friday takeout

Jodi Kremer, academic coordinator for TRIO-Student Support Services at Peosta, was chosen by the Iowa TRIO Chapter to represent our state at The Council for Opportunity in Education's (COE) third annual Executive Leadership Institute last week. COE is a part of TRIO, a set of national college access and retention programs which “address the serious social and cultural barriers to education in America.”

COE as an entity was established in 1981 and at this point counts over 1,000 colleges and agencies among its membership. This year's Executive Leadership Institute was hosted at Yale. Thank you Jodi, for your leadership and representation of the state of Iowa!

Melissa Stewart

Business Instructor | Calmar Campus

How did you learn how to ride a bike?

My memory of learning to ride a bike consists of bouncing across layers of pea gravel and large crushed stone with my handlebars wobbling fiercely with each large stone my tires hit. Learning to ride a bike was one of my first experiences where I felt a disadvantage compared to my peers, for a variable out of my control. I lived on a farm and didn’t have fancy concrete and paved sidewalks to learn how to ride a bike on. I had to work twice as hard to learn to do the same thing as so many of my friends, and it was very frustrating at times because it took me longer to ride a bike than all of my friends. Learning how to ride a bike affected the amount of empathy I feel for others, as I know we are all given situations that make some of us work harder than others to achieve the same result.

What experience most prepared you for your current role at the College?

I don’t believe there is one experience I have had that outweighs another in preparing me to be a business instructor. I think all of my experiences have provided me with a strong value system and well-rounded knowledge in a variety of areas. My value system has been strengthened from being raised on a dairy farm and both of my parents having served as veterans. My educational background consists of degrees in business, criminology and psychology.

If you could invent any product, no matter how unrealistic it may seem, what would it be and what would it do?

Innovation amazes me as we continue to create ways to be more efficient and do things today that we were unable to do yesterday. If I could invent anything, I would create a software system that would track people's entire adult work history including place of work, job title, dates of employment, employer contact information and a comments section. I would not only invent the software, but I would also work towards creating regulations that require every Iowa employer to complete all the information. All employers with the responsibility of hiring employees would have access to the software, eliminating the time spent contacting multiple places of past employment for potential employees and having all of the information condensed into one database for easy verification.

What is a guilty pleasure song that you listen to but don't openly admit (until now)?

Listening to any Judds song provides me with a feeling of relaxation. While I will always love ‘90s country, I would be lying if I said I didn’t know how to do “The Git Up” dance or know every word in the “Old Town Road” song, thanks to my kids.

Have you ever had a moment where you thought, "Well, this is going to shape who I am!"; or "This is sure going to be a character builder!" Please share.

Barrel racing horses as a child; nothing really teaches you to get back up after you have fallen down than literally being bucked off a horse. Attempting to cut corners as sharp as you can without a 1,000 pound animal touching the barrel or busting the barrel with your knee proved to me I had the ability to take risks and know that failure and pain would be inevitable at all times, yet still worth it in the end.