H.  Hello  again. I'm  Amber  Klein  and  this  is  Beyond  the  Nest. University  of  Minnesota,  Rochester's  alumni  podcast. In  our  final  episode  of  season  four, we  look  at  UM  R's  Trail  Blazing  Class  of  2013. A  group  of  pioneers  who  took  a  chance  on a  Corky  start  up  campus  located  in  the  downtown  mall. We'll  hear  how  they  stumbled  across this  newly  minted  UFM  campus. The  efforts  to  get  them  to  you  square. And  what  they're  up  to  now  on  the  precipice  of their  first  ten  year  class  reunion  later  this  June. So  stay  with  us,  won't  you? The  University  of  Minnesota, Rochester  welcomed  its  first  class  of undergraduate  students  in  August  of  2009. The  final  lap  of  the  tumult  was  decade. 2009  was  a  year  of  change  on  the  world  stage. The  Great  Recession  wound  down  right  as the  H1n1  flu  was  declared  a  global  pandemic  in  the  US. George  W  Bush  passed  the  baton  to  Brock  H.  Obama  and Sully  Sullenberger  miraculously  landed his  plane  on  the  Hudson  River. It  was  the  year  of  Avatar, and  the  subsequent  but  short  lived  experiment to  once  again  make  three  D  movies  a  thing. Slum  Dog  Millionaire  won  best  picture. The  Steelers  won  the  Super  Bowl and  we  all  lost  when  poker  face  was played  again  and  again  and  again  in  Minnesota. The  2008  US. Center  race  between  Al  Franken  and Norm  Coleman  was  finally  concluded. It  was  the  year  that  the  university opened  Huntington  Bank  Stadium, then  TCF  Bank  Stadium, and  the  Minnesota  Vikings  brought  on former  Jets  quarterback  Brett  Far, but  in  quiet  old  Rochester, on  the  third  and  fourth  floor  of  the  Galleria  Mall, in  what  used  to  be  a  movie  theater,  UMR  staff, faculty  and  administrators  eagerly  awaited  the  arrival  of the  first  class  of  Raptor  undergraduates, True  trailblazers. As  Chancellor  Mertz  Lempel  and his  motley  crew  of  academics,  innovators, and  strategists  laid the  campus  foundation  and  began  constructing scaffolding  around  its  unique  approach to  the  delivery  of  higher  education, Those  responsible  for  recruiting  and  coaching. The  first  class  of  undergraduates  discovered UMR  for  Jen  Hook, currently  a  senior  student  success  coach. She  first  came  upon  UMR  in  2008 through  a  job  posting  for  an  admissions  rep  role. When  I  moved  here,  I  got  married  to my  spouse  in  2000  and  well  the  summer  of  2008, we  literally  got  married  two  weeks  after  we  moved  here. So  we  moved  here,  got  married  like  had  our  honeymoon. And  then  I  was  like,  okay,  like what  am  I  going  to  do  now? So  I  started  substitute  teaching, which  is  a  real  interesting  life. You  don't  know  what  the  day  is  going  to  bring. Get  a  phone  call  at  05:30  Like do  you  want  to  sub  for  art  to  add? Yeah.  Pill  Creek  Middle  School  or  whatever. And  so  I  was  doing  that  for  a  while. So  I  was  job  searching  at the  time  and  trying  to  figure  out  what  I  was  going  to  do. And  when  I  was  in  college, I  had  worked  I  had  given tours  for  our  admissions  office  in  college. And  I  had  gotten  pretty  involved  in  that  and  had been  like  a  student  leader in  the  admissions  office  there. So  I  was  looking at  kind  of  higher  ed,  you  know,  positions. And  this  job  had  been  posted  for the  admissions  office  at the  University  of  Minnesota  Rochester. And  I  knew  nothing  about the  University  of  Minnesota Rochester  except  that  like,  oh, the  University  of  Minnesota,  I  guess, I  don't  know  that  there  wasn't  much  there. No,  no. And  I  had  been  actually  applying  for some  jobs  at  R  CTC  at  the  same  time. And  so  when  I  applied  for  this  job, you  know,  I  was  trying  to  learn  more  about  it. And  there  was  like  a  website and  there  was  some  information. But  it  was  mostly  housed under  kind  of  what  was  happening  at UCR  at  the  time  and  what  was  happening  at  RC  Tc. And  when  I  showed  up  for  my  sort  of  interview, they  had  just  moved  into  this  sort  of  space  downtown. So  that  was  in  October  of  2008. Do  you  remember  who  interviewed  you? My  interview  was  Jade  Bake, who  was  at  the  time,  kind  of the  admissions  person  on  campus. And  then  Joe  Marconi  Yeah. Was  part  of  my  admissions. And  then  Kendra  Weber  was  part  of  the  was kind  of  running  our  student all  of  student  affairs  at  the  time. And  then  I  think  Jenny  Gland  was  a  part  of  my  interview. If  I'm  remember,  that  is  a  name  I  have  not  heard. Oh,  Jenny. Oh,  I've  heard all  the  others  but  I  haven't  heard  that  one. I  Okay.  I  can't  remember  for  sure. I  think  I'm  pretty  sure  Jenny  was  maybe  a  part  of  that. Okay.  Yeah.  I'm  literally  like  having  flashbacks  now. You  know,  giving  my  presentation, all  of  my  pictures  didn't  show  up  on  my  Powerpoint. You  know,  like  you  make  your  presentation. They  all  were  red  X's  on  my  Powerpoint. So  I  was  giving  my  presentation like  just  imagine  there's  a  picture  of  this. I'm  picturing  people's  faces  around. I'll  have  to  ask  Molly,  she'll  remember. Did Everybody  have  to  do  a  presentation for  their  job  at  this  point. Because  not  everybody  now does  do  a  presentation  for  their  job. Sure.  I'm  pretty  sure  in  admissions, they  want  to  see  if  you  can  get  to  talk  to  people. Yeah,  yeah.  Okay.  And  what  was your  impression  of  UMR  like  on  the  day  of  your  interview? Yeah.  That's  a  good  I  mean, it's  startling  to  show  up  to  a  job  interview  in  a  mall. And  I  guess  that  was  part  of  my, like,  not  like  lack  of  preparation, but  a  little  bit  like  you  show  up  and  you're  like, okay,  no,  literally  it's  a  mall,  right? And  I'm  in  this  mall  and  you  show  up  on the  second  floor  and  the  third  floor  and  they're  like, okay,  like  this  is  the  campus. But  really  at  that  point,  we  didn't  have  much  furniture. Right.  Like  they  were  still  building  out  classrooms. They  had  a  lot  of  vision  for  what  it  would  be, but  so  far  it  was just  the  partner  programs  that  were  on  campus. And  so  their  spaces  were  built  out. But  none  of  the  learn  labs  or  any  of  the  kind  of spaces  we  think  of  now  for our  health  science  students  existed. And  I  remember  Jade  giving  me  the  tour  and kind  of  like  walking  around  and  I  was  like,  okay. I  was  also  like  pretty  desperate  for  a  job  at  that  point. And  so  I  was  like,  this  is  great. I  can  roll  with  this  like,  you  know,  cool. I'll  come  to  work  in  a  mall,  that's  fine. So  you  know,  it  turned  out  pretty  great  for  me. Here  I  am  in  2023,  15  years  later, 15  years  later,  for  Barry  Lander, Omar's  very  first  student  success  coach. It  was  the  use  of  the  word  coach  which  piqued his  interest  in  a  Corky  little  school  located  in  a  mall. Good  institution.  My  older  brother will  vouch  say  it's  one  of  the  best  places  he's  ever worked  because  he  worked  at  Twin  Cities  and  then  became financially  director  at  Crookston  for  a  bit  of  time, and  I  was  like,  Rochester. Wow.  There's  a  campus  down  there in  the  student  success  coach  position. I've,  I've  never  seen  a  position  like  that. And  I  looked  and  you  see  a  lot  this  academic  advisor, academic  advisor,  career  advisor, and  nothing  of  coach. I'd  never  saw  a  position  that  said  coach  in their  title  like  Jen  Hook. Molly  Olson,  Gears, Director  of  Marketing  and  Communications, got  her  start  on  campus  in  the  admissions  office, grinding  out  college  fairs and  following  up  on  student  leads. You  know,  the  actual  environment was  so  unique  and  different. And  I  think  the  other  thing  is  that  it  was  a  very  young, all  of  the  colleagues  that  I  would  be  working with  were  newer  in  their  careers  too. So  it  was  interesting  to  figure out  like  how  that  was  going  to  look. But  also  there  was  like everything  was  a  department  of  one. We  still  have  a  lot  of  department  of  one, but  everything  was  and  so that  was  always  interesting  to  kind  of  factor  in. The  campus  itself  was  like  two  floors  and  that's  it. And  absolutely  no  graduate  like  or  there  were only  graduate  classes  on  at that  time  and  they  were  all through  Twin  Cities  or  Duluth. So  it  was  like  I  never  saw  any  of  the  students  on my  tour  anyways  because  they're  all  weekend  students. So  that  was  interesting,  but  I  think  it  was  really interesting  and  eye  opening  for  me  to  really  understand. Like  I  would  be  recruiting  for a  class  that  didn't  yet  exist, for  a  program  that  didn't  yet  exist. As  for  students  like  UMR  alumna  and Class  of  2013  graduate,  Ellie  Ryan, a  licensed  chiropractor  working  in  Illinois, Discovering  UMR  was  a  pleasant  surprise, but  came  with  a  few  questions  like, was  this  actually  a  school? Originally,  I  thought,  well, I  guess  I  could  go  to  the  Twin  Cities and  do  some  kind  of commute  or  whatever.  We  could  live  halfway. But  then  I  actually  found  that  there  was  a  school  in Rochester  and  it  was  confusing  at  first, like  I  showed  some  of my  U  Guidance  Counselors  and  whatnot  and  they  were  like, I  don't  know  if  this  is  an  actual  school  like  they were  it  was  up  in  the  air. Nobody  really  knew  what  UMR  was, and  if  it  was  an  actual  school, my  mom  and  I  know we  pulled  up  and  we  saw  that  it  was  a  mall. So  that  was  interesting. And  we  walked  in  and we  found  the  admissions  office  and  chatted. And  it  was  very  unique. It  was  not  a  normal  college  tour  per  se. They  showed  us  around.  I  think, I  want  to  say  it  was  probably  a  Friday. There  were  very  little  people  on  campus. There  was  really  no  students. It  was  very  empty. So  it  was  unique. But  obviously,  you  know, it  didn't  deter  me  away  because  I  had  stuff  going there  for  Evan  Doyle, another  graduate  from  the  class  of  2013, who  currently  works  on strategy  and  policy  for  the  Global  Fund, a  Geneva  based  organization  task  with fighting  Aids,  Tuberculosis  and  Malaria. It  was  UM  R's  unique  approach  to  academics  which captured  his  attention  when  I heard  about  the  UMR  program  and how  integrated  and  unique  the  curriculum  was  and how  focused  it  was  on  health  sciences  and  pre med  course  work  that  really  attracted  me  to  the  program. When  I  visited  the  campus, the  professors  that  were there  were  all  very  eager  for  me  to  be  there, which  was  a  very  unique  experience  as  well. Like  when  I  was  visiting  other  campuses, it  was  very  clear  that  I  was  a  bit  of  a  number. I  was  really  attracted by  the  opportunity  because  I  saw  something  new, saw  an  opportunity  to  stand  out, flash  forward  four  years  from  then  when  I  knew  that I  thought  that  at  the  time  thought  I would  want  to  apply  to  medical  school. I  saw  the  value  in that  new  program  when  I  was visiting  the  integrated  curriculum  in particular  the  way  that  it was  sold  to  me  and  my  experience  at Omar  was  we  had  the  curriculum  was  really  integrated. It  was  that  we  would  be  studying  one  topic in  one  course  and that  topic  would  come  up  in  another  course. And  they  were  tangentially  related  on  paper. But  then  it  really  made  a  lot  of sense  to  actually  get students  to  University  Square  in  the  first  place. Folks  like  Jen  Hook  really  had  to  get  quite creative  as  they  were  working  with  a  shoestring  budget, didn't  have  an  alumni  base  to  tap  into, and  the  curriculum  itself  wasn't  yet  in  its  final  form. I  mean,  it  had  literally,  I  think  it  was just  being  approved  by  the  Board  of  regents. It  was  like  not  even  fully  approved  yet. We  did  not  have  an  application, we  didn't  have  an  on  line  application. Like  the  entire  first  year. We  literally  only  had  a  paper  application. So  we  would  go  to  high  schools  with  this  first. We  would  go  to  high  schools  without  anything like  we  had  some  printed  materials. So  we  would  go  with  this  kind  of like  printed  materials  that  we  had  and  we  would describe  what  we  thought this  degree  program  would  be  with  our  sort  of  like, you  know,  innovative  and  it  would  be health  focused  and  everything  would  be  related  to  health. And  so  we  had  these  kind  of like  ideas  around  what  it  would  be. And  Chancellor  had  kind  of  described in  his  vision  to  us  and  what  the  faculty, these  early  faculty  that we're  literally  just  being  brought on  board  right  around  the  same  time  that  we  are, we're  beginning  to  sort  of  think  about. So  we  would  go  to  these  high schools  and  students  would  be  like, well  that's  pretty  interesting. And  we'd  be  like,  great,  okay, write  your  name  down. And  then  I'm  going  to  tell  you  when  there's an  application  available  because there's  not  one  available  yet. I  know  that  you're  a  senior  in high  school  and  it's  January. And  also,  you  know, most  colleges  have  already  accepted  people. But  we  haven't  even  gotten our  application  yet  for  five  months  from  now. So.  So  yeah,  I  mean, it  was  just  wild  when  you  think back  now  to  like  what  people's, you  know,  like  the  cycles of  when  you  start  recruiting  people. And  just  and  Jade  had done  a  little  bit  of  that  ahead  of  time. But  like  it  just  it  is  just  kind  of  nuts  to  think  about. For  Molly  Olson,  recruiting  the  first  class  meant hitting  the  pavement  and making  the  rounds  at  college  fairs. Any  way  to  get  in  front  of  those  who  hadn't  yet committed  to  class  starting  in  fall  2009. So  how  do  you  recruit  for a  program  that  doesn't  yet  exist? Yeah.  What  was  your  process? How  did  you  find  students? Did  you  have  lead  list? Did  you  just  show  up  on  high  school  doorsteps? Yeah,  we  did  a  little  of  everything. So  our  team  was  quite  small. It  was  like  an  app  processor,  Sarah  Upton, and  then  the  director  of  Admissions,  Jade  and  myself. And  then  Jen  Hook  was  also  hired  the  same  day  I  was. And  started  the  same  day that  we  both  started  on  the  same  day, which  was  fun  as a  student  success  coach,  as  an  admissions  rep. Oh,  she  started  a  admission  P. So  her  and  I  were  the  first  initial  admissions  reps. I  actually  started  the  job on  crutches  because  I  broke  my  ankle  that  Halloween. So  I  was  supposed  to  be  out  on  the  road  traveling, which  I  did  somehow, but  really  truly  ours  completely a  boots  on  the  ground  gorilla  marketing  kind  of  campaign. We  really  kind  of  just  were able  to  purchase  some  list  serves  here  and  there. Mind  you  were  also  really  late  into  their  senior  year, so  most  recruitment  would  happen  in  their  junior  year. We're  already  almost  to  December  by  the  time, you  know,  we  were  getting  rolling. And  yeah,  we  traveled  like  crazy. We  went  to  all  these  high  school  visits. I  remember  going  to  Lake  City  High  School, and  I  was  walking  around  in my  crutches  with  a  backpack  and  all  of  my  travel  gear. And  they're  like,  what  sports  injury  did  you  have? Like,  who  are  you  playing?  Like,  you  know, 'cause  we  were  young  and  like, we  looked  like  we  could  be  high  school  students  too. So  Jen  and  I  would  always  get those  comments  on  campus  visits,  like  what  year  are  you? And  it  was  always  funny. It  was  a  lot  of  really  building  personal  relationships. That  first  class  of  56  students, I  knew  every  one  of  them. I  knew  their  name,  I  knew  most  of  their  hometowns. Like  we  really  worked to  get  to  know  them  because  we  believed  in  the  program, but  we  also  believed  in the  students  that  we  were  admitting  to. And  it  was  hard  because  we  didn't  have  a  baseline. We  were  like,  we  think  the  student  would  be  successful. Like  let's  have  some  more  conversations to  see  where  their  motivation  is. And  there  were  some  students,  you  know, that  were  super  nervous  to  come  and so  many  students  that  were just  really  pumped  and  excited  and  they're  like, it  would  be  interesting  to  see how  many  of  those  are  the  first  in their  family  because  I  feel  like  very  much  so. Some  correlation  there  to  like birth  order  and  like  risk  taking, but  also  that  they're  leaders and  just  amazing,  amazing  students. Chancellor  Luco  would  always  say, I'm  building  the  plane  as  we're  driving  it. And  it's  always  like,  oh dear  God,  that's  a  little  terrifying. But  I  appreciate  that  too. Like  we  weren't  ever  afraid  to  take  risks. It  was  rare  that  I  would throw  an  idea  out  and  people  would  say  no. And  so  and  that  I  think  has  still  continued. Like  I  feel  like  Chancellor Carol  really  still  believes  in innovation  and  like  trying  new  things  and  change  is  okay. It's  inevitable,  but  then  also  like  it's  okay  to  fail  on things  and  try  again  or  pick  up the  pieces  and  figure  out how  we're  going  to  move  forward. So  that  the  leadership  is  very  different,  I  would  say. But  the  goal  and  mission  is  still  on  par. Once  on  campus  and  settled  in  the  class  of  2013, went  about  defining  what the  UMR  student  experience  would  begin  to  look  like. For  Ellie  Ryan,  that  meant dabbling  in  a  few  different  areas before  focusing  on  a  pathway  to  becoming  a  chiropractor. Pretty  quickly,  within  the  first  year, I  decided  on  PA  school. So  that's  what  I  had  for most  of  my  time  there  that  I  wanted  to  go  to  PA  school. And  I  think  it  was  probably junior  year  I  applied  to  PA  school, didn't  get  in  right  away. And  so  then  I  thought,  well, I  guess  I'll  work  for  a  year, get  some  more  patient  care  experience,  and, you  know,  apply  again  the  next  year, which  is  pretty  typical  for  people. And  for  some  reason  I just  started  looking  at  other  options, you  know,  I  just  started  to  think, well,  is  there  anything  else  I  can  do? Because  I'm  kind  of  a  school  person. Like  I  didn't  know  how  would  do  with  a  gap  in between  a  couple  years or  a  year  or  however  long  it  would  take. And  so  I  kind  of  wanted  to  just  continue  going  to  school. I  was  already  in  that  groove, so  I  was  looking  at  other  options  and  I stumbled  upon  chiropractic  school. I  was  seeing  a  chiropractor  at the  time  and  talked  to  her  a  little  bit, And  then  I  found  the  school  that  I  went  to, National  University  of  Health  Sciences, which  is  in  the  Chicago  suburbs, and  talked  to  them,  and  I applied  and  I  got  in  like  right  away. And  then  I  was  like, okay,  I  guess  this  is  what  I'm  doing. It  was  a  random  decision  that  obviously  led  me down  a  great  path  and  I  wouldn't  change  it  for  anything. But  there  wasn't  anything specific  that  necessarily  led  me  to  that. The  first  two  years,  like  you  said, basically  everyone  takes  the  same  courses. And  then  year  3.4  there  were  two  paths. One  path,  well  I  guess  I  should  say  31  path  was  more. If  you're  going  into  patient  care, you  took  more,  you  know, you  took  like  anatomy  two  and  you took  certain  classes  that  were  going  to  be geared  towards  medical  school and  PA  school  and  those  types  of  programs. And  then  there  was another  path  for  if  you  weren't  going  to  be  in direct  patient  care  like healthcare  administration  and  those  types  of  classes. And  then  there  was  also  people  who  were going  into  the  HSP  program. So  there  were  kind  of  three  tracks. And  my  track,  I  mean, I  definitely  knew  I  wanted  patient  care, so  I  followed  that  path  and took  those  classes  for  my  third  year. And  then  year  four,  you  do  some  classes. And  then  a  Capstone.  My  Capstone. I  did  a  good  handful  of  classes, and  then  I  also  worked  with  the Dr.  that  took  us  to  Honduras. I  worked  with  him  and doing  some  different  data  collection  and stuff  on  like  patient  care and  wait  times  and  different  things  like  that. So  doing  some  observation  and putting  together  some  data  and  kind  of  help. I  think  it  was  a  project  he  was  kind of  doing  and  then  I  was  helping  with  it. So  that  was  part  of  my  capstone that  I  did  for  Evan  Doyle. The  UMR  experience  was  one  of opportunity  and  a  chance  to  create  something  new. It  was  kind  of  a  risky  decision, I  think  as  an  18  year  old, you  don't  think  of  risk  in  the  same  way. And  so  for  me,  I  saw  those  risks  as  more  opportunities. Challenges  didn't  seem  like  big  barriers, a  formal  path  hadn't  been  carved  yet, so  there  weren't  very  many  barriers in  my  way  for  doing  whatever  I  wanted. And  more  opportunity  to  push  boundaries too,  when  I  enrolled. There  weren't  any  clubs, there  weren't  any  organizations  yet. And  I  was  always  very  into  politics  and  governance, and  I  was  in  student  government when  I  was  in  high  school. So  one  of  the  big  things  that  I  pursued  when I  joined  UMR  was  to  start  a  student  government. So  we  started  with a  student  activities  committee. I  think  that  was  the  first  thing. Basically,  we  started  that  committee  just  to spend  this  student  activities  budget, take  it  out  of  our  tuition. So  we  started  there,  then the  university  system  said you  need  to  have  a  student  senator. So  then  I  moved  over  to  being  our  student  senator. Then  the  Director  of  student  activities, I  think  was  his  title  at  the  time.  Said You  know,  you  have  all  these  kind  of random  governance  structures  that  are  cropping  up. So  you  should  probably  have one  formalized  student  government. So  I  got  a  bunch  of  friends  together, we  drafted  a  constitution  and  some  by  laws, and  we  created  a  student  government. That's  now,  which  I'm  very happy  to  see  on  the  website  that  is  still  going. That's  the  Rochester  Student  Association. So  then  I  served  as  the  first  president on  the  other  side  of  the  student  experience, Wall  Perry  Lander  was  able  to look  at  a  student's  time  at  UMR holistically  and  provide  advisement, mentorship,  and  coaching. As  they,  the  student  discovered where  their  passions  would  ultimately  lead. One  is  the  relationships  that you  have  with  other,  with  one, the  student  and  the  amount  of  number  of students  you  can  actually  sit  down  and  coach. To  have  that  time  to  talk through  all  the  facets  that  encompass  their  academic, personal,  whatever,  their  entire  life. Really  what  they're  going  through, an  academic  advisor  may not  have  capacity  to  do  all  of  that. They  may  have  the  skill  set, but  they're  really  focusing  on  the  academic  planning. And  they  can  do  the  referral  sources  and be  that  referral  to  many  different  pieces. But  to  coach  your hit  the  one  navigating  through  the  career, the  life,  the  pre  health, the  academic,  and  then working  so  closely  with  the  faculty. Mm  hm.  I  think  in that  atmosphere  when  I  was  a  high  school  teacher, the  coaches  were  the  ones  reaching  out  to  all  of the  teachers  and  making  sure  their  players  were  ready  to. Could  they  play  that  game? Yeah,  Are  they  late  for  class? Are  they  doing  this?  And  really, it's  those  relationships  that  had  to  be paramount  for  us  to  do  coaching  and  for us  to  have  the  space  and  the  time  to  spend  with the  student  to  have  those really  deeper,  critical  conversations. That  is  not  really  afforded  to an  academic  advisor  because  of mainly  the  caseload  that  they  have  to  work  with. I  don't  know  if  we  can  actually  do more  critical  conversations  and  have  that  time with  students  to  do  that  more  coaching and  work  with  those  same  students  from  start  to  finish. Also,  I  think  represents  coaching, whereas  an  advisor  could  maybe  only  have  them  for a  year  or  two  years  when  they  move on  to  another  advisor  and  another  advisor. I  think  with  coaching  they  have  to  have  that  same  point of  contact  as  best  they can  throughout  their  entire  time  here. And  for  Jen  Hook,  what  makes Mar  such  an  attractive  experience  is its  health  science  focus  and  proximity  to  Mayo  clinic. I  think  obviously  we  had  two  things  going  for  us. One  is  the  University  of  Minnesota and  the  other  is  Mayo  Clinic. And  the  combination  of  those  two  things  I  do think  is  what  got  some  students  like, oh,  those  two  things  are  enough for  us  to  bite  and  learn  more. We  had  some  students by  so  many  interesting  memories,  right? We  had  a  student  who  was  driving  by  and  he  was  like, I  got  admitted  here. He  did  the  share  of  my  App program  through  the  Twin  Cities. So  he  and  his  dad  like  stopped  and  he  did, he  became  part  of  our  very  first  class  of  students. They  were  like  driving  by  and  they  stopped. And  I  just  think  about  those  students  who made  that  choice  to  come  here.  They  are  such  an. And  some  students,  I  think,  you  know, we  did  lose  some  students in  that  first  class  because  like, whoa,  this  was  not  it  for  them,  right? Like  they  maybe  made  that  decision  not  fully informed  or  maybe  it  was  just  not  what  they thought  it  was  going  to  be  or  it  was  just  too  different. Yeah.  But  there  was also  when  I  think  about  that  first  class  of  students, like  what  a  determined and  just  like  gutsy  group  of  students,  right? Like  those  were  students  who  truly, you  look  at  what  they're  doing  now  and  they  are, they're  like  making  a  real difference  in  this  world,  right? Because  they  are  students  who  are willing  to  come  to  this  place  that  was totally  uninformed  and  to  form  it, right,  like  their  input, their  lived  experience  really  did  create this  place  coming  up where  the  class  of  2013  is today  and  what  they're  doing  ten  years  post  UMR. But  before  that,  join  University  of  Minnesota, Rochester  on  the  evening  of  Saturday, June  17,  for  a  celebration  of  our  trail blazing  class  of  2013  featuring  special  guests. Chancellor  Emeritus  Stephen  Lemke, Former  Governor  of  Minnesota. Tim  Plenti,  Former  UM  President  Bob  Brix, and  2013  UMR  alumnus  Evan  Doyle. The  UM  marching  band  will  kick  off  the  event  promptly  at 05:00  P.M.  from  Peace  Plaza located  in  downtown  Rochester. We  hope  to  see  you  there. Finally,  the  culmination  of decades  of  community  led  work, advocacy  negotiation, and  even  a  little  bit  of  arm  twisting. University  of  Minnesota,  Rochester's  class  of  2013, against  the  backdrop  of  the  Great  Recession, this  group  of  57  trailblazers  arrived  at University  Square  and  promptly  proceeded through  a  novel  and  innovative  academic  experience. One  built  by  forward  thinking  faculty, staff  and  administrators  who  aimed  to  create a  new  paradigm  in  the  delivery  of  higher  education. They  came  to  umar  with  a  desire  to  make a  difference  through  careers  in health  science  and  medicine. As  students  put  to  the  test, many  of  the  ideas  churning  out  of the  Center  for  Learning  Innovation  confirmed the  student  success  coach  model  and  charted pathways  into  Mayo  Clinic  that  still  exists  to  this  day. And  offer  current  UMR  students  a  diverse  set  of hands  on  experiences  along their  journey  to  a  health  sciences  degree. This  group  of  pioneers  laid  the  groundwork  for the  Rochester  Student  Association, UMR  student  government. And  set  up  various  student  clubs  and  helped rejuvenate  downtown  Rochester  As  alumni, they  have  gone  near  and  far. Many  have  earned  graduate  and  professional  degrees, attending  schools  across  the  US, and  even  a  few  abroad  professionally. There  are  physicians,  professors, policy  advisers,  housing  advocates, chiropractors,  epidemiologists  and health  information  management  specialists, just  to  name  a  few. Some  work  for  Minnesota's most  important  healthcare  systems and  providers  including  Mayo  Clinic, Homestead  Medical  Center,  and  Central  Care. Others  have  gone  into  academia  at  places  such  as Arizona  State  University  and a  University  of  Iowa  healthcare. A  few  have  gone  to  work  abroad  through the  Peace  Corps  and  the  Global  Fund  to  fight  Aids. And  a  few  more  have  nestled  into unique  careers  on  the  business  end  of  healthcare, with  organizations  like  Abbott, B,  The  Match,  and  Sanford  Health. These  57  Trail  Blazers  took a  flyer  on  a  start  up  campus  located  in  a  mall. And  in  doing  so,  transformed  the  city  of  Rochester, the  University  of  Minnesota, and  higher  education  itself. Thank  you  for  listening  to  be  on the  Nest  Mars  Alumni  Podcast. Across  this  season,  we have  heard  from  many  of  the  voices  and personalities  who  helped  shape the  University  of  Minnesota,  Rochester. For  staff  and  faculty,  their  intuition, ingenuity  and  innovative  mindset  battled  ghosts, charted  new  paradigms  and  re imagined  higher  education  students. Now  rafter  alumni,  they  took  a  chance and  persevered  in  a  wholly  unique  environment, offering  an  entirely  new  way to  approach  the  college  experience. The  formation  of  UMR  as the  newest  campus  of  the  University  of  Minnesota  system, took  decades  of  dedicated  work  by countless  champions  aiming  to bolster  the  city  of  Rochester and  provide  students  from across  the  state  the  opportunity to  solve  the  grand  health  challenges  of  the  21st  century. Beyond  the  nest  is  produced  by  UMR  Alumni  Relations, written  and  narrated  by Marco  Lands  and  edited  by  Dante  Fumo. Until  next  time  I'm  Amber  Line. There  are  a  great  many  thanks to  those  who  lent  their  stories, perspectives  and  lived  experiences  to  this  season, beyond  the  nest,  and  to  the  growth  of the  University  of  Minnesota,  Rochester. A  special  thanks  to  those  who  took  time  out  of their  busy  lives  to  mos  down  Memory  Lane, including  former  Minnesota  Governor  Tim  Plenty, Rochester  Mayor  Kim  Norton, State  Senator  Carla  Nelson, Rochester  Higher  Education  Development  Committee  Members Marilyn  Stewart  and  Drew  Flota  Grok  advocates. All  good.  Jim  Lawson, John  Wade,  and  Valerie  Halverson.  Pace  MO. Retirees.  Gail  Sauder,  Jay  Hasley, Joe  Marconi,  Dr. Claudia  Neuhauser  and  Chancellor  Emeritus. Stephen  Lemke,  Current  Umar  staff. Jenny  Wright,  Peterson,  Jen  Hook, Molly  Olson,  Perry  Lander, and  Chancellor  Lori  Carroll. And  of  course,  to  Umar alumni  Ellie  Ryan,  Madeline  Hammerin, and  Evan  Doyle  From  Voice  to  Action, your  experiences  have  shaped  Umar's  early  history. And  for  that,  our  campus  is eternally  grateful.  Lock  the  gates.