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First Scholars

Category: Spring 2018

March Newsletter

Another month has passed, and the First Scholars have been very busy with various group activities and personal triumphs. First Scholars joined together this month to go Ice Skating together as well as attend the Sound of Music. The students were able to bond and make memories together, outside of school.
The First Scholars started off the month of March celebrating the talent of First Generation students on campus. Alongside the First-Generation Student Organization, the First Scholars hosted a First-Generation Student Talent Show. The talent show featured fourteen students, representing the First Scholars, Developing Scholars Program, Kauffman Scholars, and the First Generation Students Organization who showcased their talent in various ways. Hosted by First Scholar Delante Madden and First-Generation Student Diamond Sampson, the talent show featured singers, dancers, poets, and musicians.

A huge thank you goes out to our judges: Dr. Steve Dandaneau, Ms. Nidhi Bhandari, Mr. Brent Weaver, and Ms. Joy Chen.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to help out with our event!

Winning first place was Ty Aden for his poem “59”, a poem about prime numbers and love.

Second place went to Maria Vieyra for her artwork, “Frida, Papaya, and Me.”

Briana Jackson won third place for her dance performance and Alan Ramirez was named Honorable Mention for his freestyle dance solo.

While not everyone won a prize, all our scholars are winners. One thing is for certain, we have some truly talented First Scholars!

Recently, the sophomores worked yet again with the Riley County Verde Clovers. The Verde Clovers is a 4-H program for multicultural children. Dedicated to positive multicultural youth development, the Verde Clovers meet monthly. This year, sophomores have paired up with the program as peer mentors and have dedicated time to working with the members of the Verde Clovers. On March 12th, Scholars alongside K-State’s Men of Vision joined the Verde Clovers for a community meal as well as activities. The Scholars assisted the younger children as they completed a STEM activity focused on Engineering.

While the younger children completed a STEM activity, the older kids were assisted by the Scholars as they learned about and registered for 4-H Discovery Days. The evening was filled with joy and laughter with both the Scholars and members of the Verde Clovers enjoying their time together.

Congratulations are in order for some of our Senior First Scholars. Adam Koch was accepted into a Physical Therapy Doctoral Program at Kansas University that will start this summer. Karina Michel is pursuing a Masters in Student Development. We will be updating you in the next newsletter about our intelligent seniors as they decide their post-grad plans.

We want to take a moment to shout out our First Scholars Ambassadors. The ambassadors took time out of their busy schedules to call potential program recruits. After many hours and many phone calls, the First Scholars Ambassadors were able to get a number of students to apply for the program. The ambassadors still have a few more events this semester. Thank you to the First Scholars Ambassadors for all your hard work!

Scholars, mark March 30th in your calendars as an activist, feminist, and labor leader Delores Huerta will be visiting K-State. K-State’s HALO, Hispanic American Leadership Organization, and Office of Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs in the Division of Student Life will be hosting the event. Delores Huerta will speak on Friday, March 30th at 7:00 p.m. in K-State Student Union’s Grand Ballroom. It is sure to be a great evening!

Important Dates

• March 26th: Last day to drop a regular session course
• March 29th- March 30th: Pay It Forward position interviews
• March 26th- April 20th: Enrollment for Summer/Fall 2018 Terms
• April 21st: First Scholars Family Reception and Celebration

Kat Chats Dates

• March 27th: Extinguishing Burnout

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to the following Frist Scholars!

March Birthdays

• Jordan Roth- March 5th
• Alexis Smith- March 16th
• Coraima Yanez- March 18th
• Zachory Allred- March 25th
• Rachel Meyers- March 27th
• Emma Claybrook- March 28th

Please look ahead and mark your calendars for the First Scholars Family Reception and Celebration. This will be a fun-filled time celebrating our First Scholars accomplishments and our first graduating class. This event will be held on April 21st, 2018 from 12-2pm in the Union Ballroom. We hope you will all join us!

February Newsletter

Welcome back! The Spring semester is well underway, and the First Scholars are back and already working very hard. Last semester proved to be a successful one with graduation, scholarships, and various academic honors.

Ashley Coleman graduated in December, making him the first graduate of the K-State First Scholars program.

Katie Gehring, junior First Scholar, received the Goss Discovery Scholarship. She is currently spending the Spring Semester studying in Granada, Spain.

Congratulations are in order for the following First Scholars as they made the Honors List last semester: Ashley Coleman, Julie Demel, Gabby Doebele, Alicia Flack, Katie Gehring, Megan Haresnape, Ansley Herzog, Wes Jennings, Adam Koch, Rachel Meyers, Denise Reyes, Callie Reynolds, Jordan Roth, and Jasmin Williams.

January 27th the Junior and Senior First Scholars attended a retreat that featured various speakers and topics. The Seniors had a workshop on identifying and responding to micro-aggressions given by Richele Dadian, a psychology intern with Counseling Services. Dr. Dawne Martin, Assistant Dean for Diversity and member of the College of Business, spoke about how to prepare for the workplace. The Freshmen and Sophomore scholars joined the Juniors and Seniors to listen to the seniors present their Senior Legacy Projects. Junior scholars were spoken to by Ms. Liz Penton and Ms. Anastasia Delgado about how to avoid falling into binge drinking during their college years. Ms. Aliah Mestrovich-Seay spoke and provided an eye-opening activity over privilege and how privilege plays a role in everyone’s life. Finally, Mr. Trent McGee, K-State 360 Coordinator, spoke to the Juniors about the value of student engagement.

There are several important dates to keep in mind during this month of February. First being the Ice Skating Party for all cohorts on February 11th, 7:30- 9:00 pm. The First Scholars Talent Show will take place at Forum Hall on March 1st, 7:00-9:00 pm. If interested in participating, contact Rebeca via email: rpaz@ksu.edu. Other important dates such as Withdraw/Drop deadlines and Kat Chats are listed below.

Withdraw/Drop Dates

  • Monday, February 5th- Last day to drop a regular session course for 100% refund.
  • Monday, February 12th- Last day to drop a regular session course for 50% refund.
  • Tuesday, February 20th- Last day to drop a regular session course without a W being recorded.
  • Monday, March 26th- Last day to drop a regular session course.

Kat Chat Dates

  • Tuesday, February 6th- Connection the Dots: Recognizing Depression
  • Tuesday, February 13th- The Language of Love
  • Tuesday, February 20th- Don’t Stress! De-Stress!
  • Tuesday, February 27th- Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorders: Not Just Female Problems

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to the following First Scholars!

January/February Birthdays

  • Gabriella Doebele- January 1st
  • Joshua Woods- January 11th
  • Elisha Stone- January 12th
  • Sequoyah Morabito- January 13th
  • Karol Suarez- January 16th
  • Jessie Carr- January 31st
  • Juan de Santiago- January 31st
  • Julie Demel- February 11th
  • Ashley Weigel- January 21st
  • Alicia Flach- February 22nd
  • Trae Mosher-Cherry- February 28th

Please join us at the First Generation Student Talent Show! It is sure to be a fun filled evening showcasing the talents of our First Generation Students!
As we work our way through the Spring semester, continue to work hard Scholars. Keep up the hard work and most importantly, make yourselves proud!