Learning isn't just about information — it's about courage. In this conversation, Melanie and Paul explore the idea that real growth requires two things working together: the empathy to meet something new on its own terms, and the bravery to step into discomfort without knowing what's on the other side.

Whether it's a new subject, a new environment, or a new person, learning asks us to reach beyond ourselves — to suspend judgment, sit with uncertainty, and try anyway. When we have the right resources around us, what's left is a choice: will we dare to understand?

Guest: Dr. Paul Bylsma is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Counseling and the Graduate Program Director for the CECI M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration (HESAA). Paul's research utilizes sociomaterial theories to explore teaching, learning, knowledge, assessment, and practice in a higher education context as a complex encounter between people, space, and time.

For this episode of CECI Connect, Melanie discusses how coordinated care and support works for students facing life, health, and wellness challenges with Katie Perschbacher, Student Care and Outreach Coordinator at Grand Valley State University.

Note: This episode contains mentions of subject matter some may find disturbing.

-- Skip for sensitive content: 2:29 - 02:33 23:31 – 24:12

For this episode of CECI Connect, Melanie discusses the ways in which a liberal arts education supports education and community-innovation careers with Dr. Chasity Bailey-Fakhoury, Associate Dean for the College of Education and Community Innovation at Grand Valley State University.

Academic advisors are here to help you make a plan to finish your degree; but, what is degree planning? In this episode of CECI Connect, our host, Melanie, will share a personal story about how degree planning helped her grow her sense of hope and joy throughout her college experience.

For this episode of CECI Connect, Melanie discusses how safety and discomfort impacts the learning process for students in college with Jen Torreano, Director of the Knowledge Market at Grand Valley State University.

Academic advisors are here to help you achieve academic success; but, what is academic success? In this episode of CECI Connect, our host, Melanie, will share a personal story about her journey toward defining academic success for herself.

My Major - What’s your major? What are you majoring in? What are you studying? Did anyone ask you this when you told them you were going to college? Well, our speakers today know a lot about those questions. Our host, Melanie, and Laura, Academic Advisor in CECI, have a candid conversation about how they picked their majors in college, what it meant to them, and what they recommend for others picking or sticking with a major.

My Value - What did you learn? What was it worth? There’s a lot of talk out there about the value and cost of college. It’s definitely an investment, but does it pay back what it promises? In today’s episode, Bree Mann, Director of the CECI Advising Office and our host, Melanie, will discuss what college offered them - what they gained and how they changed because of their choice to go to and graduate from college.