My experience at Gordonstoun International Summer School was truly life changing. This experience is one I can never forget. I’ve met so many remarkable people from all over the world. The students I met enhanced my understanding of different cultures and gave me the opportunity to view the world in many different perspectives. Not only have I met these amazing people but I’ve made life-long friends with them. Thank you for giving me the best summer I’ve ever had. Spectacular occurrences don’t usually happen to someone like me. I’m so grateful for this and your generosity. With all that I’ve learned, I will use to my advantage and set out to do great things. I’ve gotten to do the imaginable.
Student Updates
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Juan has recently graduated from Bloomfield College in New Jersey this past May with a dual degree in Business Management and also Finance. Life after graduation has been very enjoyable for Juan as he has been given so many different opportunities and been able to help others. Juan completed an internship with Immersion Consulting last summer and is now
working full-time with the company as a government contractor. He has also been given a better opportunity and will soon be transitioning to a financial analyst with a different company. When Juan isn’t hard at work or with family he is coaching basketball or football, trying to help those after him. Juan has been given the opportunity to go back to his alma mater where he played, and will be an assistant coach for the Varsity Boys Basketball Team this winter. Juan has also been coaching the General’s Highway Tigers 8U youth football team and the team is currently (7-1) heading into the playoffs. He has a very positive outlook on life and is always willing to help others and tackle new opportunities. Teniola Louder- University of Baltimore Being the first generation in my family to be attending a university in the united states is something I'll ever be grateful for. It is a rare opportunity, and I do not take it lightly. By going to college, I am confident that not only will my dreams of becoming a lawyer come to fusion, but also I would be opportune to impact my generation for good. From childhood, I have dreamt of becoming a lawyer. Now I grew up to see what my parents went through in getting integrated into a system that has so much to offer. I see myself as highly fortunate in life, and I know not every child would have the same opportunity as this. However, I would be a voice for many other children coming behind me facing the same problems and struggles that I had to go through. As a young child coming into the united states I felt intimidated by my peers because I didn’t feel socially accepted and didn’t feel welcome. I felt out of place. But as I started to grow up, I realized that there’s a process in place that gradually embraces you into a new environment. I’ve met some wonderful people who have helped me in life. My ESOL teacher, my counselor, my professor, and my family were the anchor to my stability in this system. In the same vein, I see myself also helping young immigrants who are purpose driven to settle in an environment they are not used to. I am passionate about information, my rights, my benefits and how to access them, and how to get well informed. My career choice is an avenue through which I can help people know their rights and benefits that are close to them as immigrants. I have been fortunate to be within the circle of immigrants, and I see how uninformed a large population of us are. Studying law would help me navigate through the legal system, how it works, and how to help those who are immigrants. I look forward to being a voice in my generation, I look forward to impacting my generation for good, and most importantly I cannot wait to give back to the environment that has given me the opportunity to fulfill my career purpose. |
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Ricardo Mack, Stanford University
During my sophomore year I knew that I wanted to apply for internships for the summer, but I didn’t know where to go and if I would even get in. In my mind the name Stanford instantly appeared and as quick as it came my hands seemed to already be typing ‘ctrl + F Stanford’. With every key stroke I could feel myself getting more and more excited. Then there it was, the Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP). That summer after my sophomore year I worked in Dr. Nidhi Bhutani’s laboratory as part of the SSRP investigating the regulation of DNA methylation in tissue-specific gene silencing. I was super excited to be there and had a great time, but as I discovered like everyone else there I also felt like I didn’t belong at times. They talked a lot about Imposter Syndrome and they challenged us to ask the scientists there about if they had dealt with this concept before. I was amazed at how these scientists living the dream of many people felt the same misplacement that I did. This program also showed me for the first time in my life how uplifting a diversified environment within science can be. Being in this program and seeing how hard everyone was pushing for diversity in science made me want to start going a step further and do the same. I later presented how this project worked to understand how transcription factors could be influencing DNA modification at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) (Phoenix, AZ). During this research experience, I learned to design an experiment, and to critically analyze scientific literature. This challenging experience prepared me to continue in research and gave me a better appreciation for the hard work of a scientist. How I got into the second program I can only describe as a blessing. |
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Teniola Louder- University of Baltimore
Being the first generation in my family to be attending a university in the united states is something I'll ever be grateful for. It is a rare opportunity, and I do not take it lightly. By going to college, I am confident that not only will my dreams of becoming a lawyer come to fusion, but also I would be opportune to impact my generation for good. From childhood, I have dreamt of becoming a lawyer. Now I grew up to see what my parents went through in getting integrated into a system that has so much to offer. I see myself as highly fortunate in life, and I know not every child would have the same opportunity as this. However, I would be a voice for many other children coming behind me facing the same problems and struggles that I had to go through. As a young child coming into the united states I felt intimidated by my peers because I didn’t feel socially accepted and didn’t feel welcome. I felt out of place. But as I started to grow up, I realized that there’s a process in place that gradually embraces you into a new environment. I’ve met some wonderful people who have helped me in life. My ESOL teacher, my counselor, my professor, and my family were the anchor to my stability in this system. In the same vein, I see myself also helping young immigrants who are purpose driven to settle in an environment they are not used to. I am passionate about information, my rights, my benefits and how to access them, and how to get well informed. My career choice |
Terrance Agbaw- Towson University
I would like to first thank the Colonial Challenge Cup for sponsoring me with the Annapolis and Anne Arundel Trust Scholarship. My first semester is going well, I am prospering through introduction to biology and introduction to psychology. Those are my hardest classes so far, but I am excelling in my other four courses. I was blessed to come into Towson with
fifteen credits, so after this semester, I will be considered a sophomore. I have had several meetings with my advisor, Stephanie Easterday, regarding my schedule and major. Mrs. Easterday makes sure I am aware of what I need to do to satisfy the pre- requisites for my major and that I am on track with graduating on time. Also, throughout my time here, I have made many new friends and I have attended several exciting events. I joined the African Diaspora Club (ADC), where I became a mentee in a mentoring program, within the club called “Kama Moja”. I have developed a very nice bond with my mentors, Grace Adetolu, and Kelechi Onyenachi and they are people I talk to when I need advising. Furthermore, I attended my first concert with some of my mentors and friends, and this concert highlighted the DMV rapper, “Shy Glizzy”, and T-Pain. I was so amazed my such experience because I was in the front row seat and I shared laughs and smiles with these artists. In conclusion, college is what I expected, it is about responsibility and time management, if you can display both of these concepts, there are times that you can have fun.
I would like to first thank the Colonial Challenge Cup for sponsoring me with the Annapolis and Anne Arundel Trust Scholarship. My first semester is going well, I am prospering through introduction to biology and introduction to psychology. Those are my hardest classes so far, but I am excelling in my other four courses. I was blessed to come into Towson with
fifteen credits, so after this semester, I will be considered a sophomore. I have had several meetings with my advisor, Stephanie Easterday, regarding my schedule and major. Mrs. Easterday makes sure I am aware of what I need to do to satisfy the pre- requisites for my major and that I am on track with graduating on time. Also, throughout my time here, I have made many new friends and I have attended several exciting events. I joined the African Diaspora Club (ADC), where I became a mentee in a mentoring program, within the club called “Kama Moja”. I have developed a very nice bond with my mentors, Grace Adetolu, and Kelechi Onyenachi and they are people I talk to when I need advising. Furthermore, I attended my first concert with some of my mentors and friends, and this concert highlighted the DMV rapper, “Shy Glizzy”, and T-Pain. I was so amazed my such experience because I was in the front row seat and I shared laughs and smiles with these artists. In conclusion, college is what I expected, it is about responsibility and time management, if you can display both of these concepts, there are times that you can have fun.