The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)

In all aspects of our lives we find ourselves inevitably interacting with others. In the workforce or at school we must sometimes have difficult conversations with our colleagues/peers or supervisors/professors. At home, we might struggle to strike a balance between spending time with our parents and/or our siblings. In our personal lives, carving out time for friends might be nearly impossible.

Whether you like building relationships or not, it is essential to improve communication skills with your peers, colleagues, and even friends and family (two groups we might take for granted in terms of using skills to manage conflict or improve communication).

What is a healthy relationship? I see a healthy relationship as one where people can exist harmoniously despite any conflicting views or ideas. In my eyes, empathy is present in a healthy relationship. Strong understanding combined with strong communication leads to stronger relationships.

USG’s Center for Counseling and Consultation is offering a Psychological Wellness Workshop that tackles this topic. The workshop is free and open to all – students, faculty, staff, community, and prospective students. The purpose of a workshop is to introduce you to a new concept, help create a sense of community among participants, and also teach you something realistic you can practice in your life.

Where: Building 3, Room 2220

Time: Tuesday, Nov 14 2017 – 12pm-1:30pm

Click the link in the paragraph above for more information!

I have gone to MCPS my entire life, from elementary school to high school. In my classes now, I realize how I may have been classified as a child “at-risk” of failing. Many of the socioeconomic indicators were present in my childhood. I assume some of my teachers did not believe I could make it. Then high school happened, I got to take advantage of all the opportunities offered at my high school (Gaithersburg High School.) I knew my family has a tough financial situation, but I wanted to go to college. So I applied and did all my requirements to begin classes fall of 2015 at Montgomery College on the Rockville campus, knowing it was the more financially appropriate choice. I talked to the professors in School of Education and was able to be apart of the first ever CREATE (Culturally Responsive Educators Aspiring for Teaching Excellence) Cohort. This rigorous program had me taking 6 classes my first semester. Not only was that going to be a ton of coursework, but it was going to be very time consuming, therefore, making it impossible to work a part-time job. A scholarship was the only outlet I could look forward to.

I began applying for the Montgomery College Foundation Scholarships. Thankfully, I received a letter from MC stating I was chosen to be interviewed for a scholarship. I thought it was strange, but of course, I went. I raced from my summer job to MC Rockville and was interviewed by the scholarship coordinator there and Gloria from OSS at USG (who is now my best friend.) I did not fully understand the scholarship until Gloria explained this scholarship. Along with Towson information, she explained this was a full-tuition scholarship at MC for two years and at USG for two years. Shortly after, the interview started and I was telling them about my goal to become Secretary of Education for the United States, and how I want to graduate debt free that way I can make my own scholarship fund for students, things like that. A couple days later while I was at work, I received a call saying I won the scholarship. I called my mom and told her that she did not have to worry so much anymore. Then, I went back to work with the biggest smile on my face.

It is thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Kendall that I will be the first ever to graduate with a Bachelors in my entire family. They are such an inspiration and really care to help students achieve their dreams.

This is a picture of the Kendall’s and I last year at the MC Foundation Scholarship Luncheon.

This is true of all scholarship donors.  They give many students the chance at something that may have never been a thought, to begin with. To them, we thank you, and will definitely do so at Scholarship Luncheon, Friday the 17th. If you have not yet applied for the USG Scholarships for spring, do so. There are people out there who have set aside time and money to help you continue your education. The deadline is the 30th meaning there is still plenty of time to complete the 5-10 minute application for the many scholarship opportunities.

Continue to dream big and do your best with all your assignments everyone! The end of the semester is closer than we think!

Growing up, my mother used to tell me “if you did that when I asked you to do it, then you could have had more time to do whatever you want” every time I put off my chores. As a child, I did not understand what she meant. However, as I approach adulthood, I have a better understanding of why she said that to me: it is better to finish your responsibilities now so you do not have to worry about it later. Now that I have my own place, I live by my mom’s believe of not putting off tasks that can be accomplished now.

As I completed one of my papers this week, I did not realize that it is November already, which means that final papers and exams are coming up! Yikes! Like other students, I do admit that I tend to procrastinate; it is an old habit that dies hard. I believe that it is something that students often encounter in both their career and academic life. Fortunately, I have some tips to help you to overcome procrastination.

Before I talk about my tips, what is procrastination? According to Psychology Today, it is when we put off a task because we view it as unpleasant. It is also called “task aversion.” It is difficult to AVOID procrastination, but it is possible to OVERCOME it.

Tips to Overcome Procrastination

• Recognize & Resolve

Recognize when you procrastinate and why are the first steps. By doing so, you can stop yourself from going down the procrastination wormhole.

• Organize & Plan

Time Management and Organization are not only important skills as a student but also as a professional. By organizing and planning your priorities, you can have more time to do fun things. Set up your own realistic deadline to give yourself enough time to effectively complete your tasks.

Below are some blog posts that I wrote as an undergrad at USG that may interest you regarding how to be more organized, goal setting, time management, and how to prepare for exams.

Organization

Time Management

Midterm Prep

• Get Ahead & Prioritize!

I am a fan of getting ahead because I can get the small things out of the way and focus on the big tasks that I need to do. When you start planning your week, see if there are any tasks that you can complete in advanced so you do not forget them.

Resources to Overcome Procrastination

Below are several websites that I found that might interest you if you want to know more about how to overcome procrastination.

 Ebberg, H. (2009). How to stop procrastinating: 7 timeless tips. The Positivity Blog. Retrieved from https://www.positivityblog.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating-7-timeless-tips/

Lombardo, E. (2017). 11 ways to overcome procrastination. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/better-perfect/201703/11-ways-overcome-procrastination

Mind Tools. How to stop procrastinating. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm

Rodriguez, A. (2013). No pressure. Retrieved from https://nopressur.blogspot.com/?m=0

I hope my post this week will be helpful to you as you move forward in your academic and career path. Comment below to let me know what you think or any additional tips you may have to overcome procrastination.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon has a rigorous college course in sustainability in homes where college students must compete as a team to determine a winner. Teams from universities all around the world focus on sustainability in different ways. All of the team’s efforts go towards an environmental cause that is significant to them and their region. While some focus on the challenging drought that has riveted California in recent years, others attention are on rebuilding the Southern communities that have been devastated by the 2011 tornado outbreak in Alabama. The teams have spent years designing energy-efficient households that utilize solar panels and other innovations.

There are a total of 10 competitions in which the committee looks at breakthroughs in the sustainability field, methods of re-using water and the ability to intelligently power the houses. The committee takes into account the cost-effectiveness and the heating/cooling appliances of the models being introduced.

This year, the University of Maryland has a team named reACT, titled after their goal to integrate ‘Resilient Adaptive Climate Technology’ into their home. The teams passion and development came from a desire to create a home in which energy is harnessed from the sun, water and food. This enables living conditions to be in harmony with nature. From these values came the idea to build the home for a married couple from the Nanticoke Indian Tribe in Denver, Colorado. The home includes essential features of self-reliant living such as a composting system, a hydroponic garden, a vegetable garden and movable walls covered in plants.

For the first time in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon’s history, the teams that are competing for the win are eligible for at least $100,000. The competition requires that each team builds their solar house at the competition site.

Humans have been engaged in a never-ending arms race with one particular enemy for nearly 90 years. Any ideas who this enemy might be? If you guessed bacteria, then you are one smart cookie. The first effective antibiotics were introduced to the market in the early 20^th century. Their discovery was a huge turning point in history as they became powerful weapons used to kill or suppress bacteria that cause significant illness and death among humans.

But one not-so-small problem… With the overuse of antibiotics, there has been a growing number of resistant bacteria. These “superbugs” have their own weapons that allow them to multiply and continue to cause disease even in the presence of antibiotics we once expected them to be susceptible to. Just by chance, there may be a small number of them that possess resistance. When antibiotics are inappropriately used, these existing resistant bacteria have a chance of growing to much larger numbers. Inappropriate use includes:

• Taking an antibiotic when you’ve been infected with a virus and not bacteria.
• Not finishing your full course of antibiotic because you feel better after a few days of taking it.
• Overuse of “broad spectrum” antibiotics meant to be effective against a variety of bacteria as opposed to ones that specifically target the disease-causing bacteria.
• Use of sub-therapeutic amounts of antibiotics in animal feed to promote growth of food producing animals.

As you can imagine, it’s much more challenging and costly to care for patients infected with resistant bacteria. Options for treating these patients are limited and there is currently little incentive for drug companies to pour money into research and development of new antibiotics that these resistant bacteria could be susceptible to. At this point, I’ve probably made you quite depressed. Is there any good news at all?

This past Wednesday, I attended the USG Civic Engagement Series event, “The Good, The Bad, & The Resistant: Antibiotics & Microbes”, organized by student leaders at USG. From the panel of experts, I learned that good work is being done to combat the issue of antibiotic resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship programs are in place to encourage appropriate prescribing of antibiotics by physicians. Alternatives to antibiotics, such as bacteriophages and siRNA technology, are being studied. Under development are diagnostic tests that help identify causative bacteria more rapidly so that overuse of “broad spectrum” antibiotics can be avoided. State laws are being passed to prohibit the use of antibiotics in food producing animals.

But there are things YOU can do to help as well. The importance of handwashing to prevent the spread of infection in the first place cannot be overstated. And when you have the cold or flu (neither of which are caused by bacteria), use non-drug and/or over-the-counter products to relieve your symptoms rather than ask your physician to prescribe you an antibiotic. Like any precious commodity, we want to use antibiotics sparingly, only when absolutely necessary.

Thanks for letting me stand on my pharmacy student soap box, and have a wonderful weekend!

Panel of experts, from left to right: Katie Richards, MPH; Daniel Nelson, PhD; Adrienne Ma, PharmD; Wendy Henderson, PhD, MSN, CRNP, FAAN