign people up for things.

So do you sort of run the meeting?

No, I would say that's more so the president.

Okay.

So, you are basically the scribe making sure that people know what was discussed, what decisions were made?

Yes.

As the secretary?

Yeah.

All right and what's your role in the senate?

I'm the vice president of the student senate at Brainerd.

Which means what?

So, when the president's gone, I'm the one who takes over, leads in meetings and helps formulate the agenda.

When the president's around I just would do whatever I can to assist him and help Eric and overall it's trying to stay engaged in all the senate activities when we're doing volunteering or like providing meals for campus stuff like that.

Sure.

And who's Eric by the way?

Eric's the student advisor or student life advisor at Central Lakes College and he also advises the senate.

You know, one of the things I was really curious about is what's the decision-making scope of a student senate or student senators?

Is it, do you actually have decision-making authority or is this more tokenism?

I say we definitely have authority.

I just served on a couple committees where we actually decided to set the increases or stay the same on funds like the cost of sports per credit, like the fee sports, fees for credit and things like that and that was a majority student committee that pushes that forward.

Now there is opportunity for it to get vetoed but typically as long as it's like understandable changes or no changes then it stays the same and same with pretty much any other issue.

A lot of times the staff and faculty will bring things to us if they want a student-made decision but also if we bring an issue to them they're very receptive of it and I'd say we have, you know, we can't finalize things it always has to get approved beyond us but if the full senate has its backing then it's a pretty good chance of getting noticed, getting attention and something happening.

Well what would happen if the student senate took a position on some issue on campus and that position was at odds with the administration.

Would the administration essentially have the final decision in that case?

I believe so.

Just based on the experiences that we've had.

For example, we were on the pandemic planning committee as well a lot of the senator officers.

We wanted to put, you know, information on the pandemic on the D2L homepage, which is the online learning website for us and due to it being so highly regulated we weren't able to get that successfully done even though we were able to raise it.

They just want to make sure that doesn't get crowded and you know that students are there to learn as well and have their school information there.

So that was one example of how they were able to kind of make the final decision.

So, that was actually an instance where the student senate had sort of one position, was advocating for one thing and the administration wasn't necessarily able to accommodate.

Am I hearing that correctly?

Yes.

We did have some staff members who were very into the idea but in the end, it's just the higher-ups that make the final decision.

Now you said something just a moment ago Alex that was really interesting to me.

You said that you become a student senator by showing up three times.

Yes.

So student senators are actually not elected.

So, the officers are elected but senators are not.

Correct.

So, the senators once you become a senator, you have the opportunity to like vote on things and have more of a voice.

Whereas, there are some people who show up one or two times and then they think it's not for them or they just have conflicting schedules.

So, that's why the senator position is a thing and then the officers are what are elected.

The senator officers are elected?

Yes.

By whom?

All of the senators.

It's kind of confusing.

But, well the president position is a full school body election that will happen I think at the end of the school year for next next terms president and then every other position is an in-house a senate vote.

So, we'd go to the front of the senate, give our spiel, they'd have some questions for us and then there's a senate vote on the officer positions.

Is there a lot of competition for those positions?

Yeah, I would say there was the last voting.

Yeah, I think we had at least eight to ten student senators who for almost every position that went and volunteered and gave their spiel.

But there's only one, excuse me go ahead Alexis.

Oh I was going to say his position VP probably had the most people so you're pretty interesting but there's only one senator officer position that's actually voted on by the student body and that's the president of the senate.

Correct.

And that's an annual election?

Right.

Interesting.

So, how do you actually interface with the administration?

If the student senate does have decision making authority, scope, how do you, you know, what's the vehicle with which you actually interact with the administration?

There's a few ways.

One is going through our advisor Eric who passes on information if the senate feels strongly towards something he has the connection to bring that up right away.

We're also included in various committees, like the planning committee for building changes, upcoming projects stuff like that.

So, they usually will take a senator from there to represent the senate and we also have monthly meetings with Dr. Charlier and get the voice, our opinions there.

So, student senators also sit on some of the standing committees within the campus community such as fiscal facilities?

Yes.

Interesting.

I'm interested in exploring this declining enrollment issue a little bit more because as student leaders, I'm wondering if you've observed something that the college could do more effectively or colleges generally right?

This isn't necessarily a question about Central Lakes College but more post-secondary education.

Is there something that colleges could do to address declining enrollment that they're not doing?

Is there something that they're missing that you see that they don't?

If I'm being honest, I originally started college because of the pandemic and so as I stated previously, you know, with that student parent I was talking about, I think having more Zoom options.

Zoom classes would be very beneficial for those that can't make it to campus or those who live too far away from campus and can't afford to drive over here.

I know there are online, fully online options but having a face-to-face interaction, where you can discuss with the class and just communicate face-to-face even though it's on the computer.

I think that would be very beneficial in increasing enrollment.

I just want to follow up on that a little bit.

So, when you say online education, you're referring specifically to real-time Zoom interaction where the class is live and you're able to have that interaction as opposed to exclusively online classes where there's not necessarily that real-time interaction?

Yeah, I think it would be nice to have, you know, both options for those who fit, you know, who think they, you know, can handle the just online and then those who think they can handle the Zoom option as well.

So, just giving more accommodation to those who can't make it.

And Alexis you believe that that might actually help address declining enrollment because more people in a broader geographic footprint would be able to be a part of the college?

Yes, I think so.

And what do you think Joe?

Flexibility and affordability.

Kind of like she was saying.

Online classes having that mixed bag of, you can intend attend in person what we call asynchronous where it's just pretty much solely online and you kind of go at your own pace or the synchronize where you're online in a lecture and a Zoom call and then college affordability is I think a major factor too.

Do you think the college or again colleges generally are receptive to that message?

Because it seems as if there's a lot of pressure right to move back to classrooms, back to the face-to-face environment or delivery method post-pandemic, if we are even in a post-pandemic environment.

Do you think that the colleges are receptive to this message?

I think so.

I think we've learned a lot from the pandemic.

I think some it's also encouraged students to raise their voice saying hey I like this, I want to keep this.

So, I think there's definitely some receptiveness there.

I think they realize the benefit that it provides to students.

I agree.

So, that could even be potentially a silver lining from the pandemic in this potentially post pandemic environment.

We may have learned that this delivery method is actually better suited to some students and makes college more accessible?

Yes and I also attended a class last semester where you had the option to attend in person or on Zoom and I think that that's excellent because then students who could make it to campus, you know, one day and can't the other can still have their needs met.

Oh sure.

Now is there a term for that particular type of delivery?

So, you're saying that there are both students in the classroom and there are also some students who are participating but they're not actually in the classroom?

Yes, Is it hybrid or high flex high flex?

Yes, high flex and so is the school offering more high flex based on this feedback that they're hearing from the student senate?

I would say that they're kind of, you know, not as much as there was last semester.

I still think there are some options though.

I want to change gears here a little bit and talk about your bright futures and what you're excited about and also youth participation in society a little bit more broadly right?

As I mentioned in the beginning, today's youth are making tomorrow's decisions right?

Do you all know the average age of a member of congress here in the United States?

Off the top my head no.

It's approximately 60 and in the State of Minnesota it's about 54-55 of all the state representatives and state senators, the average age is about 55.

Do you think it's important for more youth to be involved in local state or even national politics?

Yes.

Why?

I think the decision making, I mean we're adults.

It's affecting or it's affecting us now.

It's going to affect us in the future.

We should have a say.

We should want to be represented, you know, for our generations and so we have just as much to offer that are, you know, maybe a little bit younger but we still have as much to offer as anyone else insight-wise and I think we should be part of shaping our own future.

Well said.

I would also say that unfortunately I think a lot of people are are stuck in their ways as well and are unwilling to change and that's why I think people of a different generation getting into office would be excellent because we have a different perspective on the things that are going on currently.

What can we do to encourage more participation right?

So you both agree that there should be more youth participation in our political process.

What needs to be done in order to encourage that or change that average age right because if 60 is the average then there are obviously a lot of folks who have been potentially in congress for quite some time.

What needs to change?

How do we get more people?

Definitely probably bringing someone into the like colleges and stuff.

People are going into politics or even like government classes.

For example, you could have someone from congress come in and speak or you know house a representative member and just have them kind of explain things to them and if it's something that interests a student then that's something they'll want to probably pursue.

I just probably bringing it more into the schools and informing students more on that because I'm sure I don't know how to run and so I'm sure that there are other students plenty others that don't know how as well.

Interesting.

So that's really insightful because you're basically saying it's just the mechanics of getting involved.

You don't really fully understand and then I'm just trying to paraphrase here, you don't necessarily fully understand the pathway to get involved in politics.

Is that correct?

Yeah, I personally don't and I think there's a lot of others that don't as well.

Interesting.

What would you add to this Joe?

What do you think we need to do in order to get more youth involved in?

I think we really just need some trailblazers who go out and show that hey, you know, even though you're younger you can do this.

This is not, you know, the standard of 60 year old average age is not necessarily the standard we have to keep.

It's something we can do as, you know, younger a younger generation we have that ability and also I'd say there's a pretty good outlook.

So, looking at our student senate we have a lot of post-secondary students as in high schoolers who are attending college and a large number of our senators are post-secondary.

Which I think is encouraging.

So, much of 16 to 17 18 year olds who are, you know, not fully adults yet some of them and already interested in the getting in the governing process.

So I think that's kind of an encouraging aspect of this conversation too.

So, PSEO students, post-secondary enrollment option students can also be student senators at Central Lakes College?

Correct.

Oh interesting.

Our president is actually a PSEO student.

Yes.

Is that right?

Yes.

So, do you feel like your experience in student governance at Central Lakes College would empower you to get involved with broader political conversations?

Yes.

Alexis and I have both worked with the organization Lead MN or Lead Minnesota and through that we've gotten to do some advocacy where we worked with state congress and she actually got to go to DC and meet with some national level administration and so we've gotten involved in that process, kind of learning how Lead MN backs certain bills.

So, we kind of learned the process of that and how to get involved as advocates and I think that's a good segue into governance.

Interesting.

Is Lead MN an organization for student leaders, student senators?

Yes.

So it's an organization for two-year college students in student government and leadership.

Yes.

So your experience in DC led you to meet several members of the Minnesota delegation to Congress?

So, I was able to meet with Senator Amy Klobuchar's staff, Senator Tina Smith's staff and then two House of Representative members and I was also able to meet with the Department of Education.

Oh fantastic.

Yeah.

So Alexis tell us what you want to do after graduating from Central Lakes College because you'll be graduating this spring or summer.

Is that right?

I'm gonna graduate this summer.

Yes.

Fantastic.

Well congratulations in advance.

Thank you.

What do you hope to do next?

I definitely hope to go on to finish and get my Bachelor's degree in Psychology but now that I've gotten involved with student government, I know that advocacy is something that's going to be in my future.

Something that I have such a strong passion for and that I want to continue.

So both going on to get my degree, advocacy and then eventually become a counselor.

So, I don't want to make any assumptions here but I think both of you are Generation Z, Gen Z or Zoomers.

I'm not sure if that's your case or not Joe.

A millennial.

Okay.

Well in either case, what do you think is not well understood about your generation?

In other words at Central Lakes College or any college, what again is the college sort of missing about your generation?

How are they not adapting to each each generation as they arrive at the school?

That's a tough question, yeah that is a tough question.

Well, we recently had a conversation that we don't really feel like enough controversial topics are being discussed and I think being able to talk about stuff like that teaches students, you know, how to properly discuss things with people and to, you know, meet halfway or try and overlook differences, etc.

So like the pandemic or, you know, what's happening in Ukraine.

Those are big conversations and I think only certain classes are having those discussions but you know we do have things called Cultural Thursdays.

So, I the college is definitely trying but I think we could have more conversations for sure.

Interesting.

Anything to add to that as a millennial?

I'd agree to that point.

Actually, I think having a lot of times we avoid having difficult conversations when college should be a good place to learn how to have those difficult conversations without it becoming, devolving into something angry and a fight.

Sure.

So, I think that's a good point.

Oh that's super interesting to me.

So, you're saying that learning to have the most difficult conversations can actually address divisiveness in society as we gain the tools to navigate those challenging conversations?

Definitely.

Fascinating.

Well, since you both mentioned, you know, difficult issues and big topics, what do you think is, so you both are looking you're both emerging professionals right?

What's the issue internationally or locally that you think is most pressing right now?

What's on your mind?

What is top of mind in terms of issues in the world?

Joe?

Ukraine for me.

Okay.

So military action we're seeing, you know, potential war crimes come out of the cities surrounding Kiev and just kind of like the whole devolving issue in Europe is on top of my mind especially as a veteran.

Right.

So having served, do you think that this might devolve further and become a broader conflict?

I think there's certainly a possibility but I don't think it's a high possibility.

I believe Russia will probably try to stick its focus all in Ukraine and I think NATO has drawn it's firm line in the sand that we're not gonna involve ourselves further than sending some aid and we'll unless you come onto NATO territory, we will stay out of it as far as boots on the ground or you know actually pulling the trigger on missiles, things like that.

And what's the most pressing issue for you Alexis?

When you think about your future and the state of the world today?

I would definitely say Ukraine as well.

Yeah.

I think a lot of students not even just students but people are scared of World War III happening and it's just something that it's really hard to for sure know what's going to happen and I think the unknown is what scares a lot of people and myself included.

Are a lot of your peers, your friends, your family members talking about World War III like you just said?

Some of my peers were yes.

So this is potentially more front of mind than maybe a lot of folks realize that students are, I guess this is a little bit surprising to me that it's that you're both as concerned about this.

I'm certainly concerned but I guess I didn't realize this conversation was as top of mind as it is.

So a lot of your friends are talking about are you in contact with a lot of the folks that you served with?

Yes, about this through social media and a lot of, you know, a lot of us think about along the lines of what I said where, you know, we don't think it's going to end up with our military involvement but also a lot of students knowing that I'm a veteran and a little bit older have asked me what my opinion, you know and it's like do you think this will evolve to World War III?

Do you think Russia would, you know, take it further?

Do you think nuclear weapons would get involved?

So, I've actually had a lot of those conversations and questions coming from fellow students at Central Lakes College.

Interesting.

Well, I want to thank you both for your service on the student senate at Central Lakes College and I want to thank you for taking the time to help us better understand your futures and your role at Central Lakes College.

Thank you for having us on the show.

We're glad to be able to share our opinions.

Yeah, just this opportunity is amazing so thank you.

Absolutely.

It's great to meet you both.

Thank you as well too.

And thank all of you for joining me once again.

You can continue the conversation on Twitter.

Tweet me @currentspbs.

I'm Jason Edens your host of Lakeland Currents.

Be kind and be well.

We'll see you next week.