October Newsletter: Transfer Silver Bullet

is here and with it comes the, sort of, crisp cool breeze that heralds in pumpkin spice and spooky season. As we approach midterms remember to make sure to take some time for you. We are all students and can easily get caught up in chasing that grade or taking on too much at once. Just remember that the college experience is so much more. Go to an event on campus, make a new friend, stop by the transfer room and say hi. We are all here to help you through your journey.

are so many wonderful events happening this month, make sure to take an opportunity to enjoy them!

Department of the Month

TransferStudentEngagement

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How does your department help tranfer students?

After the admissions process, we offer “wrap-around” services for full transition onto the A&M-San Antonio campus starting with online orientation, in-person orientation known as the Jaguar Transfer Assemblies, engagement events throughout the year such as transfer Tuesdays and professional development sessions re: Clifton Strengths. We offer an opportunity for high achieving transfer students to earn their membership in Tau Sigma National Honor Society, we offer a peer-to-peer mentorship program known as the Silver Liners that provides an incoming transfer student the opportunity to connect with an experienced and trained peer so that they can have someone to aid in their transition process as well.

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your place and get to know your peers. You belong here and we can’t wait to cheer you on as you

The Transfer Student Engagement department is located in Patriots’ Casa 104C is the physical office. Transfer Room is 103, Transfer computer lab is

Transfer@tamusa.edu or Mentors@tamusa.edu

What is the significance of the dept. you work in and how does it help students?

We are one of the few departments on campus with Teaching Assistants who are responsible for their own classes. However, in order to have them teach, sometimes for the first time ever, they have to have good role models. I love being the coordinator for our TAs teaching our General Biology labs because I have the opportunity to interact with our grad students in ways that our other faculty and students don’t.

What do you like to do in your free time?

One of the big things I do in my free time is host trivia games for an entertainment company in San Antonio. It is one of my favorite things to do every week because I meet new people and make new friends every day! I also like to play a lot of board games and go hiking with my dogs and husband (but only when the weather cooperates!).

T e r e s i t a T i p p Ts e r e s i t a T i p p s

What is your title and what department do you work for?

General Biology Laboratory Coordinator and Lecturer

What did your undergraduate journey look like?

My undergraduate journey started right out of high school – so unfortunately I was not a transfer student –BUT I had a lot of friends who were! When I started at Angelo State University, I was a Chemistry major who wanted to go to Veterinary School. However, I quickly realized that chemistry was NOT the subject for me. In the middle of my first year, I ended up changing majors to Biochemistry and then finally to Biology. Once I changed to Biology, I was involved with our Tri-Beta, the Biology Club at ASU. Through that club, I met many friends and even served as the President my last year in college. While I was at ASU, I had many opportunities to engage in hands-on activities that helped shape my career. I was able to work in the Angelo State Natural History Collections and take on undergraduate research studying evolutionary relationships in different bat species. Following these opportunities, I continued on as a graduate student and taught our non majors Biology labs for two semesters.

F a c u l t Fy a c u l t y

H i g h l i g h t H: i g h l i g h t :

The best way to mentor another person is to not give them advice, but to guide them from your relevant personal experiences. This allows them to apply what they perceive to their own processes and come to workable solutions on their own. This empowers the individual to repeat the process confidently so they can one day mentor someone else by paying it forward.

A tip from a mentor Steph Gooding (Alumna)

How has being part of the transfer community impacted you?

Before even entering the USA, I saw the silver liners mentor and mentee program which made me excited to be part of this program since it will be my first time coming to a different country to study. I remember that in my application, I responded to the question “what do you need help specifically from your mentor?” by saying that I need help to adapt to the campus and the country, so I need someone who can help me to be a natural American student. When I arrived here, I was so excited to have my mentor in my first semester to learn about the culture. By attending the transfer student events, I felt more welcomed, and I sensed the warmness of people. I can say that this program might have changed my life to feel belonged to the campus. I met my first friend at a painting event last year October. As an international transfer student, it was not easy for me to adapt to the environment and have friends because I was and still scared to just go and talk with someone. However, transfer students always say hi to me whenever they see me on campus, and they help me not feel stranger on campus and in the country. I am always going to transfer student events happily and with my hopes high to meet with new people.

MemberOfThe Month When did you join Tau Sigma and how has it impacted you?

Vista College

How else are you involved on campus?

I am part of the silver liners mentorship, involved with The National Society of Leadership and Success(NSLS) joined a leadershape event, engaged with quite a few fun events that happen on campus from the Campus Activities Board, also just recently became part of WiCyS which is Women in CyberSecurity. Through these organizations, its afforded me opportunities to volunteer at events around the school and help out :D.

Sigma has impacted me positively by engaging in a lot of events, becoming more open as i’m extremely shy, getting out of my comfort zone and volunteering for events that require me to talk to people, having a voice and using it. Truly there are so many ways Tau Sigma has positively impacted me and made me a better person.

Paws up day of Service

Transfer Student of

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EVENTS OCTOBER