For Heather Chaudoin ’22, the goal of Transylvania University’s annual Phonathon is to create scholarship funds for students. And, even though scholarships are what enable her and so many other Pioneers to attend Transy “and enjoy the community that’s here,” she admits that the process of communicating with alumni, Pioneer to Pioneer, is just as important.
“It’s nice to be able to have that connection with alumni,” Chaudoin notes, “to talk with them and exchange stories of what happened to them when they were here and what happens to us now,” she says.
As one of Transy’s legacy students, Chaudoin arrived on campus already familiar with the bonding power of Pioneers, thanks to her sister, Jaime Chaudoin ’17. Then, as a first-year student living out her own experiences on campus, her sense of the supportive community grew.
“When you walk by somebody on campus, they smile at you, even if they don’t know you,” she pauses to reflect. “It’s nice.” That friendliness is one of the reasons, she says, “Transy is perfect for me.”
At Transy, Chaudoin is an executive board member for the Student Alumni Association, sings in both the Transylvania Choir and the Transylvania Singers, plays percussion in band and studies piano. She’s interested in psychology and is thinking about accounting as a major. So many directions are possible at Transy.
Joining the annual Phonathon team as a caller gave the Princeton, Kentucky, native an even clearer understanding of how that sense of community lives on among Transy’s alumni. Transy unites them; the Phonathon connects them with new Pioneers, voice to voice, sharing experience after experience. It’s a return to campus — at least in spirit — that allows them to forge relationships with the next generation that will, in turn, pass on the light.
Now a sophomore, Chaudoin sees the continuity that comes through the calling campaign. “It’s about connecting with the Transy community off campus — to the people who are no longer here but are still part of the community.”
We’ll be calling from 859-233-8275 from late September through May term, on Sundays from 2-5 p.m. and Mondays-Thursdays from 6-9 p.m. Questions? Contact Danielle Evans ’17 at devans@transy.edu or 859-233-8512.