Real Life Investing With Jason & Rachel Wagner
“Real Life Investing” with Jason and Rachel Wagner is a multifaceted podcast that blends insights from real estate, entrepreneurship, family life, and political discussions. Known for their candid and engaging style, the Wagner’s explore how their conservative values shape their approach to both business and life. They often discuss their personal journeys in real estate, offering practical tips on topics like how to buy a house or investment property while navigating a challenging housing market.
In addition to real estate, the show frequently delves into entrepreneurial lessons, highlighting the importance of mindset, perseverance, and staying focused on long-term goals. They are open about the challenges they’ve faced and provide valuable advice for anyone looking to head into entrepreneurship or seek the best version of themselves.
Dinner table conversations are central to the podcast. The Wagner’s discuss their experiences balancing various topics that families face, while often featuring guests who share similar journeys. Political conversations are explored from a conservative perspective, particularly when they touch on how these beliefs influence their business decisions and personal growth.
With a blend of relatable stories and expert advice, “Real Life Investing” is a show that appeals to a wide audience, from aspiring entrepreneurs and real estate investors, to those seeking inspiration in their personal lives.
Real Life Investing With Jason & Rachel Wagner
50. Unprecedented Times: The Perspective of Today's High Schooler With Kelly & Campbell
Join us for a fascinating conversation with two local high schoolers, Kelly and Campbell. From the Covid 19 Pandemic to political viewpoints, this discussion goes into the mindset of what it was like to be a teenager during unprecedented times.
Welcome back to another episode of the Real Life Investing Podcast with Jason and Rachel Wagner. We have the dynamic duo with us tonight Kelly and Campbell. The two of them come to us because they are trusted babysitters and it's actually like, as a new parent, it's really really hard to find good babysitters. You're just like so protective of your children. Then you're just like you know your children. Then you're just like you know how are we going to trust these high schoolers to you know, watch our kids and you guys are actually the first high schoolers we've ever hired, really oh for sure, yeah, that's my sister but yeah yeah and I mean I can't, I can't tell you enough, like you guys really set the example.
Jason Wagner:Um, I'm really impressed with like just who you are, as we've gotten to know you over the last few months, I guess.
Rachel Wagner:About a year. Oh, I guess about a year, yeah.
Jason Wagner:And so it's just been really fun to kind of get to know you guys. I know, and we wanted to have you come on because just with your stand-up character that you have, you also have just You're very interesting people and so we wanted to ask you just a few questions you get that a lot, oh good we were not afraid to speak your mind that's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, girls, welcome to the show and thanks for being here.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, yeah, we're excited all right, rach.
Jason Wagner:What's the first question for these two girls?
Rachel Wagner:okay. Well, I think we're gonna skip a little bit of the fluff, because my guess is we're going to get to it as we start getting into the questions. But you guys are at an interesting age because you went into high school right when the pandemic hit, and so unfortunately for you.
Rachel Wagner:you started a huge chapter of your life in a time that nobody else had ever really experienced. A huge chapter of your life in a time that nobody else had ever really experienced. And I know, kelly, you said to me the other day you're like gosh, I'm going away to college and I feel like I've only had three years of high school, like you guys kind of like got gypped.
Rachel Wagner:So I just want to kind of hear your perspective on what you were thinking and experiencing. When that all hit, like what was that year, like what you know, where was your mindset? I think initially everyone was kind of freaked out and then maybe hindsight now might be a little ticked off. Yeah, totally yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:I remember when COVID hit it was our eighth grade year. It was like the end of it. We were supposed to go to Washington DC and they were sending out all these emails like oh, the pandemic, Like we don't know if we're gonna be able to go to Washington DC. And then it was like, oh, the eighth grade dance and graduation and everything. And it was just like February and then March and then it was just like everything was shut down and we were like what is going on? And then everyone, they sent us home for like two weeks and then it was like your graduation is gonna be in a car.
Campbell / Kelly:Me and Kelly got in a car together and had to do a drive-by graduation for eighth grade and it was just like what is? Going on and I remember we were supposed to have a boat cruise and we were going to Six Flags, we had Washington DC and a bunch of stuff to look forward to and instead, when we went through that graduation, the parade thing that we had. They gave us a packet of lemonade and we're like when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Sorry, you couldn't get a graduation.
Campbell / Kelly:And actually I found it the other day when I was cleaning out my room and I was like, wow, this is sad. So it was just kind of a state of like what is going on? Like we didn't really know what was next. We didn't know what to expect for high school in the next three months, and it was just kind of like no one knew. Like our parents usually are like there to guide us, and even they were like we don't know either. Yeah, and it was weird because I feel like like a lot of parents had different opinions and like nobody really knew what was going on, especially in the beginning. So like we weren't really like going to each other's houses and we like couldn't drive anywhere. So we were kind of just like stuck. It was like you could go on a bike ride with your friends, but you can't come within six feet of them, and it was just like we didn't know what was next.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, so around here were things like opened or because we were in the city, so like I don't exactly know what it was like in this area.
Campbell / Kelly:I want not really. The first few months, definitely not, it was a lot of it was shut down. And then I think as summer came, it was some more things, especially outside, were open, but a lot of inside stuff was still a little bit weird. Yeah, like downtown Arlington got their whole outdoor thing on the streets when they closed the streets. That was new with.
Campbell / Kelly:COVID, which was cool. But no, I remember during the winter at some point like they kept changing like legislation, but like you needed a vax card to go into, like Chipotle yeah, so. I couldn't eat Chipotle for like a month because I did not have one of them. Yeah, we did not. Yeah, that was crazy. I'm trying to think with sports especially.
Rachel Wagner:It was that was we couldn't practice or anything like.
Campbell / Kelly:If we were practicing, it was like outside and we were doing like trainings. Yeah, I did dance online, which wasn't very fun I had like six classes like no. At my studio in delta arlington we had like zoom classes, so I was in my basement on my little dot of like marley floor doing ballet yeah, so did you have like a dance recital that year, or?
Campbell / Kelly:I think I don't. I think I had to submit like a video, like it was. It was weird, yeah, I never watched it, yeah, and then going back to school. Obviously we were online for at least half of that year and then.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, so that would have been your freshman year.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, freshman year, so you started freshman year online it was like orientation was online, yeah, and then we went hybrid in like October.
Campbell / Kelly:October to like mid-February, like March it was like groups could go yeah, they're like groups of three and you need. We still had to be social distance. We needed masks, like it was the whole thing, and then, like as soon as it was, like after spring break, it kind of felt way more normal. But we had like all the sports at once, like all the seasons were shortened, we had like spring football, spring football.
Campbell / Kelly:It was spring, but you needed to get a ticket to get to the game. Like not everyone could go because of like whatever.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:And if somebody like you were sitting by at school had COVID like you weren't allowed to go to school for two days, so, like the athletes, none of them went to school. Yeah. I don't know if I went until later in the year, like you had the option. They give you the option if you wanted to stay home or go to school, and I was. I was like liking that, I like could not? I like need to get out of my house. It was nice we didn't have to wake up till like 10.
Campbell / Kelly:And then it was like you went to like four classes because did we have block? We had block schedule.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:They implemented the block with COVID. We didn't have one initially, where it was four classes instead of eight and they were just longer.
Jason Wagner:Oh, wow. So that was a new thing, it was new, and then they've kept it up until it's still.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah they had to make it longer because our block schedule that we like were on for our four years of high school was, like, too short for like the state requirements how much curriculum did they lose? We lost like a thousand. We actually wrote a paper about this in class together. We actually wrote a paper about this in class together. We lost like a thousand something minutes of each class every year because our block was too short, so, like the AP classes, we had to cram in a lot of stuff. Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:Oh so that was the whole thing too, so this year they're starting earlier and ending later because they had to add more.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:For teachers to be able to actually teach.
Rachel Wagner:So that wasn't COVID related. That was just kind of like an error that existed before.
Campbell / Kelly:Well, I think it was because when they implemented the block schedule during COVID, I see, yeah, yeah, they didn't plan for it to keep going. They thought they were going to go back to eight period. So yeah, craziness, but yeah, lots of unknowns yeah, and just like that time in your life. I feel like it's such a big like transition oh yeah and you're just like I feel like me, we kind of were really independent from a young age, but it was just weird so this was mostly like freshman year that was really disrupted.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, sophomore year we were back in person full-time. Yeah, we had mass until like, oh my gosh, when was that? I don't even know it was I want to say it was in like january or february maybe 2022 like 2022. Yeah, it was crazy I remember me and kelly walking in the first day that the mandate was lifted and like we didn't have masks on and a lot of our classmates still didn't we were getting some looks yeah, we were good, yeah, that was we felt.
Rachel Wagner:So, okay, yeah, I want to go back.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, let's talk why were you the only two? I mean, I'm sure there were others but why did you guys kind of feel that defiance? I guess as soon as hey masks are off, you don't have to wear them.
Rachel Wagner:I wouldn't say defiance, I'd say confidence.
Jason Wagner:Yeah okay, sure, sure.
Campbell / Kelly:Well, I mean this might sound bad, but I feel like I didn't really wear my mask correctly by sophomore year, because I feel like kind of like we kind of understood what covid was and it wasn't really like that I mean like, not like threatened by it. Yeah, it wasn't like our demographic that needed like the concern, and I feel like it's just I, I really like I don't know about you're kind of the same way, but I'm very social and like I just feel like seeing reading someone's like facial, like expressions.
Campbell / Kelly:That's kind of part of being social and I feel like it's.
Campbell / Kelly:It was just like it took that away kind of to have a mask on, and it was just like we didn't need the mask really anymore like yeah, I had already had covid by then, so it was yeah and like, did both of you have covid? Uh, yeah, yeah I was sick so much I got mine, like I didn't get mine until like May of 2022, but we had gone on like different trips for lacrosse, for example like we went to Texas in November of 2021.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:We had a tournament in Dallas and, like, nobody wore a mask there. Like, it was just. So that kind of gave you the insight into, hey, as we get outside of our little shell here there's other people that are just walking around like it's right, you know a normal day, yeah and even in 2020, like I went to alabama in the summer, nobody had a mask on. And then I went to montana in 2020 and florida and nobody had a mask on. It was just very like.
Campbell / Kelly:It felt very like I feel like people were probably judging, just because their parents like told them, like oh, you still need to wear a mask, and like there was so much pressure. I feel like even the teachers were weird about it. But one teacher was like oh, she ripped it off yeah she ripped her mask off, but it was definitely. It was really interesting to see, like, who was keeping their masks on, who took them off, like what, yeah, we're doing and.
Campbell / Kelly:I know like I feel like our principal wanted us to all wear them. He was he's just yeah, he's very much like strict rule kind of person, but I feel like there's nothing they can do and so I. I can't remember why the mandate was lifted, I think it was. I remember vider, which the private school by us. They had a protest where all the kids just took their masks off and did I care?
Campbell / Kelly:yeah, two of my close friends like got kicked out. Their parents were like, don't wear masks to school. And they're like we don't want to wear masks to school. And they're, they got kicked out of school like at your guys's school or at vider, like they couldn't go to school for the day, they sent them home it was crazy yeah, but I think that sparked something and then it was just like from there on, the public school started yeah, I think the state lifted it.
Campbell / Kelly:february 2022 is what stands out my mind Cause that's when we got kicked out of swimming or when we got kicked out of daycare.
Jason Wagner:Yeah. So that's probably about getting kicked out of swimming. It's like a whole nother level of disobedience.
Rachel Wagner:We did yeah, cause we didn't have Vax cards. Oh, yeah, yeah. So I do actually want to go back to that since you dropped that nugget. So you guys had to have Vax cards to go downtown Arlington Heights, since you dropped that nugget.
Campbell / Kelly:So you guys had to have vax cards to go downtown Arlington Heights and you said you didn't. Yeah, I, it was like the winter and my parents were just like cause my uncle's a doctor and he's like was like nobody in our family should get the vaccine, like they want to say that they have all this research done, like I don't know, and he was just kind of advising my parents not to, and like I wasn't really in any sports at that point, like my brother got the one shot because he was in basketball.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, we had to for something I can't. I think it was basketball, yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:I never got it and my parents, like both, got it because, like, just like the one shot, because they thought they needed it, and then, I don't know, my parents just waited it out with me yeah my family.
Campbell / Kelly:We all did the one shot because we had to. It was either to travel somewhere or my sister to go back to school, like something. It was like you had to, otherwise, like we got something taken away from us and we never got anything after that, just because it wasn't necessary so did the school require anything for a while, or I don't think?
Campbell / Kelly:they were allowed to require something. But I think I want to say, if you got covid because usually it's like, oh, you can't go back to school for two weeks I want to say if you got COVID, because usually it's like, oh, you can't go back to school for two weeks. I want to say if you could go back in like five days or something. It was like something along the lines of that yeah, yeah, it was a mess.
Jason Wagner:It does sound like a mess. I mean, just what I'm gathering from you two is that there was kind of just talks amongst all of your friends that this was just kind of like look, we've lived through it and we're still fine. Yeah, we didn't feel threatened by it or anything. It was like a cold, yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:I mean, some of us had grandparents, Like our one friend's grandpa was really sick at that time. So obviously you had to be careful with certain people. But especially teenagers were healthy. We were fine.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, and so how are things now, I guess, as you go back to school and just any significant changes as you've kind of seen? More specifically, I guess it feels like that prior to COVID, I mean, you guys were still relatively young, eighth graders when COVID happened, but prior to COVID there probably wasn't. At least when Rachel and I went to school, we didn't really have like political opinions like at all. Like, honestly, I didn't know what a Democrat or a Republican was even when I was in college.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, like when I was 20, like when I was 21. He did not know the difference. It was crazy.
Jason Wagner:I didn't know a single thing.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah.
Jason Wagner:And you know, I just feel like politics is making it into youth like so much stronger than it was, you know when we were in school.
Rachel Wagner:Well, even your mention of the protests, I mean I can't think of any students protesting back like even in college, like I don't remember anybody doing anything like that.
Jason Wagner:So I guess the question is one do you kind of see that amongst your peers as kind of having more of some type of political opinion? Totally and where do you think that stemmed from?
Campbell / Kelly:I'd say we live through some big elections, like people obviously know trump, they obviously know biden, even hillary clinton. I feel like there's just been a lot of monumental elections where it's like, yeah, parents like have an opinion, but now it's like, oh, there's like social media presence. I feel like a lot of it is the social media presence just because like.
Campbell / Kelly:TikTok and Instagram and you're getting ads and like whatever. There's a lot of kids that have like kind of grasped onto that and ran with it. Like kind of how I feel about it is. I feel like I see it every day at school, like like, especially I want to say like more left, obviously, in like school systems, but I feel like it's just kind of a concept of like, of like division, like I feel like it divides kids, like yeah who cares?
Campbell / Kelly:like I get everyone has their own, like differing opinions, whatever. But like I feel like it's just kind of like a concept of like division, that it almost feels like a lot of like singling out. Like we actually went to a school prospect. It's called the white castle is what our nickname is, because our school is like extremely white and like european and like at any chance our school could get they would like try to single people out like who weren't like the average, like white kid, like I feel like it was very much like, oh, like I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:It kind of almost felt like the singling out of people and trying to like promote. Obviously you want to promote different like backgrounds and cultures, like that's awesome, but it's like almost felt like that kind of like divided people.
Campbell / Kelly:Like putting someone else on a pedestal. Like, yeah, I want to say the one example I think of is football games. We had themes for it and one of our themes was USA. And you would think like, oh, that means like we can like, promote, like our country and like whatever they made it very clear like you cannot bring any politics into this, like if there's anything Trump, anything Biden.
Rachel Wagner:No American flags. No American flags. Which is crazy. You couldn't have American flags. No.
Campbell / Kelly:You could wear one, but you couldn't like bring any props or anything. No-transcript. I feel like there's a way for everyone to like coexist and like go live in a high school community together, even if you have like extremely different opinions, and I feel like we weren't really shown how that is possible.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I can't really think of a class that we really discuss politics in, government classes not really. I feel like maybe I'd say English, yeah, english teachers. There's like a I don't even know what to call it like a stereotype. I guess that English teachers all lean left, so like when you're writing a paper, you have to kind of go in that mindset.
Jason Wagner:Really there's a stereotype, yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, not our sophomore English teacher, but definitely my junior year English teacher. He had like a pride flag and everything in his classroom, so it was very much. So like you can't really I don't know. So like you, you can't really I don't know.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah. So do you think that that like culture of like division or feeling like you can't really like speak your opinion to that exist like in middle school or maybe prior to COVID?
Campbell / Kelly:or it's hard to say, because I feel like even middle school we didn't really know what was going on.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, really.
Campbell / Kelly:I know when like the whole Trump versus Hillary election was going on. Yeah, really, I know when like the whole trump versus hillary election was going on. I feel like that. I vividly remember like teachers talking about it, but I don't really think kids had opinions really back then. I have a memory actually from fifth grade. It was like after the election what year was that? 2016? Yeah, yeah, and my teacher was like was like all them? The teacher was so upset Like nobody talked about last night, Like nobody's allowed to talk about the election today. We're all upset Like nobody talked about it. And I feel like even in elementary school, like they were, like our teachers were very like anti-Trump in elementary school and like I remember they would be like nobody talked, like they would not, like they would. They would kind of make Trump look like a villain when we were like little and I'm like I don't even know, Like yeah, I don't even know my dad watches a celebrity apprentice Like I don't even know who this is.
Campbell / Kelly:Like yeah.
Rachel Wagner:I was just lost.
Campbell / Kelly:I don't know I feel like public school versus private school is very different because I know the kids that buy you were like your parents were thinking of sending. Yeah, if I didn school I would have gone to the saint vider. I actually had the choice to go, but there's a lot like because of the free, I feel like it's more free because the parents kind of run it run it.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, those are interesting thoughts so you mentioned one of your teachers has a pride flag in their class so that's another thing. That's kind of been a big shift, I feel like within the last five years or so yeah even longer, but I think definitely within the last five years it's been something that's been a lot more talked about and present in youth. I share a little bit about, like what it's, how often it comes up and.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like, honestly, I don't, really I don't. I feel like when we were younger, like I didn't really know much about like the LGBTQ community, like my cousin is gay, like I have multiple gay family members, like it's kind of just like it is what it is. But I feel like more recent years it's been popping up more and I feel like they've been kind of associating like. I feel like they put like gay and trans and all of that in like one department, which I feel like it's not really all that like it's different, like it's, I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like they put everything in one, like that one. What's that? One flag with all the colors, like I.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, with the little like triangle thing, I think that's all of them Like.
Campbell / Kelly:that's what represents.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, all of it.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, that stuff I feel like I don't really know much about and I feel like they don't really In school. I mean it's funny because if, like, a teacher was flying like a trump flag or anything like that, like it would be a whole different story. But a pride flag is kind of more accepted by public schools yeah, and even like our fourth grade teacher. He was gay and when we were younger like he, none of us knew that he was gay like he wouldn't tell us he didn't wear.
Campbell / Kelly:He was like oh, I just have a really good, like a really good friend, like we didn't, because we didn't understand what that was when we were younger and I don't know what he does if he tells his students that now, because I feel like it's more, more normalized now than it was then I do see things in the news. So we're like they're like implementing, like all the like you to lgbtq stuff in schools and like young schools and like teaching kids what it is from like yeah and I feel like that's confusing because you don't, you don't?
Campbell / Kelly:I mean, like it's good to like, obviously, like, oh, my cousin's gay, like I know that, like I don't know.
Jason Wagner:But I feel like when I'm younger, if I'm being taught that in school, like I, yeah, I feel like there's a certain I feel like you can't, you shouldn't talk about like sexuality and stuff with like children until you're like in middle school I think that should come from family yeah, so were you guys kind of taught anything as you were in your classes, or was it talked about, as all of a sudden, you know it's a little bit more out there and people are hanging flags in the classroom?
Campbell / Kelly:I mean our school.
Campbell / Kelly:Like motto, I guess, is like every night is important Every night is included, every night is included, and I feel like they touch on that a little bit when we're like in assemblies and stuff like that, like they don't really every night, every night is included because we're like the nights you're the night, okay, like every person, yeah um, I feel like they don't like necessarily want to say it out loud, but I feel like they kind of hint at, like those groups of people that are in schools and they're just like no bullying and stuff like yeah, like I feel like they don't really like they don't really do a good job, like I feel like they want everyone to feel safe and included, which is great, but I feel like they do a lot of like singling out.
Campbell / Kelly:They're like oh, we have, like, our ebony club, we have our, yeah, lgbtq plus club, like, and I feel like I feel like it's not I don't know. It's kind of like I don't know how to explain it. It's just like I feel like they make it the division.
Campbell / Kelly:Like the way that they like talk about these groups kind of makes it seem like, oh, like they're different than us, when I feel like everyone is kind of the same, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, I feel like for the most part they don't really touch on it, and maybe in health class, but besides that, so you, guys didn't have like any like lessons specific to like different types of pronouns and what they mean.
Rachel Wagner:No, that's except. Okay, that was never really like a thing one year.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like junior year they might have like yeah, junior year like when you were going around in your class like on the first day they were like okay, like say, your pronouns say like one fun fact about you like what middle school you went to.
Campbell / Kelly:That was really like when I got asked that I got, I got that. I got asked that this year, senior year, in my second semester, like what are your pronouns? I was like like she, her, like I don't know. I just didn't really feel like that was very significant, I don't know. I remember on zoom, though, they made you put your pronouns and some of the kids would like make up, make up names. One of them was like helicopter, like fire something.
Rachel Wagner:I don't know, it was like some, that whole concept was weird like very weird, like not weird, just different, I guess.
Campbell / Kelly:I don't know. I we just I don't know. I feel like that was very sudden. Some kids definitely make it more of a joke and I feel like that like did not make our faculty happy.
Jason Wagner:Yeah were you like it's obvious? Yeah, I'm like, why do I have to tell this to you?
Campbell / Kelly:remember someone being like what do I look like? Yeah, like they like kind of snap back yeah I mean, I, I guess if you're like somebody who's trans or somebody that's doesn't know like, if doesn't really I don't know who wants to it to be known like. If they're a girl or a boy, like okay by all means, but I feel like an average person that shouldn't have like say their pronouns there's definitely some kids at our school where I'm not sure if it's a girl or a boy.
Rachel Wagner:So like I, get that.
Campbell / Kelly:But it's like, why does everyone have to like, do that? I feel like it's kind of weird that we all have to like say Because of the handful that you know. Because that's like another thing of what I mean to being like divided. It's like, oh, these people, like they're they they don't. Yeah, there's one in every like. Yeah, there's like one in every. Like a hundred students. There's somebody that's like like that, like I don't know questioning their gender or something, but it's like why does everyone have to like you?
Campbell / Kelly:know address their pronouns Like cause it's like you, we want inclusion and we want everyone to feel like comfortable. But I feel like that is just kind of like. Obviously people are making like kids are making jokes out of it.
Jason Wagner:I feel like it's just not a way to like it's. It seems like from what you were kind of saying before, is it might've been blind before because it wasn't called out. But the moment that everything gets called out now all of a sudden you're like oh, look at over there. Oh, look at over here. Oh, look at over there. Now I have differing opinions about you.
Campbell / Kelly:Know the pronoun use yeah, it's almost like a sensitive topic that trans person may have been there their entire lives and that you interacted with them exactly.
Jason Wagner:But now, all of a sudden, they have a specific designation now that's forced on everybody right, which you either like or you don't like, and in this case you know some of the kids in your classes were making fun of it and like coming up with their own pronouns and stuff. It just seems like once you start calling it out, yeah that's where the division comes from exactly that's so like when rachel and I were growing up, I was friends with everybody.
Jason Wagner:My senior year we literally had we would have. We call them keggers in the forest or what would they call them Woodstock. It was called Woodstock, that's what it was, and we would invite literally every single person that was in our high school class.
Jason Wagner:It didn't matter who they were, because it was just like hey, we're all seniors. And if you know cool juniors too, like, bring them Like. This is just a party of everybody yeah, yeah and that was just like the most fun time ever. But it's it's hard to imagine that something like that maybe happens now, where you're inviting your entire grade to something because probably not yeah, I mean I went to a smaller school, right, but not that.
Jason Wagner:I mean we had about 800 kids in our high school, so it wasn't that small, but at the same time, you know we were all inclusive because we never talked about that stuff, right?
Campbell / Kelly:yeah and now people are so sensitive about every little thing, it feels like I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, it's weird, like actually one of my our good friends he's gay, his name's actually, I'm not gonna name drop him but we have a friend who's gay and he like can't stand when he gets like grouped, like he's gay, great, like we love him, but it's like he doesn't like getting grouped in and singled out like he like does not like that. He's like, yeah, and I'm not sure where that like transition came from, because in middle school even that wasn't really a thing, but once high school started it felt like it was a lot more talked about. Yeah, like our friend he'll be like. Yeah, like he'll say that he feels like at school, like the little group and like the gay kids with, like the people that their pronouns are like Zay, zare, like, and people don't know what that means and like that's like what I feel like kids like make fun of that because they don't understand. It's like a lack of understanding, but also it's like why do we need to call everything out?
Rachel Wagner:Yeah.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, I'm sorry, zay, zay, yeah, yeah, how do you spell?
Campbell / Kelly:that. It's like with an X and a Z, I don't know. There's lots. It's just like pronouns other than she, her and he, him. There's a lot of pronouns. It's confusing.
Jason Wagner:See, yeah, I mean that just makes your and yeah, wow, you can have a lot of different just thoughts on like, why does that even exist? Or you know what I mean well, fascinating, okay, so so that's there. Do you guys know a lot of like? Does it feel like that there's more and more like trans people that are coming into your?
Campbell / Kelly:it's crazy because like, yeah, there's some kids where, like we grew up with them and we've known them since like elementary school, and it's like now I can't even recognize them. And yeah, it's. I don't know. I feel like it's growing because like it's more accepted, which like sure, like do what you want, but it's kind of like at school. I don't know if we should be like promoting that and like making it. I don't know, is it promoted?
Jason Wagner:at school. Um, there's like clubs and stuff. I feel like I don't know if we should be like promoting that and like making it. I don't know, is it promoted at school?
Campbell / Kelly:There's like clubs and stuff. I feel like I don't know.
Jason Wagner:So there's clubs. Have you gone to one of those clubs?
Campbell / Kelly:No, I haven't no.
Jason Wagner:Like, do you think like a straight person who like just wants to go just to kind of see what it's all about?
Campbell / Kelly:No, like they would not be welcome there. I feel like really, yeah, yeah, because that's that's what I mean like it's like division, like oh, single these people out, like, put them on a pedestal, like it's like, and then everyone else just kind of like that's why there's so much division under school, because we're just like, okay, why do these people deserve special treatment? Like okay, great, like you're gay or you're trans, okay, okay, that's your like. I feel like that's your like that's your information.
Campbell / Kelly:If they want to like put it out there, go ahead. But it feels like the school kind of like forces it out Is doing it for them in a way. I don't know. Oh, we're so inclusive, we're so this Like, and I feel like, at our assemblies, have like all sorts of like diversity, which is obviously diversity is like great, but it's just like why do people need special treatment? You know what I mean.
Rachel Wagner:That sounds bad, but it's like share what you want to share, you know yeah yeah, yeah, I mean, there's something unique about everybody, right, and so we're kind of like picking and choosing certain things about people to make it on a pedestal, like you said which is just kind of bizarre and makes it, I think, a little more uncomfortable for everybody.
Jason Wagner:Totally has anyone ever come up to you and said you're only saying this stuff because you have white privilege?
Campbell / Kelly:um, I've definitely been told that before, but religion's class, not like.
Rachel Wagner:So yeah, not, religion we have. Oh, you have religion. Oh crazy class in high school we have like.
Campbell / Kelly:We have like we have a very cool teacher. He, like, went to harvard divinity he's our neighbor yeah, he's our neighbor, we love him.
Campbell / Kelly:He like took like a year off to take it a sabbatical to harvard and he's like very cool, like has his own like course and it's been at the school for a while now. It's like one of the only world religions classes that high schools teach and it's like dual credit. Now it's like one of the only world religions classes that high schools teach and it's like dual credit. So it's like a college, it's like college credit, whatever. So in these classes it's definitely a wide variety of people and he like makes it very like adamant that like you share your opinion and whatever. Like he wants you to feel comfortable in this space and I feel like kelly's had like more of some obstacles. I don't know I have yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:well, our like our religions class is like we learned about like pretty not all the religions, but like the main ones, and then like obviously our teacher can't give us like his opinion on them, but he just is like here's information, like yeah, but that class opens up a lot of like conversations and I feel like there's been a weird push of like anti-Christianity in schools as well, cause like you notice that.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I just feel like I mean I grew up going to like religions, like religious ed, every Tuesday for like eight years of my life and I just feel like people like, like, even like I feel like they didn't they change, like I don't even know what I'm saying, but I just feel like it's very like, oh, don't bring up religion, don't bring like I don't know. And like people like won't stand up for the pledge of allegiance or they won't say under god, like when they say it, and I'm like like in class, when you guys say the pledge, yeah, people won't stand on purpose yeah, people.
Campbell / Kelly:I did notice that after covid happened, it felt like there was a lot more people that were sitting for the pledge or the national anthem do, you, do, you still say the pledge in high school yeah, yeah oh, you do every day. Yes, every morning I mean every morning, most mornings sometimes they won't have? Yeah, I don't know, it depends. It's hard with the block schedule because some kids aren't in classes like when it happened so, but I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:In the religions class it was like he would open the floor and people would like have arguments with each other back and forth yeah and it was honestly I like love that class, like that was one of my favorite classes at prospect, just because he like made it normalized to like argue with people yeah, argue with people and like have different opinions, which I liked a lot, because I feel like people are so scared nowadays to like argue and talk to people who have different opinions than them.
Campbell / Kelly:So it was kind of nice like hearing I like didn't really participate a lot, but it was nice like hearing my classmates like go back and forth with each other, especially about religion, cause I feel like that's like so fascinating Like a lot of people have different backgrounds and stuff. So, yeah, our teacher would put a huge like emphasis our religions teacher on how like people are too scared to like argue and like challenge someone, because I feel like we kind of especially in the last like since covid, like it's just like cancel culture, I guess for lack of a better word like just watching.
Jason Wagner:Does that exist at your school? Yeah, definitely, you think it does I feel like it does.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I feel I feel like just you just have to like watch what you say, like I does. I feel like it does. Yeah, I feel I feel like, doesn't you just have to like watch what you say? Like I mean, I feel like I don't have? Kelly did wear a trump shirt to the football game and got some looks I did, yeah, yeah but.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like religion kind of ties in with politics, because if you're like a christian person like you might like be more to the right and whatever if you're like there's been a lot more people that I feel like have been. What's the word? Right meaning no, when you don't believe in god atheist yeah there's a lot more atheists at our school. I feel like like people who grew up christian are now atheists and I feel just, I feel like that's like are they outward facing on that?
Campbell / Kelly:yeah, some people like, made it very obvious like I feel like that.
Jason Wagner:How do they, how do they make it obvious, like in religions like yeah, it's mainly.
Campbell / Kelly:Oh, I have an example like a girl that I would sit with that religion. She was saying she was complaining that she was saying like she said like god, like yeah, she used like lord's name in vain and she, her teacher, was like don't say that, like we don't say that at school. And she was like I'm an atheist, like arguing with her teacher and she was ranting to her religion teacher about how she should be allowed to say whatever she wants and all of this and how, like she doesn't believe in god so she should be like whatever she's, like, I can say what I want. Kind of sassing the teacher and I was just like I mean, that was like for me I wasn't like offended, but I'm like I'm pretty Christian person and I was just like okay, but that's kind of like I feel like it goes both ways. Like you know, like there's like that girl is like the same kind of person that will say like she's white privilege and like she has white privilege and all of this.
Campbell / Kelly:But I'm like, but then like suddenly, like she doesn't want people to say certain things, but then when she doesn't want to be told not to say like I don't know, I feel like it just goes both ways and I don't know. I feel like there's just I don't. I feel like it's more normalized not to be like religious at school, which is kind of weird. But I feel like we grew up and everyone was kind of just like on the same page and now I feel like there's a lot more yeah, and maybe that's just because we're older, yeah, and we have our own opinions more, but I don't know.
Jason Wagner:Again, just trying to relate it to when we were in high school, I never had any opinions this strongly about things like you, just didn't. You just I don't know. I was the classic jock, you know, played football, basketball, hung out with you know, called the popular kids or whatever. But, again, like you know, we didn't have opinions about this stuff yeah and so it's just did you rage?
Jason Wagner:yeah, you did yeah, because I talked about politics at home all the time okay oh well, and maybe that, maybe that's where it stems from, obviously, because I mean, kelly, you wore a trump shirt to school, not to school to a football game, and it wasn't.
Campbell / Kelly:It wasn't a different it was an away game but I literally did that because I just thought it was like I kind of did it to be like petty because they were being so like red, white and blue themes, like, and I'm like we can't even have an american flag, like I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:And wasn't there something at rolling meadows that happened where, like kids were, they were planning on? Oh sorry, I think kids were like planning to go behind their administrations back and like, like do a usa theme. And there was a teacher that got like fired. She got, and yeah, because she was saying you guys can't like she was if you do that she was you won't be able to go to games yeah, and she's like, if you do that, wasn't she saying that they were like racist if they were american, like they were?
Campbell / Kelly:she said some crazy stuff and the kids yeah, and kids like they were saying that the american flags was racist and then kids out of the teacher and the teacher got in a lot of trouble and had to do like she did get fired, yeah and she had to do like a whole, like she went to court, I think it was like a whole district apology, rival high school?
Campbell / Kelly:yes, okay a whole district apology for what she said. Just because the kids were wanted to do a usa themed football game, which you wouldn't think would be that problematic. But I'm just like, yeah, I just don't know when everyone got so sensitive. Well, it happened.
Jason Wagner:It happened in 2020 and but maybe, maybe 2016 started some of it.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I think it certainly started totally, I think, all that time people had on social media and then all the events that just were so divisive social media is definitely a has such a big impact on the way that I feel like a lot of the kids are each thing because that's where they get all their information from and it's like if you're on this side of tiktok or the other side of tiktok, I don't know is that what you guys use?
Rachel Wagner:I'm just gonna say what are the social medias that you guys use I would say tiktok's a big one for sure snapchat isn't really like they don't really get information instagram, yeah, I don't know twitter like a little bit, but I feel like not really for kids our age.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like that's like an older crowd and they use twitter for, like, high school sports yeah, yeah yeah, but I would say tiktok is a big one because there's so much information on there that people will like even both sides. I feel like yeah, yeah, for sure we never got on tiktok I did for like a week.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, I made that video I never got on it because you told me that china was gonna steal all my information.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, I deleted it right after trump said that.
Jason Wagner:Yeah and I still won't download it, because, because that is a thing. But yeah, actually, I think trump said that he's gonna keep it if he does, yeah, yeah it was almost banned at one point. I remember it started to get shut down. No, it's so addicting because it knows everything that you're interested in.
Campbell / Kelly:Actually, I deleted it for Lent because I was on it too much.
Rachel Wagner:That's a good thing to do, yeah.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, no, I have an addiction to it too.
Rachel Wagner:Not TikTok, just social media, just social media.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, I totally do. I post very regularly, you know, at least once a day.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah.
Jason Wagner:And I tell myself this I'm like it's different because I'm posting it's not.
Rachel Wagner:It's not any different, it's just an addiction.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, that we need to cure somehow.
Rachel Wagner:Let's move into politics, because today or not today this year is an election year yeah. And the first one you guys are gonna be able to vote in.
Campbell / Kelly:I know that's so crazy. Yeah, yeah, I know it's wild.
Rachel Wagner:What's my question?
Jason Wagner:what's your question? Oh well, I mean we. It's very obvious, kelly is voting for trump kelly will be voting for you, I will be.
Rachel Wagner:So I guess, like, why, like you're, you're 18, you're going into college, like for. From your perspective, what are the biggest issues and what like? Why, like you're, you're 18, you're going into college, like for. From your perspective, what are the biggest issues and what are? Why are you voting for trump?
Campbell / Kelly:okay. So I obviously grew up in a christian household, which has like influence on me, but my biggest thing was, like I believe I believe that the government like should have limited control of my life. I think that I should be able to think what I want, do like, say what I want. I don't want people and like I don't want politics in my like social decisions, like I just I don't believe in that also just being interested in like economics and finance, like what I want to do, I like believe in limited government control and businesses and stuff like definitely very like pro-capitalism and I feel like what I do socially and like what I like believe about, like my religion, like I don't want the government to tell me what to do with my like, with my like religion, with what I believe with my family, like I don't need people, like I mean obviously like I'm a straight person, but like I don't want people I don't want. Like my government, like the government involved in my sexuality, like I don't.
Campbell / Kelly:I just believe in limited government control. I want to be able to live my life and like do what I want Like I feel like the U? S was founded on. This is a. This is like you can have the American dream, like you can do what you yeah, you can do what you want and like build the life for yourself. And I feel like when the government is involved too much, it just takes away from like that initial, like foundation of our country and that what I believe. So that's why I will be voting for donald trump okay, that was an exceptional answer yeah, great campbell you have to follow that one up.
Campbell / Kelly:Um, I don't know. I feel like my parents have always just been like you guys can like form your own opinions for yourself, like they don't really influence like anything with regards to politics. I mean, my dad works in pop like policy, so he's like very he like educates himself a lot on that and like he'll give me and Kelly some like speeches and stuff. So I feel like I'm kind of like in the middle, like there's some policies that I agree with on the left, some on the right, but at the end of the day it feels like the left is kind of trying to control, like Kelly said, like they're kind of kind of trying to control our lives a little bit too much. So I feel like I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:If Biden was still running, I would definitely vote for Trump, just because they're not even on the same level. But I'm not really sure yet for November.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think a lot of people are in a position of feeling like they can agree with policies on both sides of the table Right and you just have to choose which are of most priority to you, right.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like we're still young enough where it doesn't really directly impact us a lot, but like further down the road, like when we have families and like kids and stuff and jobs, obviously that will be more interesting.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah. I agree and like kids and stuff and jobs. Obviously that will be more interesting. Yeah, I agree. So you're voting for trump. You're undecided, and yet you guys are still great friends, yeah yeah, yeah, you definitely have.
Campbell / Kelly:I definitely have friends like all over the place yeah I would say, like I would say, none of my friends are super liberal at all no, we don't have super liberal friends but I feel like you're the one that definitely has the most political opinion out of our friends. Yeah, like, yeah, our friend group and like even my friends at other schools, like my friends that go to St Vider, like they're like even more like conservative than I am. I'd say it just kind of depends. But I feel like when we're this young, um, like it's not a big discussion, like it doesn't really um impact, like our friendships, like there's definitely some people that like who are more left-leaning, that like we're still friends with, just because, like it doesn't really change necessarily how I view them.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, like, if you're a good person, you're a good person right and that's why I feel like schools have done a bad job at like making, like division and like promoting things.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:I don't know. I feel like there's definitely some people that like wouldn't be friends with us just because of, like, the way that we think and stuff. But like I feel like our mindset has never been like, oh, this person is voting for Biden. Like we can't be friends with them? Yeah, not at all. Yeah, and I, like I have my whole family, extended family is like. Some of them are very liberal, some of them are very conservative. It's just. It's you gotta learn to like love people for who they are, not what they vote for.
Jason Wagner:So so it politics was very talked about, is talked about in your home a lot mostly just my dad but oh, yeah, okay yeah not so much of mine, it's just.
Campbell / Kelly:I mean, obviously, with the election coming up, it's been talked about more, but like it doesn't really like my parents have never tried to like pressure us to feel a certain way okay, so mostly from your dad, but then all the other conversations, like it seems like it's amongst your peers, then like you guys are actively talking about it for sure.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I'm saying that same thing, yeah I feel, like I didn't really form my political opinions until like I was in high school and I saw the way that like I mean I started watching the news, like obviously all sorts of news, because I can't you can't really like trust one. But I started like kind of keeping up, like staying up to date on things that were going on and just like seeing like the way our school like talked about stuff and just I guess, like the more I learned about like policy and like economics, like I was like okay, like I'm definitely more like right-leaning when it comes to like not social issues, but just like in general. But then like I feel like the more that I see, the more like. The more that I see like politics in my day-to-day life, the more like right to the right I lean yeah, I guess.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like we still have a lot to learn, though, too yeah, for sure. I feel like, yeah, like we know like a lot of like the stuff that's mainstream like talked about, but I feel like there's like a lot of things that, like we'd still don't know. So it'll be interesting.
Jason Wagner:Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:And like college cause, I'm political science major That'll be interesting and just seeing like the behind the scenes of kind of everything.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, yeah. So what do you think is going to help you make a decision as we kind of get closer to the election?
Campbell / Kelly:I want to see a debate. I feel like that would be interesting. Yeah, that would be funny, I don't know. I feel like I do need to educate myself a little bit more.
Jason Wagner:What do you like about Kamala?
Campbell / Kelly:I don't know. I feel like she's obviously a lot more like a person than I don't know if that makes sense, but like she's like more out there, Like she, I don't know, I feel like I'm not like educated enough to answer that.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, and that's a totally fair, fair response.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah.
Jason Wagner:That's a totally fair response. It sounds like you kind of want to just like get to know her more.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I don't know much about her, honestly.
Rachel Wagner:So where do you think is the best place for you to get that information in today's world? Like how do you think you're gonna educate yourself to?
Campbell / Kelly:feel confident. That's hard because a lot of places are biased now, so it's like hard to find it's amazing that you guys are even like talking about that, like that.
Jason Wagner:You know that yeah, yeah, it's hard, I don't know because I'll tell you this a lot of like the boomer parents that we have, or just like the boomer generation. Yeah, they probably don't know that yeah and they just well.
Campbell / Kelly:This is where I've been getting my news for my entire life exactly and you know it's gospel I feel like what I kind of understood was like I feel like you have to figure out what you value and what you like, like what you want, in your life in the country that you live in. I feel like you have to figure out what you value and what you like, like what you want, in your life in the country that you live in, and I feel like you have to take that and translate it into like what, like who you want to vote for. I guess, I mean, it's still hard to find like sources that aren't biased, but I feel like you just have to know what you value before you can decide what who you want to run your country yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a good tip.
Rachel Wagner:So, kemba, you said you're studying political science. Yeah, what are what? Are you still like?
Campbell / Kelly:finance, finance and what do you guys? Both want to do with that I think I want to work in either like private equity or just be like like a financial, like advisor maybe, and then I don't know, I'm looking into maybe investment banking, but that's a maybe, depending if I can get into the workshop at at school. But we'll see I want to go to law school after my four years at Illinois, so not sure what law I want to go into, but something attorney lawyer based Nice.
Jason Wagner:Do you know an attorney right now that you're kind of close with?
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, my sister's mom works for a big firm and then my dad knows like a lot of the people in like the corporate world. So yeah, Cool.
Jason Wagner:Are you guys excited for college or you think anything is going to like your experience in high school. You think it's going to be different. And when you go to college, in terms of just the interactions with people and like, obviously your experience is going to be wildly different.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, we're both going to big 10 schools, which is interesting because I like indiana and illinois are not really similar at all but there's like 55 000 people that go to illinois, so it's a very wide variety. I feel like you socialize with the people you want to socialize with and your class sizes are so big where it's not like you're going to be interacting with as many people. But overall I feel like illinois gives like lots of opportunities to do like what you want as a student.
Jason Wagner:For sure yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I feel like I'm excited because I'm going to Indiana, obviously, and it's a very like national school. There's a ton of East and West Coast kids Like. I feel like there's like a lot of people from all over where I can like hear their like diversing opinions and all that?
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, that'll be interesting yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:I initially, like, wanted to go to a smaller school and I was going to go to smu southern methodist in dallas, texas, and like I was basically gonna go there, and then I went back to indiana and I was like wait, like because that's the small school, it's like 6 000 students and it's not like everyone's kind of the same there, like I, not necessarily, but like I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:I kind of wanted more of like a national, like a, more of like I, I value like diverse groups and just hearing different people's opinions, even if I don't agree with them. So I wanted to go to a school where I could like feel that and just obviously the business school, kelly school, business. I wanted to like be able to experience that and like a group, people from all over the country.
Jason Wagner:So does it not make you mad when somebody else doesn't agree with you or like does that, like? No, like I?
Campbell / Kelly:definitely like I can, I like you know I like will shake my head I mean if somebody is actively picking an argument with me like that's yeah, that's not fun. Yeah, I feel like we're both pretty mature, though we're like yeah we've learned to like accept yeah those opinions rather than just like fight them. Yeah, but if somebody is like outrightly attacking like my opinions, like I will clap back, but I feel like that doesn't really happen very much, to be honest. But yeah, there's been a few times, but yeah I don't, don't mess with kelly.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, yeah, I can. I can tell you are a big participator in your classes.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, I'd say so, yeah, no, that's. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. Take it as a compliment. I feel like you are a big participator in your classes.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I'd say so.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, no, that's a good thing, that's a good thing. Take it as a compliment. Awesome, yeah. So what else? What made you get into babysitting?
Campbell / Kelly:Obviously I love kids. I started babysitting my old dance teacher's kids who live on my street. The kids are eight, five and three now and I started watching them when the little, when the first kid was two. So I guess I just kind of started babysitting them and, like I know, I used to want to, like I wanted money when I was younger, but there was something else we really do and then I took like I like little obviously yes, I took.
Rachel Wagner:We took a babysitting class when we were younger.
Campbell / Kelly:We got cpr certified and I have little cousins and stuff and obviously I want to have like a big family when I'm older so.
Campbell / Kelly:I just love kids. Yeah, I have a little sister so I had to always watch her when my parents would like go out and stuff, and then my neighbors I would watch. And it was funny because I feel like we used to have to go like door to door and like ask your neighbors like, do you need a babysitter? But then the facebook group that me and kelly joined that's how we found you guys. Um, once I posted on that I met a lot of families and then, like we like sometimes watch each other's kids, like when we're not available so what is that?
Jason Wagner:facebook group?
Campbell / Kelly:it's like there's some interesting people on that.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, I was gonna say like what's everyone else's process? Like like I obviously saw your post and responded to it what? What do other people do when they see your posts? Like did anybody have like a formal interview with you?
Campbell / Kelly:yeah, I feel like most of the families I had like 12 families reach out, like it was crazy. A lot of the families like they would text back and forth with me and then like we'd set up a time for me to like go meet the kids and like do like a trial run, so that was like nice. And then some of the people were literally like can you come over today at like six or something?
Rachel Wagner:I was just like okay.
Campbell / Kelly:So it kind of depended on the family, but I like doing a trial run just to like get to know the family and kind of get a feel for it before I actually like go into it. Yeah, when I was growing up I had so many babysitters so I kind of just yeah I feel, like I always wanted to be a babysitter. Yeah, we both love kids, so, yeah, it's just fun what did we do?
Jason Wagner:did we do a trial run?
Campbell / Kelly:yeah, I remember when I first came to your house, you're like can I have your mom's phone number? Yeah, I did, yeah, I think I asked you both that. Yeah, yeah, because I was just like I mean so all the other baby series we had had. We met through the daycare in the city that the girl, that Scarlett was at, and so it's like kind of like yeah, it's like kind of, it's kind of a weird way, it's weird.
Rachel Wagner:I'm like I really don't know that much about you like you told me what you yeah it was. It was very scary.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, yeah, I think you guys went and got food for like two hours and I just played with the girls, yeah, I think I was supposed to come and meet them, but I think I had something for school or something so I couldn't come.
Rachel Wagner:So yeah, yeah yeah, it's kind of all just based on trust, which is a little bit scary, but I mean, and vibe too, like I mean, I feel like I got a vibe, in a sense, from you guys like right away, and I was like okay, this is fine.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, and I feel like you know. I mean, I guess you could like stalk our social media if you wanted to like, I don't know, yeah yeah, I guess we could have done that, yeah, do you guys have Facebook.
Rachel Wagner:I do we, do we both have Facebook? Yeah, for like my great aunts and my nana yeah, I feel like a lot of my family members are on there yeah, and our classmates on there.
Campbell / Kelly:So I feel like that's like a social media. I don't see like dying down yeah, so it'll be interesting, like when they have kids in like 10 years and like see who they marry yeah, I know it'll be I feel like we always get made fun of, though, for having facebook, like all the guys are like why do you guys have facebook?
Jason Wagner:yeah, they don't really. People say that yeah, like, well, I don't think it's like it's popular for your generation.
Rachel Wagner:It's like I don't remember the last time I like, I'll like sit on that.
Campbell / Kelly:It's like I posted my graduation so like my nana will comment on it and be like gorgeous girls oh, I get it because that's the platform where your parents and grandparents it's definitely turned into like a family like that generation like when facebook first started, it was just college and then it went to just high school.
Rachel Wagner:So when I joined facebook it was 05 and the college and high school was separated. You were born in 05.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, oh dear god, isn't that crazy.
Rachel Wagner:I guess maddie was born in 06, so that makes sense but, yeah, like they were separated in high school and college. Facebook like couldn't interact and if you didn't have an edu email you couldn't even get on it. So it's literally just like your classmates yeah and then they opened it up to the world and it was like whoa you know, your parents, best friend's neighbor from 20 years ago is like adding you as a friend.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, that's funny, super weird. No, I feel like instagram will be around for a while for our generation that's like a big one. But snapchat I don't see like us sticking with yeah that one kind of died down. Yeah, I don't even really use it that much?
Jason Wagner:yeah, I used to use it a lot and then now we don't.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, we still text on it. I feel like a lot yeah because we don't and like send videos and stuff yeah like we'll send videos, like yeah, long videos that yeah, we'll just be talking and sending a video, so it's like it's essentially like a facetime, but you don't pre-record it. Yeah, okay, that's. It's a weird concept, but I know a lot of our college friends like don't use it as much anymore.
Rachel Wagner:So yeah, I probably won't use it. I kind of want to ask and you don't have to share if you don't want to, in case your parents are going to be listening but what's like? What's the social party scene like in high school? And college now like our kids drinking and it's having keggers, or does? Everyone smoke weed. Are you guys all clean?
Campbell / Kelly:it's crazy um, I feel like it's a lot of a lot. The boys all do zins what's that?
Rachel Wagner:yeah, like the nicotine, like patch like not patches they're like pouches, pouch, oh, those are big, and then just drinking, I mean, people smoke weed, but not that much really.
Campbell / Kelly:I mean like some more than others, because it's different now, because it's legal, yeah, and some, some kids will even do shrooms, which is disgusting, disgusting, but it's all the it's the boys I feel like, like the girls for the most part, just drink yeah like grad party season. There was a lot of drinking, for sure, but like I feel like it's no like hard drugs, there's no coke or anything.
Campbell / Kelly:But I will say it's crazy like the younger generations I feel like are getting into it at a younger age than like we were like my sister she's gonna be 15, going into her sophomore year and like they had a party last night where they were drinking. I mean, she wasn't, but like some of her friends yeah, we didn't really, and they're literally 14.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, I think it's crazy, it's kind of weird.
Campbell / Kelly:I mean I feel like there were a lot of kids that would vape at our middle school. I mean you went to a really nice like middle school. Like vaping was definitely a big thing in like 2019. That's a lot of the kids in our grade like will still like they buy their own, which is weird. I don't, we don't like, like that stuff um yeah, we'll.
Campbell / Kelly:We'll like have a drink here and there, but I mean we're going to college, so I feel like our parents have accepted it. Yeah, yeah, of course, but there's like parties, like sometimes on the weekends in high school, and then, obviously, like college, everyone has like well there's like the homecoming party after after homecoming after prom but like I feel like we didn't nothing too crazy.
Jason Wagner:No, so how do you guys like? Uh, I think that there needs to be like stepping stones as you get to college, because if you weren't drinking in high school, that's what I always say you could totally like, like all the parents, screw yourself up my brother's friend.
Campbell / Kelly:He was like on the tightest leash with his parents at home, like he went to college and was like his roommate.
Rachel Wagner:He was crazy like he's a wild man.
Campbell / Kelly:He got, yeah, he got he spent a night in jail, like first one of the first weeks of school yeah, there's kind of.
Jason Wagner:There's kind of like a breaking in right, if you're sheltered too much in high school.
Campbell / Kelly:I feel like eventually in college you're gonna learn a lot so, like with you and your parents, it kind of sounds like maybe you were open books with your parents and like they knew what was going on, to a certain extent, to a certain extent like I feel like as I got older yeah, like my dad was always like once it hits like spring break at your senior year like you can start drinking with me and you can drink occasionally and it was accepted. My parents know that I drink in the weekends but like before that, they they knew that I would drink occasionally, like junior senior year, but they didn't really like they weren't really happy about it and they didn't know the extent, but now I feel like I can be like open about it I feel like our parents, like trust us, like they're always like you're gonna come home in one piece like yeah, I know
Jason Wagner:my parents are like I'm not worried about you too, do you guys have like little safety protocols of like if you were drinking too much or like yeah, they have locations, we have uber?
Campbell / Kelly:yeah, my mom has. I have my mom's uber account so she's always like never go in the car with like someone who's driving drunk, like always just uber, call me, oh so you guys use uber in high school? Yeah, okay I mean technically we're not. I don't think we're like supposed to well when you're 18, you can, you can order your own ubers, because I set up an account before I was 18 and I couldn't.
Rachel Wagner:That's actually really interesting. That's a great tool. That's available.
Campbell / Kelly:My sister will even Uber with her friends. Sometimes, when someone can't go and pick her up, my mom will just send her an Uber. Or sometimes my keys will be left with me and they can't get my car out of the driveway or something and there's an Uber thing where you can Uber your keys back to your house.
Rachel Wagner:Oh, I did't know that either. Wow, yeah, yeah that's fascinating you can like send packages.
Jason Wagner:Oh, interesting yeah obviously you drink because it helps have a good time, but then like but is it? What's interesting like from our perspective now is, like you know, we did that whole party scene and and it was fun for a while, but as you get you know into older age it's just like it takes you out for days.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I was going to say I feel like we went through like a peak and now it's kind of just like.
Jason Wagner:yeah, it's just kind of like well, and I like education around, like drinking, is that it really does do a massive, massive toll on your body in terms of, like, your mental sharpness and your liver.
Rachel Wagner:Oh, yeah, just like in general health, right, yeah, even like athletics, yeah, and like it gives you more anxiety.
Campbell / Kelly:Like my parents are like well, I already work out a lot. And my parents are like, if you, you're gonna be drinking more in college.
Jason Wagner:Like you have to work out or you're gonna get like depressed, I'm like okay, well, and that's a really good comment.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, we talk about me and kelly talk about like the freshman 15 all the time so many of our older friends, hopefully their house. They gained weight. Yeah like it's not, like, not that bad, like 10 to 20 pounds and some are worse, yeah, yeah, I feel like there's a lot of kids like don't know how to limit themselves, like it's either they're getting plastered or they're not drinking at all, and I feel like like people need to learn how to like control themselves and like yeah, for sure, I agree with that I feel like it was just a whole new world for me, because I was visiting colleges like my second semester, my senior year, and so like I feel like it's just like I like I don't know how people do college like going out, going out like three times a week, like five times a week, oh yeah.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, oh, we did that. Oh, easy. I mean yeah, there's a special at the bar every night of the week, I mean especially at these big, especially at Big Ten schools, you can go out every single night.
Campbell / Kelly:There's like freshman bars, especially at Big Ten schools yeah.
Rachel Wagner:And you fun for a while, and then you're just gonna realize yeah, my body feels like terrible and yeah, you'll be broke, yeah it doesn't help.
Campbell / Kelly:The bar age at night or at illinois is 19, so it's like all the freshmen you can start going to bars, whereas indiana it's like it's a frat school yeah, you can't go in russia until second semester. So first semester I'm planning on just like locking in academically and I don't. I mean, I'll like hang out and but I can't really go to frats or anything because of like black listing. So yeah, we're just gonna hang out.
Jason Wagner:So both of you were athletes. What sports did you both play?
Campbell / Kelly:we both play lacrosse, and then I did dance up till my junior year. Yeah, I played basketball.
Jason Wagner:What's like what's kind of like your mindset around, like practice and working out and like how often do you think that you need to do it, or like what has been taught to you yeah, I will say like prospect high school has a very like not strict, but like their varsity sports it feels like almost like a college program.
Campbell / Kelly:Six days a week, it's six days a week.
Campbell / Kelly:Even Saturdays you'll have. Like I will say, basketball was a lot more intense than lacrosse was, just because we had a new program and it was kind of like we were building up a program, whereas basketball had been there for a while. But basketball it was like six days a week. You had to be at practice, like, otherwise you weren't playing in the games. We had games like two or three times a week, like it was very, very strict, like you had to take it seriously, like it wasn't really like you could mess around, and I feel like that was like hard to like get used to because like you go from middle school where it's kind of just like optional, like whatever, like dilly-dallying and like varsity sports are a lot more time consuming and like mentally consuming in high school.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, I feel like I only did lacrosse at high school in high school, like I did dance outside, but I feel like it was kind of it wasn't horrible, but I feel like I I've always made an effort to work out, so I feel like I just do that for the mental, like my mentality, because I'll be stressed out if I don't work out so I try to do like four times four to five times a week, usually like sometimes six.
Campbell / Kelly:Sometimes I'll work like workout seven days a week. It just kind of depends on my schedule, wow it's weird, like going from being like an athlete to now you kind of have to go out on your own and like I had to go to the gym with kelly, which I literally I don't even know how to lift weights like kelly's.
Rachel Wagner:Like teaching yeah, I started going to the gym in like eighth grade, yeah, and I just it's like my safe place.
Campbell / Kelly:I don't really like I yeah I go to like beat, get more physically fit, but I feel like it's more of a mental thing for me, because I don't like working out at my house that's amazing.
Jason Wagner:That's amazing that you know that like that's like a superpower.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, it is like I have like a peloton at my house and stuff and like it's cool, but I don't use them because I just I need like a separation. Yes, yeah, I don't know, it'll be weird in college like not having like a practice to go to or like something that's like keeping you in check.
Rachel Wagner:It's kind of just gonna be because you guys aren't doing sports in college.
Campbell / Kelly:No, yeah, I was thinking about doing like club lacrosse, but even that it's kind of like time consuming, like you're still like taking buses to like different schools and like I don't know. I just feel like I would rather like go work out on my own, yeah. I probably do like intramural, intramurals or whatever like flag football with like I don't know yeah, oh yeah that's a lot of fun.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, that just seems like fun, but not like anything serious. It's nice because the gym at Illinois is literally right across from my dorm, so I literally oh, that's really nice walk across the street, yeah. Yeah, I like to run outside a lot more than like going to the gym and like lifting weights and stuff, just because, I don't know, I like the outside element, but lifting weights is also me and kelly were on like a gym grind yeah, before we like started working, like everything got busy we like went to the gym, like literally, like probably like 11 days in a row.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah, it was great it was good so a couple of the last episodes we've done. We were talking about homeschool with some people and I'm just curious, because you guys went through public schools.
Campbell / Kelly:Do you?
Rachel Wagner:guys know of anybody? Are you friends with anybody who was homeschooled? Or do you know of anybody who's doing sports at your school who was a homeschooler? Just curious.
Campbell / Kelly:Let me think I want to say one kid no One kid that we know like did. He was like he was really into hockey at one point, one semester he was homeschooled, but I, it's not really that I feel like it's not really that common, or at least I don't know how many people are homeschooled, like a girl I did dance with was homeschooled, but none of my friends I really can't think of anyone, but I know that people that, like I know a lot of hockey kids like when they play juniors or whatever they like homes yeah like one of our friends graduated early and is going to play like for a semi-pro league in iowa.
Rachel Wagner:He's like supposed to be in his senior year and he's like left the school early so it's like kids who had like some other activities, kind of pulling them out, okay, yeah but I definitely I feel like it might become more common, especially like private school and homeschooling, especially if, like, the politics continue in schools yeah so it'll be interesting to see well, something we like have been talking about.
Rachel Wagner:And then when I asked my sister about it she's the same age as you guys she mentioned that after covid there were a handful of kids who did homeschool but then kept doing sports at their school or like some kids did like a hybrid and I was like that's really interesting and it varies by state.
Campbell / Kelly:So yeah, I was just curious, like if you guys know, I feel like it's not that common just because we have such good schools in this area, yeah I feel like a lot of people don't feel the need to just because the schools are, like, so highly rated. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jason Wagner:Would you say that your school experience was highly rated?
Campbell / Kelly:I mean, I feel like I think academically, yeah, Academically almost our whole class ends up going to a college or like doing something after they really pushed college like on everyone which I know college isn't for everyone, but they did a really good job of giving everyone resources.
Campbell / Kelly:They did a really good job with that, like getting us ready for college, and even like the classes they offered. Like a bigger reason I didn't end up going to the private school was because of like I wouldn't have been able to take like half the classes I took.
Campbell / Kelly:I took a lot of ap and like college classes that smaller schools don't offer, even like our middle school compared to one of the other middle schools, that like feeds into prospect, like there's a big difference and like we were like ahead, like I was, like I had two math classes, like I was taking geometry in eighth grade, where some of them were taking it like sophomore year. So I feel like they offer like a lot of resources for like every kid, like every kid has like a plan yeah, do you still have to take the act?
Jason Wagner:yeah, yeah, that was was that a big qualifier for you for your next school?
Campbell / Kelly:A lot of colleges went test optional after the COVID year just because not every kid could take it, so some of those schools went back to. You need to submit a test score and our high school offers SAT. We take the SAT so you can submit that one. Or me and Kelly both went to tutoring over at like think tank in arlington heights and we had to like, yeah, a lot of people get a two.
Campbell / Kelly:Like, yeah, like do tutoring for act and sat we had to do I did it in the summer, it was not very fun, but they increased my score by like five yeah, think tank.
Rachel Wagner:Is that like over it's on? Yeah, okay, I've seen that. Yeah, it's, it's right by.
Campbell / Kelly:It's pretty close to christian liberty yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking of.
Jason Wagner:So they teach you. They basically teach you how to take the test. Yeah, they teach you like tips and tricks. I feel like it's a lot.
Campbell / Kelly:yeah, the ACT is a lot of like, just like knowing how to take the test, less knowledge.
Rachel Wagner:Oh yeah, I do not like taking tests.
Campbell / Kelly:I'm not very good at them.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, like, even like certification tests later. It's about knowing how to take the test Right.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, and I think a lot of schools are going back to not being test optional, I feel like because it's kind of hard, because some, like GPAs are inflated, some people have easier classes than others.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, that's kind of like a baseline yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:They're like, oh, this person is from like a different state. You can see what they got on their ACTs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And even our high school they would offer like sat, like prep classes and stuff like where, like they were trying to help like students get better test scores because we had like a record low like sat. Sat, like our overall average was like 900 or maybe even lower than that, and they were like, why is it like this low? So after that they definitely because we're supposed to be like a blue ribbon school.
Campbell / Kelly:We're supposed to be like the best academic school in the district. I don't know how. I don't understand how that was possible. Yeah, it was crazy. So after that I feel like they kind of stepped it up and they were like okay, like if you guys like need like tutoring for this, like we're gonna offer it for you guys.
Rachel Wagner:So yeah, yeah I don't know.
Campbell / Kelly:I definitely feel like I wouldn't have been gotten into the the kelly school business if I didn't get a high act score. So like, I feel like it kind of depends where you go, but yeah, yeah rachel, yeah, I think our act scores were very bad yeah, I think 23 for me yeah, yeah, I don't know.
Rachel Wagner:23, yeah, yeah I took it once.
Campbell / Kelly:I had to take it three times and I got like basically the same score every time, so that was not fun. I took it once, I had to take it three times and I got basically the same score every time, so that was not fun. I took it five, but I couldn't get above a 32. I kept getting it, but the first time I took it I got a 26. Yeah, I got a 28.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, those are really good scores. Those are great scores, obviously, and now you're getting into some great schools.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah.
Jason Wagner:I thought it was an interesting comment. I thought it was an interesting comment that you said that majority of people are going to college.
Campbell / Kelly:Do you know people that are going?
Jason Wagner:into the trades, or like a couple.
Campbell / Kelly:A couple, yeah, yeah there's like a like one of our friends. He's going to like firefighters yeah, a couple of them. There's a few going into, like I don't know, emt school or like construction. But I know like one girl going to beauty school like, oh yeah, cosmetology school. Our district actually got like a new program where, like you, could like go to beauty school for like half of the day, which I thought was really interesting they've had that for years really.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, I feel like it was more popular. So then you're probably almost done by the time you graduate.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, yeah there's a few people that did that. Uh, harper is like a really popular option which I feel like should be more normalized. Yeah, community, I even like can't afford, but also just like they don't know what they want to do and they're at a loss and need like another year to like a year or two to figure it out?
Jason Wagner:were you guys able to get like a lot of resources to go to school, or did you end up taking out a lot of loans or what's kind of the thought my parents have been able to?
Campbell / Kelly:like, support me yeah, we both have divorced parents. So I feel like that kind of helps with like financial aid and stuff not not indiana, but probably not so much. But I feel like I only had to use, like one of my parents, income which helps a lot with financial aid and stuff, so I'm not paying that much to go. So no loans but, yeah, yeah, that's amazing yeah yeah, I'm not taking out any loans. But yeah, it's definitely not.
Jason Wagner:It's not cheap. So you both have divorced parents. Yeah, when did they get divorced?
Campbell / Kelly:2020 uh 2018 yeah, oh, we were like yeah, and we were friends before that's like why we're yeah, we've been through it, yeah interesting.
Jason Wagner:Do you have a lot of friends with divorced parents?
Campbell / Kelly:growing them out yeah it's growing. It's kind of such a sad yeah I don't want to be that.
Rachel Wagner:We don't want to shut up on anyone, but yeah, I would say definitely a growing amount.
Campbell / Kelly:Like I feel like kelly was one of like the first people honestly it wasn't like talked about when we were younger, like that was like weird. But I feel like it's definitely more normalized now, which is obviously not a good thing. But I feel like in middle school and even now, like people's parents are getting divorced like in college, like it's yeah, yeah, it's kind of it's sad.
Jason Wagner:Your parents are divorced.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, my parents are divorced. Yeah, both are married too.
Jason Wagner:Yeah.
Campbell / Kelly:Mine's not. I was pretty young though yeah, it's like kindergarten.
Jason Wagner:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, all right well girls.
Campbell / Kelly:I think that was an awesome conversation. Thank you for having us. Thank you, thank you very much okay.
Jason Wagner:So how we wrap up these conversations is basically just like what's, what's your big takeaway from the last hour discussion, rach, why don't you start, cause I still got to gather mine.
Rachel Wagner:We talked about a lot. Yeah, we did talk about a lot. I mean I think one thing that really stood out to me was the religions class that you guys mentioned, and that teacher that you had sounds like a phenomenal teacher.
Campbell / Kelly:We love him.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, what I took away from that is that you enjoyed it because you were able to have conversation and listen to other people and that probably kind of cut down some of the division of doing that.
Rachel Wagner:And I think it's awesome that you had a class like that in high school, because I didn't really come across classes like that until college, and so I think that was really interesting and really cool. And then I would just say, like, my takeaway is I think you guys are really really mature for your age and are really in tune with like what's going on, so I'm really glad that we met you and have gotten to know you over the last year and I'm excited to see what where life goes for you guys.
Rachel Wagner:Thank you yeah.
Jason Wagner:Yeah, I definitely agree with all of that. You guys have a really bright future. You're really fun to talk to and, honestly, if you don't learn anything in college, but if you just keep talking to people like, that's going to carry you a long way too. Don't forget sales is always a great avenue, yeah we'll come to you with real estate questions. Yeah, for sure.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, if you get into a real estate opportunity, I would certainly love to talk with you about that?
Jason Wagner:Yeah and so. Anyways, I just think that my big takeaway here is that you guys are learning things at a really young age, specifically like even from just like working out. You realize that, look, I work out, you know, five to seven times a week sometimes because it helps with my mental sharpness.
Jason Wagner:I didn't realize that until maybe two years ago, you know, and it's just like it's really good. Maybe two years ago you know, and it's just like it's really good. It's really refreshing to actually hear that you guys are learning like those types of tips and you're doing it at a young age, and so that's kind of like. My big takeaway is like you guys are learning things just like way faster.
Rachel Wagner:Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, like you have way more tools in your toolbox. Yeah, and maybe it's the social media stuff.
Jason Wagner:And so I think social media can really be a big advancer in where your mindset stands, can be super negative at the same time. But I think that you guys just are clear examples of like people are learning things faster, people are developing political opinions faster, and then how do you just recognize that that's a thing and then like combat it so that it doesn't one take over you and you kind of stay balanced at the same time.
Rachel Wagner:You know what I mean. Yeah, I would credit your parents to that too, cause I think you both mentioned them and like we talked about it at home and I think like that really shines through and how you guys have been able to navigate. That's what my college essay was about was like them, like not babying us from a young age jesse was about was like them like not babying us from a young age.
Campbell / Kelly:Both of our parents are really big on, not because, if you like, are holding their hand through all the way through high school. It's like you get to college and it's like now what you're like, stuck on your own it's just, we even have some friends that definitely like their parents. They depend on their parents for so much and like they're going to college now and they're kind of like well, like crap it world.
Campbell / Kelly:Yeah, yeah, and I feel like we got a taste of it earlier, which put us out. Love our parents. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No credit to your parents, for sure.
Jason Wagner:Definitely, especially being divorced parents, I mean you know, they've obviously done really well raising both of you. So what is your biggest takeaway, Campbell?
Campbell / Kelly:I would just say, like, growing up in the suburbs, I feel like there's like a wide variety of people and I like love Arlington Heights. I mean, I grew up in Philadelphia. I moved here when I was seven, so it's definitely different here in the Midwest, but like I feel like everyone like has a background and like everyone has like a different story. So it's been interesting like being able to meet like so many people and like hearing their different political opinions and like religious values and stuff like that, and I just feel like that's kind of like shaped me into the person I am like surrounding myself with like a wide variety of people. Yeah, yeah, my takeaway is probably just the value of being able to have conversations like this and just having being like self-aware and aware of like what's going on around you and aware of like where you're getting your information from. And, yeah, I just I enjoy talking about these kinds of things. Yeah, that's awesome.
Jason Wagner:No, that's cool, all right. Well, thanks guys. Well, thank you all for listening. If you found any value in the show, please share it and we will catch on the next episode.