Chapters

• 0:00 Who is Payton Stein?
• 2:07 Being from Denver, how did Quinnipiac come on Payton's radar?
• 3:25 How Payton acclimated to Quinnipiac
• 7:44 Overview of Bobcat Central for students to get involved
• 8:23 Opportunities to connect what's happening in the classroom with extracurriculars
• 9:36 How has being open to new ideas and experiences helped Payton?
• 10:14 Advice to students when going to college

Transcript

Joel Vanner: Hello, and welcome to ”Who Are You?,” the Bobcats you know, the stories you don't. I'm your host, Joel Vanner, inside the podcast studio at Quinnipiac University's School of Communications, and I'm joined today by my guest, Payton Stein. Payton, welcome to the show. 

Payton Stein: Hi, Joel. It's great to be here. 

Joel Vanner: I'm sure you could guess by the name of the program what my first question to you is going to be. And that is, Who Are You? 

Payton Stein: I'm Payton Stein. I'm from Denver, Colorado and California. I'm a sophomore marketing major in the School of Business. 

Joel Vanner: Denver, Colorado, you're far away from home. 

Payton Stein: I am. Yeah. 

Joel Vanner: Marketing major, let's take a step back. How did you choose marketing as a program that you wanted to study? 

Payton Stein: So I, for most of my childhood, I wanted to be a teacher. I am quite bossy with my younger brothers. So I felt, Oh, I can go in and lead a group. And in high school, or junior and senior year, my school offered a program where you could go like, intern at a like, where you wanted to work. So both my junior and my senior year, I went to two different elementary schools because I wanted to be in elementary education. And I just every day, I would come back and I was exhausted.

Joel Vanner: Can't do it. 

Payton Stein: I couldn't do it. I was like, I can't come back at 5:00 P.M. And sleep until, like, 8:00 P.M. Like, I can't do that. So I kind of had to take a step back and I was like, Do I still want to be in teaching? And honestly, I took a lot of inspiration from my mom. She runs her own business, and she's very, like, much an entrepreneur. And I was like, Maybe I should look more into business. So I started thinking about that, and I've always had a creative aspect of myself. 

Joel Vanner: You're a painter, right? 

Payton Stein: I am. Yeah. So I was like, What is something businessy that I can do that still has, like, creativity a part of it? So that's how I settled on marketing. 

Joel Vanner: So here at Quinnipiac, you're a little far away from home back in Denver, Colorado. How did Quinnipiac pop up on your radar for colleges?  

Payton Stein: Yeah. So growing up in California, I ended up moving to Colorado when I was about 13. And then when it came time to look for schools, I knew I wanted to be somewhere where I hadn't been before. So that took the West Coast out in more of like Central United States. And I wanted to go somewhere where professors knew who I was. I wasn't just like a student in a lecture hall of 500 people. I wanted to go to a school where I could have, like, a personal connection, and, you know, it felt like people really cared about me. So I went to my college advisor. I gave her my list of, you know, what I wanted in a school. And she was like, What about Quinnipiac? And I remember looking at her and I was like, I think you just made up a word. That's not a real place. And she was like, No, I think this will be a good fit for you. And I did my own research. I like, brought it to my mom, and she was like, Are you sure you want to go that far away from home? And I was like, Yeah, I can do it. And here we are. I didn't even tour. I just the first time I ever stepped on campus was for orientation, and I've loved it ever since. 

Joel Vanner: So coming to Quinnipiac, you said you're from Denver, Colorado, so far away from home, marketing, not quite teaching, like you thought maybe you wanted to go into. How did you process all those new things and being so far away from home? It sounds like it was a lot. 

Payton Stein: It was. I definitely struggled with homesickness and it didn't hit me until after I had moved in, and I realized, Oh, my goodness, I am a four hour flight from home. 

Joel Vanner: Waving bye, Mom. 

Payton Stein: Bye. 

Joel Vanner: Weighing on you. 

Payton Stein: Didn't know anybody. And it was just a lot. And I remember I was just thinking, Okay, just go to class and talk to somebody, and it'll be okay. 

Joel Vanner: I think that's not unique, though, right? Like it's everybody's first day on campus. Everybody's first class, maybe their first time away from home. Maybe they're from across the world, right? It's not a unique sorry. It's not a unique situation. I think it's something a lot of people go through. Different ways.

Payton Stein: And it didn't, I didn't view it as that, which looking back is so silly because everyone is going away and everyone is starting this new experience. But I remember just sitting there. I was like, nobody understands what I'm going through, and it wasn't until my mom pushed me to go to the engagement fair, and I started looking at, like, clubs I could join and things I could do. And I ended up joining a sorority a couple weeks later, and that was, like, my first introduction to being Okay, maybe things will be better, and, you know, there were other girls who I ended up talking to who are like, we are far from home, too, and it's okay. Like, there is a you're not the only one. Like, it's gonna be okay. 

Joel Vanner: The engagement fair, hundreds of the student run clubs and organizations in Greek life on campus there. Sounds like you found the start of your community in a sorority. How did that kind of develop two different positions you've held in it so far? 

Payton Stein: Yeah. So the fall of my freshman year, I was just like a general member in my sorority, and then over winter break, the president came to me and she was like, we have this position that we think you would do well in. So I ended up taking that position on in February, which helped strengthen my public speaking because I went from sitting in the back of this room of 150 girls to all of a sudden standing up and presenting to them about, you know, various issues and topics. So that helped me. And then, I remember leaving in May to go home, and I was like, I don't feel like I made a good use of my year here. I've been here for a year now, and I only have one thing on my record to show for. And there are almost 200 clubs on campus. 

Joel Vanner: There's tons of opportunities. 

Payton Stein: There's so many different things. So many things to do. So I came in this year, and I went back to the engagement fair, and I was like, I'm going to find more things to get involved in. And I did. I joined multiple different clubs. I ended up becoming a part of the Moral committee for QTHON so that was really great, and I'm a part of that now. And it's just like it's now I can look at my schedule and be like, I have things to do. I have so many friends on campus. There's just like it's such a great place to be. And I look back at how I felt at the beginning of last year, and I'm just like, how silly to feel that way, because it's just such a great place to be.  

Joel Vanner: And QTHON is the Children's Miracle Network dance marathon that we have here at Quinnipiac. 

Payton Stein: Yes, it is. So it's in March, and it is a fundraiser for Connecticut Children's. And basically, you spend the entire year leading up to it preparing and raising money, and there's so many other ways to get involved. We do tabling in the Student Center. We have all of these events. We just had QTHON cares where the whole school comes out to do these activities. And yeah, then the day of QTHON is obviously just so exciting. Everyone's dancing and in costumes, and it's just like it's a great place to be. 

Joel Vanner: You mentioned it. There's tons of opportunities throughout the year to get involved. The engagement fair is just one to join organizations. You can also go on Bobcat Central, right, and view all the clubs and organizations and their events that they have on campus, too. 

Payton Stein: Yes, you can. So obviously, the engagement fair is at the beginning of the year. But if you are just sitting there and like, Wow, I didn't get the chance to go to it or I didn't utilize it the way I would have hoped, you can go on to Bobcat Central, and all 200 clubs are on there, and you just send out a message and they'll send you the schedule of when they're meeting, what they're doing. It's just Quinnipiac has a lot of great resources for that.  

Joel Vanner: You came in with the goal of wanting to get more involved in your second year here on campus. What are some of the ways you've been able to tie in your academics in marketing to some of your involvements here on campus? 

Payton Stein: Yeah, Quinnipiac has a great business program. There are so many resources, so many different ways to utilize what you want to do in life. So I remember just saying, like, how can I actually put my major, put what I'm learning into, like, the real world. And I ended up seeing a job posting from the Office of Marketing and Communications for Quinnipiac Productions. And I was like, That sounds like something I want to do. Like, that sounds fun. It sounds like something I want to be a part of. So I ended up applying, and that's where I work now is with Quinnipiac Productions. 

Joel Vanner: And Payton's a friend of the program, helping us here on ”Who Are You?,” podcast behind the scenes. I think it's kind of a full circle moment, right? You came in not quite sure where your community was, what your story was that you wanted to write here at Quinnipiac. And now you're helping us produce the podcast. We're telling everybody's story on the podcast. What are you taking away the most from now being open to these new experiences and ideas? How is that changing you and impacting you? 

Payton Stein: I think just knowing that there's always going to be room to grow. There's always going to be something that you struggle with that you're going to need to push through, and, like, homesickness definitely won't be the last thing that I struggle with in life. But just knowing that you have the resources, you have the capability to get through it and you are strong, and you can just do that. And Quinnipiac really helped me learn that about myself. 

Joel Vanner: So you kind of just shared a little piece of advice, but if you could give another to maybe somebody who does want to go to school far away from home or somebody who wants to go to school close to home, but just isn't quite sure if they're ready for any of that or how they'll feel once they get there, what advice would you give them to get them started off on the right foot? 

Payton Stein: No matter what you end up doing with your life, it's gonna be scary. Change is a scary thing. But just knowing that there are resources available. There are people who want to see you succeed and they want to help you. And I really found that here. My professors just are the most caring people. They like, I feel like I can go to them whenever I'm struggling with something. So just finding that community and just knowing, people have your back, you can do it. 

Joel Vanner: Well, Payton, thank you so much for joining me on the show and sharing your experience here at Quinnipiac so far, and I look forward to see the rest of the ways you get involved on campus. 

Payton Stein: Thank you for having me. 

Joel Vanner: If you enjoy today's episode, be sure to subscribe, share, and find other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Until next time. When I ask my next guest, Who Are You? I'm Joel Vanner. Bye for now.