SPOTLIGHT: Small Town to Campus Conference Artwork

The Rural College Student Experience

The Rural College Student Experience is the only podcast dedicated exclusively to centering rural college student voices in broader conversations about higher education access and equity. Hosted by Dr. Matt Newlin (www.mattnewlin.com), each episode will feature a co-host who is a currently enrolled student from a rural community. Co-hosts will share their perspectives on higher education and the needs of students from rural backgrounds. Each episode will also feature a guest who will bring additional insight and perspectives to the rural college student experience. Guests are researchers, scholars, practitioners, or counselors whose work focuses primarily on rural students in college. Follow RCSE on Twitter at @rcsepod. The Rural College Student Experience is presented in partnership with Believe in Students (www.believeinstudents.org). Believe in Students is the nation’s only non-profit organization focused exclusively on helping college students to meet their basic needs.

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The Rural College Student Experience

SPOTLIGHT: Small Town to Campus Conference

May 24, 2023 • Matt Newlin • Season 2 • Episode 15

Thank you for listening to this special SPOTLIGHT episode of the Rural College Student Experience. On today’s episode, we have a very special guest, Madison Mellinger. Madison is a senior at Princeton University and is from Chambersburg, PA. She is studying in the School of Public and International Affairs with a focus on education and environmental policy, particularly as such policy relates to rural communities. In 2021, she founded Princeton's first rural student affinity group.

In this episode, we’re focusing on Small Town to Campus, a student-led conference for rural students which Madison spearheaded. The conference took place virtually in February 2023. I spoke with Madison soon after the conference about how the event became a reality and her future plans.

As always, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast and follow us on Twitter at @rcsepod. Thank you and enjoy this special SPOTLIGHT episode.