Greetings! We are excited to usher in the 2nd year of Project MyStory. We are students who share our personal stories and encourage others to share in order to help one another succeed at UAlbany. This semester, we have mix of returning and new MyStory participants who will be blogging, vlogging and conducting story circles and workshops. We hope to ease the stress of college while also building each other up for the future. Meet the Team:

Leobianny Hilario

Greetings my name is Leobianny Hilario, I am an English and Communications major here at the University at Albany. I am currently a sophomore and am hoping to become a successful Editor in the future. There were many times throughout my freshman year where I felt alone and upset about my circumstances living on campus and the classes I was taking. My overall theme is going to be about perseverance. I want to create a comfortable environment where people can talk about anything that frustrates them or excites them.. Hopefully people can start to get to know one another and start building connections and friendships, which is the main goal of this program.

Elizabeth Brigham

I fall in the line of an Untraditional Student. I decided to study Graphic Arts at Mohawk Valley Community College in my hometown of Utica, NY. As soon as I graduated I had a job in my field, but doing this caused me to realize that Graphic Arts was not my end all, be all. There was still more for me to learn so I took half a year off and then applied to the University at Albany to study Communications. My first class was like opening a gift on Christmas Eve. I knew this was right for me. My theme is to write for my home-body people and those who are heavily involved in their community. I struggled a lot with the move to Albany. I look forward to helping others in these circumstances so they can know they are not the only ones.

Ashley Whiteside

Ashley Whiteside is a Junior at the University at Albany. She is a Social Welfare major and intended Womens Studies major and a double minor in Education and Africana Studies. Ashley is a member of the Department of Residential Life and loves being a Great Dane. Her theme for this year is “Staying Strong: In the Midst of Adversity.” Her reason for choosing this theme is, “To help non-first-year students continue on with their collegiate education. As you get further along in college it is easy to become less motivated and unfocused. My theme is meant to help all students keep on, keeping on.”

Anastassia Williams

Hello World my name is Anastassia Williams and I am a new member of Project MyStory. The main topics that I will be focusing on in my blogs/vlogs are: Love, Patience, and Acceptance. For me these are all actions that to this day I still need to improve on. To many people I am seen as the girl with the biggest smile, who is always happy and never afraid on the outside. However, there is something deeper within me that reflects the complete opposite of my exterior behavior. With these blogs/vlogs I hope to take you through this journey of my life, and actually give you the chance to see the real me. With doing that I hope to help someone along the way, who might be experiencing the things I have and are just too afraid to live their lives after it all. But don’t fear Anastassia Williams is here.

Phoebe Everson

I am so excited to be a part of the My Story project. FINALLY! There is a place where I don’t have to be invisible! I can share my triumphs and my woes with anyone else out there who is over thirty and invisible! I hope my writings will help others who may be feeling alone in a sea of traditionally college aged students.

Margaret Michalak

Margaret is joining us this semester as a first semester freshman. She will be tabling and running workshops. We are excited to have her as part of our team!

Melissa Ferring

My name is Melissa and I am a Junior at UAlbany. I’m still not sure what I want to do when I leave here and that’s okay. It took me a really long time to realize that it was okay. The theme of my blog is “Fierce and Freaked.” If you feel overwhelmed and anxious as you are trying to puch through this experience, you are not alone. I want to share my story with you and how I learned to be fierce, even when I am freaking out!

Returning Members

Lee McPeters

I am a Communications and English double major here at the University. I was involved with Project MyStory last semester and as a first semester senior I am excited to again be a part of it. My blog theme for last semester was “Struggles on the Pathway to Success: Thoughts of a C Average Student,” and this semester I will continue on that theme, but also have some other thoughts and topics to share as well. While I will be doing some blogging, most of my work will be in an editorial role.  I also will be involved with planning for the future of MyStory, as well as working with other groups on campus to help share students stories. You will also see me at most, if not all MyStory workshops and events so please stop by and say hi!! Until then stay awesome and keep it real.

Joe DeSantis

Joe is a returning member and will be writing on varying themes throughout the semester. He will also be facilitating some workshops and participating in tabling.

Asha Patterson

Hello! I am a returning Project MyStory volunteer. I previously spoke on feminism & finding your voice. Scheduled to graduate this December, I am back for my last semester to speak with students on getting a grasp on college to our advantage!

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Author: Lee McPeters, Project MyStory Volunteer