MyStory Mondays 7-17-17

MyStory Mondays is a weekly digest of our latest posts.
We are all done for the semester, but we are going to go back in time and share some posts that, we hope, will be useful to our new Danes!

New Danes – Make sure to complete your course request form and register for Orientation at www.albany.edu/welcome.

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Scheduling and registration:
Click here to get a glimpse of our process and to see answers to frequently asked questions about registration.

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Making Major Plans

This week, we share stories about how students have selected their majors. Some students enter UAlbany 100% sure about their plans and then they discover pathways, they had never imagined. Some enter sure and, after taking classes in their respective fields, discover, that the major was not what they thought. Some enter and graduate with the same majors they intended to pursue; and some are totally undecided. Whoever you are, there is a place for you to grow and thrive at UAlbany in preparation for your next steps. 

Meet Nicholle Gregor

Nicholle Gregor
Class of 2016
Major: Informatics
Concentration: Interactive User Experience
Minors: Art and Sustainability

Upon entering the University, I came in completely undecided. I knew that I was interested in Art but wasn’t sure where a degree in that would lead me. I was interested in learning more about computer science but coding and creating programs frightened me.
Read More

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Meet Tiffany Araya

Tiffany Araya
Class of 2016
Major: English (Honors)
Minor: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Blog Theme: Dreams Deferred

I was the young girl who wrote stories in her bedroom to share with my teachers during recess while all the other kids ran around on the playground. I was the young girl who received Barnes & Noble gift cards and book series box sets for Christmas (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter, and Twilight). I had known through all of my high school years that I was going to be an English major in college. It was my favorite subject simply because it required the two things that I loved to do: reading and writing. 
Read More

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Meet Grant Hilsenrath

He took a class. He liked it. It became his major. In this piece, Grant shares his UAlbany journey. There is a small part about how he chose his major, but it is a great read!

The perfect word to describe me as a freshman was “naïve.” I went to Jewish day school my entire life, so I grew up around people who were like me, who came from the same or very similar backgrounds. The  UAlbany prides itself on diversity, and having people of different colors, creeds, shapes, sizes, religions, ethnicities, etc. So coming here, I was naïve in the sense that I was close-minded in what I knew and believed in. 
Read More.

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Meet Leobianny Hilario

Leobianny Hilario
Class of 2019
Majors: English & Communication
Past Workshop & Blog Themes
Embracing the Uncomfortable
Perseverance

Life in the humanities can be a struggle sometimes. Whether it is your parents who do not support what you are doing, or friends who think you should studying something more “reliable,” majoring in this field brings along headaches. I understand. As a matter of fact, there are several groups of people who understand the self-doubt that starts to build when people, who you thought were your biggest supporters, become your fiercest obstacles. I say this in the most respectful way possible since these people mean so much to me, but in all honesty, no one should stand in the way of you and your happiness or success. I am learning that there are many people who have felt the same way and are now thriving in their respective fields.
Read More.

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Meet Anthony Vardone

Anthony Varone
Class of 2017
Hometown: Selden, NY
Major: Human Biology
Minor: Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity

Personally, Five Quad actually helped me figure out my career path. We work very closely with UPD on all of our calls, so having a relationship with the officers led me into a law enforcement career. That’s what I want to pursue. So it’s actually this organization that made me figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I don’t know if I would have realized that sooner had it not been for Five Quad.
Read More.

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Meet Buo Ikwuazom

Chibuokem “Buo” Ikwuazom
Class of 2017
Major: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Growing up, I have always had a profound love for science that slowly blossomed into an aspiration of going into the medical field and becoming a neurosurgeon. My origin of interest in sciences dates back to my childhood when I began watching an all-time favorite show of mine, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, about a boy genius who used his intelligence to create many inventions and innovate many ideas that comes up in his head. He would create something so magnificent that seems like a good idea but ends up putting him in a quagmire only to use his gifted intellect to rectify his problems. As I watched this young boy use science to such an extent for fun and to help people, I became inspired. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be great – I still do. It’s a childish aspiration, but it’s my ambition.
Read More.