Time’s Up – Michael’s Final Blog Post

After 4 long years of college and three great years at MSU, my time has finally come to an end. I have experienced so many great things during my time in college, and I am finding it hard to believe I’ve made it here. Because this is my final blog post, I figured I would reminisce about my experience here at MSU, and what the future holds for me next.

Where It All Began

Back when I was in high school, I had the opportunity to visit Missouri State for a campus tour. During this visit, I fell in love immediately. The campus was amazing, and the people I met during the visit made me feel like this could truly be my home. From that day, I knew I would go to MSU in the future. However, my parents and I had decided I would do my first year at Metropolitan Community College – Longview, so I had to wait. Luckily, MSU made my transfer experience easy, and even set me up with an advisor who helped me plan out my coursework before I even came.

A Big Change

When my sophomore year rolled around, I got to transfer to MSU in the Fall of 2019. Luckily, with some experience I had at Longview, I was able to help start the peer counseling program that I still do today with the Center for Academic Success and Transition (CAST), giving me the opportunity to work with so many amazing people and students over the next few years. Along with this, I had officially started my journey as a cell and molecular biology major in the College of Health and Human Services! One of the best things about MSU is that, even though I was a transfer, I had so much help finding my way around campus and getting integrated into my coursework.

Trying to Do the Most I Can

The Center for Academic Success and Transition that I work for had begun to grow significantly, which was a sign of good things to come. I got to give speeches during events, volunteer at special gatherings for students, meet with my peers one-on-one to help them, and so much more. I always wanted to make sure I was doing all I could to make a change here at the university, and in the long run I hope I did something to make MSU a better place. With all of this going on, I worked hard as a CMB major in preparation for entering a graduate program in Genetic Counseling. As some people might know, being a CMB major can be difficult, so I had to put a lot of time into being the best student I could be. Along the way, I met some of the best people that I know will be lifelong acquaintances. Even when things got tough, my professors and peers always found a way to bring me up, and push me to keep moving forward. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be who I am today, so I owe the world to all of them.

Where Am I Now?

As of right now, I was lucky enough to become a CAST Ambassador through the Center for Academic Success and Transition, and I am a BMS 111 Instructor in the Biomedical Science Department. I have had the great opportunity to make a change in students lives with the purpose of helping them become more prepared for the future, which was my dream back when I started all of this. Whether it was through meetings with me one-on-one, or through my teaching in class, I hope I found some way to make those students lives a little bit better. Because some people may have been wondering, I have recently been accepted to the University of Arkansas for Medical Science’s Genetic Counseling program for their 2024 class! Because of my rigorous work as a CMB major, it not only helped me become a qualified applicant, but it helped me grow into the student I always wanted to be.

What Comes Next?

As of right now, I am set to graduate in a few weeks, which is scary! I feel like MSU is my home, and I am finding difficult to leave, but I know that I have a bright future ahead of me. I will start my Genetic Counseling program in August of this year after moving to Little Rock, Arkansas, and I am so excited. However, I will make sure to keep in touch with things here at MSU. My time as a student success advocate has shown me that each and every person at this campus cares for it’s students, and every student has the potential to be amazing.

Because this is my final blog post, I wanted to give out some thanks. First, I want to thank CAST for giving me the opportunity to do these great things during my time at MSU, because it has given me so much joy every day. I wanted to thank everyone who has followed along with me for the past two years of doing these blog posts. I truly care about making things better for those who attend Missouri State, and  I hope that these posts find their way to the people who need to see them. Last, I want to thank everyone at Missouri State that I got to work with over my time as a student, teacher, and student success worker. You have all made me realize that Missouri State is an amazing place, and anyone would be lucky to come here. Although I am leaving, I will always be an MSU bear, and I know that someday I will be back. Until then, good luck and thank you for being here!

The End of a Long Journey

In September of 2021, I shared with everyone the beginning of my journey to graduate school. I had made the decision to apply to various genetic counseling programs across the country in order to fulfil my goal of becoming a certified genetic counseling student in the future. Since then, I have finished my applications and have recently begun the interview process. Today, I wanted to share my experiences since the last time we talked.

The Same but Different

By the end of October, I had selected seven programs that I wanted to apply to based on location, quality of education, reputation, and program goals. One interesting thing about the genetic counseling application process is that we have to sign up for a national matching service in order to receive an ID number, which goes on all applications. Along with this, genetic counseling programs do not have one collective system for applications. In some cases, students are able to upload one general application and send it to multiple schools, but for me this was not the case. Beginning in November, I had to begin filling out each application individually. Looking back on it, I have to give additional thanks to the people who helped me through the whole process, especially my letters of recommendation! This process took all the way until New Year’s Eve, which marked the day I turned in my final application.

To be honest, doing that many applications can be tough. However, I did come up with some tips that may help you all if you plan on doing this in the future:

• Keep an ongoing CV/Resume
• Maintain a list of common information that may show up on multiple applications such as your address, emails, phone numbers for letters of recommendation, and important dates
• Make sure to keep track of applications due dates, and don’t wait too late to start them
• Contact the programs if you need help

First Impression Means Everything

As of now, I have since heard back and received some interviews! For some people, interviews can be a scary process. However, I have been trying my best to prepare. Interviews are an extremely important part of the whole application cycle because the programs finally get to put a face to the applications they receive. It gives the faculty a chance to learn more about you and to see if you are a good fit for their program. For those of you who may go through this in the future, here are some tips for the interview and some ways to prepare:

• Set up mock interviews with MSU faculty and get feedback
• Look up potential interview questions to think about how you may answer them
• Be yourself because the programs want to know the real you
• Ask good questions
• Be confident in yourself because they wanted you for an interview

See What the Future Holds

Again, I will come back in the future to let you all know how my journey ends. This is a time of my life that I have dreamed about for years, and I can’t believe it is coming near its close. As always, thank you for reading, and I hope this helped some of you for the future!