Valued Voices: Ensuring Everyone has a Seat at the Table

Isabella Tobin:

You’re listening to Living the Pharm Life, the official podcast of Purdue University’s College of Pharmacy. I’m your host, Isabella Tobin, a PharmD candidate with a passion for telling the stories of our college’s, phenomenal and loyal students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends who persistently pursue excellence in all they do.

Marie Martin-Murphy is the Director of the Educational Opportunities and Student Success in the

Purdue College of Pharmacy. In this episode, she’s joined by third-year professional student and President of the Pharmacy Diversity Council, Claire Reyes. They discuss the changes around student opportunities specifically in the areas of race and culture. We are here in Purdue’s Black Cultural Center, a space that is full of rich history and cultural representation. Listen in to hear about how Purdue pharmacy approaches the importance of each student being part of the pharmacy family here at Purdue, and beyond.

It is a privilege to welcome Marie Martin-Murphy and Claire Reyes to this episode of Living the Pharm Life. Marie is the Director of Educational Opportunities and Student Success in the College of Pharmacy, and Claire is a third-year professional student and the President of the Pharmacy Student Diversity Council?

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Absolutely.

Isabella Tobin:

All right, fantastic.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah, you got it.

Isabella Tobin:

Very long titles. I was crossing my fingers I got them right.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I know.

Isabella Tobin:

I’m so glad to have you guys here today, though. Thank you so much for being here.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

It’s an honor being here. It’s really a privilege. Thank you so much for having us.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, of course. So excited to be here today. We are sitting in this amazing space at Purdue University, the Black Cultural Center.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

It is.

Isabella Tobin:

It has so much connections to students, as well as faculty and staff, and I’m really glad that we get to be in this space today.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yes, yes.

Isabella Tobin:

I know.

Claire Reyes:

It’s beautiful.

Isabella Tobin:

Just one of the things that I love the most about Purdue is how everyone has a different background and we all come together from so many different places around the country and around the world, and I love hearing about everybody’s backgrounds. Would you both be able to tell me more about your backgrounds?

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Most definitely.

Claire Reyes:

Yes, of course.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I don’t mind starting.

Claire Reyes:

Yeah.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I have a really rich background when it comes to culture. I was born in The Bahamas, but my parents, both of my parents were born and raised in Haiti, and in the age of 25 doing the Papa Doc, which is JeanClaude Duvalier, the father, doing his reign. They left Haiti and moved to The Bahamas, and that’s where my parents had children. I was born in The Bahamas. I lived in The Bahamas until we were teenagers, and then my dad decided he wanted to move to United States because he wanted a better life, even better life for us.

He moved and brought us in here to the United States. Even I have a rich religion background as well, because my mom practiced Voodoo, which is in Haiti, one of the most popular religion there as well, so was able to see that. Then my dad then converted to Christianity, and my mom later on in life converted to Christianity. Even that was a rich experience for me as well, and taught me a lot. Yeah.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing. You are welcome.

Claire Reyes:

I don’t think my background’s quite as entertaining, but I was born and raised in Southern Indiana, specifically the town of Sellersburg, which is a 20-minute drive from Louisville, Kentucky. I grew up kind of close to that city, but not necessarily in it. Both of my parents are from the Philippines. They immigrated here in their twenties. I grew up with the Filipino culture.

I unfortunately was not able to pick up Tagalog, which is the language of the Philippines, but now that I’m 22, my parents are more like, “Oh, I guess we could teach you.” They’ve been slowly giving me bits and pieces to help me learn, and telling me to go wash my hands or something in Tagalog. I’m picking that up slowly but surely. Southern Indiana isn’t a super diverse area, but we had our own Filipino community there anyways.

I grew up going to 13 years of Catholic school, and the predominant religion in the Philippines is Catholicism. We met other Catholic families through church and through my parents’ work. They’re both physical therapists. We have, I want to say, six to seven other families in this Filipino group of ours. My siblings and I were the oldest of the group, so we grew up taking care of all the other kids and we got to watch them grow up. One of them’s even here now at Purdue, and that’s really exciting to see.

I feel really old, though, but it’s really, really nice to just come to Purdue and kind of see a new viewpoint, because Southern Indiana is very small, mostly white. Whenever I got to Purdue, I was just like, “Oh, my gosh, there’s so many people like me here.” I joined the Purdue Filipino Association as well to kind of immerse myself more in the culture and learn about other areas within the Philippines, because the Philippines is a ton of islands.

My family, so my dad is from the main city, Manila, and then my mom is from more of the southern islands. Getting to learn about all of the different parts of the Philippines really brings me a lot of joy and helps me feel closer to my identity. That’s kind of my cultural background. Yeah.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, I think that’s a good one.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Tell us about your background, Isabella, as well.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I love hearing about the different areas and the background from everyone.

Isabella Tobin:

I know, I know. Me too.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah.

Isabella Tobin:

I’m from Rhode Island. My parents were both born and raised in New England as well. My mom grew up in Massachusetts, kind of right outside of Boston. My dad also grew up, he grew up in Rhode Island about half an hour from where I live now with traffic. We always say it’s half an hour with traffic. It’s always two hours with traffic. It’s just if you’re heading anywhere near Boston, it’s the distance with traffic.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I visited Boston, Massachusetts a few years back, and it is crazy, you’re right. It’s like a 30-minute drive took us over two hours.

Isabella Tobin:

It is, it’s a very different culture than Indiana, so that was kind of a shock for me, moving out here. It’s a lot softer, I think is the best way to describe that.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Indiana is softer?

Isabella Tobin:

Yes, than Boston.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Than Boston? Explain that to me, please.

Isabella Tobin:

It’s very, not necessarily aggressive, but it’s more of a a pointed culture. You’re walking down the street and everybody’s very loud, very… Not aggressive, but very assertive. I feel like Indiana is a little more laid back…

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yes, that’s true.

Isabella Tobin:

… Of a culture, which was very…

Claire Reyes:

Midwestern hospitality.

Isabella Tobin:

Yes.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah, everyone’s so nice.

Isabella Tobin:

Yes, everyone is very nice. People in Boston are nice in a different way. People in Indiana are above and beyond. I remember when I toured Purdue in February, 2020, it was freezing outside. It was absolutely the coldest day ever. I really wasn’t expecting that. Boston is cold, but Indiana that day was cold.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Was cold.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, that was cold. We were staying at a hotel up the street, and we had no idea where we were going to go get dinner. My mom went to the front desk and she asked, “Oh, do you have any good recommendations?” The woman behind the desk pulls out a map, starts tracing on the map all of the different places.

She was like, “If you want to walk to this one, it’s about a five-minute walk. You could drive to this one.

It’s about a 10-minute drive. Take this road.” She’s given us all the directions. I was like, “This is crazy.

This is absolutely wild to me.” We don’t do that back in New England.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

They’re not that nice, huh?

Isabella Tobin:

No. Well, someone will say, “Can you give me directions?” It’s like, “Oh, you want to bang a U-weeye where the old something used to be.” Yeah, that’s what we say. Take a U-turn, bang a U-ey. Yeah, bang a U-ey, that’s a U-turn. It’s always based on old landmarks that don’t exist anymore.

If you had a store that closed down, that’s now the landmark, the sign is gone. The sign is gone, but that’s the landmark you used to give directions.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

It’s up to you to figure it out.

Isabella Tobin:

Exactly. Exactly. It’s like, “Oh, you know where-“

Marie Martin-Murphy:

That is hilarious.

Isabella Tobin:

… “The [inaudible 00:09:50] used to be? That’s where you want to take a turn.” We also count by Dunkin Donuts, which is a very different culture than here.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I tell you. What does that mean?

Isabella Tobin:

It’s drive past two Dunkin Donuts, and then take the next right. That’s how we do directions is based on old landmarks and Dunkin Donuts. That’s my cultural background is old landmarks, Dunkin Donuts, and the New England flair.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I thought that would be nice.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, yeah. Claire, I really loved when you were talking about all of the younger people earlier and how it makes you feel so old.

Claire Reyes:

I feel terribly old.

Isabella Tobin:

I know.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Okay, wait a minute. You guys are talking about old, and I’m sitting…

Isabella Tobin:

It’s just year five on campus, and I’m looking at all the freshmen and I’m like, “Wow, they’re so young, so full of life. Just determined.” I’m like, “This is…” I’m like, “I’m ready.”

Claire Reyes:

Where did that spirit go for us?

Isabella Tobin:

I know by the end of the day, I’m like, “I’m ready to go home to my cats, sit on my couch.” Then I was talking to a freshman the other day and she was like, “Oh, I’m going to this club, and I’m going to that club meeting, and then I might go out, some of my friends are going out.” I’m like, “Whew, I’m tired just listening to you.” Ripe old age of 23. I’m like, “I’m ready to go home.”

Marie Martin-Murphy:

You’re 23?

Isabella Tobin:

I’m 23.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

How old are you?

Claire Reyes:

I’m 22.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Okay.

Isabella Tobin:

I’m ready to go home.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I have a granddaughter you guys’ age, okay? When you start talking about old…

Isabella Tobin:

Spiritually, we get older.

Claire Reyes:

Yes, yes. In my heart.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

It wasn’t just pharmacy that makes you feel old.

Claire Reyes:

Could be all of it.

Isabella Tobin:

It could be the pharmacy.

Claire Reyes:

I had a lot of memories coming down to the Black Cultural Center, because I used to live in Hillenbrand, and I would always walk past up and down third street, going to lab, going to classes. It was very nostalgic walking down the street and being like, “Hmm, I used to walk down this every single day, almost get hit by a bike.”

Marie Martin-Murphy:

That’s an everyday thing.

Claire Reyes:

Yes, and then that hasn’t changed. I still almost got hit by a bike, either by my own error or by the bikes, I don’t know.

Isabella Tobin:

That was exactly me walking over here. I was like, “I’m a senior citizen around here.”

Marie Martin-Murphy:

You’re P3, right?

Isabella Tobin:

Yes.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Which is professional third year, so five years here.

Isabella Tobin:

Five years on campus.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

What have you noticed differently throughout the year from five years ago, what you’re seeing now and what you’ve seen through the five years being here, and changes in diversity group of students, the way they dress? You’re comparing yourself. What have you seen that’s changing or have changed?

Isabella Tobin:

I feel like for me, we started here in fall of 2020. I feel like when we got here, everything was very disjointed. I felt very, everything was very separate, but that was also me coming to a new place during a pandemic.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I was like, “Oh, 2020. That was during the pandemic.”

Isabella Tobin:

I felt everything was very segmented. Everything had a place, and there was no interconnections. If you mix too many things, then you run more risks of COVID spread and everything else. I feel like starting here in that time, it was kind of isolating. I met Claire, though. She was really my first friend here on campus, so I lucked out with that.

It was kind of a difficult time. I feel like in the last five years, I’ve watched more things connect, more people interacting, and I know I’ve been able to see more things, do more things than I did five years ago.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Five years ago when you started, you talk about the COVID, the period of COVID and everything, were kind of isolated. How did you feel like you belonged? I know as a student, being on campus away from home during the pandemic, you must feel like, “I need to feel like I fit somewhere.” How was you able to get that during the pandemic?

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, I joined a lot of different organizations. One of the ones I was in that I participated in the most was band. I was in the marching band in the fall, and then I was in the concert band in the spring. That for me was really like, I got to meet people outside of my major.

Band was a lot more… It was easier to interact with people than in a classroom setting, because you just throw a pencil at the person six feet away from you, you say, “Hey, what measure are we at?” Versus in class, everybody’s head down, taking notes, very, very intent. In band, it’s a little more relaxed. I found that to be a really good setting for me.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Wow.

Isabella Tobin:

What about you, Claire?

Claire Reyes:

Well, for me, it was pretty similar feelings that I experienced as you did, Isabella. I definitely felt very alone, isolated. It was really hard to make friends, because we were forced to not. We were told, “You have to stay away from each other. You guys are all going to get COVID.” I was like, “Well, that’s true, but also I’m at college. What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to sit inside my dorm all day?”

That’s kind of what they wanted, but we couldn’t really do that. I was very lucky to participate in BGR, and I made a lot of my first friends through BGR in that first week of school. One of my closest friends today, she already graduated last year, her name’s Abby, and she was on my floor. We first met through, we had a group Zoom call to get to know the people who were already on campus.

During that Zoom call, Abby was like, “Oh, yeah, I’m here. If you guys want to come say hi, feel free.” I immediately ran down the hall with my suite mate, and I didn’t even knock on the door or anything, I just barged in. I was like, “Hey.” I was like, “She said that we didn’t have to knock and just to come in, so I just walked right in.” She was one of my really good friends that I made through, even with the COVID restrictions.

Then I made some really good friends through BGR. My good friend Shana and my good friend Kate, they were all people I connected with in BGR, and we’ve stayed friends until this day. Purdue had its restrictions with COVID, but it also still gave me opportunities to connect with those people, despite the fact that we were going through a pandemic. I did meet Isabella in a similar way.

Isabella Tobin:

I was just thinking, I feel like you barged into my life, in a figurative way. There were no doors there.

Claire Reyes:

There were no doors. It was just biology inside of Lilly basement.

Isabella Tobin:

The very, I remember getting lost trying to find that room in the basement of Lilly. I remember going down the hallways, looking at all the numbers, and I’m like, “I feel like I’m going the wrong direction.” Then I turned around and I’m like, “I still feel like I’m going the wrong direction.”

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah, that building would lose you.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah. It shows the importance of feeling like you have a friend and you belong. Yeah. How different now do you see with no more restrictions? How is it now, and what do you think we can learn from what happened during COVID if that was to happen again, and how to make our students feel less isolated and more like they belong? What could we do differently, or what can we learn from that?

Claire Reyes:

Yeah. Well, I think part of the change that I see now from COVID to now, it’s honestly astronomical, the connections that people have made. I never thought that I would get to see people so close. I feel like our current pharmacy class isn’t as close as the other one since we didn’t get to have as much connection in those formative years of pre-pharmacy. I can kind of see the disjointedness within our classmates, but whenever I get to interact with the younger classes, I’m just like, “Wow, you guys all know each other so well. You’re goofing off together, you’re making memories. That’s really nice to see.”

Part of the lesson we can learn from COVID is that online really just isn’t enough to make a connection. As much as we try with Zoom and technology to make those connections, it’s just not the same as in person, where you get to see the physical person, gauge all their reactions, really see them for who they are, versus a screen really blocks that. People can still filter out what they want to show you. That’s, I feel like, an important lesson that we’ve learned since COVID.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, I completely agree. I think showing your whole self is really important. I remember the first time, I think we went to Chick-fil-A was the first time I saw you without a face mask on. I was like, “Oh, that’s not what she looks like.” I think physically showing ourselves and just personality-wise, I think, is so important. I feel like there was a lot of fear in the time of COVID, which of course, there was fear, but I know for me that that really impacted the willingness to make connections.

I feel like if something happens again, we need to be able to mitigate that sort of fear aspect and be able to push through at least a little bit, put yourself out there. There’s going to be fear in anything you do, but we still have to push through to make connections and succeed.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah, yeah. Wow, that’s awesome. It was a really interesting experience for us, and I think a lot that we needed to take away from that. Like you said, removing the fear and the importance too of that connection, meeting different people from different backgrounds, so the importance of all of that. Yeah.

Wow. Now, what do you guys do to feel like you belong at Purdue?

Claire Reyes:

Oh, wow.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Now that you’ve passed that COVID, which was a challenge for you, connecting, what do you do now, and how do you help the incoming students who want that connection as well? How do you support them in feeling like they’re a part of?

Claire Reyes:

I guess for me, the way that I kind of help myself feel like I belong, I’ve made some really, really great friends since freshman year, and I stayed close with them. I kind of maintain those friendships. I’m very intentional with who I hang out with. When I spend time with them, I make sure we’re focused on each other and we’re still continuing to grow with each other. It’s not just a connection to have a connection. It’s because I care about the person and they care about me.

That’s how I make sure I feel a sense of belonging in my own community. Then in the sense of my cultural identity, I participate in external clubs. The Purdue Filipino Association is one of those, where I can connect with people who have a similar background to me, where they also grew up with immigrant parents, and they didn’t quite grow up with the language, or they picked up stuff here and there. We’re all just trying to piece ourselves together to make it all make sense for us.

Trying to find those people and putting myself out there, despite being scared of everything, not really knowing, I don’t entirely know who I am still. I’m still learning that every day, but kind of giving a piece of myself to others, and they’re giving a piece of themselves to me, that really helps me feel like I belong. The Student Diversity Council is kind of my way of giving back to the students, and trying to help them find their place, because I never want anyone to feel alone or like they can’t be themselves, because that’s terrible.

I’ve been there. I don’t want people to be like that. The Student Diversity Council is a space for people to really welcome themselves, and kind of explore who they are, and why they do what they do, what their purpose is. I try to encourage people to not judge, to always have an open mind. I want to educate people about the various cultures around us, and how they influence all the different aspects of our lives.

There’s not just one singular culture that defines everyone, and your ethnicity also does not define your culture. Your culture is made by everything around you. I feel like the Student Diversity Council really helps me to bring that to other students as well.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Just making sure that they have a seat at the table to be a part of discussions that’s going to create changes as well, which is excellent. Yeah, that is excellent.

Isabella Tobin:

How do you do that in your role, help with the making seats at the table, making students feel belonged?

Marie Martin-Murphy:

That’s an important piece for me personally. When my parents moved from The Bahamas to Miami, Florida, and this was during the 1980s. During the 90 eighties, there was a lot of… It was interesting, because a lot of the Cuban at the time, I don’t know if you guys know the history of when Castro, so a lot of students, the Cubans were leaving Cuba and coming to the United States, and they would give them citizenship, whatever.

Castro decided, “Oh, you want take my people and get,” so he put them on a boat, people from mental health, got all the mental health people from the mental health hospital, prison, put them on a ship, and then sailed them over to Miami, Florida. This was in 1980s, as a matter of fact. Have you guys watched the movie, Scarface? This was in the 1980s, Scarface from the 1980s.

Claire Reyes:

I have not.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

There, part of that was loosely based. One of the guys, the main character was one of the guys who came on the ship and started, the crime rate went up, and so forth. That was going on. Then in Haiti, they were having some political uproar there as well, so both countries. The Haitians were also taking the boat to Miami. We had the Cubans and the Haitians, and then there was a lot of political uprise going on.

Here it is, I’m in the middle of this. We live in Little Haiti in Miami, Florida, and it was a lot of tension going to school, it was being called names because you’re Haitian and so forth. Then right afterwards, AIDS came up, the AIDS… Now, they’re saying that they call it the 5H disease: homosexuals, Haitians, if you are taking drugs intravenously, and some other, five things, negative things, that you’re more likely to have AIDS. That also put a negative stigma on being a Haitian person.

Here it is as a teenager, trying to figure out who am I, where do I belong in all of this craziness? Learning how to… Especially going to school, to function through all of that, and then being able to find a place where you feel like I belong, I’m somebody, I’m important. I have a voice to say, “No, what you’re saying is not all that it is. There’s more to who I am as a person.” Growing up, trying to figure this out, so when I came to college, I learned that there are others as well who have other opinions.

I felt like I was living, when I went to college, it felt like I was living in this prison, and education, college gave me a key, unlocked my mind, and I was able to find and see different perspective because of my conversation with people from different countries, different backgrounds and so forth. The wealth of all of that, I always said, “I will give it to my children.” Then I started working in higher education and I decided, “You know what? This will be great to give to students coming in as well, to let them know that we can learn from each other through our differences. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can be a positive thing.”

Even research shows when you’re working with individuals from different background, how much more successful your organization or your project, whatever you’re doing, can be. I wanted that for my students. That’s what I bring now to this role. That’s why I created the Student Diversity Council, because I wanted all of the students from different background to come together and know that they have a voice, empower you to know that you have a voice, you can make a change, and you can use your differences to create that change. That’s kind of what I bring to not only my role at the college, but also in my personal space as well too. Yeah.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing. I know that for me, coming to Purdue, like I said, first year, it felt very, very isolating, very quiet. The last five years, thanks to all of the services at Purdue and all of the support I’ve received, I do this, so I’m not quiet anymore.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah. Especially too, we have the Peer Mentoring program. The Peer Mentoring program also came out of first-year students. It is the most challenging period. You’re leaving home, coming to a new environment, some of our students for the first time being away from their family or their parents, and they’re in this place. It’s like, “Well, how do I feel like I belong, or how do I maneuver through all of this?”

I was like, “If we have a student who’ve experienced it, they guide that new student through it. I think that’s how we can help our students to be successful.” That’s how I developed the Peer Mentoring program when I got here. It started off with about 25 students. Then the following year, I recruited two pharmacy students and asked if they would like to help me structure it in a way where I want it to be run by students, not me, because it’s you with the solution.

Mostly the students have the problem. Well, let’s use students to come up with a solution. I’ll just be there to guide you. That’s how we developed the Peer Mentoring program. Now, every year, we have a hundred students that’s a part of the Peer Mentoring, and that’s our maximum. A lot of the students would ask, “Can I get a mentor,” but I don’t have the capacity yet to go beyond that 100 student.

Another way of supporting our student, especially again, the first year student, is we have the Pharmacy Education program. The Pharmacy Educational program is one where student during the summer, they’re on campus for six weeks. We use that time to kind of get them assimilated, learn the campus, they can take up to nine credit hours. Every week, we have an event. They’re building relationships, not only with students from the College of Pharmacy, but students from different areas of the college.

Then we have field trips. I take them to IU Health, because I collaborate with the director for the pharmacy at IU Health. Every year, I bring the students, they get to meet pharmacists at the hospital, they get a tour of the hospital. Last year, we went to Walgreens manufacturing plant where they were able to see robots filling prescriptions. Then we also go to Eli Lilly. We visit Eli Lilly and learn about the industrial pharmacy. Here it is, the industrial pharmacy, different areas in pharmacy that student learn before they even start class.

Every Tuesday, we would have dinner with them. I would invite alumni and faculty for dinner with them as well, another way they’re connecting before they even start class. Yeah. Now, the next project we’re working on is [inaudible 00:34:00], where we have alumni that’s graduated within the last 10 years to now mentor the mentors who’s mentoring our mentees right now. I’m excited for that. Then another thing I noticed is that the first year students learning, again, how to study, their time management, all of that.

They’re having challenges in the classroom. We have the early alert system that we just, we’re piloting right now, week five, send a notice to the faculty to say, “Hey, we have one of our students here. We just want to know where they are, if there’s a barrier, if they miss some task, or miss lab, if they’re missing class, please let us know what’s going on.” I did that. I got a response for about seven students, reached out to their advisor. I worked with the advisor as well to let them know this is happening, and they’re also notified as well. I’m notified, the advisor’s notified.

I meet with the advisor, “Hey, what’s going on with the student? Are you aware of this?” Then the advisor and I, the advisor come up with a plan, what we think the student may need, then reach out to the students, say, “Hey, faculty sent a notice. There’s something going on. Can we meet so we can come up with a plan for you, so you could be successful?” You meet with the student, and then we contact the peer mentor. The peer mentor now holds them accountable every week when they meet with them.

It’s this different group of individuals collaborating to make sure that our student’s successful the first year of college. This is all a part of how do we make our students feel like they belong, that they are a part of, that someone cares about me.

Isabella Tobin:

I love hearing about these resources for students, especially, I feel like sometimes I don’t know all of the resources, so I love hearing about them. That way, if I ever run into somebody, I know where to direct them.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah, yeah. Purdue has a ton of resources for our students. It really is. I’ve worked in Florida in higher ed, I’ve worked in the metro DC area in higher ed, and then I came and I work here at Purdue. I must admit, they do have a lot of resources. It’s just us making sure that we’re making students aware of these resources that can help them to be successful.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, I completely agree. I hope this podcast helps highlight some of those resources.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Absolutely. Making sure students are aware, you can go to your advisor. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. The advisors can help you find the resources if you’re struggling with something. For instance, met with one of the student and he’s like, “Yeah, I’m struggling in the class. I just can’t seem to…” He says he does well studying. When it’s time to take the test, it takes forever for him to process the information and have enough time, sufficient time to take the test.

I asked him, “Did you have a plan, a learning plan when you were in high school?” He says, “Yeah, I did because I had a speech impediment, and there was some other stuff going on.” I said, “Well, did you talk to our disability resource [inaudible 00:38:06]?” “No.” I was like, “That’s a resource to help you.” Again, it’s having that conversation with the students so we can be aware of, “There might be something going on. Let’s explore this some more,” and then presenting them with different options.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah, that’s fantastic advice. I know I rely on my academic advisor all the time, arguably too much. I’m worried he’s going to see my email name pop up and be like, “Ugh, not Isabella again.”

Marie Martin-Murphy:

I don’t think they ever feel bad.

Isabella Tobin:

No, he’s always excited to see me. He’s fantastic. That was one of those things that I didn’t rely on him until after I started in the professional program, when I should have been sending him so many emails, scheduling meetings all the time. That’s one of those things that I know now that I should have had more conversations earlier. I think that’s fantastic advice for students.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah.

Isabella Tobin:

Claire, do you have any advice you would want to give to either current students or prospective students?

Claire Reyes:

Ooh, that’s a really good question. It’s kind of hard to say, because I’m still learning something new every single day, and even though I’m a fifth year, I don’t know everything. I guess maybe my advice would be that you’re not going to know everything, and you don’t have to. It’s all about the journey and really just making the most of it. I want to say that these five years have absolutely flown by. It’s crazy.

People will tell you all the time, “It’s going to go by so fast.” I did not believe them. Here I am, just like, “Oh, my gosh, I’m here. I’m so close to graduating.” I wish I had savored more of the memories that I made with my friends, and had been more intentional about learning all the things in class. It’s not just information to learn. It’s something that matters. It’s something that will be important to your career, and having the passion for what you’re learning about.

Education is a privilege, and not everybody gets to have it. I guess my advice to sum that all up would be, don’t take anything for granted. We are only here for a short amount of time, so enjoy every moment that you can. If it means spending an extra hour with your friends instead of studying, do that.

It’s worth it, I promise you, in the end.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

For incoming students too, it’s finding your tribe. I think that’s what it is is for you to be successful here is, first of all, you have to find your tribe. Find the individuals that encourage you, that the group, the organization, find that. I think that’ll be the first step of being successful at Purdue. It really is feeling like you belong here.

Isabella Tobin:

We’ve talked a lot about what we have here in the College of Pharmacy. Could you tell me more about what our resources look like across Purdue’s entire campus?

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Across campus, it all looks different for each college. They all have their own way of bringing people together, or finding resources, or creating resources for our students. It’s going to look different at every college, and that’s where it takes students talking to the advisors to figure out what resources that they need at that moment for their studies. Yeah. It all looks different from there.

I know for us here in the College of Pharmacy, again, the focus is being a family, being supportive of each other, making sure that all of our students’ needs are being met. We try to, in every which way, see what our student needs are, and making sure, especially my area with, now that my role has changed. It’s not that my role has changed, my title has changed. I was the Director of Diversity Initiative, but then we wanted… The landscape, the DEI landscape has been changing.

Because that has been changing, we wanted to focus more on how can we support every student in our community, and make sure that every student has an opportunity to be successful? Again, that’s what the Land Grant Mission is about, and that’s what Purdue is about. We definitely focus on the Land Grant Mission. It hastened our focus on making sure every one of our student’s successful and their needs are met. That’s not changed.

Isabella Tobin:

Across the country, this landscape is changing. It’s great to hear that Purdue is still staying above and beyond in our goals of supporting students in this space.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah. We’re still staying true to our mission. Yeah, Purdue is still staying true to their mission, making sure that every one of our students are successful, and they have a seat at the table to say. That’s where Claire comes into play with the Student Diversity Council as well.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah. Claire, do you have anything to add about anything you’ve seen happening across campus in these spaces, or even across the country?

Claire Reyes:

Well, I want to say, mention, recently across the country, they’ve done a lot of changing with what diversity looks like in public universities. The Student Diversity Council, luckily, is not as affected since we are a registered student organization with Purdue.

I’m very grateful that I can still have the space to talk about difficult topics with our students, and to also just allow them to bring questions or concerns to us if they have any ideas about or suggestions about changing what the College of Pharmacy looks like in terms of diversity, equity, inclusion. Part of the problem right now is that it’s kind of a slippery slope.

We have to be careful about what we say. We have to be careful about what we do, just because across the nation, I want to say they’re kind of eliminating the diversity, equity, inclusion committees.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

So far, it’s 28 states have banned the DEI programs. Yeah.

Claire Reyes:

28 states, that is many. That is more than half of the country. It’s quite concerning in my eyes, because diversity, equity, inclusion is something that is essential to every college campus. You have to have it. It enriches our students, it enriches the life, the culture of the college. I guess that’s really what I’m seeing across the country. I’m hoping going forward, Purdue continues to preserve our focus on diversity, equity, inclusion.

I know it’ll be a little bit difficult in terms of looking at it from an upper level versus at the student level, but I am determined to do so through the Student Diversity Council, and all of our other student organizations, like SUP or SNPhA, all of those. Those are other resources for students to turn to if they need help, or if they need to express something related to it.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Again, we’re still promoting inclusion, and making sure that every single student feels welcome in the College of Pharmacy. Our Dean, Dean Barker, he is such an incredible ally for our students, and he makes sure that the space here is welcoming, that our students feel like they belong. He really does. It has been a joy working with him and creating the space for our students.

Isabella Tobin:

Thank you both for talking on this. I know this is really a developing issue across the country, and I know it’s a big topic here at Purdue, so I’m glad we could share some more light onto what’s happening here.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Yeah, there’s still so much that we don’t know what’s still going on, but we’re still dedicated to that welcoming and a feeling of belonging for our students, making sure our students are all where they need to be. Yeah.

Isabella Tobin:

That’s fantastic. Thank you both so much for sharing. Thank you both so much for being here today. This has been-

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Thank you.

Isabella Tobin:

This has been really an honor for me. I’ve had such a great time talking to you guys.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Thank you so much.

Claire Reyes:

It’s always a pleasure, Isabella.

Isabella Tobin:

All right, I have one last question for you.

Claire Reyes:

Oh, no.

Isabella Tobin:

I like to close out the episodes with kind of a fun question. My question for the both of you today is what is either your favorite or your most used emoji?

Claire Reyes:

Oh, ooh. I think this is kind of a random one, but I really use the squid emoji a lot. Yeah, the squid is kind of going like this in the emoji, and I feel like it’s like a fighting stance. I think it’s just really silly. I like to send it to my friends when I’m like, “I don’t know what you guys are talking about,” or, “Rah.” There’s not really any strong emotion associated with it. It just is something silly I like to send to my friends.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Mine’s just a thinking emoji, because I’m more of a problem solver. I really am. Even my kids tell me, and my grandkids now, “Grandma, does everything has to be a counseling session for you? Does everything has to be a problem solving?”

Well, life is about problem solving, so the thinking emoji. Too, that’s how I approach life is how can I look at everything from a different angle to come up with a better solution? That’s me.

Isabella Tobin:

Yeah. All right. Well, thank you both again so much. It’s been great having you here today.

Marie Martin-Murphy:

Thank you.

Claire Reyes:

Thank you.