 Hi, I am Jan Reardon and I am a very proud board member of the Jennifer Reardon Foundation. And four of Jennifer's pillars are what guides the foundation and that would be women's empowerment, community vitality, early childhood education, and financial literacy. And today I have the absolute pleasure of two guests that tie into the wonderful world of community vitality. These two amazing young women attended Colchester High School. One graduated just this past June and the other graduated the year prior. And again, it's just a pleasure to meet with them because they both received the Jennifer Reardon scholarship. Jennifer had gone to Colchester High School, graduated back in 1992 and loved that high school so much. My brother went to Essex so that was always a big rivalry between the two of them. And I had the pleasure of attending graduation this June. I met you right after you had graduated last year and it's a very, very impressive high school. I hate to tell my brother, hopefully he's not listening, but I was very impressed with the Lakers. I mean, what an amazing group of young adults. And so again, that just ties right into community vitality. So here we are and I want to introduce two of my guests so that we can get to the way that they became who they are actually is what I'm so excited, even though I've met them. I don't know a lot about how they became such amazing young women. So right here we have Maeve McCalla, graduated in 2022. And then we have Janine Barassa, who graduated in 2023. So welcome to you both. I really do appreciate you being here. Thank you. It's a pleasure. Oh, thank you so much. So yeah, Jen's spirit lives on. She was all about, we say, KLCS kind, loving, caring and sharing. She was very involved in the school, did the morning announcements to pick up everybody's spirits every morning. And that was when she was 14 and it never stopped until she was in her 40s. And the incident took her away, but we still carry on that spirit. So let's start with a couple of questions just to get a better sense for the audience as well as for myself. I'll learn probably more from you than you'll learn from me because I'm always looking for ways to be a better person. So why don't we start with you, Maeve, and then we'll go right onto you, Janine. My first question is, if you could just put in your own words, like your definition of kindness, like what does kindness mean to you, Maeve? Yeah, my personal definition of kindness would be just empathetic toward everybody. Empathy is the key. Yeah. Just finish the book on empathy. That's what we all need, right? Absolutely. I love, you know, just all that empathy can do to a relationship, to a community. So. Absolutely. So just be treating everybody, you know, fairly. Yes. Not judging. Absolutely. Keywords. Yeah. And just, I mean, being kind. That's right. I know. It seems so simple, yet people struggle to find themselves in a way that they can be kind. So I'm hoping by things such as this that people can just pick up one little take away and bring that into their day because whether you're doing something or seeing somebody else do something, it just really scientifically makes you feel better. It's just our chemistry. We need that. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. I would say, like Maeve said, like having empathy for people, being helpful, mostly being like a leader. Absolutely. I think that's definitely a big thing, like taking leadership and being responsible. How were you a leader through your high school years? Mostly like in school, like in classes. Right. With like school work this past year, I was like one of the captains on the tennis team. Oh, fabulous. That's always a good way. That's always a significant role. Yeah. Right. And you both played soccer together and tennis. Yeah. Soccer and tennis. Wonderful. Yes. Yeah. I was a captain too. Oh, yeah. It's amazing what that does for you, even for yourself to feel so good about what you're doing. Yeah. And we're just huge role models on that. Exactly. Especially like for the younger kids. Oh, absolutely. Coming on board. They don't know any tennis. Right. It's really just showing them kind of the ropes and like making them feel welcome and like they belong there. And how, right, how to be a good teammate. Exactly. Right. And sportsmanship. It leads into like a good community member as well. Exactly. It sure does. It's such a fun environment too. Yeah. Right. When everyone's just nice to each other. Right. No judgment. So much better. Exactly. Yeah. The dynamic just, you know, makes such a difference. Yeah. Awesome. Okay. So how, we'll start again with you. Maybe I'll just go in that order. But how do you believe that we can make our community a kinder place in hopes of having it be sustainable? Yeah. Yeah. Again, I would just say like no judgment toward each other. I feel like communities are always growing and especially like in Burlington now. Absolutely. It's just becoming more of a melting pot. Right. More diversified, which I love. Exactly. It's great. Yes, it is. It's just we have to go into it with like that open mind. An open mind. Right. And it embrace the different cultures. Exactly. It's really important to building like a stronger community and a more sustainable community. Absolutely. Fabulous. How do you feel about that, Janine? Yeah. Along with like not being judgmental, being like inclusive. Yes. And kind of being open to understanding people's backgrounds. Absolutely. Have a whole different point of view. You don't know sometimes someone's whole life story. Why they may feel a certain way about something. Yeah. And it's just so powerful, you know, to find out more about their background and then have a better understanding, good or bad of why somebody's behavior may be what it is and then take it from there. Ignorance is such a huge problem where people are not willing to try to understand somebody else's point of view. And what kind of a world would that be if we were just all thinking the same way? I mean, who wants that, right? Exactly. Yeah. That's awesome. And I do want to also mention and thank you both for the field of choice that you've entered into for college. You already have one year behind you in nursing at UVM. Yeah. And then Janine, you're going into nursing at Boston College, which is, you know, both just amazing schools and such a great field. And did you know early on that you were going to go into nursing? Was that something that you had planned on for many years? I did. Because my mother is a nurse. Wonderful. So I had always grown up around the field. And I just loved the work that she did. And I love the woman that made her. Oh, beautiful. So it really inspired me. Oh, that's great. Janine, how did you decide? I have some family who are nurses. So my aunt is a nurse. And then my grandma was actually a nurse at UVM. Wonderful. Oh, fantastic. And so I kind of knew that I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but that it had to be something that was helping other people. Oh, beautiful. Interacting with people. And I thought, what better field than everything? What you wish for, right? Yeah, your wish will come true. That's awesome. I am so respectful of that field. And as I had mentioned to you earlier, I had an amazing career in fitness. But if I did have it to do all over again, I would definitely have gone into the nursing world. Because some of the best people I've ever met in my life have been nurses. So I really do admire and appreciate and respect what you're bringing to the community again. And we talked about travel nurses. So to have the two of you potentially off somewhere representing Vermont is a gift from my point of view. And I think it's fabulous that the two of you already know what path you're on. And you're continuing the success that you've had all along. Yeah, for sure. So how about your earliest memory of how kindness shaped you to be the amazing woman that you are? Yeah, I would attribute that back to being an oldest sibling. So how many children have you? I have two younger sisters. My youngest sister is five years younger than me. And so growing up, I was always their role model. Of course. I always looked out for them. I always was in school with them because we're just so close in age. Right. And so it was always like making sure they were comfortable going into school. Making sure they were okay. Your mom must have just loved having you present, right? She did. She did. That's a gift. Yeah, no. So I'm really thankful for them and I love them with all my heart. And so I would say that that really helped kind of shape me into being somebody who looks out for other people and really cares deeply. So one sister must be in high school now? Yes, one sister is going into her senior year and then the other is going into her freshman year. Oh, fabulous. So they'll overlap then for that one year? Yes. And what are they interested in? My middle sister is looking to go into education. Fabulous. So that's also a very caring field. Exactly. Absolutely. And I don't know what the youngest one is. She's, you know, so figuring herself out. Undecided. Right. Right. And are they both soccer and tennis players? They are. Oh, fantastic. They'll follow in the best footsteps, right? Exactly. That's what we hope. Yeah. How about you, Janine? One of the things I remember is, I read this book when I was younger. It was called Wonder. Okay. And they actually made a movie about it. Okay. I think it was by RJ Palacio. Okay. And so I read that book when I was really little and it was about a boy who, he had like a facial deformity and so he was bullied in school and everyone made fun of him and they didn't know, you know, his background and his story. And it was about one kid who was nice to him and he became best friends. And the movie is actually really great too. I think they made that a couple of years ago. But I just remember reading that book and like it had such a big impact on me and made me want to like, you know, be kind to everybody. Absolutely. And especially because you don't know everyone's story and how. Well that's the thing, exactly. And once you hear how they came to be. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So that definitely was one of my earliest memories. See that movie, I didn't realize there was a book so I want to get that. That's a beautiful story. I read the book. It was amazing. And how old were you then? I was probably, I would say, in elementary school. Wonderful. It was a good read at that age. Right. Set that tone. Yeah. Especially going into, you know, middle school. Sure. So much bullying. Years that, you know, everybody could be so different. Going through puberty and figuring out hormones or flying. You don't know what you're going to get for one, I'm saying one day to the next, but one minute to the next. Right. Yeah. That's awesome. And can you think along the lines of sustainability, like say in Colchester as a fabulous community, is there anything that you think could be put in place as a program that could help others become more kind or more anti-bullying, anything along those lines that you think that could be done? I feel like Colchester is doing a lot of work already to kind of... In the school system? Yeah. Yes. So there is a club that I was a part of called Rematter Here Club. Okay. And so it's just about, it's just all about inclusivity and like mental health. Wonderful. And just, I mean really just kindness. So was that in place when you went into high school? It was. It was new when I kind of joined it. Started. And so it was, it's still developing now. Wonderful. But we've, I know that last year we painted murals kind of around the school of like different like inclusivity symbols like pride flags. Right. Nice. Like Black Lives Matter. So just really trying to like make everyone feel welcome and like loved and know that people are cared for. Supported. Exactly. Right. So I've seen that being developed in Colchester. And we also have another club. It's called CHS Cares. So that's another one. What is the mission of CHS Cares? It's a volunteer club. Yeah. So we just, everyone gets together and does like community service. In the, in like outside of the school. Yeah. In Colchester. A little bit of both. So we have like food drives. Oh, nice. And then we also, I remember during COVID we went to the Ethan Allen nursing home. Oh, very nice. And we built snowmen for that. Oh, I love that. For the residents. Because they couldn't come outside of their homes. Right. So we kind of just decorated the outside for them so they could look out the window. That is beautiful. And is that still in place? It is. And it's growing every year. It's a huge club now. So how many students would you say are in that club roughly? I would say a hundred. Oh my goodness. Seriously. Yeah. It's especially for our like food donation stuff. We all, it's a huge, huge issue. Yeah. I think the past couple of years we, during Thanksgiving we got together like a bunch of donated food that the whole school would donate and then people in those clubs would get together on like the Friday before Thanksgiving break. Right. And we would make all these like Thanksgiving baskets. Oh, I love that. So we would deliver them to families who maybe needed extra food during the holidays. Right. So I know that that was like a great thing. Absolutely. And I love doing that. It felt really great. And then it makes your Thanksgiving so much better just to know that other people are enjoying that holiday together in, you know, in relation to like what you did. Exactly. That's fabulous. Yeah. Anything else that you can think of in Colchester that, you know, is taking place that does help as far as you say inclusivity and, you know, non-judgmental, like other things that are going on or that you can think of that could be implemented? I mean, I know this past year at Colchester High School we had a school-wide assembly towards the end of the year. And I think that was the first time, my time in high school that we had that assembly. It was like a diversity. It was the entire school. Yeah. It was the entire school. And it was like a diversity and inclusion assembly. Wonderful. And we had speakers from all the different kinds of, you know, clubs or extracurricular activities. Just that exposure. Yeah. And it was amazing to see there were people from the unified basketball team who spoke. Very nice. And that was awesome to hear. And I'm actually in, I was in the choir at Colchester. And so we sang a song for everybody. Congratulations. Oh, that is beautiful. It was a great assembly. And I hope that they continue to do that. It must have been so motivating and inspirational. Yeah. It was the entire school, too, that got to sit down and watch all the different people speak. Absorb all of that. And it was all these young student leaders, too, from the clubs that were speaking. And the set of the adults. What an opportunity, right? Just to feel good about leadership and the impact that it can have to see it firsthand like that. I'm also excited to see what's going to happen with the town. We're developing a fitness center, I believe. Oh, like a community center. Yeah. Yeah. And so now I can really embrace that. I used to be at Rackett's Edge. And we had a, it was for profit. And then there was always the non-profit. Colchester was always the ones, like we want this. Yeah. And I thought, that's going to obviously impact the Rackett's Edge. Yeah. But now I'm all for it. Now I'm retired. Yeah. And it is. You know, all kidding aside, having a community center like that, I know what that did for Essex and obviously and beyond. But because, you know, people from all walks of life, you know, are welcome and you have a family that would come in and, you know, the children go this way, the parents go this way. And then you all gather at the end and you have so many good stories to tell because when you're, you know, working out and you get that adrenaline flowing, whether it's, you know, you're swimming or running or walking or whatever you're doing, it just makes you feel so much better about yourself. When you feel better about yourself as you two are very solid and secure young women, you want to be good to others. If you're not feeling so good about yourself, I mean, the bully, for sure, bulliers or whatever, they're the ones that are so miserable and they want other people to feel that way. So having fitness as a way to come together can alleviate a lot of that, you know, negativity. So what is the timeline on that? Have you heard much lately? Yeah, I haven't. I mean, I think we're getting close. I think it just got approved. Right. I think we're getting close to having the construction begin probably in 24, 25. Yeah. I would say, like, my, I've seen how the, like, Winooski pool, it's rebuilding just three years ago. I've seen how it's really built the community up. Brought that community together. And, like, at the pool, because I live there, and so at the pool, we have, like, suits for children who don't have bathing suits. Love it. We provide towels for kids that don't have towels. We have goggles for kids that don't have goggles. We have scholarships for kids that can't buy seasons passes. So it's a great place for everybody to hang out and kind of learn how to swim. Exactly. And all these things. And it's really built the community there. And so I'm excited to see how that can translate to Colchester with our new fitness center and actually pool. Exactly. Absolutely. And when I was with the YMCA years ago, we managed the Winooski pool at that time. And it was remarkable to see the difference from the beginning of the summer to the end of the summer. As far as the kids, there were so many families that were new Americans. Yes. And so in fairness to them, they didn't know. I mean, you talk about hygiene. You talk about anything. They were swimming. I mean, so free swim lessons. Yes. You know, so children, because there were a lot of drownings at that time. Yes, exactly. And so it was just wonderful to be a part of the Y in that regard and to see how that impacted the community. So you're so right as far as what that will do to further, you know, those relationships in Colchester. Exactly. Especially because Colchester is a lake town. Exactly. I know. So many beaches. It's really important to build those swimming skills. Yes. Yeah. So I'm excited to see where that goes. Oh, that's great. I know you'll be coming back one of these summers. Yeah, exactly. You'll be running that pool. Exactly. You're right. I love it. Yeah, that's going to be a very nice fitness center from what I've heard. So that's great. And then let's see, how do you attribute kindness to becoming such an amazing young woman? Like what would you say, out of all the skills that you obviously have and all of your, you know, attributes, how does kindness stand out as a characteristic that has really changed your life for the better? Yeah. I mean, I would say kindness was a big part of me choosing my career path. Absolutely. Like growing up with my mother as a nurse, I saw the impact her kindness had and both my parents were on Colchester Rescue. Oh, wonderful. So they really just gave so much to the town. Absolutely. That's a big commitment. Exactly. And so I've, that's how I've kind of chosen my path. I want to lead a path of kindness and give back to the community that I love so much. It's great at your age. I mean, to already have figured out the importance of that and how good that will continue to make you feel. Yeah. How about you, Janine? How do you feel about that? Yeah. Like what Maeve said, definitely choosing to go into nursing is definitely really important to me. And you knew that during your high school years early on? Just in the past couple of years I kind of figured out like I want to interact with people and I want to help other people and I like science and math and so on. Perfect combo, right? Yeah. Do you have like a field within nursing that you're really focused on? Not right now, but I definitely am interested in like pediatrics and working with kids and maybe potentially working in the NICU because I was a NICU baby. Were you? Yes. Which did you weigh? I was three pounds, six ounces. Oh my goodness. I was two months early. Two months early? Yes, yeah. What a story. I was in the NICU for my first month and my first Christmas. Oh. You know, it definitely would be a good experience. A beautiful story, yes. Giving back to the NICU. Exactly. And those photos that they have when you enter into the NICU, I mean when you see a baby in a physician's hand and it's just amazing to see like yourself, I mean to grow up and be so healthy with that care along the way. Do you have siblings as well, Ginny? I do. I have an older brother. He's actually in Maeve's grade. They're also friends. There's cold chested for you guys. A lot of love. Yes. Yeah. And what is he studying? What is he doing right now? He's at UVM and he was doing biology, but I think he's going undecided to kind of figure out more what he wants to do. Right. Which is nice to have that time in the beginning to be sure. I know. To make sure you're doing exactly where you feel your place is and where you're most passionate. Yeah, definitely. And there's so many different opportunities and options of things to go into. Exactly. I know. As I had mentioned, I just had the pleasure and the blessing of being able to tour colleges in Florida with my niece and my brother and my nephew and the opportunities that exist are just amazing. So I can imagine that it would be hard to decide. Yeah. What to do. Because, right, even within a field like what you can do is amazing no less the number of different fields that you can choose from. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So let's see. We've come to the end of the questions on here, but I feel like I have so many other things I want to ask you about. So let's see what else we can chat about here. But I didn't ask you, Maeve, what is there a field within nursing like an area that you're focused on that you know already? Right now, I'm really interested in planning on joining UVM Rescue in the fall. Fantastic. Yeah, we'll see how that goes. So you can join that in the fall when you're going to school? Yes. I can join it in the summer. So I'm going to, next week, I'm going to start my application process. Fantastic. And does UVM Rescue go outside of the campus? It does. Yes. Okay. So it does both? Yes. So it's a backup for Burlington? Yes. Yep. I see. Yep. It's really just whoever's closest to that. I mean, maybe like 30. Wow. So it's kind of a close-knit group and we all kind of they all like rotate throughout the week. So, yeah. How about you, Janine? Do you have any thoughts on like when you go to Boston College, how you'll be involved in the community, maybe not right away once you get settled in? Do you have thoughts on taking your talents outside of the school? Yeah, I mean, they definitely have at Boston College, they're really big on service. So there's a lot, there's so many different clubs that you can get involved in. You could be. Like one of them I think is called for Boston. And so that I think is a specific club for the community of Boston and doing service in the community. Strictly Boston College students. Yes. Wonderful. So that's one of them there's, I think they have, that's one of their biggest things there. So they have so many different opportunities for that and especially, you know, once like we'll graduate and talk about being the hub of the medical community. Right? Definitely. You see yourself staying in the Boston area. I mean, it's hard to tell right now. It's hard to tell. But that's like my favorite city. Yeah. And they have all those great hospitals and even coming back here to UVM, UVM is also a great hospital too. Oh, absolutely. We are so lucky to have that here in the community. Do you think you'll stay in the Burlington area? It's a really good question. I am open. Right. And you could come to Boston. Exactly. And as we talked about with travel nurses, oh, fabulous opportunities that exist there. Just, you can come back here and settle down at some point, but you'll have seen basically all of the United States that you wanted to see as you're working. Yeah. Which is, it's an amazing program and we'd be lost without it. Yeah, seriously. But do you find more and more students do they talk at colleges of more and more students enrolling in the nursing program? Because it hit really, thankfully come back around. I know at UVM, the nursing program is over-admitted. Oh, I love it, really. It's definitely their hardest program to get into. It's like so competitive and I know people that have tried to transfer into the program for their schools. That you think would get in. And they can't. It's crazy. It gives me chills. So impressive. And the UVM nursing staff and professors are amazing. And you have UVM right there and you'll have hospitals that you can work in different departments this coming year. Or have you are okay, junior year? Yes, junior year is one of the stars. Okay, the same in Boston. Yeah, when you start doing like your clinicals. Right. That's junior year. Yep. And then you, similar to a physician you'll just rotate through and be in different departments so you get the exposure, which is nice. Yeah, exactly. So especially if you were someone like me who's still kind of figuring out, you can get exposed to all the different fields. So that's, I think that's great. Yeah. That's just awesome. Well, we're coming to an end here. That flew by. You know, and then you're both leaving at the end of August to go back at it again. Yeah. Which is fabulous. You must be excited about that. So excited, yeah. And then when you come back home, do you, so you come home for your, will you both be back in town for your break at the holidays? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Well, hopefully we'll get to, maybe we could, you know, if possible do this each year that you're up to. And I'd rather see you here than anywhere else as far as you put your field of choice. I don't need to, you know, be seeing you in the hospital, but I'd love to hear about what you're doing in the hospital. But thank you both. It's been just a pleasure to meet both of you over these last, you know, couple of years. And again, to keep Jen's spirit going strong, she would be your best friend, I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah. So thank you both. Thank you. And it's been such an honor to receive. Thank you. Continue her legacy. Well, and that's what it's all about. Thank you so much. Yeah. Okay. Have a great rest of the summer. Thank you. Bye.