{"id":2272,"date":"2026-07-08T09:49:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/?p=2272"},"modified":"2026-06-11T09:56:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T13:56:07","slug":"mcc-proud-meet-meryll-praller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/08\/mcc-proud-meet-meryll-praller\/","title":{"rendered":"MCC Proud: Meet Meryll Praller"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Meryll Praller is a Financial Aid Counselor at Monroe Community College (MCC). Before joining the Financial Aid Office, she served for 14 years as a counselor in the Admissions Department. In September, Praller will begin her 20th year at the College.<\/p>\n<p>During her tenure at MCC, Praller has received numerous awards, including the SUNY College Admissions Professionals Achievement Award (2015), American Association for Women in Community Colleges 40 Under 40 (2019), and the MCC Award for Excellence in Professional Service (2026).<\/p>\n<p>Praller became interested in higher education while working as a graduate assistant in the Office of Admissions at her alma mater, the University of Hartford. \u201cAnddddd that was it!\u201d she said. \u201cMy entire career has been spent working in higher ed. SUNY, specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of Praller\u2019s most impactful contributions at MCC has been reimaging the Emergency Assistance Grant. Through her initiative and thoughtful redesign, the program has become a more accessible and effective resource for students facing unexpected financial challenges, directly supporting student retention and success.\u00a0\u00a0\u200b<\/p>\n<p>She also led significant improvements to the College\u2019s scholarship awarding processes. By updating and streamlining these systems, Praller increased efficiency, reduced barriers for students, and ensured a more equitable and timely distribution of funds. \u200b<\/p>\n<p>While she has many fond memories from her time at the College, one theme has remained constant: change. \u201cA colleague once said, MCC stands for \u2018More Change is Coming,\u2019\u201d Praller shared.<\/p>\n<p>When asked what advice she would give current or prospective students, Praller said, \u201cMCC changes your trajectory in life. It&#8217;s not just something I say, it&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve seen. And that I deeply believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Outside of MCC, Praller works part-time for Western Empire Volleyball Association (WEVA).\u00a0She previously officiated high school and college volleyball (DI, II, III) for 15 years but \u201chung up her whistle\u201d during COVID.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fun Facts About Meryll<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Courtney: If you had to eat the same meal at least once a day, what would it be?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: Spaghetti and meatballs covered in red pepper flakes. I like to sweat when I eat, ha ha!<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: What is your favorite movie?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: Pure Country with George Strait!<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: What is your favorite sports team?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: NIT, not interested.<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: Is there anything about you that people are surprised to learn?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: I have a 75-minute commute to MCC, and I&#8217;m conversational in Croatian.<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: If you could attend a dinner with any celebrity, living or dead, who would you choose?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: George Strait!<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: Do you prefer staying up late or waking up early in the morning?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: Waking up early (did I mention that I have a 75-minute commute to MCC?).<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: Share the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you.<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: &#8220;This too shall pass.&#8221; Most things in life are temporary; this applies to both my personal and professional life.<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: What destination do you hope to visit one day?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: Mostar, Croatia, where my grandmother is from.<\/li>\n<li>Courtney: What activities do you participate in over the weekend?<\/li>\n<li>Meryll: Hiking, Cross-Country skiing, kayaking, I&#8217;m an avid baker, concerts (dancing, twirling), decorating Christmas cards, hair tinsel, sneaker jewelry, camping in our &#8217;86 Chevy van, home searching at the worst time in modern history, and meal prepping (because I have a 75-minute commute to MCC).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_2274\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2274\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2274\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Meryll-Praller-0235-300x200.png\" alt=\"Meryll Praller standing next to a railing and looking at the camera.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Meryll-Praller-0235-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Meryll-Praller-0235-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Meryll-Praller-0235-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Meryll-Praller-0235-1536x1024.png 1536w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Meryll-Praller-0235-2048x1365.png 2048w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Meryll-Praller-0235-150x100.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2274\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meryll Praller<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meryll Praller is a Financial Aid Counselor at Monroe Community College (MCC). Before joining the Financial Aid Office, she served for 14 years as a counselor in the Admissions Department. In September, Praller will begin her 20th year at the College. During her tenure at MCC, Praller has received numerous awards, including the SUNY College [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":719,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[210,107],"class_list":["post-2272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mcc-proud","tag-meryll-praller","tag-staff-spotlight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/719"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2276,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}