{"id":879,"date":"2024-12-19T15:17:49","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T15:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/?p=879"},"modified":"2024-12-19T15:17:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T15:17:49","slug":"lamallari-takes-the-lead-on-campus-that-convinced-her-to-stay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/?p=879","title":{"rendered":"Lamallari takes the lead on campus that convinced her to stay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Klea Lamallari<\/strong> served in several leadership roles during her time at Pellissippi State, including director of the Student Activities Board.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From medical school in Albania to an Associate of Science in Accounting at Pellissippi State, Klea Lamallari<\/strong> has learned that unexpected changes can still lead to great things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While in high school in Albania, Klea had already applied for medical school. Then, during a trip to Knoxville to visit her family, Klea decided to tour a few nearby colleges at the request of her sister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sister, Seta<\/strong>, wanted us to go look at some colleges together, so we decided to visit Pellissippi State,\u201d shares Klea. \u201cIt was right before the pandemic, so the campus was full of people. I remember driving by the pond and I fell in love with the college. That was my first perception of America, and I loved it.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After getting to speak with Pellissippi State\u2019s international admissions advisor, Klea decided to stay and attend college in the States. \u201cThat was my sister\u2019s plan all along,\u201d laughs Klea. \u201cI just decided to stay. Everyone was so nice, even from my first time on campus.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Klea was excited to get started at Pellissippi State, she had to wait another year until her visa was transferred from a B-2 to an F-1 status, which would allow her to attend college in the United States. During this time, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Pellissippi State\u2019s campuses closed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klea began her college career during the pandemic and took all her classes online. Even though she had to come to campus a few times for certain classes, she recalls that the campus was so empty it felt like a ghost town.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though her first semester in college was nothing like what she had anticipated, Klea remained determined to stay in college and see it through.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was able to keep going because I just kept looking forward to how it would look eventually,\u201d shares Klea. \u201cI try to enjoy wherever I\u2019m at in life, so I found the good part of it even during the pandemic. Even online classes were different and fun. I enjoyed the experience even though I didn\u2019t get to see a lot of people.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Seda<\/a>
Klea Lamallari<\/strong>‘s sister Seta Ellis<\/strong>, left, convinced her to visit Pellissippi State’s Hardin Valley Campus while she was visiting from Albania. That decision changed the trajectory of Klea’s college career.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eventually campuses reopened and classes began to return to in-person. Klea finally had the chance to get involved around campus, and she quickly jumped into several leadership roles. Klea became director of the Student Activities Board, president of the International Club, a New Student Orientation leader, and a National Society of Leadership and Success inductee.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As student director of the Student Activities Board, I get to plan and host events for students on campus, which is one of the best things ever!\u201d says Klea. \u201cBecause of this job, I\u2019ve been skiing for the first time, and I went to a baseball game for the first time. It\u2019s so much fun. I\u2019ve gotten to know all these people and do all these things to give back to others.”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klea\u2019s first visit to campus had such a great impact on her that she immediately decided to attend Pellissippi State, Now, Klea leads campus tours for visitors and gets to share that same experience with new and prospective students. As an orientation leader, Klea also coaches freshmen through their first-year experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had moments where students have been really affected by the help,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to encourage students who were ready to drop out, and they\u2019ve told me how that support made them want to keep going. It\u2019s good to know that I get to affect other people and help them because that\u2019s the best thing ever. I just want to make sure they succeed.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two years of unexpected twists, Klea is graduating from Pellissippi State this May and will transfer to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to continue studying accounting. She hopes to eventually work in forensic accounting, but she\u2019s leaving her options open for travel and other business ventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though her path through college ended up looking much different from what she had originally thought, Klea found her place at Pellissippi State.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From medical school in Albania to an Associate of Science in Accounting at Pellissippi State, Klea Lamallari has learned that unexpected changes can still lead to great things.  While in high school in Albania, Klea had already applied for medical school. Then, during a trip to Knoxville to visit her family, Klea decided to tour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions\/881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}