The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)

The final frontier has arrived and so begins a series of “lasts” for us graduating seniors. I am still on winter break until January 25^th, and I am soaking up every solitary second! As I write this, I am overlooking the sunny beaches of Florida, thanking my lucky stars that I can have some respite from this unwanted and rather unnecessary winter weather.

Upon my return, I will gather my books, sharpen my pencils, and bedazzle my notebooks in anticipation of my LAST FIRST DAY. It is wholeheartedly bittersweet and I intend to savor every moment of this grand finale.

I do not have a formal “bucket list”, but  I am eager to participate in “senior” activities such as claiming my “Kiss me I am a Senior Pin.” While I do not expect people to comply with the saying on the pin, I am totally open to high fives and celebratory hugs.

However, I feel like I am getting ahead of myself. With a little under two weeks left in my winter break, I am off to soak up some rays (armed with my sunscreen of course) and spend time with family and friends!

Sending lots of sunshine (both literally and figuratively) as we tackle another exciting semester!

Taking time to smell the flowers, my mantra for this final semester! 

Pozzuoli, Italy

My only wish for Christmas was to be able to spend some time with my family who are scattered across the globe.  It would be the trip of a lifetime, taking me West to California then East to Italy, stopping in Tennessee to see a sister and two nephews.  After considering the distances it began apparent that my X-mas wish will now be a New Year’s resolution, this year 2016 I will see every single person in my entire family. Fortunate for me Santa was listening and gave a plane ticket to Europe for three weeks! (and by Santa I mean bank account, its depleted.)

On January 11^th I touched down in Naples, Italy, the county’s third largest city.  The city is beautiful, kissing the Mediterranean coast its enchanting, but in equal meassures it offers danger since it hugs the active volcano, Vesuvio (remeber Pompeii?). I never forget the sensation of stepping off the plane and being enveloped by the sweet salty air, this and many more as the whole country offers smells and sensations that can only be captured in person: the marina and the seafood, the restaurants with their wood fired oven pizzas, the coffee shops’ aroma of roasted coffee served espresso style and croissants filled with nutella.

We took a Passeggiate sul lungomare, a stroll by the sea.

My father works with the US military as a government contractor, he moved to Pozzuoli, a town on the water near Naples, in 2007 with my two sisters who were young and recently graduated from high school. Something special is in the air here on the Amalfi Coast, they both got married in less than a year. My sister Erika in the photo just had her first baby, his name is Marco and he will be four months old. Half Americano and half Italiano, the kid is going to be a champion.

Seafood feast

My trip has just begun, I leave on Tuesday for Madrid, Spain to see some old friends.  My return home is Sunday the 23rd, the last day of winter break. To honor my resolution Spring Break will bring you a post of an adventure to Memphis and San Diego.

My favorite places in Europe are the cafeterias, a place to sit, relax and converse.

Being separated from your family is hard, unless they live in really awes0me places.

Scarlett Knights —> Raptors —> Terps —> Retreivers (kind of a weird mascot, no?)

This is the way my college experience has gone this far,  in terms of mascots. If you include summer classes, I am also a Jaguar. Go GPC! If one looks at my college track record this far on a piece of paper, he/she would probably be overwhelmed and confused. Instead, I look at it as one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

My senior year of high school, I applied just to Rutgers and Maryland, with the intentions of going to whichever one I was accepted into. Rutgers ended up being the winner of that, and I excitedly awaited my start there. I don’t want to bluntly state that I hated it, because I came out of that year with incredible friends, a year of life-changing experiences, and a quite (almost) perfect understanding the NYC subway system (a feat I never thought possible), but it was just not the right place for me.

Because of the ATL-UMD In State tuition deal, I felt a lot of pressure to transfer to UMD because paying out-of-state for school is a hefty expense, as everyone who is reading this knows. Throughout my first semester I never dwelled on the thought of transferring, but as Spring rolled around and I was less and less happy, the stress built up and finally exploded. Exactly two years ago from around this time, I got so mentally overwhelmed that my anxiety and panic took over. I had never had a panic attack before so I had no clue what was going on, and it resulted in me having to fly home and take some time away from school so I could sort out my thoughts and the situation. Upon returning to Rutgers, I tried to convince myself that maybe transferring wasn’t the best option. I had a few close friends at RU and a new boyfriend in NYC, so who cares if I’m not happy with the actual school? But I couldn’t live with this lie eating away at me for long.

At the very end of the semester, I got a phone call from a close friend at UMD who was planning on moving into a new apartment and needed a third roommate. She happened to call me to see if any of my friends were looking for a place to live. A crazy idea popped up in my head- I’ll take that spot. At this point, I had no plans of going to school in Maryland, but knew I didn’t want to be at Rutgers. It was too late to apply to the University of Maryland for the Fall of 2012 at this point, and to be honest I didn’t have the confidence that I would get in anyway, but I decided to take the place in the apartment because I knew that my mental health overruled my academics.

After finding a place to live, I found a transfer program through a local community college, Montgomery College. I quickly applied there, heard back, and then registered for my Fall classes. I had never seen this campus, driven in Maryland, or been in contact with anyone who had done it, but I went for it. This is the point where everyone asks if I was nervous about starting at a completely random school, and I replied by saying that I had not really given it any thought. This was true, I avoided letting the nerves get to me because no good would come from this.

MC ended up being one of the coolest and unique experiences I have had. I was just fulfilling CORE classes, since I knew I was would transfer out at some point. I was lucky enough to have really great professors, and I made two close friends that I never would have met otherwise.

I finally was accepted into UMD CP, but I kindly (and proudly) rejected. This MC experience exposed me to a perfect opportunity: a Bachelors in Social Work program through UMBC at Shady Grove.

I feel like it is necessary to share this story with people, because I learned so much about myself and life in general through it:

• If you feel like something is not right for you, CHANGE IT. Most things are not permanent, and there is no reason one should be unhappy. I could have easily stayed at RU until I finally got into UMD CP, but instead I found this amazing program and got the chance to live in an awesome apartment surrounded by great people
• It can often be extremely tempting to take the easy way out of a situation, but persevering through the difficult steps is usually where all the growth occurs
• Community college can have a negative stigma, but realistically it is an incredible system. It is an affordable way to get a degree, be exposed to an extremely diverse group of people, and not end up in thousands of dollars of debt
• Sometimes, you can have the best of both worlds. I am at a school that I love, that offers a unique campus experience, and pursuing my dream career; at the same time, I am extremely involved with the UMD Hillel and my social life is with all of the Maryland students

I want to dedicate today’s blog to Yesewlek Tizale.

Yesi passed away on November 30^th, 2015.

Yesi was a recent graduate from the Public Health Science program at the Universities at Shady Grove. She was also a great student, a wonderful friend, and a loving daughter, sister, niece, and aunt of many people.

It’s caused a shock and heart break for the recent graduates, faculty members, and current students who knew her. We all remember her as the enthusiastic, caring, joyful, and strong woman that she is. She has impacted our lives in one way or another, and we will continue to remember her fondly.

The Public Health Science program, current students, alumni, faculty, and staff were able to raise almost $1700 in a matter of 24 hours through Go Fund Me. We cannot alleviate the pain Yesi’s family and loved ones must be feeling, but we hope that our contributions, friendship, sympathy, and heartfelt condolences will bring them comfort.

I interviewed Yesi earlier this year for the USG Public Health Connection Newsletter. She sent me this picture as well as shared a very inspiring and touching story with me.

Yesi volunteered at the SOS’s Children Villages in Ethiopia

“My favorite part of volunteering with SOS in Ethiopia actually occurred on the second week. 10 kids were receiving their medical result for HIV test. That day was a big day; in other words, they all tested negative and I was part of their celebration. Kids welcomed me with flowers, kissed me on the cheeks and thanked me in their language (Amharic); it was an amazing experience. The kids taught me how to dance and told me their story. They asked me if I want to play, teach, eat and be their big sister. I  always knew that this was the kind of thing that I  wanted to do for the rest of my life. Knowing that I have helped to make life a little easier, a little brighter for those kids is just the most wonderful feeling. I feel useful and productive; it makes me thankful that I can help someone less fortunate than myself.”                                   – Yesi

Yesi was remarkable. She was taken away from all of us far too soon, and we will never forget her.