Certified Student Leader
Communication
I am part of the Food Recovery Network, which is a new organization in FIU whose main purpose is to recover food from campus. This organization wants to fight food waste and hunger by distributing it back to the community. By contacting Chartwells in Panther Dining, I was able to negotiate with them so that we can pack leftover food and take it to non-profit organizations such as Miami Rescue Mission as a donation. We had to order containers, spoons, forks, and knives so that we could distribute the food to each individual. In order to give the food out to those in need, we had to get into contact with our local homeless shelters and churches to see who would want to take in the food. I reached out to organizations in Sweetwater, Downtown, Kendall, and Homestead. One of the most important things is finding out if they have a freezer and if they have an oven to heat the food up. We do not want the food to perish and we have to follow food safety guidelines. There were places that could not store the food so I found an alternative which is only donating non-perishable foods. We provided over 100 non-perishable cans, crackers, fruit cups, school supplies and bags to FIU’s food pantry.
Civic Engagement
For the MLK day of service, we helped paint Jessie J. McCray elementary school. The school engaged in inclusive behavior by sketching drawings all around the school. The drawings I did had children, dolphins, and flowers with phrases like “responsibility”, “positive attitude”, and “one kind word can change someone’s entire day”. The drawings of the students were of every race, the school did not leave out any group of people. I thought that it was amazing that our mural was multiracial. I went to this day of service because I know how important diversity is for children. They need to be exposed to diversity and good habits which will be accomplished by seeing positive messages as they walk through their school hallways and that will help them feel confident. One of the teachers from the school told us that it was a low-income school and some of these students do not have good living situations. Going back to a school that is now colorful with murals on the wall that are motivational, I think, would make them happy. Looking around and seeing paintings of kids from every background is inclusive and it helps the children that go there feel like they are part of something.
Learning and Reasoning
I am the research/shadowing chair for Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society is a society for Biology majors. We all share the same passion for what biology entails. Since most of our members are pre-med students I tried to find things that can enhance their portfolios, which mainly include shadowing and research opportunities. I also facilitate to those who have an interest in marine biology, Ph.D. seeking, and veterinarians. As the Research/ Shadowing Chair for Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society I work with the students enrolled to help them find research opportunities. I would reach out to professors and see if there are any opening in their labs. I like to help them with the process because working in a research lab may also open opportunities for students who do not know what they would like to do. With shadowing, I looked at different hospitals and doctor offices. Shadowing in different specialties can help the members see what they like or spark an interest they never thought was there. Even if they think they like a certain specialty, you really do not know until you at least see it on a day-to-day basis. Once a student finds somewhere they can shadow I help them get into contact with different doctors so they can see if they can go and shadow them.
Group Dynamics
Camp Ramapo is a traditional summer camp that is year-round and assists young adults with disabilities which they call staff assistants. This program helps facilitate their transition to independence. These individuals may have difficulties in building and maintaining healthy relationships with peers or may have struggled in an unsupportive setting. Through Alternative Breaks, we created workshops to help these young adults transition into the workforce and the real world. We created workshops in healthy eating habits, hygiene, networking, meditation, and resume building. These workshops were designed to help these individuals to form healthy friendships, make good choices, develop self-confidence, and experience success. My workshop was on improving peer relationships. I created activities such as how to introduce yourself, faux job/school interview, do’s and don'ts at work, and we discussed boundaries with peers. We also did end-of-the-day reflection, that helped the group come closer together because we established trust with one another and I learned through this experience the value of team-building. All the workshops had a purpose and I could not have done it alone without the help of the other participants. The workshops consisted of helping young adults with their daily interactions. They know everyone in the camp but once they leave they will have to learn how to speak with people who may not be familiar. One of the things I noticed was that some of them would either not speak to people they didn’t know or they would hug people and be very touchy. I thought that working on boundaries would be a great start because it is super important in life. For example, we had a situation where one of the young adults said that he was dating one of the participants because he said she was nice to him. Since my workshop was about boundaries I thought it would be the perfect time to speak with him about boundaries.
Interpersonal Interaction
By working as a biochemistry LA, I have learned how to motivate and empower other students. We had a switch in professors the fifth week of the semester and the students in the class were very nervous, so I motivated them to not be scared and to embrace the new professor. We do active learning which means the professor will ask a question and we will help the students answer them. As a biochemistry LA, I have noticed that using different methods and allowing them to come up with their own conclusion has helped them ask more questions. Open-ended questions will help them recall information they should know from general biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry. Their curiosity leads them to the correct answer. I noticed during the time I have worked with them that some of the students were not being as interactive at the beginning of the class because they got their test grades back and a few of them felt discouraged. I tried to turn their discouragement around and by asking them questions of current topics they gained confidence that they knew the material, all they needed was my reassurance. I noticed that this made them feel happy and they did not think they already knew so much about the topic we were covering. Sometimes asking the students in a different way can help with the current topic we are covering. I am going to continue to try different methods so I can make sure I am helping them in the best way possible.
Personal Behavior
Relay for life is an event that FIU hosts every year. The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life movement is the largest cancer-fighting fundraiser in the world. Donations raised help the American Cancer Society continue fighting to alleviate the world from cancer. Five hundred lives are saved daily due to this society. Communities around the world come together at these events to honor cancer survivors, remember those we’ve lost, and to raise money to help save lives. The money raised facilitates the American Cancer Society to fund cancer research, provide free information, and support early detection and prevention programs. My job as treasurer for Tau Sigma Honor Society was to make a budget on the costs we would spend for our tent. We needed to sell items so we could make money in order to donate it to the American Cancer Society. This took months of planning and it was necessary to make a budget with my fellow executive board members. This year the theme was around the world, we originally wanted Cuba since many of our members are from the Caribbean we thought they would like to decorate and eat foods from the Caribbean. Then some of the members wanted a unique country that the members are not from. We decided to go with Egypt, we had to change our budget, tent decor, and food. I thought it would be a great idea because most people have probably not been exposed to Egyptian culture. Our society helped teach students the Egyptian culture. We ended up raising more than $800 for cancer.
Self-Awareness and
Development
Tuesday Roundtable is hosted every week on Tuesdays in GC 150. Different speakers come in and speak about different things going on around the world. Some of the topics I have experienced are race, technology, police brutality, language, LGBTQ, culture, and prostitution. Prior to going to attending Tuesday Roundtable, I thought I had enough knowledge on these topics, little did I know that I really did not have a true understanding of any of these topics. Going to these talks has shown me that there is so much more to each of these topics. I went to a talk about technology and I thought I was pretty tech savvy, but I was totally wrong. I had no idea that some interviews are now being held by speaking to a robot. Depending on your voice alone, you may or may not get the job. The frequency in your voice is matched with the top employees and if they match then you can get the job. That was news to me. I also did not know that your name is taken into account which plays a role in whether you seem like a good match to a company. What types of names are seen as being good employees? It is interesting to see how culture, race, gender, and our social class can play a role in our everyday lives.
Strategic Planning
One of the main things I have done during my time here at FIU is co-founding Panther Chow, which is a student-led organization whose main purpose is to repurpose food from events and distribute it to food insecure students on campus. Students who are food insecure, lack reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. We are currently working with the Student Government Association to launch Panther Chow during the upcoming semesters. Our aim is to serve one meal a day to food insecure students through an app that sends a notification to students that are within a three-mile radius around FIU. I have become ServSafe certified to safely distribute food, this certification allows me to guide student volunteers to serve safe, high-quality ready-to-eat food. Thirty-six percent of students that attend Universities are food insecure. Since there is such a high number of students at FIU who do not have access to nutritional food, this fuels my passion to enact change because I cannot imagine going to school every day and not having anything to eat. Some projects we’ve already done are a Friendsgiving with Chartwells, where we had students donate meals they were not going to use during the holidays to food insecure students.
