The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)

Only three days left until the priority deadline for the USG scholarship is here! 

Welcome back to school from a nice Thanksgiving break. I’m sure the holiday season has you spending money on food, flowers, drinks, and gifts for your family and friends. Money is something we all need to survive (and to finance our education too). We’ve all heard the phrase “money doesn’t grow on trees” time and time again…while this is true, you can get money by applying to scholarships online!

Currently available is the Spring 2018 USG Scholarship. While you are able to submit your scholarship application by December 31, the priority deadline is this week – Thursday, November 30! Scholarships are a great way to help yourselves or your parents finance your education. You should not disqualify yourself from this opportunity due to your age, income, ethnicity, or gender. Give it a shot!

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky

Just a friendly reminder to take a chance (more specifically, a few minutes or so) and apply to the USG Scholarship while you still can!

Happy thanksgiving everyone! No matter what political view, religious view, personal view you have about Thanksgiving, I hope today you have to chance to sit down at the dinner table with some loved ones and be thankful for all the things you do have.

My family had never been about going around the table and saying what we are thankful for. Therefore, a couple years ago, I started it and it has become something we do every year. Today, I want to share a couple of those things with you guys, who are my USG family. I will keep these all USG oriented because this is one of the biggest parts of me now.

I am thankful for:

-USG’s doors being open for me, especially, when I need a space of my own to focus

-the friends I have made this semester. My TU Cohort friends (C/O 2019), my coworkers for the student bloggers, in the SAS Suite, and in Student Ambassadors

-the amazing professors and bosses I have gotten a chance to know and work with.

– the opportunities USG has to express myself

– the Café ladies who give me my chicken tenders with such love and care

– the people who have been there to hear me complain and answer questions for me

– the people who have been able to put a smile on my face, even in the worst of days.

–my scholarship donors, Mr. and Mrs. Kendall, for helping me meet some amazing new people and pursue my dreams.

-Dr. E because he always shares such inspiring words with everyone to help us persevere!

Thank you USG for everything! I am also really thankful that on this busy day, YOU took the time to read this post!

Thank you. Eat well, and enjoy your day!

P.S. feel free to comment anything you are thankful for in the comments below!

It is never too early to think about graduate school. In fact, it is always a great idea to start early so you can identify which program and school will meet your career aspirations. It was around this time when I started thinking about my next steps after undergrad because I knew that there were applications due in December. I could vividly recall feeling panicked because one, I did not have any money for school and two, I was not sure what career path was right for me. There was only one thing I was certain of; I needed to plan ahead. When applying to graduate school, you should definitely plan ahead of time because it requires a great deal of self-reflection, research, and constant communication between you, the program that you are applying to, and your potential references.

Self-reflection

You need to think about why you want to be in a certain career and if that career path makes you happy. For me, I knew that I wanted to help students become successful. Therefore, I the career path that I decided to take was the path to become an advisor within higher education. I also realized that I enjoyed helping transfer students because I could empathize and relate to their transitional experience. Hence, the reason why I wanted to work at a place like the Universities at Shady Grove.

Research

“There are a great number of wonderful graduate schools, but which one is the right one for me?” was my question. Knowing where to start your graduate school research is always frustrating. However, I provided you with some ideas to keep in mind to help you start your process. Below are some of my suggestions to ask yourself.

• Location – determine the area of where you want to go to school (some prefer closer to home and some prefer out-of-state)
• Do they offer your program and if so, does their program meet what you want to accomplish and do they provide opportunities that will allow you to do internships?
• What types of financial aid do they offer? Can you work while you are in school?
• What is the faculty to student ratio?
• What resources are provided to students to ensure that they become successful?
• Will their program provide you some type of certification or licensure that you will need once you are ready to apply for jobs in your field?

Communication

It is important to maintain contact with your academic adviser and professors who can become one of your references. Many graduate schools do require letters of recommendations from their applicants because this is a testament of your potential success in the program and what you can contribute to the program as well.

Personally, I had to do quite a number of self-reflection to determine my interest and what will help me accomplish my goals of helping students succeed and giving back to the community. One of my long-term goals is to establish a scholarship for students like myself. By being involved in the community, I can meet individuals who may share the same goal and may be able to help make this goal come true (you never know). I have been very fortunate to have had many opportunities that helped me get to where I am today. Therefore, it will be life fulfilling for me knowing that I have made an impact in someone’s life.

On November 15, National Philanthropy Day is observed as a holiday. It’s a day to recognize giving for a greater cause. Some may even say it’s spreading the love throughout the world. I personally feel like USG is a perfect example of a philanthropically recognized school. From the events we host to the way our school is designed, it is a point to make significant contributions in our community.

There are various signs all over that show that we are a school that is dedicated to giving. Just this week we had an Hunger Banquet which was meant to help spread awareness on poverty and hunger. Also, tomorrow November 16 is the last day to donate canned goods for Manna Food Center so be sure to give what you can!

Another reason I feel we qualify is because of the various designs on campus. We have a Green Garage which has LED lights with motion sensors and photo voltaic panels that generate renewable energy. During construction, a lot of the waste was recycled or reused in the garage. It’s even Parksmart Certified!

USG makes it a point that the community is growing and as it continues to grow, we should make sure that we are giving back to our environment in order to ensure that it is helping and not hindering it. Shady Grove has even taken initiative to sign the White House’s pledge in support for climate change.  For more information on the sustainability of the campus visit here.

I found it super interesting that today is National Philanthropy Day and it made me look at my own actions to make sure that I am taking initiative in my life to make a change and give back to others in the community. So, I ask you all, how are you giving back?

Thanks for reading! Like I always say: ‘til next time! 🙂