Starting uni is wild. One minute you are living at home, the next you are dropped into a brand new world where no one knows you, everything feels unfamiliar and you are suddenly responsible for building a whole new life.

This week’s Student Showcase features Kadelyn Becker, a Speech-Language Pathology student at the University of Akron who has built a life full of community, confidence and purpose. Kadelyn is passionate about helping people grow in their faith, leading others well and creating belonging wherever she goes. She serves with Campus Focus, her university’s college ministry, as a small group leader in training and a member of the worship team. On top of this, she is a long-time theatre kid with a big love for music, performing and the arts.

Her story is honest, heartfelt and so relatable. She opens up about walking into uni not knowing a single person, pushing through the fear of trying new things, finding friends who feel like home and growing into a more confident version of herself. She also talks about homesickness, gratitude, theatre, boundaries, busyness and how to figure out your own rhythm at uni.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Kadelyn found her community by trying something new in her first week

• Why approaching uni with curiosity makes everything easier

• What she looks for in genuine friendships

• How faith and community shaped her confidence

• Why it is okay to admit that you miss home and your family

• How gratitude shifts your entire mindset

• What stepping out of your comfort zone actually looks like

• How the arts helped her break out of her shell

• Why learning your study habits early makes life easier

• How to balance school, passion, creativity and ministry

• Her biggest productivity mistake and how she fixed it

• Three pieces of advice she would give every uni student

This episode feels like a warm chat with a friend who genuinely wants the best for you. If you have ever felt lonely, overwhelmed or unsure of where you fit in at uni, Kadelyn’s story will make you feel understood, encouraged and far less alone.

Connect with Kadelyn:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kadelynbecker

(Upbeat Music)

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Campus Chronicles is the ultimate podcast

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for college students seeking real

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insights to thrive in

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Hosted by Brooke Young and the Campus

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challenges, wins and personal growth that

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comes with university life.

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leaders and young adults looking to make

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Subscribe now on Apple Podcast, Spotify

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or YouTube and join the community

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redefining what it means

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to thrive in university.

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(Upbeat Music)

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Joining

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me today is a special friend

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of mine who I love so dearly.

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Her name is Kaitlin Becker.

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She's my fellow curly haired queen, which

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I love that as well.

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And she has so much incredible

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wisdom and knowledge to share.

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Kaitlin, thank you for being here.

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Thank you for having me.

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I'm so excited to be here.

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As we begin, for those that don't know

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you, give us context into where you go to

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university and what you're studying.

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Absolutely.

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I am currently an undergrad student at

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the University of Akron for

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speech language pathology.

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So why that major?

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Speech language pathology

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is really interesting to me.

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I actually grew in my interest of speech

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language pathology from my experiences in

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the theater and just learning about how

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the voice functions and works.

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And I also love connecting with other

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people and being that safe space for

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them, which I'm super

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excited about for my future career.

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And speaking of theater, that's how

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Kaitlin and I originally connected.

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And community is such a big

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part of the theater world.

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And that's what I really wanted to

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discuss with you in particular, is

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finding this group of people that elevate

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you and push you to be your best self

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versus sort of like dragging you into

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being someone that you don't wanna be

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because what you have so successfully

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done is find friend groups, find

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community groups that help

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you elevate and become better.

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How did you find those in university?

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Because you go and you don't know anyone.

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Yes, and that can definitely be daunting

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as a new college student.

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But a big thing for me was just embracing

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the new things and going

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out and trying new things.

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There's this club or this group that

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you're interested in.

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Go try it.

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I met so many amazing people through the

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college ministry that I'm a part of.

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I showed up there on the first week of

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classes, the first week that they met and

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I didn't really know anyone.

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Me and my roommate went and we were just

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like, we're gonna try this new thing and

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we're just gonna see how it goes.

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And it turned out to be just so impactful

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to both my life and my

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experience at college.

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And now I have some of my closest friends

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from that group just

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because I tried something new.

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And being willing to step out the first

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week, that must have been a little scary.

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Honestly, whenever I see freshmen this

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year that are just showing up, I'm so

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proud of you for being

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here because it's so scary.

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And there's a lot of people in that room

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when you walk into our group.

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There's over 300 sometimes.

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But just being willing to go say hello to

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someone new and introduce yourself is

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just so important when you go to college.

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And just being willing to

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take risks too, I think.

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What's your favorite icebreaker or way to

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connect with someone new?

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I'm curious.

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Ooh, that is a good question.

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Honestly, I love asking about what people

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are passionate about what their interests

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are because I know I'm a very passionate

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person when it comes to

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theater and music and stuff.

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And I feel like that's a good way to get

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somebody talking and get to know a little

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bit of their story and

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where they're coming from.

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In my experience as a host, which I think

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is a little similar because I'm meeting

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people I do know and people I don't know.

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Something that's been huge for me is

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leading with curiosity, but I don't

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necessarily think that we're always

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taught how to do that, how to lead with

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getting curious about other people,

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getting curious about where they came

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from, what their interests are, how they

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became who they are because our society

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is so set on judgment versus curiosity

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that that can feel really scary.

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Yes, I totally agree with that.

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And I think as you get older and you grow

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up, you learn more like just how special

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everybody's individual stories are too

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and how unique and personal they are.

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And just, it reminds you that not

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everyone comes from the same place and it

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can make you really appreciative for

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where you came from or

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just how you met this person.

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There's so many special things about

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learning about

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somebody else and their story.

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Mm-hmm, that's what we need more of too.

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What do you look for in an ideal friend?

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Yes, I love that.

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Honestly, Campus Focus is a college

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ministry, like I mentioned, so it was

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super helpful to have people who were

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also on fire for the Lord and willing to

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jump in and worship

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together with a group of people.

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And I think meeting those fellow women of

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God have really changed me.

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We're always there for each other,

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encouraging each other when one of our

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friends needs encouraged or being that

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person that's just a helping

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hand when whoever needs help.

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I think that's so important.

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And I think in our society today, it can

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be a little bit controversial because

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we're very, I think like,

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oh, I need to do this for me.

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But I think in a friendship too, it's so

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important to remember to do things for

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your friends and to be there for your

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friends, support your friends, encourage

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them and offer them

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help when they need it.

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Well, I've seen something, I don't know

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exactly where to attribute it, but it was

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everybody wants a village, no one wants

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to be a villager and that stuck with me.

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Yes, that's interesting.

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I like that, I like that.

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So shifting focus a little bit, you went

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to a new place, a new university, not

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knowing anybody, what did you personally

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go through in that transition?

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Moving to college was

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definitely difficult.

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And I think many people would agree with

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that because you're

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stepping away from your family.

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And I personally have brothers and

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sisters, one brother and one sister who

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are significantly younger than me too.

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So it's kind of like difficult because

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you're missing out on some of their very

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impactful developmental years.

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But being away from home was definitely a

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transition and it was definitely

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difficult sometimes.

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And I think that it's okay to go into

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college being like, I know this is going

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to be difficult, but

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I'm going to embrace it.

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I'm gonna embrace the new things and

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whatever challenges are put my way.

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And the great thing about today's world

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is we have phones, we can always call our

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families when we need that encouragement

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or that chat with mom.

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And I think that's so, so important.

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And I also think that something that

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helped me so much was

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just trying those new things

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because it helps you find those people

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who are passionate about the same things

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that you're passionate about.

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And definitely meeting new people helped

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that shift in just your life of being

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away from home and

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adventuring out on your own per se,

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but meeting new people that encourage

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you, yeah, that's a big one for me.

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Well, and I think it's such a, you know,

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it's a crazy concept to me that we grow

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up in an environment where we are

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hopefully ideally supported by our

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parents and supported by

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the community we grow up in.

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And then we are plucked out of that and

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put into something new.

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And that's both good and bad because it

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good because it gives you a chance to

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discover something new about yourself,

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who you really are, but bad because

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suffering those ties can

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make you feel so lonely.

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And that's what I think we don't talk

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about enough for the university

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experience is how to self soothe, how to

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make sure that you're taking care of

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yourself in a time when your emotions and

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your mental health

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have gone through a lot.

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Yes, and I think, I like what you said.

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I think it's important to just be able to

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admit with other people, like, yeah, this

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transition has been difficult because I

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miss my family or even just like I miss

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living in the typical house

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and having home cooked meals.

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And I think it's okay to be like, I'm

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gonna talk about this with you and we're

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going through this together.

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We're not alone, we have each other and

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we have somebody who is experiencing the

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same thing at the same time as you two.

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Yes, the home cooked meals, yes.

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That's such a simple

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thing, but like, yes, actually.

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Yes, oh my goodness, yeah.

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It's such a funny transition.

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It is a funny transition and what you

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miss is not always what

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you think you're gonna miss.

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Oh, absolutely.

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You'll learn to appreciate so many of the

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little and simple things from life when

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you're experiencing that change, I think.

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And just how fortunate, like, I know I

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personally was to grow up in the home

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that I grew up in and have had the

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experiences with my family

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that I've been able to have.

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I've loved, as a thread throughout this,

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you've mentioned gratitude a couple times

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and being grateful and being thankful.

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What, in terms of gratitude, how do you

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think being more gracious, being more

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thankful has changed you as a person?

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I think this is something I've definitely

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grown in as I've gone to college, just

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because I've been surrounded by a

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community of people who really encourages

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gratitude and like, just, we even had a

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group that shared something that they

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were grateful for, like, every day of the

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week, I think, within Campus Focus, the

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college ministry I

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was a part of last year.

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And I think it just, it brings so much

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joy to me and it makes me feel so much

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more joyful and fortunate

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and just to get you in a better head

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space, truthfully, if you're able to look

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at your life and the world around you and

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be like, you know what,

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I'm thankful for this today.

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It just makes life, I feel like, so much

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easier and it lifts a weight

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off of your chest, honestly.

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I describe that weight you just mentioned

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as like taking a backpack and filling

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that backpack with rocks and then lugging

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that around, you know, the weight of

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failures, the weight of conversations

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that you're replaying, I know I'm huge on

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that, things that you're anxious about

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and it legitimately feels unless you have

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something to combat that and take those

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rocks out of your backpack, like you're

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carrying around a

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backpack of rocks all day.

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And so many people are living that way

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because gratitude isn't

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talked about in our culture.

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It's easier to go for the

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negative most of the time.

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Yes, yes, and I feel like our culture too

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is very much always about,

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okay, what's the next thing?

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Like what's gonna happen now?

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Or, you know, even

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what am I gonna buy next?

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What's gonna be my next big purchase?

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And I feel like kind of shifting that

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mindset and focusing more on like, oh my

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goodness, like look at where I am now and

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look at where I was, you know, five years

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ago too, how you've changed as a person

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or just how for me, like the Lord has

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provided over the years.

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It's just so encouraging to me to be able

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to think about that and just think about

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all the things to be

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grateful for, for sure.

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Shifting focus into more of

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your goals as you transition.

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So you're studying, you're involved with

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all of these

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extracurriculars, which is fantastic.

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How do you balance it all?

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How do you make it happen?

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On, so my first semester of college, I

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was like, I was pretty much

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busy every hour of the day.

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I had like 18 credit hours and I was

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doing a play at the time.

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So it was really like, okay, I need to

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learn my study habits now and I need to

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learn like how to kind of chunk out my

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time throughout the day to figure out

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what works best for me.

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And I think when you go to college, you

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learn a lot about

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yourself in that matter.

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Like, okay, am I gonna study better in my

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dorm or am I gonna

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study better in the library?

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And I think that learning

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that is super important too.

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But yeah, just being productive is

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something that you definitely learn over

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the years and it can be difficult at

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first, but I think you really have to

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just think about what works best for you.

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I know something that's helped me a lot

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is when I have a big

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exam coming up, the library.

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Everyone else is going there and they're

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studying and it's like,

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look at this person over here.

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Like they're focused, that

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means I need to be focused too.

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And I think finding those spaces where

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it's like, okay, right now is the time to

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be doing this, be focused.

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And then yeah, ultimately during that

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time of my life at the end of the day, I

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would have rehearsals.

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So it would be like, I need to have this

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stuff done by this time so

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I can be out of rehearsal.

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And those run late everyone, very late.

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Yes, yes.

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So it was definitely a learning curve for

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me with studying and being involved with

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those extracurriculars,

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but it taught me a lot.

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What productivity mistake did

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you make in your early days?

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Honestly, I would probably not have taken

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so many classes at one time or been

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involved with so many things at one time

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because I did both choir and this play,

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my first semester of college.

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And I learned that I would

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have to pick one or the other.

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So ultimately choir had to go the next

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semester in my schedule.

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So definitely just making sure to give

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yourself a grace too with all of that,

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with the experiences of learning, this is

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what is the perfect

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amount of busyness for me.

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And this is a little bit too much too.

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I think it's easy to

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get shiny object syndrome.

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So I'm a little bit like Ariel from "The

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Little Mermaid" and

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like, I like this thing.

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I like this thing.

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It's easy for me to get in that

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personality type and then find myself at

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11 p.m. completely stressed out because I

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have too many shifting priorities.

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How do you figure out?

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It always hits then.

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Yeah, no, it is always like 11 p.m.

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You're sitting there in your pajamas and

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you're like, what is my life?

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Yes, yes.

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How do you decide the right priority?

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Cause I think that's so hard and that

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takes effort and practice and time, but

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what is your litmus test or your gut test

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for when something should be a priority

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versus when you have to say a plate no?

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Yes, so I think while you're in school,

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it's obviously always important to think

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about your end goal of

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like, this is what I'm here for.

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I'm here to study this.

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So obviously I think always school needs

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to be like your number, one of your top

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priorities throughout your experiences.

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Learning is important guys.

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Yes, it definitely is.

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It definitely is.

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But I also think it is important to do

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things that you're

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passionate about outside of school.

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You don't want school to be

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your whole entire life either.

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You wanna be able to, like we talked

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about, form those connections.

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And something that I've been passionate

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about from my youth, my young years when

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I was like 11-ish, I started doing

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theater and I was like, I knew when I

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came to school that that was something

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that really impacted me and that I wanted

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to continue being involved with because I

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think it's a good outlet to have that

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thing that you can be creative with and

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make new friends with.

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So I think it's important to prioritize

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school, but also make sure that you're

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allowing yourself to do things that are

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fun and that you're passionate about.

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Because ultimately for me, that's a good

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way to decompress as well.

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And two, what I think people don't talk

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about is, and by the way, when she says

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she started theater when she was young, I

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remember her when she was that young.

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So that makes me feel old.

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No.

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But what I don't think we discuss enough

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is if you're a vocalist or you're a

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dancer or you're an actor and you have

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the intention to get better, to learn, to

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grow, to stretch yourself creatively,

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that is going to help you develop your

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emotional intelligence,

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develop your awareness.

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How has your engagement with

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the arts shaped who you are?

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Yes, I love this question.

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I started doing theater when

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obviously I was very young.

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I was pretty socially anxious at the

475

time, I would say too.

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I was pretty quiet, which I think a lot

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of kids at that age can be.

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But throughout the years, just the way

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that I have been able to form new

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connections and break out of my shell

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because I'm growing more comfortable with

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both other people and

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even performing on a stage.

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I think really confidence wise, it's

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really helped boost me.

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And also I was just at a rehearsal the

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other day and our choreographer was

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talking about how good

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dance is for our brains.

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And she even brought up how it reduces

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the likelihood of dementia in your future

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too, which is so interesting because I

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don't think we always realize how good

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the arts are for our brains and just,

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yeah, how engaging learning a new piece

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of music can be for your mind and how

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many different areas of the brain we're

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using when we're doing that too.

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So there's so many benefits from being

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involved with something like that.

501

And I think as well, when you're singing

502

or you're actively performing as somebody

503

else, you get to take off those worries

504

that you're carrying and that stress that

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you carry and you get to be someone else

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for a set period of time.

507

And that allows you to build so much

508

emotional awareness and so much trust.

509

And even I would go as far to

510

say empathy for other people.

511

When you can step into a character's

512

shoes and you can feel their pain, you

513

can feel their joy, you can feel maybe

514

the conflict that goes through them when

515

they're trying to make a decision, it

516

helps you understand people and be kinder

517

and more compassionate.

518

That's what I learned from it.

519

Absolutely, yes.

520

And actually there was a show I did last

521

year, the 25th annual Putnam County

522

Spelling Bee, if you

523

have ever heard of that.

524

And I played the role of Olive and she

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comes from a very difficult home life

526

where her parents kind of neglect her,

527

her mom isn't really in the picture.

528

And I just feel like that role is the

529

perfect example of you never know what

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somebody is going through, even if

531

they're the sweetest

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person you ever meet.

533

Like they could be having a lot of

534

heaviness on their heart, a

535

lot of weight on their shoulders.

536

And I love that you said that it helps us

537

be more empathetic because it really does

538

because you literally are, like you're

539

stepping in someone else's shoes, you are

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being somebody for that

541

two hours that the show is.

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And I think it really helps

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us understand others more.

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And I think it reminds us we're more

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alike than we are different.

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Like when we sing a song, I think Adele

547

is a great example of this, there's so

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many great musical theater songs where so

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many different people will say, I love

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singing that song, I connect to it.

551

And they interpret it through their lens,

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through what they have lived, maybe a

553

little differently, each person does.

554

But that helps us build those threads of

555

connection to show everybody, lots of

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people feel they don't belong, lots of

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people feel that confused, lots of people

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feel like an outcast, whatever it is that

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the song is discussing.

560

And then we can then show up in our lives

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and in our interactions with more heart,

562

with more understanding, because maybe

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for five minutes or three

564

minutes or two hours, we lived it.

565

Yes, yes, I really love that too.

566

And with theater, I think we bring a

567

little bit of ourselves to each character

568

that we're portraying and we're like,

569

okay, this character went

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through this experience.

571

And I went through this one, which is

572

different from the character, but it's

573

similar in a way too.

574

And it really is that statement of we're

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more alike than we

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might feel like we are.

577

We all have experienced feelings of

578

anxiety or confusion before.

579

It's that tremendous

580

thread of commonality.

581

It's beautiful.

582

Now, Caitlin, I have a

583

challenging question for you.

584

Are you up to it?

585

Yes.

586

So if you could give three pieces of

587

advice to university aged students, they

588

can be about anything.

589

What would those

590

three pieces of advice be?

591

Yes, so we've talked about this a little

592

bit already, but definitely just being

593

willing to try new things.

594

I think that that really made me have a

595

positive experience my first year of

596

school through the numerous events and

597

like clubs and things to be involved with

598

that I got to experience.

599

So definitely just being

600

willing to try those new things.

601

I think another one is along the lines of

602

that, being willing

603

to talk to new people.

604

And I truly, I met friends that I am

605

super close with now.

606

And like, it's crazy because I've only

607

known them about a year now, but we're

608

very close through just a

609

simple, hello, how are you doing?

610

And it's crazy to think about how

611

something as simple as that can turn into

612

something so beautiful.

613

So definitely just being

614

willing to talk to new people.

615

And what's another good one?

616

Not, this is kind of an interesting one.

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Not feeling like you have to say goodbye

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to certain interests in high school.

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I know a lot of friends who did theater

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all throughout high

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school or before then.

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And they kind of like were like, okay, I

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guess I have to be done with this now.

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I have to grow up now.

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Yes.

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And it's like theater is not just for

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people in high school or just like track

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is not just for people in high school.

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There's ways to get involved with sports

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or music post high school.

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So just being willing to try that at a

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different level in a new place, because

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that's been really helpful and impactful

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for me throughout college.

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I love your third point because you don't

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have to let a part of yourself go to grow

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up or to evolve or to be an adult.

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That is not a prerequisite to becoming

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successful in university.

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In fact, I think it takes so much more

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courage to say this

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is what matters to me.

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Like this is what I love.

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How can I find a way to make this work?

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Yes.

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Yes.

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I absolutely agree.

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And even thinking about life after I go

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to grad school and graduate,

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like music is something that I've always

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envisioned myself somehow being involved

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with and I've met so many people through

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my experiences with that too.

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And I just think it's so special.

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Our identity is ours and we develop it

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through our life and through what we go

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through and how we live.

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And I'm a big believer that unless it's

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not serving you anymore, you should keep

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those parts of your identity that excite

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you and help you to grow because growth

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isn't always sitting in a classroom.

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It can be alone studying a song.

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Yes, absolutely.

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I like that.

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Okay, as we wrap up, is there anything

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you want to say that I did not ask you?

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I don't think so.

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I just want to encourage people I guess

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who are in that transitional phase of

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life that it's going to be okay.

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And there's going to be people who are

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experiencing those things

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like we talked about today.

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So please go meet new people, go be

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willing to do that because it changes

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your life, really it does.

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And if the first person you talk to isn't

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a fit, dust yourself off and try again.

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Yes, yes, absolutely.

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I want to say a huge thank you for coming

682

on, for sharing your time, your energy,

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your expertise with us and for being so

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vulnerable about your story.

685

I loved our side

686

conversation about the arts.

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Now that made my day.

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I'm just so grateful to have you.

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So thank you for taking the time.

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Yes, thank you Brooke.

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You were an amazing host.

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And thank you so much to all of our

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listeners for joining us on another

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episode of the Campus Chronicles Podcast.

695

So if today's episode gave you life,

696

perspective or just a much needed moment

697

to breathe in a busy world, I don't want

698

you to keep it to yourself.

699

Share it, tag us, please send it to a

700

friend who needs to hear it.

701

And if you're not on our

702

newsletter yet, what are you doing?

703

Go to

704

campuschroniclespod.com and join the crew.

705

We have all the behind the scenes things,

706

unfiltered thoughts from me and the team,

707

bonus resources and insider only invites

708

to events, giveaways and things that we

709

really don't post anywhere else.

710

I promise I'm not gonna spam you.

711

It's just the good stuff

712

straight to your inbox.

713

Being in university is wild enough.

714

You don't need to

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miss out on what matters.

716

Sign up now and let's make this next

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semester the one that you stop

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surviving and start thriving.

719

Until next time, stay bold, stay curious,

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keep writing your own chapter.

721

This is Campus Chronicles.