Michelle Ermatinger-Salas graduated from Thomas Jefferson in 2008. She was a three-sport Varsity athlete and awarded the Arete Award her senior year. She attended Ursinus College and designed her major: Renaissance Studies. During college, she volunteered with a local Fire Department while attending the Fire Academy and eventually worked as an Emergency Medical Technician. After 8years in public service, she left to focus on her health after a severe car accident. Currently, Michelle works as a Title I Paraprofessional in an elementary school and owns and operates her own business with the support of her significant other, and is expanding and rebranding that company. She still lives in Indiana with her fiancé, Brent, a Fire Marshal, and her stepdaughter, Ava. She is in regular communication with TJ alumni, including her best friends Ojoyi Agbo ('08), Rue Tsoka ('08), and Ravelle Lucero ('10)!
[00:00:00] Thomas Jefferson school or TJ in St. Louis, Missouri is a unique place, a boarding and day school with a small community of students from all over the world. Our mission asks us as educators to provide the strongest possible academic background. Our mission also asks our students to desire to lift up the world with beauty and intellect.
Our graduates go on to wonderful careers after TJ and this series intends to capture the stories of our alumni.
This week, we're going to talk to Michelle or meting or Salice or Michelle, E S as she goes by now, Michelle was a three sport athlete and eventually went on to win the award at TJ. The RFA award is celebrating excellence, both in the classroom and on the field or in the gym. I think if there's one thing you need to know about Michelle it's okay.
What she did in [00:01:00] college. She ended up creating her own major fittingly. That major was on Renaissance studies. And I think you'll see why I think that's fitting. I hope you enjoy the conversation. It was so fun to talk to Michelle.
Matthew Troutman: [00:01:15] Michelle, welcome to the conversation series.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:01:18] Thank you. I appreciate it.
Matthew Troutman: [00:01:20] And where are we? Where are we catching you this afternoon?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:01:24] So I am in seller's Burg, Indiana, close to Louisville, Kentucky, where I live with my fiance, my stepdaughter, and my zoo of animals, two dogs and two cats.
Matthew Troutman: [00:01:37] Oh, it's an active household.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:01:38] It is a very active household.
Matthew Troutman: [00:01:41] Wow. Managing to, to keep keep everybody under control in a pandemic. No less.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:01:46] Oh, yeah. It's it has been great. I will say that our communication skills are getting better, so, you know, we're just rolling with it.
Matthew Troutman: [00:01:55] absolutely. Well, let's step back and go back [00:02:00] a few years and talk a little bit about how did you find TJ? How did you learn about the school and what made you want to look into it further?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:02:08] Sure. Okay. So first off I had absolutely no idea what TJ was, where it was. We just happened upon it because my brother and I both were going to take our SSA Ts for. Being admitted to boarding schools.
So we didn't realize that TJ was a boarding school. So we went up there and we were about, and we lived in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. So it's about an hour and a half. So we went up there and actually DJ, Mr. Hasis was the Proctor. And so, you know how she is, she's wonderful. And she's like, well, where are you guys from?
And why are you taking this? Oh, well, TJ is a boarding and day school. And so between talking to her. It being one and a half [00:03:00] hours away and a beautiful campus. My brother and I were just kind of sold on it.
And so I applied and got in and then he followed close behind.
Matthew Troutman: [00:03:12] nice. And what, what year did you come in? What was it? Seventh grade or ninth grade?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:03:17] I came in eighth grade. My brother started in seventh, but I came in eighth grade. Yeah.
Matthew Troutman: [00:03:25] and were you a boarder the entire time?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:03:28] Yes. I was a five day boarder from. Eighth grade to 11th grade and then 12th grade, I was a seven-day boarder, but I did played sports at TJ. And then, you know, I had my good group of friends and I had a whole homestay family. So like, by the time I was ending 10th grade into 11th grade, we were basically already seven day boarders.
Matthew Troutman: [00:03:53] You mentioned sports and this probably is a good transition into your experience at TJ. What, what were the sports that you [00:04:00] played and what were some of the was there anything memorable, a good game, a good competition in any kind of learning or growth that you had during that time?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:04:08] Okay. Yes. So I was a three sport, varsity athlete. I played volleyball, basketball and soccer. I ended up captaining all of my sports. Mr. Roth might plead the fifth on this And I don't know if you've heard this story, but I learned a lot about constructive criticism, particularly from one tournament game.
When we were playing a team, I can't remember the team. He would know. But they were longer than us and faster than us, I would not say that they were better than us, but we just could not inbound the ball to even make a play.
Matthew Troutman: [00:04:45] Oh, yeah.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:04:46] Yeah. And so he's the coach, our coach at the time, and he's screaming at me from the sidelines to catch the ball. That is not helpful.
Matthew Troutman: [00:04:59] I'm sure you're [00:05:00] trying, right. It's
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:05:01] I was like, I am trying. So all I hear is Y E S because. My last name is . So you shortened it to S Y E S Y catch the ball, catch the ball. And I couldn't. So he called a time out to yell at me somewhere. And I yelled back and I will not repeat what I said because it was unsavory. And I was benched for it.
And we both had regrets that we had to discuss at a later point. We call it our dance because I was like, I don't care if you're yelling at me, but it has to be more constructive than catch the ball. Make a screen or do this or do that. That's fine. But if you're just yelling at me to catch the ball, that's not helpful.
And I will yell back at you. And we will both be unhappy.
Matthew Troutman: [00:05:57] Hopefully it was a learning experience for [00:06:00] both, with a better understanding that you're trying to catch the ball, but maybe the other team is trying to get in the way of doing that too. Maybe putting you on the spot a little bit of the three sports. So you, you did all three and you said you were a captain of all three.
Do you have a favorite
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:06:15] I love them all in different ways though. Soccer, I mean, soccer is just a good exercise and I was goalie and and I also played a forward, but I did not enjoy it as much as volleyball or basketball. Volleyball was just fun for me. Like I loved it. I loved throwing myself on the ground and trying to get those balls, but basketball, basketball is my sport.
But then at the same time, when I went to college, I didn't even really want anything to do with it.
Not because I hated it or was burned out. It was just that. Okay. That was my experience as a high schooler. Let me see what other things I CA I'm interested in, in college.
Matthew Troutman: [00:06:58] Yeah. Time to explore a [00:07:00] water polo or something else.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:07:01] Yes, yes. You know, getting involved in other things and finding my identity outside of being an athlete. Sports were super important to me at TJ. It gave me an outlet. I was very focused on obtaining and I did obtain the Eritay award.
Matthew Troutman: [00:07:20] Nice. Congratulations.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:07:22] Thank you. I'm still to this day, very proud of myself about that. Justin Lee was the male who won it. And it was fantastic and very helpful in my development, I think, as a high schooler.
Matthew Troutman: [00:07:35] Let's talk about your experience at, at school. Anything that's an important moment or something that stands out and then we can move.
The forward
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:07:44] sure. I mean, eighth and ninth grade. I'm going to just say we're awful, you know, it's you're transitioning to being a border. You miss your parents, you missed your family. [00:08:00] The schoolwork is super hard. I transitioned to Jane Roth as an adviser in ninth grade and she changed my life academically and emotionally. And she really pushed me to be the best version of me. And maybe it's because she's a mom, but she knew when to back off and to say, yes, I know that this is. A really tough transition because you're in ninth grade, of course you're going to miss your parents, but at the same time, she'd be like, but I need you to focus on this, or I need you to do this, or, okay, this is not working for you.
We're going to try this. Yes. And it took us about a year, about all of ninth grade year too. And in 10th grade, I would say to get a handle on my academic life. So like I even was on academic. Warning. But I [00:09:00] mean, by the end of my TJ career, I was getting into year honors.
Matthew Troutman: [00:09:03] nice.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:09:03] There are things to this day that she had, I may do that. I still do. Every day I'd have to go up to her office after lunch and we'd write out my schedule by hour and it got to the point where I was just doing that and then she would check it over, but I still do that.
, it was really rough, but 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, I really hit my stride. I enjoyed most of my classes except yeah.
For math. And I apologize. Yeah.
Matthew Troutman: [00:09:33] As a, as a former math teacher. Yeah, I won't hold it against them. .
That's it's interesting about the the, for lack of a better word, the onboarding because I think we have done a lot of work making sure that students, especially boarding students when they first come in have have kind of a support network. So I don't know if, if this system exists or a similar system existed back then, but we've, we've had different [00:10:00] on-campus Help or support systems from both students and adults.
Currently we have RAs who live on campus and, and most of our RAs are professionals in either current students or former students at the school of social work. And so I think it's just an extra layer of Essentially counselors that we have on, on campus thathave really tried to target particularly new students coming in to make sure that they're they're support.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:10:29] well, and I think when I, I guess it would probably be about 10th grade year, maybe it was ninth grade year. We started having RAs on campus, but I think we were still in that transitional phase of how do we see this role? I will say that we had a welcoming committee. When I was, and that included Henry ag clay mountain and Brian White, every single first day of school would pop in to every single dorm and say hi to people.
[00:11:00] They just did it. I think it was to not do homework, but so then when they graduated. Oh, joy ag, Bo myself and Rue soca. We took it upon ourselves to be the welcoming committee. And some of those seventh and eighth graders did not know what to do with that. They were like, why are these older upperclassmen coming into our brew?
And they're very outgoing and I just want to go home. when Henry and Brian and clay did that, It was so nice because in a white then you knew upperclassmen to speak to, like you knew like, Oh, I guess at the end of the day, if I need help, I could go see that person. Cause they said that I could, and I knew that they meant it.
Matthew Troutman: [00:11:45] That's, that's so
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:11:46] but I think it's
Matthew Troutman: [00:11:47] so powerful. That's so wonderful that they did that and that you kept the tradition.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:11:52] Oh, absolutely. I mean, once again, sorry Mrs. Roth, but it was probably because we didn't want to do our homework, but it was [00:12:00] fun because otherwise you're not gonna, I mean, and you know, by the time you get to be a senior, you're not having the interactions with the seventh graders.
So it was a way to have a connection. And also to be like, listen, we were in your exact same spot and it's going to be okay. So I think it's really wonderful that you guys have taken more of a really appropriate onboarding approach
Matthew Troutman: [00:12:23] yeah. In the one other system is we do have a boarding council. So these are student leaders who are voted in by other boarding council members to join and be an explicit group that is tasked with looking out for you.
Boarding students
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:12:39] That's awesome.
Matthew Troutman: [00:12:40] is strong. And it's, it's been wonderful so far because I think the S the students really feel value in taking that responsibility and feel that it's important and, you know, with any, with any school, but especially at TJ, if if you have buy-in from the students running it, then it's going to be a successful program.
[00:13:00] Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:12:59] absolutely. And it builds morale and it, like you said, it makes people feel valued and It leads to knowing that they can accomplish certain tasks and responsibilities as they push forward.
Matthew Troutman: [00:13:12] right. Yep. And that's that's I think the next step where it's evolving right now is to. The students are helping to develop the programs of what, what the needs of the community are. So, you know, we're, we're doing this now when we're recording this it's before our winter break. And during our winter break we're going to have boarding students on campus for the first time, as far as I know, it's the first time.
We've, I'm not sure about other ever seventy-five years is a long time. So there's, there's always. There's always a case that it might be true that they were here. But the boarding students and the boarding council members really were the ones who were in charge of setting all the activities talk about a, what they needed and who they wanted to participate in and why.
And how can we get everybody involved in this [00:14:00] activity? And it was really wonderful.
Let's step forward a little bit and talk about coming out of TJ and then what has been updates for everybody since graduation?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:14:10] I attended or sinus college, it's a small liberal arts college outside of Philadelphia. It is in colleges that change your lives, a hundred colleges that change lives. I will take a small step back to TJ just because. I graduated with kids with 18 kids.
And at the time that was the biggest number we'd ever had. And my class was super close. We had definitely a massive bubble around us and TJ is a bubble and I got to college and was a little lost. All of a sudden, you know, I've got a class of 500 and my school wasn't even that big. I mean, it was about 1600 kids in total. But, I mean, that's massive compared to TJ. There's, there's [00:15:00] social cliques and now there's Greek life and there's parties and there's four main romantic relationships. And as a kid coming out of TJ,I think it was just, we lived in a bubble and we kind of forgot about life though, those pieces of the life, because it was so focused on getting us academically ready for college. But the social aspect was a massive transition. And I think it's important for kiddos to realize when you move from TJ to college, wherever it is that you probably will fall on your butt for those social interactions.
And that it's okay. Because I think that was part of it is like, I felt like a failure in some circumstances. Because I was like, well, you know, ah, this would never have happened at TJ and obviously it's me, but it's like, well, I didn't really get set up for that. So I think it's important and I hope that through all the work that you guys are doing with alumns, that [00:16:00] students who transition can start to reach out to alumni, not just like, Oh, what was your major?
But also to be like, Hey, what's Greek life. once again, after a while I kind of found my foothold. I actually designed my own major in college. I was a Renaissance studies major.
Matthew Troutman: [00:16:21] Oh, it's so cool.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:16:22] I thank you. So, you know, reading two works of Shakespeare a year at TJ really sets it in your soul. So I went to UR or sinus actually to study Theater design stage to be a stage manager. And while they have a really excellent theater department, they don't have a great stage hand department.
And then I had a wonderful professor for two classes, Shakespeare, his name's Matt kazoo SKO. I think because of TJ, I felt comfortable with what was requested of me to obtain my own major, because he was like, [00:17:00] you'll need to interview with professors. You'll need to figure out courseload, you'll need to find out what courses are being offered.
And I didn't shy away from that. Cause I think academically, I was like, yeah, yeah, that makes sense. That's fine. I. Okay. Having conversations with my teachers, because I've been doing that for the last five years, that's all been on me. So I wrote up my list of classes I had to present. He had me write in that if I, if ever a Shakespeare play was performed on campus, I had to participate.
I.
Matthew Troutman: [00:17:37] Yeah.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:17:37] It really was. I got away from that by being a stage hand on the theater, because I was like, I don't want to say upfront. I presented at two conferences and then I had to create a capstone, a senior capstone project. So I, because the art history kind of melted in and I curated my own museum exhibition on campus.
Matthew Troutman: [00:17:59] it's so cool.
[00:18:00] Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:18:00] Thank you. And then I went a completely different route. So I started volunteering at the local fire department and I was like, this is what I want to do. So I went to the fire Academy while I was still at her sinus and started after graduation started focusing on being a public servant. So. I worked EMS and was hired as a career firefighter.
But in 2017, a really serious car accident took me out of public service. So, which is also interesting because I think that without TJ, I would have struggled a lot more with losing my career. Because that was the whole idea. Oh, I'm going to retire from public service. I'm going to retire as a firefighter.
Okay. Done set. My life is set and then eight years into it. It's like, [00:19:00] Nope. So I'm still figuring out what I want to do when I grow up,
Matthew Troutman: [00:19:05] aren't we all
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:19:06] but exactly. But at the same time through the support of my fiance and my friends and family. And also not totally being completely satisfied because of TJ. You know, TJ always kind of leaves you with this.
Like it's not done yet. I'm not finished yet. So I've been, you know, I've done this or that, but currently I work in an elementary school. I work in the title one department. So I help with. Interventions for kiddos who are considered low for their reading abilities. And also my fiance and I own and run a very successful small business.
So yeah,
Matthew Troutman: [00:19:54] Well, that's, I mean, it's such an injury. There's so much to dig into there. Yeah, exactly. [00:20:00] So it's it's struck me as very appropriate that your major was, was Renaissance or Renaissance studies because it ends up. Being in some ways, a commentary on, on your career trajectory and path and, and and everything since from then to now, I think it's just amazing.
What are some of the how did. As you were making transition from one to the other, what were some of the signposts to you or they, the notifications to you that this is, this is what I want to pursue. You know, w how did you know that you had a passion for public service and, and in a part of the fire department, for example,
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:20:41] Sure. There's a lot. I'll say. On a, just a plain career path in my mind, part of it was, I know that if I go to public service, I have a very finite amount of time to be hired. You have to be hired by the time [00:21:00] you're 35 and most places. And I was like, and I could always be a English professor or a museum curator after. Because a lot of those roles, especially the museum curators, which is more what I was leaning towards. Those are careers where that generation does it basically until they are way past retirement. And then by the time that next person comes around, they're already, you know, Nearing retirement, not all the time, but sometimes.
So that was one aspect. The other aspect was, you know, my uncle was a volunteer firefighter, so I've always known that that always interested me a little bit, but also just, yes, the root of it, a little bit of TJ and serving others. And I mean, we have that. Well, I mean, even the irritative ward, but we have a couple other year-end awards that [00:22:00] talk about, you know, putting service for others above yourself.
And I think it just kind of was always there. So in the back of my mind, and I was like, yeah, that makes sense. You know, if I'm not trying to make somebody's life better, it's not really, you know, what kind of life am I living?
Matthew Troutman: [00:22:19] Right. Yep. And it's, it's hard. I'd be curious. You know, a, a moment for me that occurred this year was in as we're building up towards the start of the year, of course, there's the questions of in-person or remote, and whether to have borders on campus, whether he felt it was safe. And at some point we we made the decision to, to go in person and Open up the campus.
And you know, that was hard. That was a difficult process to get there. But the moment, the first day, and we had our day students joined before our boarding students. The first day we had students on campus and we saw them in person [00:23:00] mast up socially distance safe as we were doing temperature checks in the morning.
You could immediately tell that this was the right call and that was the right decision. And I'm kind of curious, did you have, were there moments that stand out in that same way in your career, either with public service or even recently
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:23:22] You know, I would S I guess in public service, it would have been more aligned with EMS, you know I saw I worked on a convalescent truck primarily, so that more means that I worked with transporting patients from one facility to another. More often than not was dialysis patients. So patients who have lost their use of kidneys, and they're not able to function anymore as well as they could.
And you built this Rupp whore, [00:24:00] at least I did. I, I can say that some people did not, but I, you know, I was transporting the same people three days a week and you build this rapport. And then one day they're family members there. And, you know, it's the same thing that you always do. Hey, how are you? And you're joking around.
And then their family member turns to you and says, he talks about you all the time. You know, he he's got your phone number in his pocket and he keeps it every day because, you know, he says, That you're the only person that he would trust. And those are the moments that I'm like, wow. Okay. I am making a difference.
This is the right path. And then recently it would be like, I worked last year with special education. And I had a kiddo and I gave him a writing prompt about what his favorite class was. Well, he changed it. He decided he wanted to write about who his favorite teacher was. But his favorite teacher he said was [00:25:00] me because I was really nice and I made him work hard.
Matthew Troutman: [00:25:04] yeah. That's how you get them.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:25:07] And I w yeah. And I was like, wow, that's amazing. And so, yeah, I hung that up on my refrigerator for a while.
Matthew Troutman: [00:25:14] Right. That's
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:25:15] like, okay. Yeah. So,
Matthew Troutman: [00:25:18] I think every teacher I've asked around every teacher has that little, either secret drawer or something. Maybe it's just an inbox folder with, with the kind notes, just to pull out when necessary and in case of emergency break, the break, the glass in case of emergency.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:25:34] Exactly.
Matthew Troutman: [00:25:36] So You know, Michelle, it's clear.
It's very clear to me in this conversation that you're incredibly thoughtful and driven by values. And that take a lot of meaning in the actions in your actions each day. Soif you were to talk to a current sophomore what would you say to, to that person?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:25:57] I would actually probably give the same advice that Mr. [00:26:00] Roth gave me when I was a sophomore and yeah, exactly. Catch the ball. It was, I was in Maine and I was at the table and Maine. And I was just frustrated. I was just having a difficult time. It was first quarter and he was like, listen, if you can just make it to the end of sophomore year, if you can just dig in the rest is going to be downhill.
He said, you just have to dig it. And he goes, I know it's tough and it's okay to be upset and frustrated, but you have to figure out little ways every day to just be better. And so I said to myself every day, especially when it got tough, just dig in, just dig in, just dig in. And I hate to say that he was bright because by the end of sophomore year, it was easy.
I mean, my classes were still hard, but it was like, finally something just clicked and it just, every day was just easier. And I [00:27:00] guess that's the thing because you get to 10th grade year. Either you started as a ninth grader, or you started as a seventh grader in 10th grade year and you just reach that point of like, ah, like this isn't getting any easier or I just still don't understand.
Or maybe, you know, Mrs. Broth brought up a good point. Sometimes people just mess around up until their 10th grade year and like 10th grade year, it just. Just got to turn it around somehow. So for me it was just, it would be just dig in, you know, it's going to stink and that's okay. And you just give in to that and just, but be a little bit better every day, whether it's ask for help on your Orr that day, instead of just throwing it in the box and calling it yep.
Done. Or maybe it's studying for an extra five minutes.
Matthew Troutman: [00:27:56] right. And it's very powerful. I, [00:28:00] I would put that in front of. Any sophomore today, although our sophomore classes incredibly strong. So I think they're gonna do pretty well.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:28:10] Oh, I'm sure.
Matthew Troutman: [00:28:11] I'm going to move on to the rapid fire questions. What's your favorite TJ meal or a TJ dish.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:28:18] Highlight cookie break. I loved cookie break when it was actual cookie break. And then they took it away from us and gave us weird vanilla wafers because something about being healthy.
But.
Matthew Troutman: [00:28:28] are much better, but interesting.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:28:31] They were, but I tell you what, when finals came around, we stocked up on those real cookies. Cause they'd bring them out again.
Matthew Troutman: [00:28:37] Do you have a memorable teacher when you were a student? We've we've mentioned the Roth. So if.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:28:44] obviously the Ross, but then also DJ, I mean, yeah, she, she, I got a good, a pretty decent grade in chemistry because of her, but no, she she was great. She always broke things down. She always made it better. So yeah. [00:29:00]
Matthew Troutman: [00:29:00] Anybody who made an impact as you look back now, and this could be teacher or a student.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:29:06] Too many. I mean, besides the Ross and DJ, obviously I would say Jane Pesach I cried in her office too many times to count. She let me take chocolate from her office too many times than I can count. I mean, she just, I hope she knows how much she, she means to me, but she she really. She was great.
And then probably student-wise would be clay Melton. She was two years older than I was, but he kind of acted as a bigger brother. So I'm grateful for that. Yeah.
Matthew Troutman: [00:29:41] Is there anybody you'd like to apologize to.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:29:45] Oh, yeah. So many Mr. Rowe, we apologize that our calc class was not as on it as you really wanted us to be. [00:30:00] We, yeah, I'm sure he hated coming into our, our. Into his classroom every day, because we would just stare at him. Like that's funny, we have no idea. And then Mrs. Roth, we also as a whole, pretty sure I can speak for everybody that the 10th grade English class is very sorry that we disappointed you when we read the Torah and no one was prepared.
One day, she mom voiced us and told us that she was disappointed in us. And it was devastating. And then, then she made us write essays for about a month. One page essays for about a month.
Matthew Troutman: [00:30:37] Such a TJ punishment.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:30:39] Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So yeah, that, those would be my big apologies.
Matthew Troutman: [00:30:44] Do you have a favorite book from TJ? From the curriculum?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:30:48] The red tent. And I think Mrs. Roth taught that one, I think. And
Matthew Troutman: [00:30:55] 10th grade English course.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:30:57] yeah, that would probably be one of my favorites [00:31:00] because. We didn't read to kill a Mockingbird when I was there. Or I missed it, I guess. So I would have loved to have read that at TJ, but yeah, probably the red tent,
Matthew Troutman: [00:31:12] anything standing out recently that you've come across or read that you would want to pass along.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:31:19] Probably the things they carried by Tim O'Brien. I read that for the second time this year and that one's just Tim, O'Brien's a fantastic author. And it's his memoirs kind of roped into fiction about his time being drafted to Vietnam. So yeah, it was very good. Yeah.
Matthew Troutman: [00:31:43] What is the best dorm on campus and using one, one word. Describe Y.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:31:50] Oh, that's easy. It's Gables for sure. And that would be family.
Matthew Troutman: [00:31:55] Well, I have one final question and we've already touched on it a [00:32:00] lot. But to you, how do you live the mission of TJ by lifting up the world with beauty and intellect?
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:32:07] I think that the only way that I do that is by treating everybody with as much kindness and empathy as possible as being as supportive as possible, being an ally. And standing up for what's right. Even if I'm standing alone or with very few people and I'm giving back with what I know and what I'm knowledgeable about and being able to accept criticism or trying to be better.
Matthew Troutman: [00:32:47] All right, Michelle, it's been wonderful. Thank you for joining us this
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:32:51] Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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If you know, an alumna or alumnus who would be interested in participating in this conversation series or know somebody who should be, please reach out to me@mtroutmanattjs.org.
Michelle Ermatinger-Salas: [00:33:32] and I think it was the adrenaline's gone, we want to win this tournament. I also learned that you should not shout unsavory things, especially when the other teams are Christian schools. Because the whole gym went quiet and it was a tournament.
It was a tournament. So it was like three other teams were waiting and their parents and the ref was like, Oh, God, I don't. And so Mr. Roth just was like, you're [00:34:00] you're and I was like, Oh right. That's I understand.