Happy Birthday to the Nerd! The Nerd is doing her best with Lent and The Belle is trying to find her best ministry: a pumpkin ministry, a Beyonce birthday ministry...and The Nerd is freeing her from all of them.By The Nerd & Belle

Who loves a good story? The Belle got drug tested and lives to tell.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd interviews her friend, business partner, and author Jodi Cowles to discuss books, Jodi's recent projects, and the plight of the unknown author.By The Nerd & Belle

The Belle gives her best lipstick beauty secret before the Nerd & Belle dive into discussing uncomfortable, tricky social situations and their proper solutions.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd & Belle round up a funny series of topics going deep about the difference between guilty pleasures and self indulgences.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd & Belle chat with their friend Branon Janous about life, death, solo parenting, and friendship.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd & Belle discuss their goals for 2024. Some are achievable, some most likely are not. You be the judge to see what these friends can--and cannot--accomplish in the coming year.By The Nerd & Belle

Jingle all the way to the tree farm, mountains, or....Home Depot as the Nerd & Belle breakdown Christmas.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd interviews author Rose Booth about her new book, Dancing in the Valley.By The Nerd & Belle

The Belle has a hot-off-the-press story to tell about her dog, Frank (named after Benjamin Franklin) and The Nerd wants to talk about recycling. This is as real as it gets.By The Nerd & Belle

The Belle can't believe the nasty garbage The Nerd climbs through to remodel and flip a house. Listen in for all the gory details.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd & Belle invent their own fun and play a game guessing random state laws still in place today.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd & Belle discuss style: the standards, comfort, and colors. What was meant to be a conversation about how to help the Nerd's lack of style becomes a deeper conversation about unrealistic beauty standards, The Nerd's deep love of comfort, and the Belle's effortless choice of clothing and colors.…

How are the Nerd & Belle feeling about controversial topics like self-checkout and piercings? Determine your own policies on these important issues with The Northwest Nerd & Southern Belle.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd & Belle discuss the tradition and oddity of Hallmark anniversaries and what gifts are good and which ones to avoid.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd comes face-to-face with her prejudice against sororities. The Belle graciously entertains the conversation and educates The Nerd about the history, tradition, and charm of sororities and together they evaluate if The Nerd would have a shot at making it into a sorority. Is there a Birkenstock-wearing, book-loving, early-to-bed sorority for …

Football season is right around the corner and The Nerd and Belle want to make sure everyone is ready with their best football fashion. The two friends discuss getting dressed for football in the North and South and the distinct differences make for a great conversation. Culture influences getting ready for the game depending on where you live and …

The Nerd & Belle play a fun game to reconnect after missing out on so many years of friendship. In this game, the Belle grills the Nerd on a wide variety of topics--from casseroles to turtlenecks and everything in between. Is each item a "hooray" or a "no way" according to the Nerd & Belle? Hear the two friends weigh in and discuss the pros and con…

The Nerd & Belle discuss the intricate details of text messaging. They parse out the time suck and lack of boundaries surrounding group texts and create better goals going forward.By The Nerd & Belle

The Nerd & Belle discuss living in a neighborhood. Sounds like a bore until you hear the Belle believing the girls down the street can do better and the Nerd needs to take notes about her 13-year-old's side hustle. These days we could all use some Southern charm to smooth over the world's division and polarity, and it starts with us! We challenge e…

The Nerd & Belle reconnect with a question, "How would your friends describe you in #hashtags?" They've missed a lot of each other's lives so they're giving each other the highlights. The Belle would like zero people in her garage and it's the first place the Nerd wants to explore.By The Nerd

If the Nerd & Belle went on a road trip who would do what? Episode #3 unpacks how this road trip would go down. Stories and plans spill out and take the shape of a very fancy, expensive, pink, and snack-filled road trip. Wind down the road with the Nerd & Belle as they plan an epic, very organized road trip with fun around every turn.…

The Nerd & Belle remember who they were 20 years ago when they met at the copy machine during a political campaign. Impressed by each other for wildly different reasons, these two ambitious, college-aged women became fast friends. They rode the highs and lows of a statewide political campaign in the great state of Oklahoma and paved the foundation …

So here's the deal...we met in our 20's but barely kept in touch for the next 20 years. We've rekindled our friendship flame and we have SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT. Join us for the big deals and minutiae of everyday life. We're here for it and we hope you are too.By Rachael Mitchell

In this episode of the RACC Podcast, we kick off Medical Laboratory Professionals Week! Sonia sits down with Donna Chuddley, the Education Coordinator and instructor for the Histotechnology Program at RACC. Donna is the former Supervisor of Histopathology with St. Luke’s University Health Network in the Anatomic Pathology Department. Donna explains…

On the latest RACC Podcast, Sonia speaks with RACC business student and Founder/Executive Director of Now All Must Evolve (N.A.M.E.), Jermell Mitchell. The N.A.M.E. mission is based on changing the lives of historically underserved youth through transformative arts, athletics, and life skills training. He mentors, educates, and inspires young peopl…

To the Reading community, Goldy Ghuman is a familiar face around the city. A tireless advocate for its residents, Goldy started at RACC with ESL classes, graduated with a degree in criminal justice, then transferred to Kutztown University to graduate with a degree in political science. She did not stop there. Goldy is currently enrolled at Seton Ha…

Sarah Guevara graduated from Conrad Weiser High School this year and had been dual enrolled at RACC since 10th grade through the Technical Academy at BCTC for business. A focused, determined and diligent student, she is also a RACC Presidential Scholarship winner. She currently works at Olivet Boys & Girls Club as their community relations coordina…

Today, Sonia welcomes Melissa Hassler, a recent RACC graduate and current membership specialist at the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance. Listen to Melissa’s incredible story about overcoming extreme childhood obstacles, and her journey through early career and life changes; to making the right connections and ultimately finding solid ground in both…

Today on the racc podcast, Sonia welcomes Executive Director at Family Promise of Berks County, and long-time RACC adjunct social work instructor, Bethany Bower. Bethany holds bachelors and masters degrees in social work from Kutztown University, and talks to Sonia about the high level of support, encouragement and direction the RACC faculty and st…

Anyone who has been on the RACC campus recently is familiar with Sonia’s latest guest. Armando Velazquez Santiago. Featured as a student speaker at the RACC 50th Gala celebration, Armando’s family immigrated to America, to make sure their children had a chance to succeed beyond anything they had done themselves. Soon to graduate from RACC (with sev…

A naturally passionate person, Rachael Romig plans and oversees over 100 events annually for the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance (GRCA) as their senior director of events & special programs. She also directs the initiatives of the Women2Women program, with the mission to develop women leaders by connecting women from diverse backgrounds to learn a…

If you have ever watched Channel 69 News, you have no doubt seen our RACC Podcast guest, reporter, Caitlin Rearden. A Berks County native, Caitlin graduated from RACC, and then transferred to California State University of Los Angeles. After graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism, her career took her and her family all over the United Sta…

Halema Bobby received her Associate in Health Science in May 2021 and is currently completing her Associate in Social Work. “I plan on completing my Bachelor in Social work through the Kutztown and RACC Cohort program offered here on RACC's campus. I am also a recipient of the PTK PASSHE Scholarship, which is a two-year full-ride. I was able to ach…

If you are a tech entrepreneur looking for local inspiration, do not miss the new episode of the RACC podcast with Joe Sinclair. With two undergraduate engineering degrees, multiple 3D-printing startups, a master’s in 3D printing from Penn State, and a full-time director position for a high-tech advanced manufacturing company’s metal additive manuf…

RACC graduate and current case manager at Family Promise of Berks, assisting homeless youth, Shae-Lynn is also currently enrolled at Edinboro University for her master’s degree in advanced standing program. Her ultimate goal is to become a social worker for the Reading High School. After graduating from RACC in 2018 with her associate degree in soc…

Elise Chesson currently serves as the Chief Advancement Officer for YWCA Tri-County Area. She oversees the growing non-profit’s government, foundation, and corporate grant-making, fund development, communications, events and helps facilitate its practices and policies for equity, inclusion, and justice. Ms. Chesson most recently served as executive…

Today, Sonia sits down with one of the true champions of the healthcare industry. Learn how Dr. Debra Hermany progressed from receiving a nursing degree at RACC, to becoming an emergency room physician in a Veteran’s Administration Hospital. Dr. Hermany discusses the challenges of a (very) front line worker during the height of the pandemic to disc…

Kristen Taylor was the Student Nurses' Association president and graduated from RACC’s Associate Degree Nursing Program in May of 2020. She is now with Tower Health in the Cardiac Intermediate Care Unit. Prior to nursing school, she obtained her associate degree in health information management, and worked at St. Joseph in medical records. Who bett…

Sonia welcomes RACC President Dr. Susan Looney to the RACC Podcast studio! Sonia and Dr. Looney discuss exciting new changes coming to RACC, what is in store for the fall 2021 semester, the RACC 50th Anniversary celebrations, and much more. A must listen! Thank you for listening! For more information about RACC, visit us online. Stay connected, fol…

After graduating from Lancaster Mennonite High School, Twila Fisher moved to Mexico City and then to Miami before moving back to Pennsylvania and settling in Berks County. At that time, Twila put her education and career on hold to begin a family. When her four daughters were all in school, Twila enrolled in school herself at RACC. “I pursued RACC …

Want to get ahead of the class and get both high school and college credit? The Dual Enrollment program at RACC works with 17 local schools to provide Berks County high school students the opportunity to earn college credit. Dual enrollment allows academically-ready high school students to enroll in RACC college courses taught right at their high s…

RACC health professions faculty members Stephanie Herr and Dr. Megan Zerillo are both highly successful young women working in the nursing field. Megan came to RACC from Alabama where she earned her doctorate degree and is now serving as a RACC Student Success Coach. Steph is in her third year of her doctoral program and is an assistant professor i…

Sonia has one of our most inspirational RACC Podcast conversations with Pennsylvania House Representative Manuel Guzman Jr. He is a graduate of Reading High School, Reading Area Community College and Kutztown University. “Manny” comes from a working-class family in Reading, where the family faced struggles with poverty and opportunity. These strugg…

Do not miss this exciting episode. Sonia follows Amie Croteau’s journey from a stay at home mom in Las Vegas, to RACC, Penn State, and now; an Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Engineer at Lockheed Martin…all in less than four years. Hear what it takes academically and motivationally to make this inspirational story a reality. Thank you for …

In this episode, Sonia talks with Megan Giles a high school counselor at Reading Senior High School. Megan is a Berks County native and completed her bachelors degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Sociology from Indiana University of PA and her masters degree in School Counseling from Kutztown University. Megan has worked with Berks County Ch…

In this episode, Sonia speaks with Kai Miller, the Chief Creative Officer at Emerald One, an IT consulting company she co-owns. Kai's experience is extensive, including Chief of Staff of the Office of Information and Technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and various positions in leadership and outreach at both VA and NASA in additio…

In this episode, Sonia chats with Christopher Moonsammy, an electrical engineer with Trola Industries in York, Pennsylvania. Chris has an associates degree in political science, a bachelor's degree in Industrial Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Chris talks about his experience as an electrical engineer and discusses th…

Josue Matos has spent virtually his whole life in Reading, PA, first in Reading School District and then Albright College School of Professional Studies. As part of the capstone project required for graduation, he and his classmates were tasked with creating a business plan. One colleague mentioned that her son had just come back from California ra…

In this episode, Sonia sits down with Jenna Sychterz. Jenna is a graduate of RACC’s Respiratory Care Program. She is currently a Registered Respiratory Therapist and Registered Polysomnography Technician at Lancaster General Hospital. Plus, Jenna is an Adjunct Instructor at RACC. Learn more about being a non-traditional student at RACC and how RACC…