The Silver Bullet- July 2020

A&M-SA'S TRANSFER STUDENT NEWSLETTER

THE MONTHLY

July 2020

VOLUME 1

S I L V E R B U L L E T

What to expect from the Silver Bullet !

Content 01

New Student Org. of the Year

02

Meet the Tau Sigma E-Board

03

Department of the Month

04

DOM Continued

05

Meet the Transfer Coordinator

As a rapidly growing university, students

06

Mentorship Program

and staff are trying to provide the best

07

Jaguar's Corner

college experience to those who attend Texas A&M University-San Antonio. That is why the office of Transfer Student Engagement and Tau Sigma National Honor Society have decided to launch a monthly newsletter full of useful and fun content for our fellow transfer Jaguars!

Every month there will be a new volume available on the transfer student web page. Make sure to keep an eye out to stay up to date on important information.

TRANSFER NEWSLETTER

New Student Organization of the Year

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller

We want to thank everyone who voted for us as the New Student Organization of the Year. All the events, meetings and volunteering one does as a Tau Sigma member does not go unnoticed. We all worked hard as a new organization and together we've made it amazing. We can’t wait to keep up the momentum this year & years to come.

Visit our Tau Sigma Instagram page to see the fun photos of the things we did as a chapter!

JULY 2020

PAGE 01

MEET THE TAU SIGMA EXEC BOARD

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

Cheyenne Zavala is a Senior, English Major with a 7th-12th grade Teaching Certification. She transferred from Northwest Vista College. Her hobbies include reading, traveling & attending music festivals! Her role as President is to serve the larger transfer student demographic on our campus. Member development & philanthropic initiatives will be a focus for her.

Additionally, her goal is to have our chapter at A&M-SA be a national model.

Samantha Muñiz is a Senior, Education major. She transferred from Northwest Vista College. Her hobbies include shopping, working (yes, she enjoys her job that much), sleeping and hanging out with friends. Her goal is to become a guidance counselor for the K-12 system. Her new role as chapter Vice President will be helping the President manage the organization by supporting her officers and the members of the chapter.

Viridiana"Vi" Gomez is a Senior, English major with a Teaching Certification. She transferred from Texas Lutheran University.

She brings leadership experience from various clubs. Her hobbies include writing, reading, painting, Disney Karaoke, and a good random burst of singing!

Her role as chapter Secretary will be to keep members informed through all official communication platforms and will be the main point of contact for meetings & events.

TREASURER Dennis Pendley is a Senior double majoring in Business Management and Computer Information Systems. He transferred from San Antonio College. Dennis is also a College of Business Senator for the campus's Student Government Association. His hobbies include gardening, Xbox gaming, and motorcycles. In his role as chapter Treasurer, he will be responsible for handling all dues, chapter expenses and cash handling for merchandise orders.

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

Stephanie Martinez is a Junior, Communications major with a minor in Business. She received her Associates and transferred from San Antonio College. She spends her free time watching YouTube videos, traveling, and going to concerts. Her new role as the Social Media Coordinator will be to facilitate all marketing campaigns. Expect to see some engaging video content for our chapter!

Danielle Balandran is a Senior, Bilingual Interdisciplinary Studies major, who transferred from San Antonio College. She is a huge Spurs fan and her hobbies include watching movies, traveling, and hiking. Her role will be to promote our efforts and events in the community, on campus, and the nation on multiple social marketing platforms. Virtual Engagement is the name of the game!

PAGE 02

Dept. of the Month: "The Mays Center"

Tau Sigma wants to take advantage of showcasing just how amazing our campus is, along with everything it offers to its transfer students. There’s no better department to choose and recognize for our first volume than the Mays Center for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement!

The Covid-19 global pandemic has affected many families in the A&M-SA community, and the Mays Center has, our back! They have an initiative out of their office known as “The General's Store'' A&M-SA's very own food pantry. The General's Store now offers curbside service and will never turn down those who declare a need. You can always count on fresh groceries and produce thanks to their partnership with the San Antonio Food Bank and Imperfect Foods. In addition, other donations come from campus organizations & students!

All of these continuous efforts do not go unnoticed!

Special Thanks to Miguel Garcia and the Mays Center for all that they do for our transfer students!

Other Free Services Offered: Experiential learning & externship opportunities with companies: CPS Energy, Via Transportation, SAWS, and CitiBank.

Interview preparedness Professional ensemble from their Clothes Closet Headshots for Linkedin profile Annual Career Fair: Bringing the hiring companies to you!

Volunteer opportunities: "Choose. Act. Impact.” Students and organizations of A&M-SA come out to volunteer together within our community. Miss this big event? Turn to GivePulse and the Mays Center to find other opportunities.

JULY 2020

Miguel on career fair: “It’s so exciting to see students come all dressed up with resumes in hand to share with the companies that we’ve worked with to bring in for the event.

Not only is it nice to see our students so eager and prepared but also just to see them taking advantage of this opportunity that I skipped out on during my undergraduate journey.”

PAGE 03

Dept. of the Month:

The Mays Center- Meet the team

Edwin Blanton Executive Director of Mays Center

Liesl Hons Administrative Coordinator

Karen Ivy Career Services Director

Gabriel Barrientez Career Advisor

Krystina Irvin Experiential Learning Director

Allie Beedle Service Learning Coordinator

Laura Nygaard Assessment Outreach Coordinator

Clarissa Tejeda Career Advisor

Yasir Kurt Career Advisor

Miguel Garcia Civic Engagement Associate

Eli McCullen Program & Partnership Coordinator

Yazmin Hernandez Career Advisor

Wherever you are in your educational journey, stop by the Mays Center located in SciTech 111 or find them online at www.tamusa.edu/mayscenter and see how they can help you improve your professional career.

JULY 2020

PAGE 04

My door is always open for transfer students to ask a question or just to meet another resource on campus!

Stop by and say "hi" I'm located in Patriots' Casa office 104c or give me a call at (210)784-1497

Come meet the Transfer Student Engagement Coordinator & Advisor of The Year!

In one short year, Juan Espinoza has given our transfer students a platform on the A&M-SA campus! Juan has initiated a Transfer Student Mentorship Program, serves as the Advisor to our Tau Sigma National Honor Society Chapter, celebrated National Transfer Student Week with many fun activities ,and given us the guidance and motivation to begin the release of The Silver Bullet monthly newsletter, which helps transfer students in their transition into Jaguar life! Juan has done all this while being a father of two, a Delta Chi brother, and a student in the Counseling graduate program here at A&M-SA! Congratulations from all of us transfer students, and thank you for recognizing our journeys.

Vist: https://www.tamusa.edu/transfer

JULY 2020

PAGE 05

Call for Mentors !

TRANSFERS' MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

SILVER LINERS MENTORSHIP PROGRAM T

hile the A&M-SA W

Transfer Student Mentorship Program is new, mentorship programs

scan to apply

ransfer students have unique educational journeys that differ from traditional students who start and finish at one institution, so why not create a program that pairs students with similar journeys together!?

are not. Here is what makes the Silver Liners different and unique to our campus!

Our campus was a transfer only institution for seven years, so undoubtedly, transfer students hold a special place in A&M-SA’s heart! The Transfer Student Engagement Office created a mentorship program for secondsemester transfer students to take initiative in helping each other succeed.

O ur mentors take a course to learn the different resources our campus offers. This includes learning how to help their peers succeed in their academics and how to use their past experiences on campus to help their mentee have a smooth transition into Jaguar Life!

By becoming a mentor, you receive perks like a free Silver Liners t-shirt, access to the transfer student library, attending Mentor Monday events, getting your specific Clifton strengths and adding this leadership opportunity to your resume, while making a change in someone’s life and on our campus!

If helping others fills your bucket, this is the extracurricular for you!

JULY 2020

PAGE 06

T hursd ay - A ug st 20

JAGUAR'S CORNER

Classes start on

Simple Marriages - a small veteran-owned business by A&M-SA’s very own transfer student.

He's been an officiant since 2012. He specializes in “simplistic and easy going” services for your big day! Because he believes love is love his business is also LGBTQ+ friendly! You can find more information on his website. https://simple-marriages-by-dennis-pendley.business.site

Visit:

https://www.tamusa.edu/coronavirus/index.html

to stay updated with the news regarding Coronavirus

JULY 2020

PAGE 07