Fall Reception for First and Second Year Students

Students socializing at the CFSA Fall Reception.

On October 14, 2016, fifty-four outstanding first and second year students attended an evening reception at the Chancellor’s house to learn about the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising. This reception was meant to help prepare promising students for working with Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising through their college career. This early exposure to the programs and tools CFSA provides for students is crucial to getting ahead.

Dr. Ruth Chen speaking to the students and welcoming them to her home.

The evening schedule comprised of networking amongst students and faculty; an introduction by CFSA advisor, Jolynn Parker; words of wisdom from Dr. Ruth Chen; and a Q+A with a panel of student who had applied or won scholarships. The panel was comprised of Hannah Butler ’19, Amber Barrow ’17, Rachel Brown-Weinstock ‘17, and Geoffrey Vaartstra ’17. The student panel shared their experiences and gave their advice to future applicantsHannah went to Scotland with the Fulbright Summer Institute for five weeks in Dundee, Scotland. Amber went to China with the Critical Language Scholarship during the summer of 2015. Rachel was a finalist for the Truman Scholarship for Public Service. Geoffrey spent a semester in Chile and is an Astronaut Scholar and a Goldwater Honorable Mention. Many of these scholars are now applying for scholarships to fund graduate school or research and are still working with CFSA.

Amber Barrow ’17, Rachel Brown-Weinstock ’17, Hannah Butler ’19, Geoffrey Vaartstra ‘17

The panelists provided advice for future applicants and talked about their experiences. Amber Barrow said, “My biggest piece of advice would be to start early, even if it means just looking at the application in its entirety. The process took me about a month with editing and writing the essays. My other piece of advice would be to remain honest when writing the essays. Also, apply again if you do not win initially. I did not get a CLS Scholarship the first time I applied, but after getting a feel for the application process and having more experience in the language I wanted to apply for, I got it the second time around.”

Amber Barrow answering questions about CLS during the Q+A.

This program seemed to be beneficial to the future applicants based on their comments after the reception.

Architecture student, Tota Hunter said, “This experience was an amazing opportunity. I am excited about applying to programs to study in China since I have lived there previously and Chinese architecture inspired me to be an architecture major.”

Engineering and Computer Science student, Shazif Shaikh said, “I believe a lot of opportunities at Syracuse are not always known. People limit themselves and do not know about the high caliber of scholarships that are available. I also find it interesting that you do not have to be a Renee Crown Honors student to apply. This evening helped clarify a lot of details about the application process.”