{"id":779,"date":"2016-01-17T10:43:34","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T15:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/hegsa\/?p=779"},"modified":"2016-01-17T10:51:33","modified_gmt":"2016-01-17T15:51:33","slug":"december-2015-student-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/hegsa\/december-2015-student-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"December 2015: Student Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

MASTER\u2019S SPOTLIGHT – KENCIA MELE \u00a0<\/strong>
\nKencia Mele is a first semester Master\u2019s student studying Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University. Kencia received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida in 2012 and has worked in student services in the higher education sector since 2010. Currently, Kencia is a Financial Aid Counselor and has been a member of the University\u2019s Financial Aid team since December 2014. Kencia\u2019s advice for current Master\u2019s students is to stick with the work. \u201cAfter long nights of studying, and research, there\u2019s graduation and possible promotion!\u201d<\/p>\n

In speaking about her goals while in the program, Kencia shares, \u201cI hope to graduate with a great GPA and get involved in professional organizations to expand my experiences and network with other personnel in NJ. Being involved in professional organizations is a practice I have seen my supervisor take part in, as well as other administrators in the field.\u201d Kencia believes in the power of using the professionals around her as tools to help her get involved and gain a role in leadership.\u00a0 \u201cI love listening to the journeys of others, how they ultimately made it through, and how much they love what they are currently doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Kencia\u2019s interests is identifying trends in higher education. \u201cRight now, I\u2019m working on my paper for my Introduction to Higher Education class. In my research, I\u2019m looking at the importance of campus safety. There are a lot of factors that keep students successful, and safety is one of them\u2014 as is family and financial aid. Something as simple as campus safety can affect faculty, staff, jobs, and the institution itself!\u201d she says. Kencia also believes higher educational professionals should speak to middle and high school students and families about financial aid. \u201cBuild a bridge between K12 and higher education now so that the expectations of paying for college are being talked about,\u201dshe says. This translates to her work as a Financial Aid Counselor, as she works with families. She is seeing a different trend now though; \u201cMarried couples are coming in with their parents to talk about financial aid. This shows they are looking to be informed and keep their parents in the loop as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MASTER\u2019S SPOTLIGHT – KENCIA MELE \u00a0 Kencia Mele is a first semester Master\u2019s student studying Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University. Kencia received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida in 2012 and has…<\/p>\n

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