Dawn Neel, from Johnson County Community College, reflects on her experience at Summer Institute 2025:
How were you encouraged to be a part of SI?
I was encouraged by my supervisor, Danielle Sullivan. She asked me if I would be interested in attending Summer Institute. I am always looking for new learning opportunities since I came back to the financial aid world. I love learning new things, meeting new people and living new experiences.
How did your classroom/squad/classmates enhance your knowledge of financial aid?
The classes and classmates enhanced my knowledge of financial aid by sharing their experiences, or questions about different processes, and procedures that they use. Since this was my first experience with different types of colleges, it was interesting to hear how different schools handle their processes. Hearing from my fellow colleagues in the financial aid side how things work at their institutions.
What is your favorite memory from SI?
My favorite memory is a tough one to pick out. There were so many different experiences and interactions with all different people with different walks of life that it is hard to pick a favorite memory. I will say the minute to win it game night was a big highlight of my week and dancing the electric slide with other people was a lot of fun!
Was there anything that occurred at SI you weren’t expecting?
Something that I wasn’t expecting was just how much information that is still out there to learn, and how sometimes learning how other schools handle situations can teach us to think outside the box. But also, how much fun it can be to learn even though it is on some mentally challenging topics.