Hello. You are listening to who's that Star? On LCC Connect at Lansing Community College. Who's that Star? Is a behind the scenes show where I sit down and talk with employees at Lansing Community College. This is an inside look at LCC where you will learn about their passions, projects, what inspires them both at work and in their personal life. This show is for you to get to know the great people behind the scenes at LCC. I'm your host, Julianna Blain. But you can call me by my nickname, Juji. It rhymes with Fuji, like the apple. Now let's find out who's that Star. Do you find yourself doing a shoulder shimmy when you hear that music or is it just me? It really adds some flavor to the day. Now let's find out who adds a little flavor LCC and learn who's that Star? Our star today is someone who has worked at the College for almost 2020 years. Now. Her official title is Facilities Maintenance Mechanic, but her true passion shines through as the caretaker of the LCC West Campus, where she keeps the faculty sparkling and problem free. And her personality is a bright light shining to help students and employees to be successful. Our star is. Drumroll please. LeAnn LaFay. LeAnn, thank you so much for being here. I'm so happy to have you on the show.

Thank you, Julianna , for having me. It's a pleasure and an honor.

Woo hoo. I'm really excited to talk to you today. So I believe the first time I met you was during a hallway conversation at West Campus. And I noticed right away that you have a super positive attitude despite any challenges that might be going on. And I want to congratulate you on almost 20 years at LCC. So I'd like to start with. Why don't you tell us what has kept you here these 20 years? Can you share with me what you do at LCC and why it's important to you?

I truly believe in the. Students, the faculty, our goals and our.

I see you being really successful as far as encouraging students. That's, I think, one of the first things I noticed about you. You're walking the hallways, you're making sure everything's spick and span and you talk to people. You really have that positive air about you. And you seem to notice when people, I don't want to say need help, but when they could use some assistance. And you seem to respond to that. Is that something you do in your normal day to day at the job or. Tell me more about that.

Yes. I love helping students and faculty and if there's anything any student needs to succeed in taking classes and graduating from LCC, that's what I'm there for. And hopefully they will come and ask for help if they need it. And everybody wants them to succeed in accomplishing their goals.

Yeah. And I've noticed that you, you seem to work closely with a lot of the programs out there at West Campus, or at least you are really involved in them and the students there. Could you tell me a little bit about your favorite programs at West Campus? For anyone who might not know what kind of programs are out there?

We have the police cadets, the fire cadets, welding students, heating and air electrical. We have the robotics lab, that's brand new. Everything about that campus says we have it going on. And the students love coming there. It's a beautiful building to begin with. And then with all of the things, the classes that we offer and the trades that we offer, the academics that we offer, I believe we have one of the best community colleges in the world.

I have to agree with you. I know that we have a lot of award winning programs too. And some things you've shared with me before is you really like to actually help the students. As far as, as far as the students, do you have any stories or anything that comes to mind that you've been able to personally help? Like what's your favorite types of things you, you like to do? I know before you mentioned when maybe it's welcome week, or if you see a student not knowing where to go, you're quick to jump on that. Tell me a little more about those types of things.

Yes. I don't like anybody to walk in and be overwhelmed. I like to welcome them, ask if they need, if it's the first time they've been there, I want them to want to keep coming there. I don't want them, oh, I don't know where I'm going. Get frustrated and leave or frustrated and not have a great day. The goal is to have a great day every day. And when I can help someone or just the simplest task, it makes me have a great day. So that's what I'm there for. And obviously to do whatever needs to be done for the college.

You do really well at that.

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Yeah, it's really those little things that make a difference. I remember I'm a student, I was a student here at LCC. I'm an alumni. I actually took a class this past semester. But all that to say it's a big deal when you're on campus, and you don't know where things are. Like, you're gonna go to class, but your book might say, or your class sheet says S151. You're like, where is that? I don't know. So the fact that you stand in the gap and kind of direct these students or just, you know, you're aware and attuned if they may need something, I think that's a really big deal.

Thank you. I enjoy that part of it. It's wonderful to welcome new students. We have high school students that come there and take classes, and, you know, it's big excitement to be able to come on a college campus when you're still in high school and participate in classes. So it's wonderful.

And West Campus is a gorgeous, gorgeous facility.

It is.

It's very large. Too easy to get lost in.

It is. There's plenty of spaces for everything, and everything has its place.

Okay. So I can tell that, you know, student success is very important to you, and honestly, just the success of other employees around you, keeping the building looking great, beautiful, sparkly. What kind of motivates you to do that?

I took classes at LCC myself, and I feel we have so many opportunities and so many different age levels that come to community college that I want everyone to succeed and enjoy their college experience and be able to move on to their career.

Yeah.

Or enjoy the trade that they took. You know, we have wonderful opportunities for certificates for, you know, associate degree and to graduate in your trade and move on to, you know, your trade.

Yeah. Getting out there, being successful in the job world.

Yeah, exactly.

So I know that LCC has played a role in your family. And you mentioned students of different ages, so non traditional students, so maybe people going back for a second career. Can you kind of tell me the role that LCC has played in your family? You mentioned your daughters. Tell me a little bit about that.

Both of my daughters went to college here, as in the nursing program, and one is a RN currently, and the other one is a nurse practitioner. And they're wonderful women, and they're out there doing their career, and LCC gave them that career, and they earned it, too. But it was wonderful to be able to go here, and I feel a certain loyalty to the Health Building, so I'm grateful.

Yeah. I know you have your name on a plaque there, so that probably makes it pretty special for you there in the Health building.

Yes, it does. Yes. I love that my name's on there, and I feel. It makes me feel a part of the Health Building. And what we do here.

Beautiful. And I think that speaks to how LCC is kind of accessible to everybody at any point in their life. Was that the second career for your daughters?

Yes. They were in the vet field before both of them. And then they came to wanting to be a nurse.

How are they liking it now?

They love it. Both of them are very great at what they do, so I'm very blessed.

Excellent. Now, I'd love to talk a little bit about what you like to do in your free time. So I know you work hard and you're very motivated here at LCC. Working. What's some things you do to navigate having work life balance. I know you have a lot of animals and I've heard a lot about a little dog named Chief who is so cute. I've seen the pictures. But tell me, like what. What do you like to do in your time that you're not working just to find that work life balance? What do you enjoy?

I have a lot of hobbies. I love to horseback ride. I have a horse. I love dog sports. I currently do a sport with my dog. A lot of people wouldn't know about it, but it's called barn hunt and it is a blast. He hunts for rats and tubes and has done very well for us. And we actually went out of state to Missouri this year to nationals and he did very, very well. I was very proud of us.

What kind of dog is he again?

He is a Parson Russell terrier.

Oh, so cute.

And I have others as well. I have three others currently. One wanting to become in our family, but we'll see how that goes. So beautiful.

Sounds like a little award winner on your hands.

Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate that very much. I love animals and kids and so it's very rewarding working for the college because I love to see, you know, we turn out some great cadets and we turn out great welders, we turn out great nurses. We turn out to the public. A lot of great people.

Yeah, yeah.

And they got their start and finish here at LCC.

Yeah. So you've also talked about some of the programs. I know you've been. Because you are so involved in the students and their success and just being there for them in the ways that you can. I know that you've been to several graduations and enjoy going to that. Can you tell me a little bit about how fun and exciting that is for you?

It is great to see them walk across the stage and know that we're sending the best out there. And I'm very Proud of them. And it's encouraging watching them succeed after they've gone to their training. Yeah, their training. Sorry, it took me a second to say what I wanted to say, training. But, you know, to see the end result is awesome. And, you know, we send the finest out there, and it's a. It's tough to watch them go, but then we always get a new crop or a new batch of students.

Yeah.

So it's ever changing and ever evolving, and it's a really great. I love being out at the west campus.

And it sounds like you do a lot of different things in your role. Do you enjoy that variety? Do you see a lot of different things happen every day?

It's never the same every day. And, you know, there's something happening all the time. And the college keeps us busy as far as, you know, planning things, doing things, and success at getting, you know, it's always about the students and about us, the faculty and staff.

Yeah. It shows. I think, because you mentioned that the students, you know, they do really well and they go out and they're actually really wanted by companies. We have companies lining up that want our students. And I would say that a lot of that comes from the support that we provide from people in your role, even, you know, not directly teaching students, but you have an impact on people. I think that, you know, if a student comes to LCC and feels like they belong there, they feel that people are gonna, you know, say hi to them, how they're doing, ask how their day is, and go out of their way to make sure they know where they're going. Even little things like that. I think that really adds a lot of value, and it helps them, like you said, be more successful. And I'm. I think it's very admirable. And the positivity that you show, I notice you have an endless supply of positivity.

Thank you very much. I believe in what we're doing, and it's an honor to. You know, when a student comes up and tells you, oh, I had a great day because you helped me out, or I had a, you know, a better experience, or I love coming here, I feel, you know, great when I leave here. That's all we want. We want them to be happy here. We want them to do well. We want them to succeed. It's all a part of why we're here.

Yeah. And where is.

It takes the whole college sometimes.

Yeah. It takes a village. Right. We're the village.

We are.

So what are some of your favorite things that you've heard from students that just makes you feel that you've left an impact.

One student said, thank you very much. You helped me. I had a time when I was struggling. You talked to me. You made me feel like it was worth it. I persevered through it. And now, you know, I'm going to my career. And that was one of the best moments for me as being a parent, a friend, working here, a colleague. Just, it was wonderful. It made me feel like this is so worth it. It's always been so worth it.

Those little things really add up because, you know, you never know what's going on in somebody's life. Like a student who comes here, you never know with what they're doing at home, especially a non traditional student. They may be supporting a family, they may be doing, you know, working many different jobs and then coming here and having someone who cares and can, you know, show them that and just help them with all these little, they seem like little things, but they're actually, I would say big things because as that student told you, it made a big difference in their life to, you know, getting to graduate and getting to their goal and their success.

Thank you very much. That's what it means to me, is that they leave on a good note. They had a great experience here and then they're going to encourage others to go out there and go after their careers and go after their dreams.

And I would say you're summing up one of the college's. One of our guiding principles and goals is student success. And you really play that out in your, in your role. I love it.

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

All right, Luann, well, thank you so much for being here today. We're coming to the end of our time. I just really want to thank you.

Thank you so much for having me and I appreciate the opportunity to tell you how I feel about the college. Thank you so much.

You're welcome. Go stars. All right, you have been listening to Who's That Star? The behind the scenes show where I sit down and talk to employees at Lansing Community College. We spent some time today with LeAnn Lefay and learned more about what she does at LCC and how she brings her own special passion and authenticity with her in all that she does at the college and in her personal life. We've gotten to know one of the great people behind the scenes at LCC. Again, I'm your host, Julianna Blain. Please call me Juji. I want to thank you so much for listening. Tune in next time and together we can discover. Who's that star? You're listening to who's that star? You can listen to this show and others on demand at LCCconnect.org have a great day. We'll see you next time.