Tell us a little about yourself.

Hello! My name is Celeste Chung and I am a second semester senior pursuing a degree in Biology with a minor in Psychology. I am on the pre-pharmacy track and actually just accepted admissions to the University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy for the class of 2023! I hope to go into clinical pharmaceuticals and specialize in pediatrics. 

Tell us about how you are involved on campus.

I spent my whole sophomore year as a Learning Assistant for CHEM 351 and continued as an SI pass leader for Summer 2018, Fall 2018, and now Spring 2019! This past year, I was also the President of Phi Sigma Sigma. 

How and why did you get involved in beinga SI PASS Leader?

After being a learning assistant for a year, I realized how much I love teaching other students, especially in Organic Chemistry. Although being an asset in the classroom was rewarding and fun, I felt like I could give better assistance to students in an active learning setting. SI PASS sessions create a comfortable environment for students to work through problems, ask questions, and even teach each other. 

What is your favorite thing about being a SI PASS Leader?

The most rewarding part about being an SI PASS leader is the feedback I received from students after an exam or after the semester was over. I loved hearing that my techniques and explanations helped others understand fairly complex concepts. Last semester, I had a group of students that felt that they really benefited from my sessions and continued to attend every session of the semester!

Why should students utilize SI PASS?

Students should take advantage of SI PASS because it is an environment where students are encouraged to talk through concepts of difficulty. It isn't a learning setting where I stand up and lecture the concepts. Instead, students practice problems that challenge them to understand material conceptually and be able to replicate that material to all types of problems. It also gives students a chance to teach other students what they know and bounce ideas off of each other. 

What advice would you give students about how to prepare for a SI PASS session? 

SI PASS sessions aren't lectures, so students should come prepared with knowledge about the material taught in their lectures by the professor. SI PASS gives students an opportunity to practice problems to build off the knowledge learned in lectures. 

When and where can someone work with you through the Learning Resources Center?

For anyone taking CHEM 351 this semester, my sessions are every Tuesdays and Thursday's from 4:00-4:50 PM in Sherman 150!

Please make sure you visit https://www.ndc-md.org/human-resources-office-specialist/ for the full advertisement for the job.

Compensation: Commensurate with experience

Employment Type: Part-time (10-20 hours a week, depending on workload)

Location: Baltimore, Md and some days in Hyattsville, MD as needed.

Reports to: Executive Director, Deputy Director

Application due: Open until May 15, 2019. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Description

Maia Parker

Is Baltimore City Meeting The Needs Of Students? The Integration Of Latinx Students Into Baltimore City Schools

Mentor: Jennifer Mata-McMahon, Education

Location: UC Ballroom | 1 – 2:30 p.m.

With the recent influx of Latinx immigrants the demographics of Baltimore City have changed within communities and schools, which has lead to a need for schools to adjust. While some schools now have a majority Latinx population others have a small percentage, however, many of the obstacles faced by the schools in order to support the students are similar. Integration,viewed as a systemic support of students academics, culture, community, and language, plays a large role in the success of the children coming into these schools. By analyzing how Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) assist in integrating Latinx students, it is clear that by incorporating different cultures, it benefits all students. By interviewing 12 school administrators and 12 ESOL coordinators/teachers from six BCPS, a better understanding of the services provided to assist Latinx students’ integration was achieved, as well as a description of the perceived impact these services have on students’ overall success.

URCAD IS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24TH!

As the professor begins to pass back our papers, I am filled with the angst of fear and intrigue as I wait for the fateful moment of the return of my labor. Six hours of labor to be exact, all conformed and manipulated to fit as words in ink, on a few sheets of paper. Although it cannot exactly be compared with a twelve or twenty-six-hour birth, I dare to say that this paper is a baby of my own – a child of my labor.

Labor that can be seen in one condensed form – writing. A subject that every student loves!  Or maybe they could if they wouldn’t be asked to write a paper in the middle of a semester with about 1,687,543 other things to do.

Perhaps that is my only solace, that it happens to all of us. As students, we all have felt the stress from an assignment, which is no trivial matter, due to its: deadlines, guidelines, foreign formats, sources, and of course trying to retain the material etc. It’s enough to give any person anxiety. But this is the life of a student – simultaneously juggling multiple assignments in multiple different subjects. Pushing ourselves to the point of anxiety induced stress – which is a subject for discussion entirely on its own.

What happens when a paper is handed back and it is not up to your standards? What happens when your labor, your baby, is critiqued harshly? What is your initial response? If you’re anything like me, you will go through a few different emotional stages. Call them stages of grief, if you will:

1. 1. Shock. I see the grade, and I am beyond unimpressed, as anyone else would be with the hideous number scribbled at the top of my paper. Although numbers are easily understood in any language, I stare at them in a stupor. As if they would magically transform if I stare for a lengthy time.

• Anger/Denial. After I stare, I start to read and interpret the comments. I recognize every fault, of the soon to be unfortunate professor: they miscounted my points, or they didn’t give me credit for entering specific content in the paper – yet it’s there, etc. After my own critique, I fume with anger and resentment. I deserve a better grade! My six hours of labor deserve much better than this.

1. Bargaining. I make the resolve to meet with this so-called, “professor” and redeem the qualities of the paper that were so obviously misunderstood.
2. Depression. Even if the professor gives me a few extra points, I still will not have an ideal grade. Then starts the inner monologue: You didn’t get a good grade cause the professor doesn’t like you. Or maybe you really do suck at writing! (Yah, you do). Why do I try so hard, for so little in return? Maybe I should just give up. I see people doing it all the time. Yeah, I’ll just give up, and sleep – man I am tired.
3. Acceptance/Perseverance. Regardless of whether I meet the professor or not, or whether I receive a better letter grade, I understand now why I have earned the grade I have. Maybe I didn’t fully understand the content, and I was trying to write around that small detail. Maybe I was sick at the time, or I had personal things going on at the time, and my paper reflected that in one way or another. The possibilities are endless. Either way, I accept and understand my baby’s critique.

As I said before, the only true solace I have, is that I am not the first to receive a letter grade that doesn’t meet my approval. My situation is universal. I cannot attest to it, but I am almost positive Poe would have had a bad paper or two, if he was a UMBC student in 2019. I would think the same of Whitman, W.E.B. Du Bois, and even Churchill. Presumptuous maybe, and perhaps my perception and my beliefs are invalid. However, I cannot believe that a single student of UMBC (in any decade) hasn’t received a letter grade that was not to their standards. I do believe that a student, isn’t a true student, until they have felt the touch of despair from the attainment of a disappointing letter grade. I also believe that instead of claiming to have lack of expertise in a subject (mine’s science), or simply not having a knack for a certain kind of assignment (I dislike group work), it is far more gratifying to simply pick myself up, and move forward. By doing this, all students show their personal and academic perseverance and resilience. I am proud to be one of the many students, who can demonstrate the very essence of tenacity that is needed, not only to excel at UMBC – but to excel in life, as well.

Contributed by: Cassie Davis, Writing Center Tutor