Bachelor’s/Acclerated Master’s Program

From public health crisis volunteer to College of Public Health graduate

Shayla Brown — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 19:22:40 +0000

From public health crisis volunteer to College of Public Health graduate Shayla Brown Mon, 04/15/2024 - 15:22

Sinoxolo “Susan” Favor was doing public health work in her native South Africa long before she enrolled in the College of Public Health at ��AV.

Susan Favor. Photo provided.

Between 2009 and 2010, HIV and AIDS infection rates were very high in South Africa, she said, so she began doing outreach and volunteer work at her school to educate others. Favor also volunteered at the South Africa Department of Health, where her mother is a nurse practitioner.

“My school would go out and work with the community,” said Favor. “I didn't really know what public health was, until I started this work [and realized] that my whole life I've been living in a public health crisis.”

Now Favor is graduating from this spring with a BS in community health from the first college of public health in Virginia.

Favor came to United States in 2014 and worked for almost 10 years, mainly in health care, before going to Northern Virginia Community College for two years and transferring into Mason through the ADVANCE Program.

What’s your best memory at Mason?

I've been working at the Office of Student Affairs [in the College of Public Health] where I meet a lot of students who call in for help. I think my best memories are getting those calls and then giving them the help that they need. I think about how, as a student, I would want to be helped. If I came into this office, I want to leave here with solutions for my problems. It’s the best thing every day when students walk in asking questions, and I'm able to give them answers.

What is your best piece of advice for incoming students?

Find yourself a good friend who's doing the same program and will help you through it. It's good to have somebody that can relate to you and understand what you’re going through. I have that one friend, and we are going through this process together. Also take advantage of all the opportunities presented. Mason has a lot of opportunities like scholarships to apply for; call all the offices and ask questions. There's never a dumb question, and there's a solution for every problem.

What’s next for you?

I’ll be coming back to Mason in the future. [I’m getting] a master's degree in global health through Mason’s Bachelor’s to Accelerated Master’s Program. I hope to work with USAID Project Management Specialists on HIV and AIDS treatments and preventions, especially with young girls in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and all of the southern hemisphere of Africa. I want to make sure they have the information they need about reproduction and sexual health. Education is key; it’s the best prevention.

Topics

Graduation

ADVANCE

Bachelor’s/Acclerated Master’s Program

College of Public Health

Students

Student Spotlight

A Mason dream leads to two degrees and a future in law

Sarah Holland — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 15:30:18 +0000

A Mason dream leads to two degrees and a future in law Sarah Holland Fri, 12/08/2023 - 10:30

Photo provided.

Inspired by her parents who immigrated from Mexico in search of a better life for their children, Ashley Alvarado-Lopez is following the path her older sister, Leasley Gonzalez, set by completing a bachelor’s and master’s degree at ��AV in 2019. Enrolled in Mason’s Bachelor’s to Accelerated Master’s Program (BAM), Alvarado-Lopez completed her BS in Criminology, Law and Society in 2022 and is graduating this December with her MS in Criminal Justice.

What made you choose Mason?

There were a few reasons. It was financially the best decision. I wanted to stay close to home. But also, one of my sisters was in the teaching program at Mason. When I was at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), I remember coming to campus and studying with her. I liked the whole atmosphere, and I thought, “I could totally see myself going to this school.” And I really admired her, so I wanted to follow in her footsteps.

I think that those of us who grew up near Mason forget that this is a dream school for a lot of people. I actually saw a famous TikToker talking about how excited she was that she got into Mason. So I was really excited because a lot of kids dream of coming here.

What’s one accomplishment you’re proud of from your time at Mason?

Most people don’t know this, but I have an auditory processing disorder. It's something that I’ve struggled with my whole life. I didn’t get diagnosed until my senior year of high school, so I spent a lot of my childhood in school feeling really alone and embarrassed. Teachers even told my mom that she shouldn’t invest in college for me because I was doing so poorly. I got really discouraged. But then one day I decided that I wasn’t going to let someone tell me that I wouldn’t be able to get into college.

So I succeeded at both NOVA and Mason without any accommodations, was on the dean’s list all through undergrad, and got into the BAM Program. I even worked full-time to financially support myself.

How did you balance working full time and going to school?

It was definitely challenging. I relied on coffee. But my professors were also incredibly accommodating and understanding of the situation. People like Marc Meyer, one of my professors in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, would always say “wow, I don’t know how you do it.” And that acknowledgment was meaningful.

What are your plans post-graduation?

My dream is to help people in the immigration system, so I’m hoping to go to law school. I work full-time as a paralegal for an immigration law firm, so I’ll take a year off from school to study for the LSAT while I keep working. I really want to come back to Mason and go to the Antonin Scalia Law School.

If you could give a first-year student advice on how to navigate college, what would you say?

Choose a path that you’re passionate about. When I first started and was trying to decide on a major, I was leaning toward choosing something I wasn't passionate about because I felt it was what I should do, instead of what I wanted to do. But I ended up choosing what I’m passionate about—criminology—and I am far happier and interested in my studies because of it.

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Topics

Students

Winter Commencement

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Bachelor’s/Acclerated Master’s Program

Graduation

Student Ambassadors help military-connected families feel welcomed in Fairfax

Sarah Holland — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 13:55:40 +0000

Student Ambassadors help military-connected families feel welcomed in Fairfax Sarah Holland Mon, 07/10/2023 - 09:55

In a conference room in Merten Hall at ��AV 20 high school students sit in absolute silence.

At each table, teams of two play each other in a card game. But something is amiss: pairs look at each other across the table in confusion. Frustrated fingers poke at the score sheet, then to the pile of cards. Heads shake and nod emphatically as someone goes to take the pile, a wordless argument over who is right.

April Mattix Foster leads a session on intercultural competency. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

April Mattix Foster, associate professor of education In Mason’s College of Education and Human Development, then reveals the twist: “You are all playing by different rules.”

The silence rule lifted, and the room erupted: shock, surprise, and exclamations of “I knew it!”

This is a lesson, Foster explains, in intercultural competence. Every school has its own culture, its own rules, she tells them. Their challenge as student ambassadors is to support new students by sharing these new rules while also being mindful of the rules and expectations they’re bringing to the table.

This was one breakout room of the Student Ambassador Convening, a collaboration between the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), the Military Families and Veteran Initiative (MVFI), the Virginia Department of Education, and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).

Nearly 100 student representatives and 20 advisors from 13 FCPS high schools gathered on Mason’s Fairfax Campus in June for a day of workshops and team-building activities to support the student ambassadors program: a school-based, student-led leadership program that brings together military and civilian peers to welcome all new students and create a sense of belonging in the school. As part of their Purple Star Designation, Virginia K-12 schools must show evidence of maintaining an active student ambassador program.

While there is an emphasis in the program on understanding the experiences of military-connected youth as they transition in and out of area high schools, any student transitioning into the FCPS system will be supported and assisted by the ambassadors.

“This is a peer-led program creating a sense of community in our schools,” explained Jennifer Drake Patrick, associate professor of education and member of the leadership team for MVFI. “They’re there to ensure that new students have someone to sit with at lunch, to show them to their classes, and to suggest clubs and extracurriculars. They help students feel welcomed and supported in whatever way makes the most sense for their school culture and community.”

Students spent the day learning about positive leadership, active listening, and holding intentional conversations. The day culminated in a brainstorming session which empowered the ambassadors to take the lead in considering how to improve their school’s programming in the fall.

Cedric Price, left, and Philip Wilkerson describe leadership to their breakout room. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding.

“The students take the ideas and conversations they’ve heard today from our speakers and their peers, and bring that all back into their schools,” said Cedric Price, BA Integrative Studies ‘21 and MEd Curriculum and Instruction ‘22. As the founding president of Educators Rising, Price was invited back to Mason to co-led a session with fellow alum Philip Wilkerson, MEd Counseling and Development ‘12, on using your assets to guide your leadership. “It makes the schools more community-centered, more friendly, and more inclusive for who they are meant to serve.”

While the hands-on workshops and networking opportunities are critical for the success and growth of the program, there’s another benefit to having the students convene at Mason: introducing high school students to higher education.

“As a school of education, we want to think about how we can create valuable partnerships with local schools, and this is a great opportunity to do so,” said Drake Patrick. “Many of these students have never been to a college campus. This gives them the opportunity to see who Mason is and what the college experience is like."

McKenna Seay, an integrative studies major with a concentration in education studies and Bachelors to Accelerated Masters (BAM) pathway student for elementary education, was also supporting the event through Educators Rising. She was a student ambassador when she was in high school and was excited to see how the program has grown. “Colleges and high schools can learn a lot from each other, so to see that collaboration at an event like this makes me happy.”

“College was put on such a pedestal when I was in high school, and while my teachers said I would do well, it felt so out of reach,” said Sophia Castle, an integrative studies major concentrating in social sciences for education and fellow member of Educators Rising. Castle is also in the BAM program, working towards an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction. “The more that high schools and colleges can connect with each other, it will help students realize that college is attainable.”

“Mason takes its role as a state and public institution very seriously. Opportunities like this allow us to serve the community and keep alumni engaged, all while giving our students experiential, hands-on learning in supporting military-connected youth,” said MVFI director Keith Renshaw, Psychology Department chair. “In the Washington, D.C., metro region, where we have a lot of military personnel, knowing that Mason is committed and cares for the community—specifically the military community—speaks volumes.”

Topics

Military Veterans and Families Initiative (MVFI)

College of Education and Human Development

College of Humanities and Social Science

Fairfax County schools

Bachelor’s/Acclerated Master’s Program

Campus News

Inspired by Revolution to Study Government, She’s Now Earning a BA and Master’s Degree at the Same Time

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 16:04:42 +0000

Inspired by Revolution to Study Government, She’s Now Earning a BA and Master’s Degree at the Same Time Andrew J Schappert Mon, 12/06/2021 - 11:04

Nardine Mossad: The BAM program allows the senior to take graduate-level courses, condensing the time it takes to complete her master’s degree. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

When Nardine Mosaad was 11 years old, she witnessed the protests of the 2011 Egyptian revolution firsthand. Watching from her balcony in Cairo, her eyes stung from the gas bombs exploding in the streets. Mosaad saw young students and others taking to the streets to fight for a change. She admired their tenacity and fearlessness even when the police fought back. The experience inspired her to study how governments work.

“I saw a group of young people in Egypt topple down a 30-year-old regime and it really had a profound impact on my development,” she said. “It really impressed on me how a group of young people could have a tremendous effect on how the government could be structured.”

Mosaad, a senior at the Schar School, moved to Fairfax when she was 13, and it wasn’t long after that she learned a teacher from her school in Egypt was murdered in a church bombing. That event solidified her drive to go into government, with the intention of representing those who do not have an effective public voice. Mosaad chose the Schar School because the government and international politics program is known as one of the best in the country. For her, it was important—not to mention energizing—to know she could study at a top government school.

Enrolled in Mason’s Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s (BAM) program, Mosaad is majoring in government and international politics with a concentration in international relations and a minor in French. Her accelerated master’s degree studies are in international security. The BAM program allows her to take graduate-level courses as an undergraduate, condensing the time it takes to complete her master’s degree.

“I thought, I’m just going to get my degree and leave,” she said. But when she saw “how Mason really cares about students and wants them to get involved” in issues that interest them, “that really motivated me to go out and get out of my comfort zone and talk to people.”

She immersed herself in several Schar School offerings, signing on in the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP), which provides significant research opportunities for undergraduates; joining the International Relations Policy Task Force (IRTF), which gives juniors and seniors a chance to become policy experts by researching and crafting policy recommendations; and pursuing an internship that can reinforce her studies.

Through all these available opportunities, Mosaad discovered her favorite thing about the Schar School: its diversity.

“When you listen and learn from people from all around the world, you start seeing the world from a whole different perspective,” she said.

Topics

Bachelor’s/Acclerated Master’s Program

International Security

Government and International Politics

Schar School News December 2021

Schar School BA in Government and International Politics

International Relations Policy Task Force

Bachelor’s/Acclerated Master’s Program

From public health crisis volunteer to College of Public Health graduate

What’s your best memory at Mason?

What is your best piece of advice for incoming students?

What’s next for you?

Related Stories

Topics

A Mason dream leads to two degrees and a future in law

What made you choose Mason?

What’s one accomplishment you’re proud of from your time at Mason?

How did you balance working full time and going to school?

What are your plans post-graduation?

If you could give a first-year student advice on how to navigate college, what would you say?

Learn more about the 2023 Winter Commencement Ceremonies

Hear from Mason's incredible graduates

Topics

Student Ambassadors help military-connected families feel welcomed in Fairfax

In a conference room in Merten Hall at ����AV 20 high school students sit in absolute silence.

Topics

Inspired by Revolution to Study Government, She’s Now Earning a BA and Master’s Degree at the Same Time

Topics

In a conference room in Merten Hall at ��AV 20 high school students sit in absolute silence.