Carla Simone, class of 2021, is graduating with a major in Spanish. Next year, she will continue with her internship year to earn her teacher certification in secondary Spanish. In this blog, she shares her experiences as a Citizen Scholar and her advice for incoming and current students.
Throughout my time at MSU I have been fortunate enough to be able to have an amazing education and experiences because of the College of Arts & Letters and Citizen Scholars.
CAL has been so welcoming and supportive since my first year at MSU and they offer so many resources to make sure you reach your goals. For example, the Citizen Scholars program offers a $5,000 experiential scholarship/funding to study abroad/away or for an internship. As a language major, a requirement for my degree was to have an experiential learning experience, and I would not have been able to study abroad if it were not for the CS funding. This funding allowed me to improve my Spanish language skills and learn more about Spanish culture that I will utilize for years to come.
All the advisors that I have met within the college have been very informational and helpful with what classes I need to take, what events would interest me, and the opportunities I would be interested in. Jennifer Gansler was extremely helpful with informing me about the study abroad program in Valencia for a semester and what classes I could take there and what classes I would take for each semester to graduate in 4 years. For future and current CS and CAL students, do not be afraid to ask for help and utilize your advisors; they are there to help you and want to help you.
Attend events that are hosted by the college because that is where you will find experiences and opportunities that you will not find anywhere else. The Excel Network connects you with so many opportunities for every interest and when you sign up for the career communities through the Excel Network you choose which interests you and then they send you experiences that fit your interests. The Excel Network is a great resource/hub where you can find all the information about scholarships, education abroad, internships, careers and how to meet with advisors. I highly recommend setting up an advising appointment with Dan Meier or any of the staff in the Excel Network because they will talk with you about opportunities that you are interested in and walk you through the steps of applying for those opportunities, which is how I found about interning internationally.
My last piece of advice is your time here at MSU will go by faster than you expect, so take advantage of every opportunity that CAL and CS offers you.