Blue Hens, friends and family. What is up? My name is Nasir Young and today I'll be talking to you a little bit about my experience as a student worker at the University of Delaware. So a little bit about me. I am a junior Psychology major with minors and Disability Studies, Human Development and Family Sciences, and Organizational and Community Leadership. I am also completing a certificate in Entrepreneur Leadership, and I'm originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Part of the reason why I was drawn to UD's campus is because of its physical closeness to home. It's only about 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. And so while I wanted to be away from home, UD's campus was perfect and that it wasn't too far away. A little bit more about me. So if you've ever been to campus before, you've likely pass this building. This is the Delaware Field House and one of the many places that I work on campus. In addition, I also work as a lifeguard in the Bob Carpenter sports building on campus. I'm apart of an I F C Greek organization, I love listening music, Drake is my favorite artists, and so obviously running through the six with my woes. I'm a Psychology major and likewise involved in research on campus. I'm from Philly, and cheese steaks are in my bloodstream, one of my favorite spots is Alessandro 's. This was actually ten minutes away from my high school and fun fact, I used to play football in the club team right across the street. Other random things, my favorite colors grey. I like to have fun, SpongeBob fun. And in light of everything that is going on, I just had this little quote which says "grow with the flow" We're on zoom obviously, and we're just going with it. And so lastly, I have this image of a peron gabbing because one of my primary the involvements on campus is through the University of Delaware Alternative Breaks Program. A little bit more about UDaB's mission. So UDaB provides weeks of mutually beneficial service for individuals interested in getting involved with social justice issue areas. During my freshman year, I attended the involvement fair, as do most freshmen, and I was overwhelmed by the numerous amounts of involvements. Over 400 registered student organizations on campus, and naturally, I wanted to get involved with everything. So I did just that and sign in my email and number on a lot of different Club interests sheets and received numerous emails. I received so many emails in fact, that three days before my Spring program with UDaB, I received a message that said whether you attend or not, you just still have to pay. And so I figured that I would just go and see what it was like. And I ended up having the time of my life! I traveled with 20 other university students and we stayed in this beautiful church basement for a week. This program was really cool because we truly got to live like DC natives. Here's an image of us taking the Metro. We also prepared and purchased our own meals, which was really cool as well, and was helpful for me to figure out adulting and things like that. We worked with numerous community members in DC, specifically, one being Martha's Table, which provides regularly programmed produce markets for inner city elementary school students. Here's an image of me and my site leader dressed in fruits and veggies costumes at one of the tables. We were actually able to culminate our experience with the trip to Capitol Hill, where we got the opportunity to meet with one of the Delaware State Representatives talking about the work that we did the week prior. And some of the things that we would like to see changed in legislation. I enjoyed my UDaB experience so much that I applied for another program during my Winter session of Spring semester and I was able to travel again with UDaB this time to North Carolina, working with populations in the autism spectrum disorder. And we were able to unlike the last program, we had a lot of camp foods and likewise, Domino's Pizza which I loved. But here's an image of me and my camp royal cohorts sitting in a morning circle. This is where we would sing with campers and go over our daily schedules. And here's another image of us after one of our night reflections eating ice cream. I enjoyed my experience with UDaB so much that I was actually awarded the role a site leader for one of the upcoming spring 2021 programs. And so this is just one example of my primary involvements on campus. One of the ways in which I've been able to make a lot of connections and friendships and also grow both professionally and personally. And so on that note of professional development, one of my first on campus employments was as a student equipment manager in the Delaware Field House. I learned pretty quickly on during my freshman year that I like to eat so much so that I ran out of points in Flex within the first months of the semester, and unfortunately, my parents did not reload my balance. And so in order to support my Chic-fil-A addiction, I had to get a job. And so I search the UDEL website and went to the careers tab, found some part-time employment opportunities, submitted my resume and the rest is pretty much history. And so as a student equipment manager, I thought this was a great first job because it was very hands on. I spent the bulk of my shifts on my feet which I loved. And a typical day in the life of a student equipment manager looks kinda repetitive depending on the day. But essentially we work with the sports teams to make sure that they have the required equipment and materials necessary. So for instance, let's say men's lacross has a game this weekend against Rutgers. I would come in for my shift, makes sure that all of their practice equipment and uniforms are properly washed and make sure that they have their equipment and sticks, et cetera, and tape and things like that ready for the weekend ahead. This was a great job and taught me a lot about time management and really how to maximize productivity while maintaining a course schedule and a job as well. Through my involvement in the field house, I was actually able to gain a position right next story behind the Fred Rust Ice Arena and outdoor facility. And with as a lifeguard, I was able to, again, hands-off kind, but still not exactly clerical. I was able to work with organizations like Delaware Special Olympics to help with their 2019 annual summer games. And through my position, I was also able to transfer over into the indoor facility as well. And like I said, I spend the bulk of my shifts sitting and this lifeguard stand watching people swam, but they're harder ways to make money. As a lifeguard, I was again able to work very closely with the sports teams, which I enjoyed. I got to watch a bunch of meets from the club. And UD 1 swimming and diving teams, I got to work with women's rowing and even with UD's ROTC department, I watched them do a training at 05:00 AM, fully clothed jumping from the high dive, which was good time. This position told me a lot about teamwork and working well with others, which helped me later on, in my future positions, which was really helpful. Speaking of future positions as a Psychology major, I thought it would be imperative to get some type of research experience. And so I did just that. Upon entering my sophomore year, I received an email from a professor who was interested in taking on some research assistants for their lab and I sent them an email, I applied and everything just kinda fell into place. It turned out that the professor whose lab I would work and would then go on to teach me the following semester. And so being able to work under her lab and also learn from her in class really enhanced my learning experience tremendously. And prior to joining lab, I did have a lot of preconceived notions that research would be very biological mixing of chemicals and lab goggles, which I personally didn't have a huge interest in. So I got very lucky in that my lab opportunity was very qualitative in nature. And so a lot of day-to-day and lab for me looks like talking with other members of my research team and also interacting directly with participants who visit the lab. Part of ourresearch requires that we collect blood samples from participants. And so I'm able to, as a research assistant, use blood spotting techniques to collect blood samples, which is really cool. However, when I'm not directly interacting with participants, I am working with my team members on the most recent developments in certificates for best clinical practices and web. One of the indirect benefits of working on campus and as a researcher and specific, It's this awesome headshot that I was able to take from our upper management level researcher Naomi, one of his connects was able to get us this opportunity to take awesome head shots, which was really cool. All of these experiences have brought me to my current role as an orientation leader. I was fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to serve as an orientation leader for their 2020 summer team. And in light of everything that is going on, it was a virtual this summer, but I still enjoyed my experience nonetheless. Here few images of me and my teammates via Zoom. Here's me with my partner. I enjoy my experience so much that I actually opted to serve as a volunteer 1743 Welcome Ambassador this summer so that I can continue to help students with their journey and orienting to university life. The other images are from a conference that we attended in Stockton University prior to all the stay at home orders, et cetera. But being in OL all really helped solidify my experience at UD. It's helped me to make lifelong friendships. I've been able to network and connect with so many university staff and officials. And it's given me immense insight on my future career goals and aspirations as well. When people ask me why I chose UD, the answer is simple. I tour the campus on a beautiful spring day and I just fell in love. Plus the distance from home was just perfect for me. However, when asked why do I stay at UD? I reflect upon all of these experiences that I've shared with you recently. And for me going to college was all about preparing myself for future career goals and endeavors. And looking back on all of my experiences thus far, I can say with dignity that I've done just that and I hope to continue to do that. So I hope that you all were able to learn something and take something from my experiences and I hope to see you all next summer. And my role is an orientation leader. If you have any questions about admissions to UD you can contact them through their website, which is listed below. You can also email them at admissions@udel.edu I've also provided my email as well in case you have any specific questions about me or any of my experiences on campus. But thank you all for listening and I hope that you all stay safe and well. Thank you.
Nasir Young's Student Story
From Kristina Demou August 28, 2020
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Nasir Young is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is currently a junior psychology major at the University of Delaware. In this presentation, he shares his experiences with on-campus employment at UD.
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