{"id":10375,"date":"2024-12-01T14:12:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T19:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/?p=10375"},"modified":"2024-12-01T14:12:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T19:12:01","slug":"an-inside-look-at-the-macaulay-scholars-council-voices-from-the-class-of-2028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/2024\/12\/01\/an-inside-look-at-the-macaulay-scholars-council-voices-from-the-class-of-2028\/","title":{"rendered":"An Inside Look at the Macaulay Scholars Council: Voices from the Class of 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

 by Alanis Castillo<\/h1>\n

The Macaulay Honors Scholars Council (MSC) is the heart of student representation and engagement within the Macaulay Honors College community. With four representatives from each Macaulay campus\u2014Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College, College of Staten Island, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, and Queens College\u2014the council works to foster connections through events, initiatives, and student outreach.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Left To Right: Alif Yaa Khan, Gabriella Rosales, Annamarie Dixon, Karuna Aikawa, Zoe George, Cindy Li<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For new students unfamiliar with the council, it serves as a platform for addressing student concerns, organizing activities, and building the collaborative environment that defines Macaulay.<\/span><\/p>\n

I spoke with the eight representatives from the Class of 2028 to learn more about their experience with the Scholars Council. Here\u2019s what they had to say. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why They Joined the Council<\/b><\/h3>\n

Our reps have big motivations: a passion for leadership, a drive to make a difference, and to connect with peers and represent their cohort.<\/span> \u201cI really just loved the planning, organizing aspect of it, bringing fun community to my school. So something that I really wanted to continue here,\u201d says Annamarie Dixon from Brooklyn College, who was president of her high school\u2019s National Honor Society. <\/span><\/p>\n

For Zoe George at John Jay, joining MSC meant \u201cbeing that proper bridge between administration and the student body\u2014being present, being active, and hearing what other people want or issues they want to solve.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Some of our reps saw joining the council as a way to not only grow into their leadership roles, but to overcome past limitations. \u201cI wanted to step out of my comfort zone,\u201d says Ashlin Davila from Lehman College. \u201cI used to be a very quiet and timid person, which often made my ideas dismissed. I wanted to be a voice for everyone who felt that same way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ashlin Davila<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Selection Process<\/b><\/h3>\n

Becoming a council member isn\u2019t just a sign-up sheet. From interviews and essays, the selection process challenges candidates to step up. \u201cWe had to say a speech in front of everybody, and then they would get a Google form and vote on everybody,\u201d says Gabriella Rosales from CSI, who found that running for MSC helped her \u201ccome out of my shell, be more comfortable with speaking in front of others, and connect with people of different ages.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside finding the election process a chance to grow personally, reps also approached it as an opportunity for creativity and connection. \u201cI had this wild campaign\u2014logo, website, reels, posts, all that,\u201d says Eshaal Ubaid from Hunter College. \u201cIt became this huge creative project for me, and even when I won, it was sort of difficult to say goodbye to it all. I met so many friends over it. I can\u2019t count the number of times someone asked, \u2018Hey, are you the person making the campaign videos?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Eshaal Ubaid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Life as an MSC Rep<\/b><\/h3>\n

Balancing school, social life, and council duties is no small feat, but our freshmen reps are thriving. \u201cWhenever I need advice for classes, they\u2019ll provide me with resources\u2026 upperclassmen that can help you\u2014they were in the same position as you,\u201d says Alif Yaa Khan from Queens College. \u201cThey know exactly what you\u2019re going through and assist you along the way. You just need to talk to them.\u201d Karuna Aikawa from City College didn\u2019t expect to be \u201cenjoying everything\u2026meeting new people and making all these connections\u2014not just at my campus, but at the other campuses as well.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond support, reps appreciate Macaulay\u2019s unique perks: personalized attention, a close-knit community, and endless opportunities for growth. \u201cYou\u2019re not only a scholar on your own campus, but you\u2019re also a scholar here,\u201d says Cindy Li from Baruch, adding that \u201cjust having that personalized advisement and all that is really beneficial.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As new students look for ways to get involved, the Scholars Council offers both a platform for student advocacy and a way to build lasting connections across the Macaulay network. For those interested in joining or learning more about the council, stay tuned for upcoming events designed to enhance your Macaulay experience.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 by Alanis Castillo The Macaulay Honors Scholars Council (MSC) is the heart of student representation and engagement within the Macaulay Honors College community. With four representatives from each Macaulay campus\u2014Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College, College of Staten Island, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, and Queens College\u2014the council works to foster connections through…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":10378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mhc-central"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}