S 4 EP 10: Community Conversations: Is College The Answer? feat. Candy Pambu Martin

Candy: 0:00

And college isn't the only way for a child to be successful. There are so many options and actually some of the people doing the best in life aren't necessarily the one who went to college and incurred all the debt.

J. Lee: 0:20

Hello, hello everyone, welcome to school after hours podcast. But we talk about all things related to out-of-school time programming and education. I am your host, shae Lee, and I have the wonderful Kandee Martin here with us and she is going to be talking to us about preparing our high school students for college, but also helping them consider other alternatives if college is not the best fit for them or is someplace they do not want to go for. Right now, I believe that you have to have an additional hustle because even when you get to college, you may run into some things. You need some money in your pocket. So we are going to touch on a couple of those things today, but before we go ahead and jump into that, let's go ahead and skip to our community corner. Community Corner is a segment of the show that allows guests on myself to share tips, advice or information on a specific topic with young people, families or community members. Without further ado, let's go ahead and get into our Community Corner conversation, hi Kandee. So we are in our Community Corner section and for my Community Corner, my question for you is this For those students who are not going to college, or college may not be the right or best fit for them. I don't want to say right, but it may not be the best fit for them, depending on where they are in life, what's going on but also the demand, the academic demand, that college has on an individual as well, because that's something that we need to consider. How do we, as educators, begin to introduce alternative careers and options to those students?

Candy: 1:52

Yeah, I think there are so many ways to tackle this, but building relationships with them first, and understanding the biggest concerns they have, but then going about being honest with them, just letting them know. I think kids know when you're giving them fluff versus when you're being relevant, and they appreciate that. And one of the things I would tell my students is have you considered other options outside of college? Now that question would go different ways. Some of them would say, well, I have, but I really don't know what to do, and so we will talk about their interests Before giving them. Oh, there's all of these things you can do which can be overwhelming. Start with who they are and what they're interested in. Then you can guide them to different roles. So I've talked about apprenticeships, which a lot of people don't consider them because they seem to be a thing of the past but, schools are still doing them, jobs are still doing where, instead of you going to college and spending years learning this, let's teach you, we will train you, we will pay you and your pay will continue to increase as you are learning more and getting the certifications. And this is actually, in my opinion, a better option for most people, because can we really afford to be at college for four years and not be paid and taken on debt? Let us be honest most of us cannot, but that's what we do, and we spend four years not being very productive, whereas with an apprenticeship, you're able to learn a skill and get paid while doing that and become one of the top in your industry, because you're learning from the top in your industry. So apprenticeships are always a good thing to consider or trade schools, where so you're not doing an apprenticeship, but you are learning a trade which we need, by the way, like your electricians, your plumbers, all of these people who are doing things we need every day and getting paid for it. So if you go to a trade school and learn the skill, the market is pretty open instead of being saturated like some of the other careers you go after. So those are the two big things that I offer trade school apprenticeship, consider those before going to college. I would even say, do a gap year, and I think a lot of times you think of gap years as, oh, it's just for the over wealthy. They get to go and travel across Europe and it's like, yeah, that's one way to look at it, but you could also take a year to figure out what do you really want or need to do, because sometimes what you want to do and what you need to do aren't the same. So completely different things, so completely different things, right? So I would say, do a gap year, because that one year you would figure out a lot of things about yourself. First of all, go get a job and when you realize you hate it, you will not have a living wage. So when you realize you're struggling, you take your education more seriously Because you know now I need to do something that's going to help me really make a living and go forth in life. Because, let's be honest, if all you want to do is learn, you don't need to go to college for that. There are so many free resources, there are so many books, there's the library. There's just too many options for learning that college isn't actually a necessity if learning is your only goal. True, yeah, I'm sorry.

J. Lee: 5:42

Well, thank you for dropping those gems and giving us something to consider and think about. So from here we're going to go ahead and jump into our question. All right, everybody, we are at our interview session. So once again, katie, thank you for being on the show. How are you? I'm doing wonderful.

Candy: 6:02

Just loving our conversation, I know I know We've had so much fun.

J. Lee: 6:06

We've had so much fun like having these conversations like off the camera. Yes, we just kind of hard to like start to record and it'd be like, oh yeah, we got to be recording this stuff, my bad.

Candy: 6:16

I'm sorry, we got to start over.

J. Lee: 6:17

We got to do it again. We got to do it again, but the better. I promise I'm going to be better next time. So let's go ahead and get into this interview. So, for those that may not know you and what you do, go ahead and give us a brief introduction of who you are and what you do.

Candy: 6:35

Yeah, I'm Candy Pambu. I'm Candy Pambu Martin, recently married. Currently I'm actually a life coach, but before 2022, I was a college prep coach, so I worked with kids to get them ready for college and then before that, I was a teacher math teacher. I love math, but I taught math for I'm going to say 10 to 12 years, depending on whether you're considering instructional coaching as well as just being in a classroom. I did undergrad in political science and never actually loved the politics enough to do it once I got out. So I did teach for America math instructional coach, grad school, more math I didn't want to say entrepreneurship, college advising and as part of that we built I partnered up with another entrepreneur we built an app which was called Undecided, but recently it's been changed to math, and this app is helping students plan for college and just kind of streamlining the process and giving advice on how to prepare and some of the things to do. So that is me in a nutshell.

J. Lee: 7:54

I too. So we're going to go back to that in a couple of minutes to get more information about that app and how to be used, not just for parents, but also students at the same time. So this is my question for you as students are preparing for this post high school life, what conversations should we have with them about career options, and when should we have those conversations?

Candy: 8:18

Yeah, we should have so many conversations about these, and sooner rather than later and I mean like freshman year, like start talking to them about what they want to do, and that seems like, oh, that's so soon. Do you know that most people actually like start planning for college before their kids enter kindergarten, right? So if freshman year is the first time you're having that conversation, you're already having to deal with so many things that you hadn't considered, you hadn't thought about. Let me go a little bit off the trail here and just give you an example of why I say that I had a client who wanted to join the FBI, right, and that was just something she was like I think this is a good thing and I think it would have been good for her. So there's a here in North Carolina, the FBI office is in Charlotte, and they do a little like a camp pretty much, where they take sophomores or juniors to kind of do an apprenticeship or, you know, test them out and see if it's going to be a good fit for you, right? But guess what? They don't look at your high school grades. They go back to middle school. So if you're looking at like you've been goofing around in school because grades aren't the only thing they look at, but it is one of the things they look at- and if you've been goofing around you could potentially miss out on this opportunity because you weren't thinking about it early enough, right? So a lot of parents whose kids are like killing it. They've been thinking about this in their mid to school, middle school, high school and so on and so forth. So we do need to have it sooner and later, but for the sake of this conversation, let's talk about it being in high school right as early as freshman year. We should be talking about what is it that you want to do, because based on that, you will then be selecting what classes should you take, what electives? Should you do any extracurricular activities? Should you and I don't mean just sports, but like should you join an organization that helps you do whatever it is you want to do? Should you join the honor society, national honor society? Should you do tin court or volunteer hours? Just when we're talking about opportunities for kids that are in high school and getting ready for college, we should have conversations about what are you interested in? Why are you interested in it? Who around you do you know that is either doing this or used to do it? Because it also wants to just lead them to have conversations with people who are already doing it, because, think about it, everybody wants to be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer and it's like I want to make money. What do they do? And then within your wheelhouse of expertise or interest because if you hate math, engineering isn't your thing, let's not. If you hate blood, how do we surely go into the healthcare field, unless you want to do it administratively? So just understanding what are your interests? What are you good at? What are you willing to learn and willing to do Because sometimes it's not even that I'm good at it, but I'm willing to learn it, I'm willing to commit to it. We should have those conversations. But here's another conversation not having what we should have. How do you not pay for this? Because most people in America do not have a parent who just has $100,000 in a bank account waiting for pay for college. So have you considered the cost? If you know, have you considered scholarships? Because senior year is actually not the ideal time to start looking for scholarships. Yes, you can come early, when it is less competitive, when a lot of people aren't thinking about it. Scholarships aren't just academic. Some of them are geared towards interest, some of them are silly. Right, apply for those. And if you're getting $1,000 every I don't know two months from a random scholarship and saving that, that's money that's going towards your education that you don't have to pay for later and you don't take out loans. So, like thinking about strategies we should talk about, if you're going to go to college, should you pay for it? The answer is no. You should find someone else to pay for it. Scholarships are just someone else's pay for it. But also apprenticeships, right? We talked about this in the you know different apprenticeship, yes, but also thinking about what about if I talk to people who are doing different things and learning what they enjoy? what they do not enjoy. And then, figure out, am I willing to give it a try. Shout out someone for a day, right, schools allow this. Do an internship while you're in school. Like all of these conversations, we're not having them because we think, oh, these are things seniors do, but actually the earlier you do them, the better and the easier it is to gear your you know, your high school career classes that you should be taking and to curricular and all these other things. Right, I'm not, I'm not going to say Parents. When they get to high school, they start to become less, you know, involved because I'm older, they're more responsible. They're not as responsible as we think. So there's that. But there's also the reality of if parents and teachers and, you know, principals, everyone they have the same messaging around some of these things, it makes it easier for kids to make decisions or even consider options that they wouldn't otherwise consider.

J. Lee: 14:11

So hold your thought. Everybody's going to take a quick little break on pay these bills. Go ahead and get your snacks, your lunches, meditate, think about, absorb a good portion of the things that have been said to you at this time and point in moment. So give us a moment. We're going to come right back and take a quick break. Don't go too far. Are you a program director or thinking of starting a program? Maybe you need new curriculum that focuses on character development or technical skills. Maybe you need help establishing effective program logistics to have an impactful program culture, or, overall, you just need a program evaluation? Well, school after hours, consulting kids here to help contact us at schoolafterhourscom and our contact information is in the show notes. Hope to hear from you soon. Hello, hello, wonderful people, welcome back, welcome back. We are talking about preparing high school students to take that step into college. Now, what are some of the conversations that we need to have with them, but also what are some alternatives that we need to have them consider at the same time before they get to their senior year? So we're going to be picking up our conversation from that standpoint and my next question for you is this one For students that want to go to college, right? They're like, yeah, that's what I'm going to do, that's where I'm going. What should they do to prepare? But also, how do you prepare parents for that process and what to expect?

Candy: 15:36

Yeah, this might seem unusual, but read Like, read a lot, because college I remember reading. Think about it Whatever work you're given in a form, your professors give you books upon books of reading, whether it's English or it's political science, whatever it's reading right. So you first want to be a strong reader, you want to be comfortable with reading, and that seems one that people often neglect, which is why I start with that, because it's underestimated how much reading you have to do and how comfortable you have to be with it, because a lot of professors don't teach, they lecture. So your learning is happening, especially if you go to one of these big, you know, research-run schools and you're not, you're teaching yourself or you're going to get into, which means you first have to recognize that you don't understand, so that you can hear yeah, which students are used to doing in school? Because we call them right, like, we help them, we know they're struggling, we see their grades, so we're firing up. Hey, you need help here. We do remediation and all this, but in college professors aren't doing that. You have to know that. So you have to read, you have to be a learner, you have to be self-aware, and then we can have all the other conversations. So you know, after we've had that, then let's think about how are you going to prepare for it, how are you going to pay for it. So I'm going to throw out a lot of resources, or a few resources, because I think I just think it's helpful to know this and to have it and I'm not getting paid for any of this. So there's no affiliate, it's just. I think it's free, do it, use it. So you definitely want to be preparing for, like the SAT and the ACT. A lot of schools after the pandemic schools aren't necessarily requiring this anymore, but there's still schools that do and scholarships still. Some of the scholarships still consider your SAT score and your ACT score for you to get money. So that's why I recommend doing it. Do I like it? No, I think it's terrible. But if it's one of the things you can knock out and do it, well, then do it. So Khan Academy has a partnership with College Board and they do a free SAT prep, like from beginning to end. So what happens is you take the diagnostic test. It is four hours long, just like the real SAT. So I get used to it. Just jump in and do it. But what happens is once you do it, it gives you your initial score and then it brings it down into, like, what sections you struggle with? Is it algebra? Is it geometry? Is it so? Is it the reading section? Is it the math section? And once you do that, then it puts out like an entire plan, a study plan for, like, what types of problems should you be studying so that you can be ready for the SAT? Let's say you say, well, I'm going to take the SAT in a year. Well, if that's the thing, they will give you a plan that will spend the year to help you slowly get ready. It's just amazing and it's all free. You don't have to pay for it and it's in partnership with College Board. College Board is what administers the test, so why not use the people who actually will be texting you? So I recommend that, especially if you're like you have test anxiety or you don't remember a lot of what you learned, take advantage of that. But then not just the SAT, but start looking for scholarships, especially if you're a minority. There are so many scholarships that cater towards minorities, so like there's the Gates scholarship. If your parents aren't able to pay for school, which most parents aren't, you will be eligible for it. But then there's also the QuestBridge scholarship and that is it is focused on, like racial minorities as well, as you know, financial. So I think those are the big ones, but I always recommend go for the small scholarships. Whether it's going to your local, like Chamber of Commerce they have scholarships organizations like some of these sororities, non-profit organizations they all have some type of scholarship and it's not a lot. It could be $500. It could be $1,000. But imagine if you're doing that for multiple organizations and you're winning, then you're getting money for school. But then that also brings me to writing, because one of the things that discourages people from applying for scholarships is because a lot of these require you to write and if you want to go to college, you better be doing some writing because you're always going to be writing. So everything about the college process actually helps you for college and these are the things that if I'm working with a kid, these are the things I talk to them about. But the part that's left out is the social part, because you need the grades and those are all great, the testing for that wonderful. But also consider what's a good fit for you. A lot of people drop out of college because it wasn't a good fit. You are super introverted, you hate crowds, you hate being in any of these things and you decide you want to go to like what's the largest school there is.

J. Lee: 21:14

I have no idea. We're going to say Alabama State Right.

Candy: 21:17

You want to go to Alabama State and it's like there's 50,000 people at your school, like that's not a good fit for you.

J. Lee: 21:24

Right.

Candy: 21:25

So if you don't like that, then you shouldn't go to a school where your classes are that big. You shouldn't go to a school that you're a racial minority. If you struggle with, like, being around people who don't look like you, right, and we don't specially I'm going to say this for black kids. We don't usually talk about HBCUs, right? They are so important to the development of our students because a lot of times they go to schools that are too big, not helpful, a lot of the people that don't look like them. They don't know how to navigate the spaces and so it's isolating, they become depressed, like just so many things happen that they end up flicking out, and it's not because they weren't smart, it's because it wasn't a good fit. I think everyone should go to HBCU, but just know that it's an option. Know that there are liberal arts colleges, know that there are private schools and there are state schools, and know the difference in sizes. Do you want to go to a research one school where you do mostly learning outside of the school, or do you want to go to school where they came to you a little more? There's a difference and so having those conversations and being able to see different aspects of life financial, emotional, academic make sure you're considering all of those to be able to fit and choose a school Right, exactly, but how do you begin to prepare parents for that process as well?

J. Lee: 23:01

because the same work that you're putting in with students, I feel like you need to put that energy into parents as well. So what are some of the conversations that we may need to start having with parents to kind of get them on board and understanding what this may look like for their child. But also in having those conversations like, look, I know you want them to go to college, right, but this might not be the best fit for them. So here are some alternatives based on what we learned about them as an individual in their skill set. This might be a better option for them to succeed.

Candy: 23:34

Yeah. So I'll first ask a question just for clarity Is this for organizations or for school? Because those conversations are different depending on who's had.

J. Lee: 23:46

So let's tackle both then, okay.

Candy: 23:49

Let's start with school. Yeah, let's start with school. So what's cool? I think it's important for parents who the school to get parents involved in the school, so enough to have whether it's like parent night, whether it's like college night, or whatever. It could be an event or it could be communication being set up. Now, the problem with that is a lot of times people don't read what's in home, so. So there has to be some place where parents are are able to come in and ask questions, or there's a college event where people are more excited. Oh, we get to go and hear all these things to get ready for college. That's the place where you want to have conversations with school, with parents. Schools will not have this conversation. I wish they did, but schools will not say most of our kids are actually not college ready, but that's a fact. Most kids graduating from high school now are not college ready. I don't want to say college material, because this sounds like, oh, you're not good enough. No, it's just, schools are actually not preparing kids for college. Between standardized tests and schools and all of these mandates that are being set for schools to do with kids, there's not a whole lot of oh, this is what we're getting you ready for and colleges to path. If we really look at it. Most kids are being ready, prepared for the workforce or for trade school or whatever. And again, yeah, it's fine, it's not like oh my gosh, you know, but we should have those conversations, we should let parents know if you want your kids to go to college, you will also have to be like a very hands on part of this process. That means there's more learning happening at home. That means there are extracurricular activities. That means you are pushing or maybe not pushing, encouraging, you're encouraging, you're encouraging reading and critical thinking and problem solving at home as well. I think that, like, we just think kids just kind of pick it up and it's like, no, if you always run through their rescue and solve all of their problems, they never build them. So I think, from the school's perspective, having those conversations of like we need you to be involved, because everything won't be happening at school. That's likely what's going to happen for organizations. So I think there's so much more flexibility and ability to be honest and open with parents, right With organizations. You're able to have those conversations about how ready is your really for college and what are some other options to consider. I think parents appreciate if they're really interested in being a part of it, because if they're not, then you can't really do much about it. But I think parents appreciate being able to hear what are real options, viable options that will lead to their children being successful. And college isn't the only way for a child to be successful. There are so many options and actually some of the people doing the best in life aren't necessarily the one who went to college and incurred all the debt. We don't talk about the weight of that, of those student loans. So all that to say, honest conversations about what are options. And, you know, looking at your child. Don't look at what everybody else, the children, are doing. Look at your child and be honest. Is this an option that they need to take or is it an option they need to take right now? Because who's that? You have to go to college right at the high school? That's true. You know one of my friends who didn't get our bachelor's until she was in her 30s.

J. Lee: 27:57

Right.

Candy: 27:59

And then once again her master's and came out like working and making a lot of money, but that's because she was focused. She knew what she went in for. She came out with the plan, went in with the plan, came out the plan and was working Right.

J. Lee: 28:16

18 year olds aren't really doing that, so yes, You're still young and still do to the games to lose the game, but then he's. My next question for you is how did that inspire your app? Because your app has the option to help those students that are interested in going to college, but also those students that are considering, you know, other alternatives, because that may not be what they want to do at this moment. It doesn't mean that they don't want to do it at all, but it helps them figure out like what would be the best avenue for them to be successful in life. Defining like what is that success and what it looks like for them and for most people, is making sure that they're not going to be successful. It's making sure that they're able to make sure food is on the table, bills are paid and I got a little extra cash. Do whatever it is that I want.

Candy: 29:01

So the question is how did it inspire that? Yep, most people didn't know what the process looked like, right? So senior year, we're just like you're supposed to go to college and, oh my, I hadn't been doing any of the things. So let me just go to whatever college, and it leads to you being taken advantage of for some of these for profit schools that focus on getting your money and not really helping you go to college. So when we were planning on the app, it was how do we make it? Well rounded, how do we tackle questions that aren't being asked but make such a huge difference, right? So, for example, starting with is college a good fit? Let's talk that Is this even a good fit for you? And you can answer that Without really thinking about why do I want to go? And we ask these questions why do I want to go? What do I want to do? Have I considered what college is? Some people have thought about I don't want to go to this college, I want to go to Harvard, I don't want to go to this. And some people like no, I just want to go to college. It's college, bro. And then some people are like you know, I hadn't considered colleges an option, but I hadn't considered anything else. So the app is really some of these questions. It started out as journaling and it has evolved over time, but these questions were to get at the heart of why do you want to do this and is it a good fit, given, like all of these other factors? And then it was well, this is primarily helping kids go to college, but there are some kids who may not want to go to college. Let's give them options to consider. So, like we talked about the gap here. Like we talked about, like, what are other things I can do if I choose to not go to college, and wanted to include that, even if it was, like, not the bulk of the app. But then we got into the social stuff. So there's the academic. Obviously, an app that gets you ready for college Isn't really all that good if it doesn't focus on the technical stuff, the grades, the SAT scores, the application fees and all of that. But then let's look at the other stuff. Like, do you want to go to a big or small college? What are you expecting socially when you go? Like, have you considered major? So when we're building that app, we really were thinking about all of these. And then we thought parents, because that's the part that parents can join. You know kids are making all these plans and decisions. Parents figure out senior year, that well, she's graduated and she's going to college and they're out of the loop. But they're expected to give their financial information for a FAFSA sign off on these loans and have no clue. What is this child doing? So we really wanted parents to also be a part of the process, not just for the financial part, but also you're the mature adult who's had the opportunity to really think about life and even consider things about your child that your child may not be aware. That are true. Like oh, mom, I want to be like. My daughter right now wants to be a pediatrician. She's nine, she loves babies, right, super smart, and she can be a pediatrician. But knowing that I then have to guide her in a way of like well, have you considered this? You know you want to be a doctor. That's what a pediatrician is. So science, math and reading, all of those have to be like things that you do well, right, so let's have these conversations now and build up Now. If you change later, that's fine, but you have that foundation. If parents are involved, they're able to be either a thought partner or a guide. Even if they themselves haven't gone to college, then they've lived life long enough to have these conversations about life. All right, so you want to be a basket weaver? Tell me how does it all work out? Because I don't have to get a degree to tell you that's a bad idea as a major, unless you know your family has a basket weaving business. You know what I'm saying. So we wanted to have all the different parts that could come in.

J. Lee: 33:19

Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing that information with us, kandy, and it was a pleasure having you here. But before we go ahead and sign off, let's go ahead and jump into our Professionals Lounge. Professionals Lounge is a segment of the show that allows guests to share advice with other practitioners in the OST and youth development field about how they can begin growing their gifts and talents, but also develop themselves as professionals in the field. Here's our Professionals Lounge conversation. All right, everybody. So we are wrapping it up. We have gotten to the end of our show. We are doing our Professionals Lounge portion. So, kandy, for Professionals Lounge, here's my question for you For those educators that are in the process of helping students prepare for college, but also for those individuals, those professionals that are in out of school time programs helping students prepare as well. What advice would you give them for this process?

Candy: 34:13

Yeah, a few things. The first one is, as much as you can, be obnoxiously honest with your students you know the people you're working with, because this is one of the few areas where, if you make the wrong choice, it just it goes crazy right and it changes a life for the worst. So I think honesty, as far as just directness and what's available, especially for someone who's like, not willing to pause and really think about you know what is this viable? Is this not? That's just a big thing for me, but one of the other things that I found super helpful was networking with people who are in this organization like in this arena and industry, because there's just always something you don't, there's always something new that's come out, there's always a law that's been passed that you had no idea was even in the works, and so being in spaces where people are doing this and they're learning and they're sharing resources is so beneficial, because then you're always staying up to date with what's happening and you give them the best advice and what not something that's outdated. But the last thing I would say is community. In whatever way you work with kids or high school kids emphasize community. I think we usually try to find something outside of our communities and a lot of times those resources are all around us and so there's someone in your community that's doing the business, that's willing to take in some of these kids. Talk to them, let them know, let them like, let them know what you're doing and ask how they can help, because some of our funds like I had an event where, yes, I'm a business but I was helping kids for bono and I'm like I don't really have the funds for this because it's allocated for other things in my business, just knowing that, like food, grocery stores and I found this out talking to a lady quite randomly on in a whammy. We just started talking. She's like oh, if you're gonna have an event, some of these grocery stores, they don't eat this, they don't eat that. And if you're just saying you're helping this event, as long as you let them know ahead of time, they're gonna be willing to give you food for your man.

J. Lee: 36:36

That's a good one.

Candy: 36:38

I didn't even know that. So and it was in our community, so it wasn't like I had to step out and go somewhere else. It was just talking to somebody and being able to figure out what's available and using that Cause there's just so many resources that I wouldn't be able to tell you. But if you're able to connect on these different fronts, you can go.

J. Lee: 36:57

Right, awesome, awesome. Well, thank you for sharing with us, candy. It was great having you on the show. Oh, thanks for having me. This is great, no problem, you are always welcome to come back anytime you want, anytime you want.

Candy: 37:09

So just let me know yes.

J. Lee: 37:12

So, with that being said, y'all be gonna go ahead and wrap this up in the words of Mr Arthur Ashe Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can and enjoy the rest of your wonderful day, and I'll talk to you soon, all right, y'all bye. Well, everyone, that brings us to the end of our show. If you liked what you heard and you enjoyed our conversation, make sure that you're following us on YouTube, but also hit that like button so we know what you are enjoying. You can also find us on other podcast platforms, like Apple Podcasts, spotify and Google Podcasts. If you wanna listen to our audio version as well, to get more behind the scenes stuff, make sure that you're following us on our social media accounts Instagram and Facebook, at School After Hours. Well, that's all I have for today. In the words of Mr Arthur Ashe, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. Until next time, y'all bye, bye còn.