MCC Campus Connections Podcast: Episode 5

Geovanny Mayorga  0:05  
All right, welcome listeners to MCC Campus Connections, a podcast dedicated to getting to know one another. We are recording from downtown Chicago. And you may find us on Spotify, YouTube and your favorite streaming sites. You can also contact us at podcast@mccollege.edu. We have a wonderful guest today, we have Ben Lobpries, Director, ESL Director here at MCC. So welcome, Ben, how are you?
Ben Lobpries  0:36  
I'm great. Thanks for having me Geo.
Geovanny Mayorga  0:38  
Looking forward to our conversation. 
Ben Lobpries  0:41  
Me too. 
Geovanny Mayorga  0:42  
And we've done a lot of work, obviously, with the new certification for the program, how's that?
Ben Lobpries  0:50  
The admission process was pretty grueling. It was definitely a full year from the initial self study all the way through to getting the accreditation. But we got the full 10 years. So now we can breathe a little easier, and just do a little follow up reporting.
Geovanny Mayorga  1:06  
Absolutely. And congratulations is in order for you as you, now that we've completed that process, have been promoted to ESL program director. 
Ben Lobpries  1:14  
Yes. 
Geovanny Mayorga  1:14  
And we obviously need to thank Pat Fiene for all her wonderful work. 
Ben Lobpries  1:19  
Absolutely. Pat did the bulk of the accreditation. I think I did, maybe, you know, 20, 30%. But she did a lot. A lot. Yeah.
Geovanny Mayorga  1:28  
Pat has taken a different role with us now. So we want to thank her for that role. What role is she taking?
Ben Lobpries  1:35  
She's adjunct, she stepped down, she's teaching two days a week for us. And she's still around to help me during the transition process, as I continue with, you know, follow up reporting with accreditation, and just getting my bearings as program director.
Geovanny Mayorga  1:52  
Now, tell us a little bit about the DSO program, because it's quite a large and successful program.
Ben Lobpries  1:59  
It is. But when we started, I think we had somewhere between 30 to 50 students. So Pat and I both joined MCC in 2017. At that time, the program was unaccredited. And was mostly just sort of loosely connected classes that were supporting the med tech side of the school. And Olga wanted to get it accredited. So she brought that in. And it was a very quick process. I think six months from the time Pat got hired to the time the site visit happened. And from there, we've grown from 35 students up to around 350. We definitely took a little dip during the pandemic -
Geovanny Mayorga  2:39  
Of course, like everyone --
Ben Lobpries  2:40  
-- like everybody, but yeah, we have now this term we've got 20 faculty members and about 350 students more or less.
Geovanny Mayorga  2:48  
Yeah, we had to open an extension at the Wacker location, which was wonderful. Wonderful for me, but I'm sure the students are are enjoying, you know, what, what it looks like now, because definitely we needed more space. 
Ben Lobpries  3:04  
Yeah. And even with that extension, you know, we still last --
Geovanny Mayorga  3:06  
-- we need more space. 
Ben Lobpries  3:09  
Yeah. It's a good problem to have. 
Geovanny Mayorga  3:11  
Absolutely. And I know some students come over to the LaSalle campus on the weekends. So I'm sure they they like to see a different campus as well.
Ben Lobpries  3:20  
Yeah, but I think the you know, 100 South, both campuses have their views, but the river view at 100 South seems to be a pretty popular, popular spot for students to hang out.
Geovanny Mayorga  3:30  
It's beautiful. 
Ben Lobpries  3:31  
Yeah. 
Geovanny Mayorga  3:34  
Are you from Chicago?
Ben Lobpries  3:35  
I'm not from Chicago.
Geovanny Mayorga  3:37  
Where are you from? 
Ben Lobpries  3:37  
I'm from Archer City, Texas.
Geovanny Mayorga  3:39  
Texas.
Ben Lobpries  3:40  
It's a tiny little town of about 2000 people in the middle of nowhere. We had to drive 25 miles to get groceries or go to the movie theater. Well, it's kind of a famous town. Larry McMurtry, who has passed away this past year, was Pulitzer Prize winning author of Lonesome Dove, co-wrote Brokeback Mountain, and The Last Picture Show, which was filmed there. And it's a, it's a book, a novel and then a movie about a very depressing small town that the town didn't take too kindly to, because it was pretty thinly veiled. But yeah, it's a it's an oil town, cowboy town, rodeo town.
Geovanny Mayorga  4:21  
Do you picture yourself being in the big city coming from small town?
Ben Lobpries  4:25  
I didn't, I didn't. Once I started doing theater -- that was my undergrad, I got a BFA in theatre -- once I started doing theater, I knew I was going to need to be in cities just for the art scene and the culture scene. But I also grew up with a backyard that stretched out for 18 miles. And you know, I was --
Geovanny Mayorga  4:43  
Gorgeous. 
Ben Lobpries  4:44  
My parents would, you know, wake up in the middle the night and find that I just gone on a walkabout at two in the morning. So the country kid in me still likes to commune with nature and get out of the city. So my city life involves getting out of the city at least once a month to go hiking or camping.
Geovanny Mayorga  5:05  
What's what school did you go to, what college did you go to?
Ben Lobpries  5:08  
I went to Southern Methodist University for undergrad, for my theater degree. And then very shortly after that, some friends of mine started a theatre company here in Chicago. And I found there's kind of a migratory pattern between Texas and Chicago. Really, I have, I've met a lot of people in Chicago who are from here who want to move to Texas. And then a lot of people from Texas, I think there's something similar in the Midwest DNA and the Southern DNA of there's still a friendliness that's not quite, you know, full on laid back California or --
Geovanny Mayorga  5:09  
True.
Ben Lobpries  5:09  
-- older England. So it was a comfortable enough spot. I mean, I came to visit Chicago right out of undergrad and immediately just knew it was my city. I felt the rhythm of it. I fell in love with it immediately. And yeah, my friend started a theater company called the House Theater of Chicago, we did a show that got huge reviews and kind of we just blew up at the age, we were all like 22-23. And all of a sudden had this, this hit on our hands. So I did that. I did theater, playwright mostly, I did some acting in my early 20s, but mostly focused on writing, which led me to get my MFA in Creative Writing in Boston at Emerson College.
Geovanny Mayorga  6:23  
So you went from south, from the South to the Midwest to the East Coast. And then back, obviously, to the Midwest. How was Boston?
Ben Lobpries  6:33  
I love Boston. I'm glad I got to spend some time there. It's definitely got, you know, I have a soft spot in my heart for it. But again, whenever I was in Boston, I felt like coming from a small town, I always thought I was a really nice person. And then, after a couple years in Boston, I realized, Oh, I think I'm only as nice as my environment requires me to be that's because quite a shocker. Yeah, because in Boston, I mean, it's a it's just a different culture. And especially that city in particular, I think there are so many people passing through, either for school or just young professionals getting started. That didn't feel like Chicago, I feel like in Chicago, people moved to Chicago to like, plant some roots in Chicago. And in Boston, it felt like a lot of us were just passing through. So I love Boston, I have a lot of love for Boston, but I was definitely after five years there. Even just coming to visit Chicago, I could feel the difference. There's just, the Midwest is kind of the right balance for me, because the South is a little too friendly. And the East Coast was a little too frigid. So I find the Midwest vibe to be just my speed.
Geovanny Mayorga  7:49  
And you got a master's degree, correct, at Boston? 
Ben Lobpries  7:53  
MFA, Master's in Fine Arts and Creative Writing. And that's when I started my teaching career. As a grad student, I started teaching college writing classes at Emerson College, and then I was a visiting assistant professor of English at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, not the same as the Illinois Wheaton. And yeah, and then I moved back to Chicago in 2014. And worked at DePaul as an adjunct in their first year writing program, and then just started ESL in 2015, sort of as the side gig as the side hustle, supplemental income. And slowly, year after year, I felt myself being pulled more towards ESL, and the international students and the diverse classrooms. And so when the opportunity came up in 2017, to come to MCC, and then in 2018, to become lead instructor. I stepped away from DePaul and took my job as lead instructor for the --
Geovanny Mayorga  8:49  
What was your Bachelor's in? 
Ben Lobpries  8:51  
Bachelors was theater. So I've got my BFA in theater, right. MFA in creative writing, when I went to get my master's, my mom said, and my mom was very supportive of the arts, but she said, so you're gonna get another arts degree. What're you gonna do with that? I said, Well, I think I'm going to become a teacher, mom. And as soon as I started teaching, I realized I'd waited too long to like I should have started teaching earlier, but I really like it. It was a very natural fit for me.
Geovanny Mayorga  9:20  
I've mentioned before that I have a bachelor's degree in education, and that's something that I thought I wanted to do. And I do like the coaching aspect of it because I have a physical education degree. And I did go into it within Chicago Public Schools, but you know, CPS is different animal. It's very different from suburban. So it's just the administration is usually what I think most beginner teachers have issues with.
Ben Lobpries  9:54  
Well, especially in I mean, K through 12 is a totally different beast from college and I always knew that I, you know, I'm good with kids. I was a camp counselor in college. But I knew that I wasn't interested in teaching kids. I prefer to teach adults. I like being able to look at everyone in the room and say we all chose to be here, right? Oh, choosing to be here.
Geovanny Mayorga  10:17  
It's a little bit easier. Yes.
Ben Lobpries  10:18  
Choosing to be here. Yeah.
Geovanny Mayorga  10:21  
So you got your Bachelor's in theater. You moved to Chicago with your friends, you started a theater company. Correct. How was that? And how did that go?
Ben Lobpries  10:31  
I mean, it was a wild ride, I come and go with theater, which was the nice thing about the theatre company was we kind of had a revolving door policy, the artistic director encouraged us go away, have new experiences, and then bring back what you learned. And that was definitely how it worked for me. When I first moved here in 2002, I was doing a lot of acting. And then I shifted to playwriting, all the while, of course, waiting tables working retail, working reception, always had a day job. And around 25 is when a lot of my friends, I feel like everyone had the same New Year's resolution one year, which was no more day jobs, were only going to make money as artists. And I started down that path, because that's just what you do. There's also some of that ego involved that if you're not making your living doing it, then it's just a hobby, you're not really, you're not really an artist, if you're not making your living doing it. And so I kind of, you know, fell into that for a little bit. And then very quickly realized that that wasn't my path. Having to make a living doing it, tainted the whole process. For me, knowing that I needed this show to be a hit in order to pay the bills just changed the creative impulse. And when I made a different decision, I decided I wanted to find a day job that I could truly enjoy. That would be satisfying. And then my art could be whatever it needed to be whatever I wanted it to be. And if other people liked it great if I wrote something that was successful, great. And if not, I would still write because I'm not a writer, because I make money doing it. I'm a writer, because that's how my brain works. I process the world and my place in it.
Geovanny Mayorga  12:08  
See, so you're writing for for your company plays for your company, or sketches, or -- ?
Ben Lobpries  12:15  
Yeah, they were they were shows, full-length shows. I had a one act and then two, three full length shows. They're my company over the years. And then in grad school, I started revisiting fiction, and some nonfiction as well. And I have my novel. That's three chapters away from being finished. 
Geovanny Mayorga  12:36  
Wonderful. 
Ben Lobpries  12:37  
And, you know, ahead of time, oh, yes, it's called Down Waco Way.
Geovanny Mayorga  12:42  
Down Waco Way, reference to Texas Waco.
Ben Lobpries  12:46  
It is a Texas story about a big crazy Texas family. It started as a collection of linked stories. Yeah. And then slowly grew into a full novel. And I love it. I did. I think possibly I'm struggling, finishing it, because when I first started it in 2010, I was in a real sentimental and nostalgic place for Texas and my small town in Texas. And then, you know, over the last eight years, the climate has changed. Things have gotten a little more heated down there. And I I have, you know, some strong feelings about about my home state and some of the things happening down there that have made, maybe the novel is actually going to turn out better now. Because some of that sentimental some of that sentimentality I've scraped away --
Geovanny Mayorga  13:39  
-- is gone now. 
Ben Lobpries  13:41  
Yeah. And so as it's interesting, because as the novel progresses, the sort of hazy nostalgia starts to fade, as it gets into more realistic, slightly grittier present day stories. So I think it might actually work to its advantage.
Geovanny Mayorga  13:59  
Are you working with a publisher? Or are you not at that stage?
Ben Lobpries  14:01  
I'm not at that stage yet. I'm really bad about sending out my work. I have, you know, files and files and piles of things that I have completed. That, you know, I just, yeah, I never send out. That's always been my weaknesses. I like as an artist, I don't like the business end of having to hustle and network and, you know, send my work out, which is why it was nice to be part of a theatre company where I already had an artistic home. And could just, if I wanted to workshop, something I was writing, I could schedule a workshop.
Geovanny Mayorga  14:33  
How'd the company turn out? 
Ben Lobpries  14:36  
The company had a 21 year run. That was, you know, for the most part very successful, took the same kind of hits that most people did in 2008. When the economy turned we had to do some revamping and downsizing and then we were in a growth phase and then the pandemic hit, and we made it through the first year on the the funding, on the COVID funding. And then last summer, summer of 2022, we shuttered, after 21 years. 
Geovanny Mayorga  15:07  
Well, that's sad. 
Ben Lobpries  15:08  
It is sad. It's unfortunately not uncommon. It's kind of the true story, especially for life theater. Pandemic was really difficult when, you know, 2021 when everyone was trying to reopen, but one person tests positive and the whole show shuts down again, yeah, the company eats that money because the the run got cut short, it was a rough, rough game, to try to, try to --
Geovanny Mayorga  15:33  
Good memories still, fond memories?
Ben Lobpries  15:35  
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, for the most part, you know, it was certainly the core group was friends from college. And so after 20 years, you know, that had its its pros and cons too.
Geovanny Mayorga  15:47  
Sure.
Ben Lobpries  15:48  
We definitely, it was, there were times where it was like a family and like family, that has its, its baggage.
Geovanny Mayorga  15:56  
Right. 
Ben Lobpries  15:57  
But we also, if nothing else, it was a safe place to experiment and create and take risks, which I think is really important. 
Geovanny Mayorga  16:07  
Once you guys closed, did the people just stay here or did they go out to LA, New York, I mean to pursue any other opportunities.
Ben Lobpries  16:14  
There's a lot of shuffling. I mean, the pandemic shuffle happened in all fields. I know. I know quite a few people who chose to go to grad school in that moment, which is similar to what I did in '08 when the economy was kind of in the crapper. And I was like, Oh, this seems like a good time to go back to school. And I think some people have made that decision. And yeah, some people are in LA, New York. New York is kind of a young person's game. I found a lot of my friends who moved there right after college, did it for a couple years. Okay, I'm tired of working all the time to just barely make rent. It's a feels like a young person's game if you're if you don't have the funds to, to live it up.
Geovanny Mayorga  16:59  
A couple of years ago, a few years ago, not a couple of years. Few years ago, I was finishing up my master's degree, was doing an internship out in Colorado Springs. Obviously, all the all the class of my interns became friends went down to Georgia. First time been to Georgia, Athens, Georgia, University of Georgia. That was culture shock. Yeah. I've always grown up a city, big city kid, even though I I grew up outside of the US in a different country. I will still city. But going down to Georgia, Athens, Georgia, it was a little bit of a shock.
Ben Lobpries  17:46  
What shocked you about it? What was the what were the big differences?
Geovanny Mayorga  17:49  
You know, I flew into Atlanta. Atlanta is huge, first of all, but I found it to be huge and empty, which is a little odd. Felt like, I don't know, I think it was a Friday night because yeah, I think the game was Saturday. And maybe I was in the wrong side of Atlanta. But I just remember being in a big empty town. And I'm like, This is so odd. It's so huge. And it's like nobody around. You know,
Ben Lobpries  18:15  
There's so much more space in the South. 
Geovanny Mayorga  18:16  
Yeah.
Ben Lobpries  18:17  
Everything is so much spread out. 
Geovanny Mayorga  18:19  
Yes. 
Ben Lobpries  18:19  
I forget how much personal space I have given over to public life in the city. Because --
Geovanny Mayorga  18:28  
Yeah, and then once I got down to Athens, Georgia, I mean, obviously, we were in Athens in a football town. And I just had not experienced any Southern culture let alone, even though I went to division one school, athletic school, Ball State University you know, Georgia University of Georgia, which is an SEC Conference at universities. I mean, as big as it gets in athletics. So that that whole culture of how people are into it, but but more so the society, societal culture, the norms there, that was a little maybe it was like, some of the things that I read in books when when it was in front of me, it was just like, oh my god, this is so true.
Ben Lobpries  19:21  
You mean like football culture, or the -- 
Geovanny Mayorga  19:23  
No, life culture, society, culture. Yeah, how they behave, how they speak. You know, how they interact? way different from what I had experienced in the past. That was a little bit culture shock.
Ben Lobpries  19:37  
What's your home city,
Geovanny Mayorga  19:38  
Chicago, I was born here. You went to SMU which has a rich history and football. And I think you have a friend right or had a friend who --
Ben Lobpries  19:50  
Yeah, Thaddeus D'Matula. He, he created the documentary that that got all the hype for, about, the SMU football team getting the death penalty in the 80s for illegal recruiting. And I you know, when I was there in the 90s I feel like we were, the death penalty was just starting to expire. Okay, I can't remember how long it lasted. It might have already technically expired but --
Geovanny Mayorga  20:16  
Oh it has. 
Ben Lobpries  20:17  
-- that program was still so like it had not really recovered from the the hit that it took, Pony Excess, that was that documentary.
Ben Lobpries  20:27  
Express? 
Ben Lobpries  20:29  
Well, Express, Pony Express, is what SMU that's what they called our SMU currency was, Pony Express. 
Geovanny Mayorga  20:36  
Oh, okay. 
Ben Lobpries  20:36  
And so I think he named his documentary Pony Excess. 
Geovanny Mayorga  20:40  
Oh, is that right. 
Ben Lobpries  20:41  
I think so. Okay. Yeah. But he, he made a documentary and launched him into the next year. 
Geovanny Mayorga  20:49  
Yeah. Anybody, anyone that studies or is around athletics is aware or should see it because it's a good really good case study in what big time athletics, it really is, in the United States. I've always said it's in the entertainment business. And university, universities use it for their benefit. And there's no if ands or buts about that.
Ben Lobpries  21:17  
Well, that's why there's, you know, so much debate about paying college athletes --
Geovanny Mayorga  21:20  
Exactly. 
Ben Lobpries  21:21  
-- which is at the heart of why SMU got the death penalty. 
Geovanny Mayorga  21:27  
Yeah, the whole story about SMU it's very intriguing. Because he made SMU an example of what everybody continues to do. It's, you know, anyway, [I'll] get off my soapbox on that.
Ben Lobpries  21:41  
But I played football. 
Geovanny Mayorga  21:42  
Did you?
Ben Lobpries  21:43  
I did. I was in a small town. One of the things I miss about small town life is the expectation and need for for everyone to participate in everything. In order, like, I remember when my sister was in school, the football players at halftime would come out and march in the marching band.
Geovanny Mayorga  22:03  
Is that right? 
Ben Lobpries  22:03  
And be in the extra --  
Geovanny Mayorga  22:05  
Extra people? 
Ben Lobpries  22:06  
-- because you couldn't have a marching band unless you had everyone. We only had, you know, I had 28 people in my graduating class. We had 500 people on campus, and that was K through 12. All on one campus. So if you're going to have any clubs, if you're going to have sports teams, and bands, and then everyone has to participate in everything very different from the big schools where it's competitive, and you have to, you know, try out and audition to be in any of these things.
Geovanny Mayorga  22:33  
Everybody just participates.
Ben Lobpries  22:34  
Do it, do this, do this, do this. And it teaches you. It encourages you to be a jack of all trades, which I enjoy. I think I am someone who I think of myself as a jack of all trades. I'd rather be I'd rather have a broad base of knowledge and be good at a lot of things than just be an expert at one thing. I'm not --
Geovanny Mayorga  22:54  
Yeah, that's that's how I pretty much I think live my life jack of all trades, little bit of everything. I've done everything from paper delivery boy to grocery bagger, that's how I started, you know, old Dominic stores. That's how far it's how long ago it's been those don't exist anymore. Dominic's is just like Jewel. Now --
Ben Lobpries  23:16  
There were still a few when I moved here. 
Geovanny Mayorga  23:19  
Yeah, now they're all defunct.
Ben Lobpries  23:21  
But you know, our culture doesn't really encourage. 
Geovanny Mayorga  23:25  
No.
Ben Lobpries  23:26  
We are very much you do one thing and you do it well. 
Geovanny Mayorga  23:28  
And that's it. Yes. You focus on that. And that's all you do. 
Ben Lobpries  23:32  
I find it pretty exhausted. I find it pretty tedious.
Geovanny Mayorga  23:35  
I do as well. I don't like it. Because I don't like the monotony of it. You know, I like whatever interests me. That's what I'm going to do.
Ben Lobpries  23:44  
I'm the same way. Yeah.
Geovanny Mayorga  23:47  
So obviously, growing up from a small town coming to big city, how do you feel that change was
Ben Lobpries  23:57  
The change from, well, so I did you know, I went to college in Dallas. So I had 
Geovanny Mayorga  24:01  
So it was a big city.
Ben Lobpries  24:02  
I had my big my big city experience in Dallas, but it's still a Texas City. It's still a Southern city, or I guess you could think of it as a driving city. It's one of those cities, especially then if you didn't have a car, good luck. Maybe there's a bus that comes somewhere within half an hour of you. Yeah. And now they've developed their DART rail. So there's a little more public transportation, but certainly when I was there, if you didn't have a car, you couldn't get anywhere. And even with the car, you're going to spend a lot of time on the interstate. So one of the things I was most excited about Chicago was getting to ditch my car and being in a city that, it's not quite the walking city that Boston is known to be. But it's it's still a city you can get around in without car. And also at that time, I was 22 and had had several accidents. So my car insurance was out of control. So I was happy to ditch my car and be in a city where I could just get around without it I do love the culture. 
Ben Lobpries  25:01  
I did react, in Dallas I remember reacting to the loss of personal space. And I guess it's been so long I forgot I did kind of have a headache the first year I lived in Chicago. And I think part of that was just adjusting to having so many more people around. Right, right time was, you know, I grew up walking in a field that stretched 80 miles. So I definitely it definitely took some adjusting to give up that personal space. But in exchange for it, I had, you know, all the culture. 
Geovanny Mayorga  25:36  
Yeah.
Ben Lobpries  25:36  
Lots of job opportunities, lots of social opportunities, the things that we seek out in cities. 
Geovanny Mayorga  25:42  
Yeah. 
Ben Lobpries  25:43  
And I found also coming from a very conservative town in the Bible Belt, I found the city life to be quite liberating. And I like a little anonymity. You know, I grew up in a town where everybody knows you.
Geovanny Mayorga  25:58  
Everybody knows. 
Ben Lobpries  25:59  
My senior class was my kindergarten class. So by the time we were in high school, everybody had already dated, we had to start going to the nearby towns to date, because, you know, everybody knew everybody's business. And I enjoyed coming to a place where it's like, oh, millions of people, I can just go about my life and nobody even notices me.
Geovanny Mayorga  26:18  
Yeah, it's interesting. I like like you said, there's a lot of people that are in a big city that want to go to, you know, outside country and country town, small town. I've always felt that. I mean, I said, I was born here, but I grew up in a different country, Guatemala City, Central America, and even though it's still a big city, you know, it's very different. Growing up in a different country. Obviously, when I grew up a long time ago, it's way different from how my kids are growing up now. 
Geovanny Mayorga  26:51  
And I remember I moved down to why moved down to southern Southern Illinois University Edwardsville that's where I did my bachelor's degree, small town, open fields very different feel than say it because I did start at UIC and obviously USC middle of the City University of Illinois, Chicago, middle of the city versus out in the countryside it's a completely different field. Then I moved to Muncie, Indiana. That's a Ball State and other small town it's a college town it's not you know. Not Indianapolis, even though we're close to Indianapolis. 
Ben Lobpries  27:34  
Right. Did you take to the space?
Geovanny Mayorga  27:39  
Yeah, I definitely liked the space, that slower pace, more so when I moved to Colorado Springs in Colorado. 
Ben Lobpries  27:46  
Sure. 
Geovanny Mayorga  27:47  
Which is like very chill, very like Zen-like. That is really what I liked that that scene, obviously the mountains. I'm an outdoors person. So if you like, I mean, not where I go fishing all the time, but I like outdoor activities, hiking, biking. And I did all that when I was in Colorado Springs. You know, it's probably aside from being in when I, when I did when I was in the army, being in Colorado Springs is probably the best shape I've ever been in my life because I was doing a lot of running out in the mountains. A lot of mountain biking and yeah, I was, you know, plus a little bit higher altitude. So that was a little bit different.
Ben Lobpries  28:30  
So yeah, do you get out into nature around here? Do you have any places around here? 
Geovanny Mayorga  28:34  
No, I mean, aside from the forest preserves, no. I mean, I do, I've been around a little bit to the to the parks. But not a whole lot. I haven't gotten there. My kids aren't that old enough to start doing that but they will be so I'm gonna start going out to more to state parks, state parks to do that.
Ben Lobpries  28:56  
The Cook County Forest Preserves are a great --
Geovanny Mayorga  28:58  
yeah, like way to get started --
Ben Lobpries  29:00  
-- right and the Indiana Dunes that's that's a go-to my husband's an Eagle Scout. So whenever I moved back here, he introduced me to all of the nature that I did not know about the first time I lived here. When I was here first in my 20s I got a little claustrophobic and a little landlocked. Yeah, because I didn't have a car and I didn't know about that stuff. But now we you know, we start at the Indiana Dunes. We will go up to Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois Beach State Park it's just an hour away. 
Geovanny Mayorga  29:28  
Yeah, it's not that far away. 
Ben Lobpries  29:29  
Yeah not far away and then you know, Shawnee down Kentucky border is beautiful. A couple of times. 
Geovanny Mayorga  29:36  
Yeah. There's there's a lot of state parks that people are not aware of, that are not that far away. And they're very beautiful and kind of gives you a different feel from being being in the city. 
Ben Lobpries  29:47  
For sure. So like I said, it's a big part of my, my balance of being able to be in the city is being able to get out of it. 
Geovanny Mayorga  29:54  
Yeah. You know, of course we go down to Milwaukee or Lake Geneva. What's very beautiful nobody has been down there even what's over here by the Iowa border? Anyway, it's an it's another small town. I always forget the name of it. So anyway, yeah, without a doubt there's a lot of out there outdoor things to do in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan area.
Ben Lobpries  30:24  
For the four to six months that you can that you can do it.
Geovanny Mayorga  30:29  
That's the key, you can do a lot of winter stuff, in Michigan, you can do a lot of stuff. 
Geovanny Mayorga  30:33  
Sure.
Ben Lobpries  30:34  
It's a different, it's a different game, we did just get a hot tent, the kind that has a wood burning stove inside of it, so that we can up our winter camping game. We've had a couple of successful -- 
Geovanny Mayorga  30:44  
At least three seasons. I don't know if I want to be in the snow.
Ben Lobpries  30:48  
-- January four degrees camping trips with the hot tent.
Geovanny Mayorga  30:54  
Yeah, and I think from my military days, I kind of threw it threw me off. Yeah, those military days out, with no heat. 
Ben Lobpries  31:05  
Yeah.
Geovanny Mayorga  31:06  
You know, you had to put up with it. So that was kind of yeah, I've had enough of that. 
Ben Lobpries  31:09  
Sure.
Geovanny Mayorga  31:15  
So what does the future hold now that obviously you want to finish your, your novel? You just started a new position that, here at MCC as a director, what does the future hold?
Ben Lobpries  31:31  
Well, I think we've got some, we're definitely developing some plans for growing the ESL program. Those things are all in the works and in the early phases, but I think that could keep me pretty busy for this next year. Obviously, I want to finish my novel, I have two plays that I finished that I should be sending out. For production. One is ready for production workshop. The other needs some more table workshopping. So you know, at some point, usually, I'll do that kind of stuff in bursts, like over Christmas break, I'll send my stuff out to a bunch of different places. And then when the school term starts back up, again, I'll forget about it. So I look to do that. I'm also with the migrant crisis being what it is, I've started some volunteer work with some of the refugee support organizations in town specifically, I did a volunteer day with Chicago Refugee Coalition. It was called Day of Dignity, and I'm signing up on their volunteer list. So I'm looking to also get more involved in some of the nonprofit organizations that are supporting the refugees that are continuing to --
Geovanny Mayorga  32:42  
What type of volunteer work is available with working with, you know, the refugees?
Ben Lobpries  32:48  
Well, there's a there's a lot right now. Obviously, my experience makes me most qualified for because ESL to actually help them with language acquisition and cultural, you know, orientation. But there's, there's so much there's everything from you know, working the food banks, and the clothing drives, you know, winter's coming on. So that's a big thing. The housing, obviously, that's a controversial topic as neighborhoods are converting old schools, and, you know, the debate of the resources going to newly arrived immigrants, but what about those here for years? So you know, there's a lot of that that is, is tense. But there's also a lot of need, just search for boots on the ground. And I'm a pretty organized person. So you know, the volunteer event I've done so far already. I was like, Oh, yes, I can organize the winter coats. 
Geovanny Mayorga  33:53  
Which organizations? What do you say are out there for people to look into and potentially volunteer?
Ben Lobpries  34:00  
I feel like every time I look, there's a new one. That's yeah, I mean, even Chicago Refugee Coalition is fairly new. And as the, you know, the buses continue to arrive, I think more and more organizations are cropping up. And some of them are, you know, tutoring, mentoring, housing, the event that I did was a with Chicago Refugee Coalition was a resource fair. So it brought together a lot of organizations. And there are booths for everything from you know, attorneys and dental exams, doctor exams, school supplies, just that kind of stuff, helping them get settled and integrated.
Geovanny Mayorga  34:45  
Yeah, yeah. Wonderful.
Ben Lobpries  34:48  
And I'm working on my Spanish. I'm the eternal Spanish student. I've taken so many years of Spanish and, but specifically since I am interested in these volunteer opportunities, I need to get better with my Spanish. So I'm recommitted to Spanish again. And I think it's time I've done a lot of academic Spanish, a lot of classroom Spanish. So I think it's probably time to start doing some.
Geovanny Mayorga  35:11  
You're at a speaking level, or where are you?
Ben Lobpries  35:15  
Apprendo leo y escribo bien pero no hablo bien. And so you can write, I can read and write fairly well, I can speak it. I'm a visual learner. And that's true in English, too. I'm not really an auditory learner. Orientations at new jobs always kind of stressed me out because they're mostly --
Geovanny Mayorga  35:32  
Visual.
Ben Lobpries  35:32  
No, they're mostly oral, it's like, so, over here is this thing, and we're gonna do this, and then you're going to go over here. And I am a --
Geovanny Mayorga  35:39  
want to see what's going on. Yeah, I think I am the same way I like to learn visually.
Ben Lobpries  35:45  
And I forget that even as a teacher, sometimes I have to remind myself to provide more visual reinforcements because I'm talking too much.
Geovanny Mayorga  35:53  
Yeah, that's something that I learned from obviously, being a teacher that we all have our, our individual learning, preferences. And then we tend to you too, as a teacher, you tend to then impose that on your students where you have to actually understand that everybody has a different learning style. And you should teach to every learning style. 
Ben Lobpries  36:15  
Yep. 
Geovanny Mayorga  36:16  
And, you know, I've spoke about this, I think, on the first episode, how, you know, teachers, teaching is a calling. I have several family members who are teachers. And I know how difficult that is. And I know that not everyone should be teaching God bless those people that want to try. But honestly, not everybody can be a teacher, it's really difficult to do. 
Ben Lobpries  36:41  
Well. And that's one of the things with higher ed is being a genius and an expert in your field doesn't mean you're going to be a good teacher. 
Geovanny Mayorga  36:49  
Exactly. 
Ben Lobpries  36:50  
I think we've all had at least one teacher in our lives, who is like, Oh, yes, you are very smart. You do not know how to connect with me. 
Geovanny Mayorga  36:57  
Yes, it's the same thing for I had this conversation with Dr. Resto when I did an episode with Dr. Resto about management is the same way, just because you're, you sell hey, congratulations. That doesn't mean you can lead a team to help everyone excel. And then there are differences and different things you need to know. And understand in order to lead and motivate. You can't just always crack the whip. 
Ben Lobpries  37:23  
Yeah. Anyway, for sure. 
Geovanny Mayorga  37:26  
So Ben, as we wrap up, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come here today. I know you know we're at LaSalle [campus]. We're not at Wacker [campus]. I do want to come down to Wacker and record episodes at our Wacker location. But we're so busy over there. Kind of difficult to find time. 
Ben Lobpries  37:43  
Oh, no, thanks, I like an excuse to come over to 203 [LaSalle Campus]. I don't get over here very often. 
Geovanny Mayorga  37:47  
Yeah. So I want to remind our listeners that you can reach us at podcast@mccollege.edu. I'd like to thank Ben Lobpries. Have I said that correctly? 
Ben Lobpries  38:03  
You got it.
Geovanny Mayorga  38:03  
-- for coming out today and had a great conversation. Thank you. I enjoyed it. And hopefully our listeners enjoyed it as well. And we look forward to speaking with you or to you on our next episode. Thank you, Ben. 
Ben Lobpries  38:20  
Thank you.