113: Unpacking the Latest Enrollment Trends in Independent Schools with Christina Dotchin of EMA
In this episode of Mindful School Marketing, we’re joined by Christina Dotchin, Vice President of Member Relations at the Enrollment Management Association (EMA). Christina shares a behind-the-scenes look at EMA’s pivotal role in supporting over 1,200 independent schools and 20,000 members through research, enrollment tools, and professional development.
We dive into the latest enrollment trends emerging from EMA’s recent reports, including the State of the Independent School Enrollment Industry, Ride to Independent Schools, and their newest study on Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability. Christina reveals what families really care about when choosing a school, and the data might surprise you. From rising waitlists to the continued importance of college outcomes, this episode will help school leaders and marketing teams understand what’s shifting and how to respond.
In This Episode:
- What EMA’s recent merger with ERB means for schools
- Key takeaways from three major enrollment reports
- What families say they value most and what they won’t compromise on
- How to use data to make strategic decisions instead of relying on gut feelings
- Rethinking the ROI of open houses
- The surprising factor that still drives high school enrollment decisions
- Why being mindful and present matters in enrollment conversations
Mentioned in the episode: https://www.enrollment.org/professional-development/enrollment-management-spectrum
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About Christina Dotchin:
As Vice President of Member Relations, Christina Dotchin oversees Enrollment Management Association’s (EMA) membership, business development, professional development, marketing and communications teams, providing programs and resources for over 1,200 independent schools and over 20,000 members. With over twenty years in the education sector, Christina is passionate about EMA’s transformative work to support enrollment professionals, school leaders, community-based organizations, students, and families. As an industry thought leader, Christina has presented at numerous regional, national, and global conferences and events. She is also the host of EMA’s Enrollment Spectrum Podcast.
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[00:00:00] Welcome to Mindful School Marketing, your go-to podcast for personal and professional growth. We’re school marketers, business owners, and moms passionate about connecting other school professionals with tools and strategies for success. We love solving problems, exploring new ideas, and thinking outside the box.
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Aubrey: Welcome to Mindful School Marketing. I’m Aubrey Burch.
Tara: And I’m Tara Clays. Today we’re joined by Christina Chen as Vice President of Member Relations, Christina Chen oversees enrollment management associations membership, business development, professional development, marketing and communications teams, providing programs and resources for over 1200 independent schools and over 20,000 [00:01:00] members.
With over 20 years in educa in the education sector, Christina is passionate about EM a’s transformative work to support enrollment professionals, school leaders, community-based organizations, students and families. As an industry thought leader, Christina has presented at numerous regional, national, and global conferences and events.
She is also the host of EM a’s Enrollment Spectrum Podcast. Welcome, Christina. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Christina: Thank you Tara and Aubrey. It’s wonderful to be here. I appreciate you all having me on the show.
Aubrey: Yes, Christina, we’re so excited. I know we had some back and forth with scheduling, but we’re here and we’re so excited to talk to you today about this topic.
Um, but before we dive in, I’d love for you to share with our audience a little bit more about your role at EMA and the work that EMA does to support independent schools.
Christina: So, as you mentioned in the intro, we do a lot with empowering school leaders by providing professional learning, community industry leading data and research, which we’re gonna talk about probably a [00:02:00] little bit today.
and a full suite of enrollment tools. This includes the SSAT or Secondary School Admission Test, character Skill Snapshots, standard application online. So a lot of what our team does, the member relations team and everybody at EMA, really it’s our vision is to champion transformational education journeys.
And that’s exactly what our members do every single day as independent school professionals. And so in our role, it’s to really, and the member relations team is to support them. So as the vice president of member Relations, as you mentioned, I oversee the, uh, membership and business development teams.
So a lot of that is where they’re providing support to our members through their work in use of EM a’s enrollment management tools, providing thought leadership. Most recently, that team just wrapped up a bit of a road show, if you will, doing our enrollment management Leadership council spring seminars, which happened actually globally, and that was put on by our EMLC Council, which is our big [00:03:00] volunteer group.
We also have our global and recruitment fairs and agent events where we’re connecting. Schools, enrollment offices with families overseas, so helping with those recruitment efforts. We have our professional development team, which is really in charge of our big annual conference, which had over 1600 people last year in Boston this year we’re in Austin in September, so we’re really excited about that.
And then of course, as you can imagine with our marketing and communications team, they have their hands. In just about everything. I don’t think I need to tell you how much they do and how important they are, but also involved in things such as our member magazine, the Yield eMASS podcasts, our new school search on admission.org, et cetera.
But it’s been an exciting year. In September of 2024, EMA and ERB, which is Education Records Bureau, we actually announced our intent to merge. So it has been quite a year. We are currently subject to closing [00:04:00] customary conditions, but we expect formal approval by this summer. So one of the. Big milestones that actually just recently happened was the announcement and the official start of Mike Flanagan, who is the CEO of our new organization.
So we’re very excited about that. He brings gosh, I think it’s over 30 years of experience in nonprofit association and, Educational technology leadership to our new organization. So we’re just thrilled about that and we’re thrilled to be com be merging with ERB to bring more expertise, data insights, professional tools, giving all of those things and bringing all of that to our membership and to families that we serve.
So it’s been quite a year.
Tara: it’s an exciting time. We were chatting before we started recording about all the meetings and all the things involved with, with a merger like that and how it’s happening, you know, on, in for great reasons. So congratulations to you and your whole team on that. Let’s go ahead and dive in and start talking a little bit, um, about the.
The key [00:05:00] reports that EMA releases each year. Can you give us an overview of some of the most recent reports and the insights that they provide?
Christina: Absolutely. As we look at where we’re going with the merger, we’re very excited to be continuing this work in creating more of these reports, gathering this data, and having that many more member schools and families where we are gathering this data from. So we’re really excited about that opportunity.
But currently EMA has two flagship reports that folks should be aware of. One is our state of the independent school enrollment industry Survey, survey and report, which we call OTI for short. So I’ll SOTI. So I’ll, I’ll refer to it as that moving forward. But that provides a snapshot of the independent school enrollment management industry, and we do that every three years and allows us to take a closer look at enrollment trends within our industry.
So our last report was released in 2023. That was our fourth edition of the report, and [00:06:00] the next one is actually gonna be coming this year. So we are about to send out the survey, which goes to the most in senior enrollment leader at independent schools. Uh, and so we’re gonna be gathering that information and we should have that report published, I would say by winter of 2026.
So that’s one flagship report that, again, we do every three years. The second flagship report is the Ride to Independent Schools, and that’s where last year we surveyed more than 3000 families who went through the admission process. And this is really where we’re trying to get at the heart of what drives families to consider apply and enroll in independent schools.
So as you can imagine, by comparing these results with previous ride reports every three years, it provides multi-layered perspectives and offers insights not only to enrollment leaders and admission professionals, but also especially, I know this was really popular among marketing [00:07:00] professionals in schools because it gives a lot of good insights there.
Then this year we have a bit of a blank slate. So every three years we’re kind of going, okay, what are we gonna do this year? This is gonna be interesting. It’s, it’s one of my favorites because it’s really based on feedback from members as well as observations from our state of the industry report, our Ride to Independent Schools report.
And so what came out of that, and what we ended up doing was we came out with a report titled An Independent School Education Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability. So for this report, we surveyed more than 1000 parents and caregivers in the summer of 2024 who were applying to independent schools, and they’re currently either enrolled in independent schools or they enrolled in other options.
Of course. And this groundbreaking study offers large scale analysis of how families across the socioeconomic spectrum perceive value and affordability of an independent school education. So what’s interesting about this [00:08:00] is it’s of course, written for enrollment leaders and enrollment professionals. We also made sure that it was written with the audience of heads of schools, CFOs, senior leadership teams, boards of trustees in mind.
Uh, and I have to say of of the reports that we have done, I have. Had so many heads of schools reaching out recently and saying, we want more copies. I want copies for my board. These are important discussions that we’re gonna be having this summer. So it’s, it’s been really great to see that take off.
And I should also, I wanna thank Mission and Data EM a’s Strategic Data Partner for their partnership in creating the reports. And mention that for members, all three of these reports also come with interactive data dashboards. They can all access through our online community platform. So not only do they do you have access to the report but also you’re able to dive a little deeper into the data, which has been [00:09:00] very well received by our members.
Aubrey: That’s amazing. First of all, I, I’m someone who loves data and I, I think, um, when you’re working in a school having data at your fingertips, like this really comprehensive data that you all have. Put together is so important because that’s how you can, like, see what’s out there and then make decisions based off data instead of the feelings.
I like to come to a meeting and everyone’s like, I feel like this is happening. I’m like, well, the feelings are great, uh, but where’s the data? So,
Christina: um, absolutely. I’m
Aubrey: so glad that you’re, you know, EMA does this and I’m really excited to kind of get your take on this next question, which is like, okay, so these reports came out like this, especially this one you’re just talking about.
Like what trends are you seeing emerge from that research? Research and how are they shaping the future of independent school enrollment? Um, and maybe even leadership too.
Christina: Absolutely. And Aubrey, it’s interesting you know, you make a very important point. We want members to be [00:10:00] data informed as they’re going into making decisions not only within what’s happening in the enrollment or admission office, but also taking, giving data that can go back to senior leadership teams, to faculty that can inform various aspects of that process.
In terms of enrollment trends, and this is sort of. Big picture and then I’ll, maybe I’ll get into some data. We, we know that we’re in a shifting landscape, so we, when we think of some of the major trends impacting enrollment in our schools today, these are things such as shifting demographics change in family expectations, which recently at our EMLC events, that was a big one.
That was. Flagged by a number of folks. Uh, technology, the rise in competition. There, there are so many of these external forces, both big and small, and most out of our school’s control. And each one poses a unique challenge to the work of enrolling and retaining students. And so we know through data that we’ve seen at EMA, um, of course there’s great data from NAIS through their [00:11:00] trend book and the dazzle program they have, uh, where we’re seeing that while we’re seeing enrollment growth.
For a number of schools, we know that’s not the same story for all schools is there’s also a number who are reporting enrollment declines. And a lot of that depends on so many things such as geographic location. Are you a day school? Are you a boarding school? Are you a day boarding school? What is your enrollment size?
Just thinking of the United States, you know, specifically yes. We know enrollment growth is happening. Oh, big picture nationwide, but it’s more heavily concentrated in the south right now. And when we look back at our state of the industry report, which again, we will have an updated numbers to share this coming year the number of schools identifying, they received many more applications than available spots and managing extensive wait list in most grades that had jumped.
From about 12% in 2019 to 19% in two, excuse me, 20, 23. And also we saw a jump in those managing a [00:12:00] small wait list, so seeing a similar increase. But in contrast, just over two of every five schools struggled to reach their goals, what we were finding from that report. Uh, so it’s interesting to see. Those pieces and how, again, it’s sort of not the same story for every school.
Uh, and, and there are various challenges in both, both scenarios. I mean, if I was part of a meeting recently with one enrollment leader who had greatly exceeded enrollment numbers, net tuition numbers that they had set for the year, but they’re facing. Other challenges, uh, and yet we have some schools that are still working hard through the summer to try to meet those goals.
So I think that’s sort of one piece there. And in terms of the perceptions of value and affordability report, I would say one of the big pieces to come out of that, that I think may be helpful for folks to know is this idea that families theoretically want to pay less but are unwilling to sacrifice in key areas.
[00:13:00] So overwhelmingly the majority of incoming independent school parents are unwilling to consider less expensive options if they believe they will be sacrificing quality in the areas they value most. That is what we found from our data. And this of course can be challenging because. When our schools are considering things, pricing options, they’re looking at potential tuition resets.
This has various implications for that. But one of the key data points to come out of this section that I will share is 61% of parents. Said they were not willing to pursue a school with a lesser quality offering in any of their top three factors. And these are top three, three factors they identified, um, that they could select from when they were considering schools.
So they would not consider a school with a lesser quality offering in any of those top three factors at any level of cost savings. And this goes for families who both enrolled in independent schools and also ended up not enrolling in independent schools. So even when families then [00:14:00] were considering a school with a lesser quality option and their top factors, or what they perceive to be a lesser quality option in their top factors.
Data suggests from our report that these cost reductions would have to be substantial, and that’s often greater than 10% or 25% savings, which for a lot of schools, I mean, can you imagine cutting that out of your budget? That would have a lot of, that would have a big implication there. So those were some interesting things that came out of recent reports.
You know, I think that’s especially helpful as schools are starting to look at. You know, where is, where are things headed in terms of enrollment? How are family expectations changing? What is their val, what is their, what are their perceptions of value? Andfor affordability at our schools. So that’s, that’s been interesting for us to dive into.
And I will say, especially with this latest report, a number of follow up questions from members, and a lot of them are taking that into their summer retreats, which is interesting.
Tara: So much interesting data there. I’m diving in, that’s a pretty significant jump. 12 to [00:15:00] 19%, that’s mm-hmm. You know, that, that’s, that’s a significant so now that we have, you know, highlighted some. Some key data points that you’ve, that you’ve noticed in recent, your recent reports. What, how do you, how would you recommend that school leaders and admission teams can apply this data to improve their enrollment strategies?
Christina: I would say one great resource that we point to a lot would be EMA strategic enrollment management spectrum. And while I don’t have a visual, if folks go to enrollment.org, you can actually find that visual that I’m talking about as you’re listening to this. It, it basically defines what we mean by enrollment management.
It shows, and because you’re not seeing it in front of you, what it does, it shows this, these eight categories or levers on this spectrum that are factors independent school leaders can control. And that drive sustainable enrollment. So [00:16:00] when you think a moment ago I was talking about all these things that are external factors, we can’t control this is, this kind of helps us start to sort through some of those things.
What can we control and what can we do? And these levers, again, you’re not seeing it here, but for those of you’re watching the video, I’ll kind of say that we have sort of an outer band on the spectrum and then a, a core. Banned on that spectrum. So there are these two parts. The inner three levers that we have represents the most immediate work of the enrollment leader in their direct partners.
So for example, one of those levers is marketing and recruitment of new families. So clearly. That’s meant for that senior enrollment leader and also that perhaps that director of marketing and communications, they’ve gotta be working in tandem in that, in that partnership to really make that work. Then we have these outer five levers that are critical to the enrollment health of the school, yet almost.
Well, really, they lie almost entirely outside of the direct control of the enrollment leader. And one of [00:17:00] those levers is family engagement and retention. And notice that retention, I always make a point notice that retention is on there. That is something that our enrollment leaders do not have much control over.
And sometimes I have found that yet they are put in charge of all retention efforts. Uh, so that’s, that’s something to be aware of. So I think. The enrollment, that strategic enrollment management spectrum is very helpful. I would say that if you are going to get into that, it’s helpful to kind of evaluate and see which lever or two your school needs to focus on.
I think to go to do all eight is nearly impossible. So that’s something where if you’re looking for a place to start, there’s that. Uh, so that’s one sort of big picture, strategic way to look at this. For folks who are saying, okay, that’s great, but give me, give me a takeaway that’s really gonna be helpful that I can use right now, uh, as I’m headed into this year.
I would say, look at our Ride to Independent Schools report. There’s one in particular section where we talk about authentic engagement moves the needle. [00:18:00] Families value their connection and interactions with admission and enrollment professionals and being on campus. So when we looked at both the qualitative and quantitative responses in the ride, we found that authentic campus engagement that moves the needle in both prioritizing school options for the student, for that particular student who’s applying and also eliminating other possibilities.
So when we found this out, ’cause we, we asked families, what are your top three or four factors? To that you consider when you’re consider, when you’re thinking about, am I gonna continue to consider a particular school and in order it was campus tours, shadow, or revisit day events sitting in on or attending a class and interviewing with someone in the admission or enrollment office?
So I say that. In that, that’s something where that’s actually a great data point that a lot of heads have taken to faculty, especially before revisit days. You know, given the time of year we’re in now, probably we’re looking more at open houses or having maybe [00:19:00] families visiting this spring who are looking at applying either this summer or next year.
But those kind of interactions are really important and we know that often. You know, it’s our faculty members, our staff, those are our brand ambassadors, even when they’re out in the community. So some of those areas of focus even that can, that can help move the needle as family, as schools are looking at their enrollment efforts.
Aubrey: Thank you for sharing. That’s so interesting. I noticed when you were talking, you didn’t mention open houses though, as one of those engagement opportunities with. With that parents listed, right? It was tours and stuff like, so where does that, I’m, I’m throwing, throwing this out there, but that age old question of should we host an open house or not?
Like, is this informing could potentially be a good you know, maybe discussion for leaders to have this summer as they’re planning out their, their fall.
Christina: It’s a good question and, and one that often I feel like when I talk to [00:20:00] folks in enrollment and senior leadership teams, uh, some of the feedback anecdotally that I hear a lot is.
We feel like we’re just, it’s almost another, either another place where families feel like they have to come to campus if they’re interested to let us know, even though they’ve already been on campus for an interview, a tour, they know they’re applying, they still need to come. Or I think also I’ve heard from schools of the families want an additional time on campus.
It’s a big commitment for families to say, okay, is my child, or do we see my, do we see our child here? Does my child see themselves here? And. Uh, where I would go with it is. First I, I would say that overall in the Ride report, families engage that in-person interaction. They want that. That is something that they do very much value.
Uh, I would say the second part of that is it’s important to evaluate. What is the ROI on your open house every year? How many families are you yielding who came to your open houses throughout the year? [00:21:00] Are you doing a survey with families to figure out what is missing from our open houses? What do we need to be more of?
Because I’ve, because also the feedback we’ve heard from the ride to report was that sometimes a campus visit can also, in a revisit day, things like that, they can deter families from enrolling and. All that to say, of course, there may be just not a good match there, so you may actually be preventing some future retention down the road.
So it’s not always a bad thing. But for most schools, if you’ve enrolled, if you have admitted a student, you want them coming to that, that campus or that school. You want them enrolling. So I, I think it’s important to also take a look at what’s most useful with the open houses and any sort of campus events because we know it is, it is also a lot to ask of faculty.
It, it disrupts the day. We know we’ve heard a lot of that from faculty and staff who have to do that. And yet at the same time. I, I would stress that if, if heads or enrollment folks, if they’re having trouble getting faculty on board as they prepare for these things, [00:22:00] there’s a lot of great data points on this in the Ride to Independent Schools report that should absolutely be shared out on why the faculty and staff plays such an important role in perspective families and their experience on campus.
Tara: I love touching on the fact that you need to also do your own research, right? That you. This information is big, broad data, which may or may not particularly apply to your school. So whether that’s inducing panic or reassurance, either way, you know, looking at doing your own research specifically for your school is also is a good point to be made.
One more question about this, the, all the, the data that you’ve gleaned is, is there anything that really jumped out and surprised you?
Christina: I would say. One that maybe isn’t necessarily surprising, but one that we’ve gotten mixed feedback, that we’ve shared data points that’s come out of our new report. Uh, we did a second portion of the report that actually was more of a conjoin analysis, so it was actually a trade, a [00:23:00] trade off, basically where we had.
These school A and school B, these mythological schools. And we tested these eight different factors with, with families where basically we changed, we, we had like two or three different versions of each. And what we did was said, okay, school A or school B, and they would look down all these and say, okay, like.
Yes. School B is what I would pick. School A is what I would pick. And it was just try to get at this, what are families really looking for? This sort of mythological perfect school and this particular section of the report, we focused in on families who had, students who are applying to grades 9, 9, 10, and 11th grade.
’cause we wanted to, to kind of, we felt that would be helpful, especially as we know there are more than eight factors that families are considering when we’re looking at our school. So it helped us narrow that down a little bit. And what was interesting, when we look at the average of what families said they really, what really influenced their decision the [00:24:00] most was basically this idea of college or university outcomes.
That’s still driving enrollment decisions in those upper schools, those independent schools, those nine through 12th grade schools. And I, I think we’re, again, this may not be as surprising to folks, but the fact that this even weighed heavier for families than looking at things like access to high quality academics that was something that was a little bit surprising.
And I think it, it can be a little bit disheartening as we know, some schools have been trying to change that narrative around college or university matriculation, and yet what it does show, if we’re looking at the data that. Showing those outcomes to, to prospective families and even for current families as you’re looking at renewal, is going to be really important.
So things such as college and university lists where you’re, where students are going. It’s that idea. It’s more about that idea of families want to be able to imagine that. Their children are going to have those, [00:25:00] those choices, uh, if you will. And that’s, that’s sort of gleaning over. It’s not getting too deep into that specific data.
But I think that was a section that’s probably been even when I’ve presented this this spring and there was a group of heads I presented it to. I think there was a little bit of a gasp from the audience, if you will, of oh my gosh. Wow. This is a little bit shocking. So I think that’s probably one thing I would point out that was, that was interesting that we found from this report.
Aubrey: Yeah, that is so intriguing because I do know, uh, a lot of schools have started kind of move away from, you know, really that you know, we’re producing to go to these types of colleges and universities and moving towards a more holistic, you know, social, emotional and academic, uh, platform. But so I, I can see where.
Seeing that data could be a little bit shocking. And I too am kind of surprised ’cause I, I, I kind of, I was thinking like the trends were maybe not moving heavily towards that. Mm-hmm. So thank you for sharing that, that’s really helpful. Well, and it’s
Christina: what’s [00:26:00] interesting there too, Aubrey, is there’s if you look at, there’s the first section of our report where we just, we asked family for those, what are your top factors that you’re considering?
Right? And that was not the top factor when they just, when we asked ’em to list access to high quality academics was number one. Right. But then in the next section, and again, this is now also sorting for just those students applying nine through through 12 there. We force families to make a choice.
And so this is almost another key takeaway from the report in a way, quite frankly, is sometimes when you ask families in a different way, they may actually give a different answer. And it’s not necessarily they’re being sneaky or trying to hide anything, it’s just when forced to make that decision. A lot of research talks about that, you know, suddenly that decision making process that might be slightly different.
And I, I would say that what’s interesting for us at EMA, when we looked at that, ’cause that’s the first time we’ve done a conjoin analysis in any of our surveys and with families. And so we kind of geeked out about it. We were [00:27:00] actually pretty excited. Um, but what’s fascinating even is as schools are looking at surveying families or they’re looking at asking questions every year, and especially when you think about things like retention.
Sometimes the way in which we ask things may get some different responses from parents. So I would even say that that’s something to consider as, as schools are looking to get that kind of feedback, whether it’s from prospective families, families who did not choose the school, who did choose the school, who are, you know, hopefully gonna be re-enrolling.
That’s another piece that’s interesting to take into account.
Aubrey: That’s fascinating. Thank you for sharing. Yeah. Uh, I, I wanna transition us to, um, a, a part of our podcast where we ask a little bit about, we are the Mindful School Marketing Podcast, so mindfulness is in our name. So I’m curious, like, as you know, as a podcast, we explore mindfulness in its many roles in school leadership and marketing.
Like, how do you personally, uh, define mindfulness and how do you see it influencing your [00:28:00] work with schools or how schools approach enrollment?
Christina: I love this question. It’s making me be mindful right now actually. So I love that you’re asking that. Mindfulness to me, I would say is being present and fully engaged in what’s happening in the particular moment.
Uh, which I have to admit, I am not the best at. Great example actually is even, I went for a rum this morning. I live in Denver, so we’re now at this point in the year where the sun is actually up at five 30. So. Whether you wanna sleep a little later or not, I’m up. So I went for a run this morning and the first half of my run, I found that my mind was just swirling with, okay, I’ve got this meeting today, that meeting today, I’ve got, you know, I’m traveling on Friday or am I ready to go with X, Y, and Z?
And in some ways that’s great ’cause it helps me process, but. I got to that halfway point and I said, oh my gosh, I’m not even getting the relaxation benefits. If you, and I know some people probably like you’re relaxing when you run. How is that possible? But you kind of zone out [00:29:00] a little bit. And so I started doing silly things like, okay, look at the tree.
Look how that swaying look at that adorable little golden retriever over there. And just being more mindful and present and just sort of. It helps me relax and just be and and appreciate everything around me, which I think is a lovely practice that, again, I need to do much better at. For work, I would say it’s the ability to actively listen and understand the current landscape and being fully present.
That’s really important. And, and I guess what I mean by that is we are fortunate to collaborate. With our members. They are thoughtful, knowledgeable professionals whose insights frequently shape our work and much of our research reporting, professional development, the development and refinement of our enrollment tools, this all originates from conversations and feedback that we receive from them.
And this often [00:30:00] comes out of being a good listener and just again, being present with the members. And I mean, even from our EMLC events recently. Just being able to connect with them and be in person was such a gift, and so I think that’s, that’s probably where I would go with mindfulness and what that means to me.
Tara: Thank you. I agree. I have similar challenges and struggles and should, should, I think a lot of us do, unfortunately. Yes, yes, for sure. We’re gonna jump into our rapid fire questions now. This first one if you could put one book as mandatory reading in the high school curriculum, what would it be?
Christina: My gosh, I was an English major in college too, so this is really tough.
First things that come to mind. I’ll go with two To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Knight by Eli Weell. Those would be my two.
Aubrey: Thank. Thank you. And we’ll add these to our Good Reads list that we have going. So Christina, if you want more reads, there’s a whole list of [00:31:00] books that we Oh, I’m definitely
Christina: gonna check that out, especially as I’m gearing up, hopefully for a little bit of vacation time in July.
Oh,
Aubrey: I hope you enjoy. It’s
Tara: in the footer of our website so you can get a link there.
Christina: Great. Making a note of that right now.
Aubrey: Okay. Next. Rapid fire. What is one app you couldn’t live without?
Christina: Ooh. The Aura app a and spell a URA. It’s the digital frame. App and I, and I say this just because I use it all the time, so I’m on the road a lot, whether it be with EMA events, seeing members, seeing my family, uh, extended family friends.
And my favorite part of the app is I can just add my photos right there and. When I get home and if I’m cooking in the kitchen or hanging out, like there are all the beautiful photos and all of the wonderful memories and it just always makes me so happy. So it’s not even an app that I really interact with in terms of being on all the time like I do others.
But I would say it’s probably the app that has my favorite feature ’cause it allows me to see all those great pictures when I’m home. [00:32:00]
Tara: Wonderful.
Christina: What are you reading right now? I just picked up a copy, I haven’t started it yet, of 10 to 25. The Science of Motivating Young People by Dr. David Yeager. He’s, it’s, it’s a great read from what I’ve heard, and he’s actually gonna be one of our keynotes at the annual conference in Austin, so I’m really excited to read that.
I always love reading the books of our keynote. Uh, before we see them present. So, he’s, he’s great and he’s also the co-founder of, uh, the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. So it’s, we’re excited to have him.
Aubrey: Okay, I’m gonna have to come. Yes, you absolutely
Christina: should. It’ll be fun. We’ve got a lot of fun things planned too.
Aubrey: I’m so sure. Well, uh, it’s so funny ’cause that book is on my bedside table right now. I’m halfway through,
Christina: so, oh my gosh. We definitely need to talk then offline about this. Yeah. Oh,
Aubrey: great. I’m like, I’ve been talking to people about it all the time. I’m like, this example right here is why, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah is happening between 10 and [00:33:00] 25.
Oh my gosh. I love it. It’s great. That’s funny. Okay. Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing. Um, what is one great piece of advice you’d like to leave us with
Christina: in ge? Just general advice. Just anything.
Aubrey: Yes. It, it could be personal, it could be professional, it could be like something, like a motto you live by.
It’s everyone interprets it differently.
Christina: Oh, okay. Great. I like that. Ooh. Practice the art of gratitude and be kind to others. That’s, that would be one piece of quick advice I would offer. Love it. That’s a
Tara: great one. Wonderful. Yes. What a great way to end today. Thank you so much for joining us. Where can people find you online?
Christina: So you can get all of my contact information from our website, which is enrollment.org. And of course folks can also find me on LinkedIn. I’m right there, so you can please go ahead and connect with me there. More than happy to chat.
Tara: Great.
Christina: Thank you. Thank you
Tara: again. Have a [00:34:00] great day.
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