Welcome New Danes

…And so it begins! 

Summers are exciting at UAlbany because of you, the future of  this university – your new home away from home. Your academic advisors in the Academic Services Center look forward to meeting every one of you and to helping you achieve your goals.

Here are a few stories from our alumni and current students to help you to dream big while you are thinking about your purple and gold future.

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Staying Focused…

Click on the images below to read about Buo and Chisom, two UAlbany graduates, who are now in medical school.

Learn more about Pre-Health Advising at the Resource Fair.

Click here to join the UAlbany Pre-health List Serv.

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Networking Can Start Now!

Joseph DeSantis, served as one of our Project MyStory volunteers, and blogged about finding a home here. Click HERE to check out his posts. He demonstrated how to seek out opportunity when he used our UCAN Alumni networking tool to reach out to one of our graduates for career advice. He did not wait until he was a Junior, but began searching for possibilities as a  freshmen. Check out his story:

Click Here to learn more about UCAN.

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Explore the World

Exploring more of the world, allowed Erica to heal and learn more about herself. Click HERE to check out her Project MyStory blog series, “Around the World and Into Myself.”

Visit Education Abroad at the Resource Fair
to find out more about how to Study Abroad
and how to earn Global Distinction Recognition
for your International Activities.

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Putting Your Naysayers to Shame

Have you ever been told that you were not smart enough or not good enough to achieve your objectives? Heather Moore knows all about this. If you are nervous about what is going to happen after you get here, her words may bring you life! Check out her blog series, “One Life’s Potential”.

 

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Do you want to read more stories? Click Here!

 

MLK on the Purpose of Education

The Advisement Services Center will be closed on Monday, January 15, 2018 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 

The Purpose Of Education

by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Morehouse College Student Paper, The Maroon Tiger, in 1947

As I engage in the so-called “bull sessions” around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the “brethren” think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.

It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

The late Eugene Talmadge, in my opinion, possessed one of the better minds of Georgia, or even America. Moreover, he wore the Phi Beta Kappa key. By all measuring rods, Mr. Talmadge could think critically and intensively; yet he contends that I am an inferior being. Are those the types of men we call educated?

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.

If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, “brethren!” Be careful, teachers!

Taken from http://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/thepurposeofeducation.htm.

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What is Your Life’s Blueprint?

Vulnerability

This week I noticed a theme in conversations that surrounded me. The topic of vulnerability came up not only as the subject of a classroom discussion, but also within the confines of a conversation I was having with a friend.  While we both agreed and discussed  how scary it can be to take that chance to open up to someone in that way, I surprised myself by also adding something else:

“I also think, it’s kind of empowering,” I texted hesitatingly, and ironically for the same fear we were just previously discussing.

I wasn’t sure how I would explain myself, and re- recording probably 5 different voice memos (don’t you love modern technology), I finally got something right.  To quote it exactly, this is what I said:

“Being vulnerable is terrifying…but at the same time I feel as if I have surrounded myself with people in college who weren’t as afraid of it as I was.  So being able to be vulnerable with someone now feels more of a testament to myself, than a testament to whether or not I can trust that person…” 

Somewhere Towards the Horizon

I hope I haven’t already
driven past my greatest moments.

I hope there is something beautiful in the horizon
That’s just as impatient as I am.
Something so eager,
It wants to meet halfway.
A moment that is diligently staring at its watch, frustrated,
Butting at the seams
And wondering at the seams
And wondering what’s taking me so long to arrive.

Horizon – Rudy Francisco

One of the biggest things influencing me this semester, is the question, “What will I do once the semester ends?”

Truthfully, I have never known what I would like to do after college.  All I knew was that I have always had a love for words.  I have always had a love for books, but poetry, as I have been expressing lately,  is something I really  just grew into.  When I was younger I didn’t much attention to it.  It was stories that that I liked.  Nonetheless, poetry has become a rock.

Creatively Envisioning Your Future

 

Again, this was AWESOME!

At the end of Fall 2016,  we had a workshop creating vision boards for Project MyStory and it was AWESOME! We had a conference table full of magazines, scissors, glue, and various snack ems. Again, I cannot stress how awesome this was.

In mainstream media, many people have been talking about making vision boards. Even Oprah and Steve Harvey have spoken about it! Many people have usually heard of vision boards and there are still a lot of people who don’t understand what they are or their purpose.

Just me and my board!

First thing, there is no one way to complete a vision board. Vision boards are literally a visual reminder or representation of various things you want to actualize in your life. The goal is to surround yourself with various images of what you want your life to become. You can use magazines, quotes, you can write in words, draw things, put up selfies, whatever you believe would exemplify a goal that you have in your life.

Vision boards can be as large or as small as you want. They can be as broad or specific as you’d like, bottom line IT IS YOUR BOARD, DO YOU! You can have multiple smaller vision boards geared specifically towards various goals that you have (ie. travel, academics, personal life).

Dare to Vision & Grab Some Glue

Let us envision our future and make plans with as many art tools as we can muster up! Finals will be right around the corner and the semester will be over. Let’s get together to get it together.

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Ashley Whiteside is a Junior at the University at Albany. She is majoring in Social Welfare and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and is minoring in Education and Africana Studies.  Ashley is a member of the Department of Residential Life and loves being a Great Dane. Her theme for this year is “Through the Looking Glass”.

“As you get further along in college it is easy to become less motivated and unfocused. My theme is meant to help all students keep on, keeping on.”

We hope to see you there!

Meet Tendrina: Communication & Journalism Major

1. What is your major and why did you choose it?

I’m a double major in communications and journalism. I chose it because of my career aspirations, because of my love for media, and because I’m awful at math and science.

2. How do people react when you tell them what your major is?

Depends. Most of the time I get a pretty positive reaction because I’m a double major and people tell me that I was meant to work in those fields.

3. What do people perceive is the most popular or “well-known” career for your major?

Journalist or public relations agent.

4. What do you think of the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I think it’s a very loaded question. What does that refer to? What do I want to be professionally? What do I want to be in the eyes of others? What do I want to be in the world? And what does “when you grow up” mean?

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Quote by Eugene Ware

There’s something about beginnings that takes people out of their comfort zone. Starting something new is not always easy and sometimes it can be a challenge; whether you are meeting someone new, enrolling in a new school or starting a new job. However, I truly believe that those moments define who I am. If I spent my life doing the same old things, with the same old people, I would not be where I am today. It’s important to try new things and more importantly different things. It takes a frame of reference to know where you actually are in your life and to realize where you’re going. I could have stayed in school this semester, but instead I branched out.

Studying Abroad in NYC

 

Hello. My name is Billy Lang and I am a second year student at the University at Albany. Currently, I am living back in my hometown of Stratford, Connecticut. I have recently been offered the opportunity to pursue an internship in New York City, working as an Intern for the Chief Compliance Officer of Nikko Asset Management Americas. In the upcoming weeks, I will be sharing with you my story. A story that is inspired by education, both in the classroom and on the job. One of the many challenges for college students and graduates is finding valuable experience in the work place. Over the past decade, standards to qualify for entry level positions have been increasingly adding value to internships and relevant experience over degrees alone. As the work force is changing, the way in which I learn must change as well. My blog will about the broad concepts of working with a team, learning by doing, and applying all of the 21^st century skills that move businesses and people forward. We have spent most of our life sitting in the classroom, reading text books, and writing essays that will never be read again. Now, I am changing that for myself. I will be spending most of my Spring 2016 working with business professionals who are looking to share their experience and offer their knowledge; these are the teachers that I am looking forward to having.

5 Successful English Majors

This post is for all of my discouraged English majors. I know you have your doubts and sometimes you lose hope but you’re not alone and I suspect that we understand each other pretty well.

I’m going to share a story that might be familiar to you (and not just because I might have shared it before): you might be going through it right now or remember a similar time in your lie. When I first started seriously thinking about college, some time in high school, picking a major was the most uncomplicated detail; I knew I would be an English major. Essays weren’t (aren’t) my favorite activity but I loved reading and writing. It was an easy fit for me. I only started doubting myself when I noticed the condescending tones of “concern” that came from other people when I told them my major. How funny is that? I wasn’t worried the least bit but other people felt like offering me career advice whenever I told them my major. They told me I should do business instead. No thanks. If you really don’t want to do business, then you’re probably going to be a teacher. I’m not going to be a teacher, I’d say politely.

When you tell people you’re an English major, they think you only have two options: change it or be a teacher. When I started doubting myself, I went so far as to ask my advisor if I should consider changing it. She didn’t let me, thankfully (after a good conversation about why I shouldn’t). I’m glad I didn’t. English majors get a bad rep but the truth is that we are in great company. I did some research to show you!

I’m providing a list of 5 well-known and greatly successful people who majored in English for their undergraduate degree! Every person on this list has varying professions in different fields just to show you the wide variety of career options you have for the future.

Barbara Walters (left) interviewing Geralt Ford (center) and Betty Ford (right) and the White House in 1976 (Public Domain Picture)

Barbara Walters: You may recognize Barbara Walters from such popular television programs like ABC’s 20/20 and The View. You may have even seen some of her famous interview specials that include Michael Jackson, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, and Monica Lewinsky. But her career started many years ago, long before women were even expected, much less allowed, to have as much airtime as she eventually did. Her career started in 1962 when she became a writer and segment producer for “women’s interest stories” on NBC’s The Today Show. In 1974, she was the first woman on network television to acquire the title “co-host” and eventually she became the first female co-anchor of any network evening news for ABC Evening News. But one of her greatest accomplishments was creating The View, a talk show hosted exclusively by female co-hosts who discuss a wide range of political and social issues. Walters received her English degree at Sarah Lawrence college.

Andrea Jung: Andrea Jung is currently the President and CEO of Grameen America, a nonprofit microfinance organization, “dedicated to helping women who live poverty build small businesses to create better lives for their families,” founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Professor Muhammad Yunus. Before Jung’s position at Grammen America, she was the first female CEO and Chairwoman of Avon Products, Inc., a poplar manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty, personal care, and household products, from 1999 to 2012. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.

Sally Ride: English majors can even travel to space! Sally Ride was a physicist and astronaut. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and Physics at Stanford University. Sally Ride became an astronaut after answering an advertisement for the space program in. Though many people questioned her about her gender at the time, she eventually went on to became the first American woman to travel into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger for STS-7. You might be thinking that she didn’t get chosen because of her English degree but instead because of her degree in physics. We may never know exactly why but it’s only important to recognize that your degree in English can lead you anywhere, even beyond Earth!

Steven Spielberg: You may not recognize his face but his name will certainly ring a bell. He is the famed and academy award-winning director of more than 20 films over the course of his career, spanning over 40 years. You’re probably a fan and don’t even know it, as he is the director behind such classic films as Jaws, the Indiana Jones series, the original Jurassic Park, E.T the extraterrestrial, The Color Purple, and War of the Worlds. He is also one of the founders of DreamWorks Studios, the film production label behind movies like Shrek and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. He won the academy awards for Best Director and Best Picture for the film, Schindler’s List, a movie about Oskar Schindler, a man who risked his life and his own money to save thousands of people from the holocaust. Spielberg earned his degree in English at California State University, Long Beach. Though he clearly possesses many different skills, I’m sure his experience with the English major has proven quite valuable to his work over the years!

Diane Sawyer: Similar to Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer is another female broadcast journalist who paved the way for women in television. Her career began as a weather reporter for a small news station in her state of Kentucky. Soon after this stint, she became a White House press aide and then eventually, literary assistant to President Richard Nixon. Sawyer’s big journalist break came as a CBS reporter and correspondent in 1978. In 1984 she became the first female correspondent for 60 Minutes, a popular newsmagazine television program. She has received a Daytime Emmy for Excellence in Morning Programming and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1997. She received her degree in English at Wellesley College.

My message is always the same: a degree in any field is never a sentence to one specific job for the rest of your life. Some people think that an English major will get every door closed on your face. But the reality is that English majors have proven time and time again that their degree offers a unique set of skills that can be valuable for a limitless amount of careers, some you may have never dreamed of. You can be the CEO of a successful company, you can travel into outer space, you can write and direct iconic feature films, and you can pave the way for a new generation and group of people. There is no door that you cannot open. Next time someone gives you that recognizable side eye, show them this article and tell them what’s up. And so they know it’s real, rock one of these awesome t-shirts that you’re sure to love!

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Tiffany Araya
UAlbany Class of 2016 
Major: English (Honors) 
Minor: Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies
Project MyStory Theme: Dream Deferred 
Follow her personal blog at www.EattheCakeBlog.com