The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)

What is the first thing you think of when you hear Cyber Monday? Shopping deals? An extension of Black Friday? Something to do with the internet and shopping online, right?

I’m going to take this Cyber Monday as an opportunity to talk about the time we spend online. At this day and age, it will be hard to find someone who does not have any sort of social media. In our society, it has become a norm to share our every day lives online. I’m not an exception either.

However, sometimes, it’s come to a point where “it’s not official unless you post it on Facebook” or “post a picture online or it didn’t happen”. This is where we need to draw the line. Are we sharing too much? Most definitely!

There are endless things you probably shouldn’t share on social media, but here are the top 5 that I am suggesting you consider before posting:

1. Personal Information such as finance, phone number, address, passwords, password hints, and maybe even your “check-in”s
2. Linking Accounts are definitely easy when all you need is your Facebook to sign into different websites like LinkedIn, AirBnB, and more, but it will decrease your security. For example, especially around this time of year when shopping is a craze, it will be much easier for people to steal your information.
3. Personal Conversations are usually shared because it’s cute or funny but it is an invasion of privacy if the people/person in the conversation did not want it to be shared. Besides, the chances of people wanting to see it will be very slim.
4. Embarrassing or Inappropriate photos and statuses maybe fun while it lasts but you shouldn’t post something if you think your family, employer, or future employers might not want to see it
5. Private Issues should remain private. Wanting to share your feelings with a friend to take a load off your chest is different than sharing to hundreds/thousands of people. You never know who will be reading your social media or sharing the information from it. Why talk about something that could bring negativity and other repercussions to your life?

If you have to wonder if you’re oversharing, you probably are!

We should do Cyber Awareness Mondays (like MCM or FBF) and reassess our sharing habits now and then.

Let’s be mindful and become a more conscious generation. 🙂

Photo Credit

Thanksgiving is here! Which also means the semester is wrapping up and it will be a whirlwind of assignments, papers, projects, practicals, and studying once Monday hits. Sounds stressful, right?
Well, I’m here to remind you to take this short break to rest your mind, relax your body, and rejuvenate your focus. This time of year can be hectic trying to balance school, work, and life in general. It’s important to capitalize on this opportunity to take a break from it all to keep yourself healthy and sane. 

It’s also important to take this time to be thankful for all of your stressors, good and bad. While it’s sometimes hard to do, just remember all of the opportunities you have. We attend a place that allows us to learn, grow, and excel in any field that we want! I am so thankful for that! 

So don’t let those big assignments, final exams, or parking troubles get you down! We are headed into the final push, and you’ve made it this far! Enjoy the journey!…
And have a happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving dinner is set at the table. Suddenly, your mom’s eldest sister looks straight at you with that familiar glare. As a regular Thanksgiving host, you know this look can only mean one thing: say grace, give a speech of thanks, make a toast…whatever it is it involves speaking in front of your whole family and even though you know them all, you feel nervous. You think to yourself, should I start singing that gospel hymn I heard on YouTube? I think it went: I got beans, greens, potatos tomatoes…YOU NAME IT!

Honestly if you did sing that song I would please ask you to record and put in the comments below. Anyway, the fam is expecting something good from you so you try to sound smart, yet humble in the spirit of Thanksgiving.

For many of you this feeling might be familiar, perhaps not in your household, but in your classroom. You see your classmates every day, you probably know your presentation topic better than anyone else does so why is your voice still shaking and why are you still saying “um” and “like” every other sentence?

USG can help (and give you free pizza and drinks too) with Toastmasters International – an educational organization on campus that can help you dominate public speaking.

Three sessions to improve communication, public speaking and leadership skills remain: Nov 23, Dec 7, and Dec 23 – BLDG. III – 3225, 12pm-1pm.

So when it’s time to give your Thanksgiving speech, or any speech for that matter, you will be ready to sound confident and sure. Enjoy your break!

Can I share some things (life lessons) that were shared with me as I growing up? I can’t name any names of who opened my eyes to understand the world and why things happen but I can I share with you the lessons I gained. I hope these words help you as they helped me.

• You will not get every single thing you want the way you want and when you want it.
• You will not agree with everything the world or people you meet say or do.
• When you think you are the best, there is someone out there in the world that’s working to be better than you. (Or is already out there) So work harder!
• If you think you are special think again.
• If you think you are hungry with ambitions someone else is starving and has more hunger than you. (They want it more than you.)
• Dreams are dreams until you make them become a reality. (Put in work)
• When you give it everything you got and it still wasn’t good enough you have to dig deeper. (never give up and seek self-improvement)
• You can’t be anyone else but you so that means wake up and go get what is yours!
• Sleep is for the weak! Goals are for the strong!
• NO’s are the stepping stones to success!

You might be reading this and thinking Woooo! You must have had some tough people teaching you things. But the thing is that I learned the most from the people that were tough on me because it made me uncomfortable. They made me break through my limitations. I learned what true pain was and how to push through it and to say it’s never impossible. I haven’t agreed with every person I have met but I did learn from them what type of person I didn’t want to be. At work when I was the top seller I worked harder because I knew someone wanted to beat me. I wanted to come to the USG campus and attend the Robert H. Smith school business because my drive was to attend a prestigious business school but it didn’t end there. I was still hungry and getting connected within and outside the school was the next step after I started attending. Looking for internships and not getting a call back for an interview after all my hard work was disappointing. So I made the move to call and ask for an interview and to keep following up until I got the internship. I am not special and that means that the world doesn’t make exceptions or excuses for me. It’s all on me to get things done.

It’s ironic that I started writing this post on Tuesday and finished it on Saturday. The reason why I waited so long is because I have been waiting on a call from an internship and last week on Friday I got a call back informing that I didn’t get the position. The funny thing is I felt I got the position.  I made all three interviews and I did everything possible to make sure I got the position. I felt that I was the best individual for the job but things didn’t go my way. I was upset and angry on Friday. Before I went sleep on Friday I opened my laptop and this blog I was working on popped up on my screen. I read through it and got myself together and came up with my game plan. I didn’t waste any time and started coming up with emails to send (get feedback from my interview) and set up meetings on how to improve. I was being proactive in my search to improve. I became complacent, so I knew I had to get up and move forward because No’s are the stepping stones to success! My story isn’t over it’s just beginning.  I’ll keep you posted!

“Because all you need is one YES! “-Dr. Boyd (Thank you for your word Dr. Boyd)

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, how do you measure a year in the life… How about love?

These powerful lyrics from the song “Seasons of Love” were written by Jonathan Larson for his Tony award winning musical, Rent. Because four of the lead characters in Rent have HIV/AIDS, “Seasons of Love”, performed by the entire cast, has been associated with World AIDS Day on December 1^st. Through this song, the characters suggest that the best way to measure the value of a year in human life is by measuring how much love has been captured in that year. I could not agree more.

Sadly, many individuals living with HIV/AIDS face a great deal of stigma and lack the support system that they need in the face of such a life altering syndrome. While HIV/AIDS, if properly managed with medications, may not cause physical consequences as dire as it once had (at least in countries where treatment is available), the social and emotional consequences are still very much real. I can only imagine how isolated and frustrated an afflicted indivdual might feel, not just from fear of the unknown but also from being surrounded by so much ignorance and discrimination. If a year in human life were to be measured in how much love it sees, then the value of each year for these individuals wouldn’t be very much at all, would it?

The Student Section of the Maryland Public Health Association (SMdPHA) has recognized that the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the concomitant social stigma are huge problems. So every year, the student organization’s HIV committee works hard to plan and execute a series of events, throughout the month of November, aimed to promote awareness about HIV and break down the stigma. We kicked off the month with a general body meeting featuring representatives from the JACQUES Initiative. A program within the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute of Human Virology, the JACQUES Initiative provides many services to the Baltimore community. These include HIV testing, linkage to care, and treatment support.

Other events that have already happened this month include:

• Facing AIDS — a photo campaign organized in collaboration with the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) where students, staff, and faculty declared why they care about this issue.
• Chili Cook-off — a competition organized in collaboration with SNPhA that raised $200 for STAR TRACK, a program at the University of Maryland Medical Center for adolesecents.
• TrHIVia Night — a fun evening at Pickles Pub where teams tested their knowledge about HIV (both the science and pop culture!). $200 were raised for PACE, the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital Pediatric AIDS program!

Look forward to other exciting, upcoming events for HIV/AIDS month:

• SNPhA’s “Java House Acoustic Show” on Wednesday, 11/30 from 7-9 PM in the SMC Campus Center. Buy tickets here!
• SMdPHA’s “Spread Icing, Not Ignorance” bake sale on Thursday, 12/1 from 12-2 PM in the SMC Campus Center.
• SMdPHA’s HIV Health and Awareness Forum on Thursday, 12/1 from 5-7 PM at the UMB School of Nursing.

For more information about these events, feel free to contact me by commenting below or reaching out via email (quynh-nhu.nguyen@umaryland.edu)!

Students and staff at USG participating in the Facing AIDS campaign.