The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)

I had never used career services as an undergraduate student, but having used them recently in graduate school, I know their value is undeniable! At my orientation, I heard about the benefits of using the career services office through the Smith School of Business at Shady Grove from second year students so I immediately contacted our PT MBA Career Consultant at Shady Grove. What could be better than free, expert advice on: how to ask for a raise, the steps to take to make a career change, and even how to approach conversations with your supervisor?

The hype was true. I had an excellent conversation with our MBA Career Consultant that helped me understand myself, and even my supervisor and colleagues in a psychological way I hadn’t imagined before. I’ve gotten advice about how to approach a performance evaluation effectively, and how to address my weaknesses in the workplace.  You pay tuition, so take advantage of the services your school has to offer. Seriously, you might not think it’s worth it…and I’ve been there before (*cough cough* undergrad), but if you have even 15 minutes to spare, check it out. You won’t regret taking a step ahead toward making a better future for yourself.

Here’s a link to the career services site: http://shadygrove.umd.edu/campus-services/career-services (you can find their hours on this page – yep, even on Saturdays)

Phone: 301-738-6338, Email: usgcareerservices@umd.edu

P.S. USG has career coaching, but your own home institutions likely do too!

I enjoy making my own food for many reasons but mostly because it saves me time and $MONEY$. I am not a crazy health freak, but I do care to an extent about what I consume. Food has to taste good and it has to save me money. I save money by planning my meals, and by limiting how often I eat out at restaurants. As college students, I am sure several of us spend countless hours in school studying while hungry, however, our body’s and brain’s demand fuel(food). Due to this hunger, we either take a long break to a nearby restaurant or the USG cafeteria to buy a sandwich. Both options take time off our productive study schedules which lead to ineffectiveness in time. I use to be the student that bought food from restaurants every day but now I bring a small black lunch bag to school with three already made to eat meals. This method is more efficient because all I have to do is stop by a microwave and wait two minutes for my food to heat up, then enjoy a great home cooked meal that I made. A couple of years ago, I sat down and made a spreadsheet to calculate where my money was being spent. After make my calculation, I notice that I was spending $400-500 dollars a month on eating out and grocery (without planning meals). That’s were planning my meals became useful. Money wasn’t the only thing that was going to waste. My time was also wasted because a quick bite to eat, turned into a 30min-1hour break and after that break, I lost my motivation to study. My lifestyle change helped me reduce the amount of money spent on food a month to $250 which helped improve my mental and physical health (#lookgoodfeelgood).  I also began to notice that I had more time to focus on studying, which ultimately improved my grades. At first eating my own food was difficult but as time passed, my cooking improved and I now have many individuals asking me to cook for them. In the end, I acquired a new skill, saved time, and saved a lot of money. So next time you plan on having a study party at USG, make time to pack your food because, in the long run, you will have more time and money.

Thank goodness the weekend has finally arrived! I don’t know about you, but this past week, for me, has been rough. And by “rough”, I mean 4 hours of shut-eye each night on average, caffeine intake ATC (around-the-clock… you’ll learn a lot of pharmacy abbreviations from reading my posts!), and snacking on unhealthy amounts of processed junk food to accompany marathon studying.

It’s sad because that last part about unhealthy snacking is something that I’ve been trying to combat for a long time. It’s not just snacking smart, but also maintaining a nutritious, well balanced diet in general that I care about and continually strive for. But it’s especially hard for college and graduate students to eat healthy all the time. Let’s face it… who has time to cook a decent meal (i.e. not Kraft Mac&Cheese or Maruchan Instant Ramen), let alone a nutritious one, when you’re a full time student with a part time job and involvement in various student organizations?

Kudos to those who can do it all and more… y’all are my heroes! But for the rest of us, it’s all about improving our time management and learning the right tips and tricks to whip up meals that won’t increase our risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease down the road, but will keep us vibrant, energized, and ready to conquer the next round of exams (and whatever else life throws at us)!

As you can probably tell, nutrition is something I care about very much. And that’s why, as Shady Grove Liaison for the Student Section of the Maryland Public Health Association (SMdPHA), I decided to partner up with Students Engaged in Public Health (SEIPH) and the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) Operation Diabetes to organize a healthy cooking competition called So You Think You Can Cook (Healthy!).

Students, staff, and faculty at USG are all invited to compete! Competitors will choose a healthy dish they’re proud of, prepare it at home, and bring it to campus for our food tasting and judging event. Anyone attending (first come, first serve!) will have a chance to sample each dish and rate it based on taste. Each dish will also be assigned a score based on nutritional recommendations by the USDA. A total score taking into account both taste and nutrition will then be determined.

There are awesome prizes to be won including a Fitbit Alta, a professional personal training session, a Trader Joe’s gift bag containing a variety of specialty food items, and a bluetooth body fat scale! In addition, all contestants and their recipes will be featured in an electronic cookbook. If you think you have what it takes to become USG’s Favorite Healthy Cook, enter HERE to compete! Submissions are due by 11 PM this Monday 10/10.

If cooking competitions aren’t your thing, I hope to still see you at the food tasting and judging event on Tuesday 10/25 between 12:30 and 1:30 PM. Healthy can still mean tasty… and our cheftestants are ready to prove it. Get ready for a little (healthy) competition! Pun intended.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with an NGO called GAPA. It started as a group of college friends who got together and talked about the epidemic that was killing their friends and lovers, their original focus was to understand HIV/AIDS and to find ways to help their community.Today, GAPA is an organization that not only offers legal and social support for people who are affected by HIV/AIDS but they also are an organization that fights against human rights violations, policy reform, and are active in community empowerment.

During my time learning about this organization I met with a gentleman with a powerful story and an important message. He told us about how GAPA saved his life 20 years ago and for the past 17 years he has worked within this organization and the judiciary system as a “peace promoter”. These “peace promoters” are given authority by the state to resolve various conflicts, mostly they deal with human rights issues and in educating the public about their rights as a citizen and a human. They also report when rights are being violated such as unequal access to medications or employment dismissal” due to a medical condition.

He opened up about the mistreatment he received from his family and community due to his health status. The question on everyones mind was if he still lived within the same community that had persecuted him 20 years ago. His response was that it was his home, next year he will become a professor in the public school system and he still intends to stay within the same community in order to keep being an instrument of change.

This really got me thinking, here was a man who 20 years ago needed help and what he did with the knowledge acquired has been amazing. He didn’t retain this information for his own benefit, he used his experience and new knowledge to change his community. Today, he says that people in his community respect him and many come to him for advice or to seek support. His parting words to me were: “knowledge is multiplication”.

So know I ask, what do you intend to do with the knowledge you have acquired? How can you multiply that knowledge? There are many student organizations that could use your skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm. A great place to start is right on campus!

If you would like to learn more about GAPA and the work they do feel free to visit their FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/gapabahia/