The Continuum Issue #2, November 2011

C

The C

ontinuum

Grad Spotlight 2

Cinthya Salazar,

NODA @ UW 3

We feature the 2011

Outstanding NODA Intern

as she details her

experience at UW-

Madison.

Alumni Profile 5

Raquel Wright, Assistant

Director in Career Services

highlights this month’s

Alumni Profile.

4 Tips to Starting Your Job/Practicum/Internship Search Start Early

a. Share with your supervisors, mentors, faculty, and alumni of the program your

interests and future goals b. Look at job descriptions of positions that you may want to apply to in the future

and see how you can build your resume with the skills required Prepare your resume

a. Your resume should always be a working document, continually update your

information including committees you may be a part of b. Have your resume critiqued by different individuals and often

Network a. Utilize social media, past supervisors, mentors, and faculty. Reach out to them

and stay connected b. Attend state, regional, and national organization conferences and meetings to

network with new individuals Seek the right fit for you

a. Speak to individuals who attend or are employed at the institution you are

interested in b. Call the office or pass by if possible and see the interaction the office has with

the community it serves

Career Tips from Career Services

Submitted by:

Lauren Hubacheck-Butler

Associate Director of Employer Relations

The Continuum Issue # 1, October 2011

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Grad Spotlight: Cynthia Salazar

Cinthya Salazar

Undergraduate Information: Florida International University, Miami, FL- Mass Communications and Journalism

– TV Production & Modern Languages – Spanish Completed in 2008

Miami Dade College, Miami, FL- Associate of Arts in Mass Communications and Journalism Completed Dec. 2005

SAGA Involvement: Secretary 2011, Alumni Relations Committee, and SAGA Days Committee 2010-2011 Favorite TV show: F*R*I*E*N*D*S and Modern Family Favorite Food: Lomo Saltado (Peruvian Dish)

I arrived to the United States on December 1st of 2000, almost 11 years ago, from Lima-Peru. I came to this country with just one goal in mind, to get an education! How could I have known that one decision was going to change my purpose in life? How I have known that what seemed to be the most difficult challenge was going to bring me so much happiness?

My path to get an education has been long, bumpy, and very tiring, but the satisfaction it has brought to my life has been immeasurable. My undergraduate experience was non-traditional in many ways, if not all: I was a non-native speaker of the language, worked full-time, had family responsibilities, and was older. While I was pursuing my bachelor’s degree I could not seem to fit in the university environment and just wanted to finish my program and move on with my life. However, less than two years after I graduated, I found myself sitting in a classroom again. I will never regret the choice to continue my education. Being in the Higher Education program has not only made me feel like the traditional student that I always desired to be, but has shaped me as person and as professional. I look forward to my graduation in May and to start my journey as Student Affairs professional. I am sure now that my purpose in life was meant to be an educator, who will strive every day to motivate students who face many troubles to obtain the education they deserve and to impact their experience in a positive manner.

The Continuum Issue # 1, October 2011

3

A summer I will never forget! My NODA Internship experience at UW-Madison!

This past summer, I had the opportunity to return to my home state of Wisconsin for my National Orientation Directors Association (NODA) Internship. Working at the University of Wisconsin – Madison has always been a dream of mine and was nothing shy of amazing!

I arrived in May to the brisk 50 degree weather and immediately began intense training with their orientation leaders, which they call New Student Leaders. I worked in the Center for the First-Year Experience office with four other professional staff, four student interns, six orientation assistants, and 18 New Student Leaders. I quickly learned what felt like everything one could possible want to know about the university, and forged unforgettable bonds with my co-workers. Everything I did helped me to build on my skills that I have already learned in my assistantship, from supervising undergraduate leaders, to being the professional staff in charge of an entire orientation session with over 400 attendees.

The summer went by too fast, with 40 orientations in three months it felt like I was living and breathing the university. I’m not ashamed to say that I did indeed cry on my last day and still keep in touch with many of the people I worked with. My experience there gave me a fresh outlook on why I love orientation and my field as much as I do and prepared me for another year at FIU and job searching in the spring.

I was fortunate enough to attend the National Orientation Directors Association Conference (NODAC) 2011 this October with my FIU staff, and there I was able to reunite with my two summer supervisors. I was also honored, and completely shocked, when I won the NODA Outstanding Intern award at the conference. It is wonderful knowing that the staff there appreciated me so much during the summer, even though I would have been happy just with the relationships and memories that came out of this opportunity.

- Jessica Greenwood

The Continuum Issue # 1, October 2011

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Courtney Preston, a first-year graduate student in the Higher Education

Administration Program, took an unconventional approach to finding an internship

for summer 2012. Courtney is a graduate assistant in the Undergraduate Education

Office at the Biscayne Bay Campus, and she was seeking an internship in

academic affairs at a smaller, private institution. Although most students go

through ACUHO-I or NODA, Courtney knew she would need to branch out in

order to find an appropriate experience.

After contacting several program directors at schools across the country,

Courtney accepted a position with the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Summer

High School program, which is part of the School of Arts & Sciences. Penn,

founded in 1740, is an Ivy League institution that is nationally-ranked for research

and is considered America’s first university. Courtney will help facilitate their

non-credit summer academies, as well as their for-credit pre-collegiate programs.

Courtney is particularly excited about working with the Penn Summer Scholars

program, which promotes college access for academically motivated Philadelphia

public high school students.

Stay tuned for an update on Courtney’s experience in a fall 2012 issue of

the Continuum.

Grad takes non-traditional route for internship - Wolfgang Acevedo

SAGA goes SOCIAL!

Click on the pictures below

to follow/friend us today!

Want to contribute or be

featured in the Continuum?

Please contact

Wolfgang Acevedo at

wacevedo@fiu.edu

Grads Let us

know where

you are hired to

do internships

or jobs so you

too can be

featured in the

Continuum!

Plus you get a

awesome photo

shoot like

Courtney did!

The Continuum Issue # 1, October 2011

5

The Continuum Issue #2, November 2011

President Obama on Oct.

26 used executive authority to

speed up the enactment of a law

that makes two substantial

changes to the responsibility that

college graduates have to their

student loans. The gist of the plan

is that graduates will only be

required to make a minimum

payment of 10% of their salary

instead of 15%, and that

remaining debt will be forgiven

after 20 years instead of 25.

Opponents argue that such

a plan will make it easier for

people to dodge their financial

obligations, passing the burden to

the taxpayer, and that the

presidential authority that Obama

used to push this bill into

enactment was a circumvention of

the democratic process.

According to the Palm

Beach Post, the move by Obama

was partly in response to calls for

action from the public through the

White House Web site, including

a petition signed by more than

30,000 citizens. The Occupy

movement has also lead to more

voices being heard from college

graduates who are dismayed about

not being able to pay off their

loans as they had anticipated.

This issue is of utmost

importance to all of us entering

the higher education workforce; as

the burden of paying for college,

especially at public schools, shifts

from the state to the student, the

ability of future generations to pay

to attend, as well as the public

perception of whether or not

college is worth it, will determine

the outlook for our field.

I see Obama’s current play

to reduce the pressure of student

loan debt, or really anything that

can be done to make a dent in this

problem at this point, though some

of the criticisms are worth

listening to as we work toward a

final solution to the debt crisis

instead of temporary patches. A

sustainable plan for debt relief

should be focused on controlling

the amount of debt that students

get into in the first place, rather

than forgiving them for that debt

later.

One thing that has always

not sat particularly well with me is

that it seems as if the media is

constantly using the amount of

student loans that are out there as

representing what it costs to go to

college. The problem is that

traditional college students are

still teenagers when they start

taking out college loans, so the

most responsible decisions are not

always made. Students who

accept more aid then they need

and then spend it on frivolous

things aside, there are still plenty

of ways for students to get into

more debt than they really need,

including taking on the extra

expense of going away to college

or attending a private institution,

despite the available alternative of

a close-to-home or public school.

Others may choose not to work

while in school, which while may

be a good idea for students in the

STEM fields, but part-time

employment is otherwise typically

manageable during an

undergraduate career and a good

way to avoid debt from piling on.

Loans are also sometimes used for

housing, transportation, and other

necessary living expenses that are

not at all frivolous, but this creates

a problem for colleges when the

media rattles off student loan

amounts without taking into

consideration that some of that

debt was incurred for purposes

other than tuition itself.

With 15% increases in

tuition pretty much every year,

cost of attendance is a problem in

itself, but it is a different problem

than the student loan one. As

incoming higher education

professionals, it is our

responsibility to educate incoming

students, that while college is

expensive, that sensible decisions

about where to attend and how to

handle their finances, doing well

in school to get scholarships, as

well as planning for their future by

utilizing career services in order to

get that job after graduation can

make sure their loan debt, if they

have any, is not the ridiculous

amount that today’s students are

dealing with. In the meantime,

Obama’s relief plan will help.

Submitted by Eric Feldman

Student Debt