EOF Monthly Connections

May 2010 Newsletter

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FUND

CONNECTIONSCONNECTIONS

Awards Dinner 2

Accomplishments 3

Senior Spotlight 4

Alumni & Candidates for Graduation

4

EOF Student Alliance 5

Campus Life Appreciation

Dinner Dance—EOF Awardees

5

May 2010 Calendar 6

Poem 6

Inside this issue:Inside this issue:

EOF EducatorEOF Educator

of the Year:of the Year:

Helen G.Helen G.

MastrobuoniMastrobuoni Professor, Health & Professor, Health &

Natural SciencesNatural Sciences

Division, Biology & Division, Biology &

Chemistry Depart-Chemistry Depart-

mentment——CCMCCM

EOF Service EOF Service

Award:Award:

Michele DunnMichele Dunn

Registrar, Registrar, Records Records

& Registration& Registration——

CCMCCM

I am sure many of

you are finally

breathing and sleeping

easier now that you have

co mp le t ed an o th e r

semester! As much as we

resist it sometimes,

change is inevitable, and

we have all been through

some changes this

semester and anticipate

more change in the days

ahead. Change can be

difficult. Some of you

are moving on to new

schools next year, some

are already gearing up for

summer course(s) at

CCM, and some are just

looking forward to a little

break from school.

Whatever is going on, has

gone on, or will be going

on, the challenge is

always to adjust and keep

moving forward. That is

what I hope for each of

you. As you look ahead,

don’t forget to also look

back and remember to

keep in touch. We love to

know how you are.

My definition of success

has always been that

success is defined as

― s u c c e s s i v e

approximations toward a

worthwhile goal.‖ So if

this year has brought you

closer to achieving your

goal or even clarifying

what a “worthwhile goal”

is for you, it has been a

successful year.

We in the EOF office are

gratified when we see

you moving ahead – even

when it means leaving

County College of Morris

and not seeing you in the

EOF office anymore! We

hope you know that we

are here for you wherever

you will be this summer.

We are working all

summer and will be eager

to hear from you. We also

know it won’t be too long

before it is August 30th

and we begin a new

semester and a new

season of change. One

thing, however, will

remain the same… our

commitment to you and

our desire to help you

achieve all that you can.

Have a great summer!

A MESSAGE From Beth...A MESSAGE From Beth...

Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to

drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."

~ Henry Peter Broughan

EOF awards ceremony, APRIL 22, 2010EOF awards ceremony, APRIL 22, 2010

P A G E 2 C O N N E C T I O N S

EOF Scholar of the

Year—Nicole Barrett

Former EOF Director and Candidates for Graduation—Judith Dickerson,

Zhurong Chen, Sara Moreira, Jonathan Marulanda, and Donald Marulanda

Community Service

Winner—Robert Mehan

Alumni of the Year—

Kelly Sponeybarger

Persistence Award Winner—Nadia Lovett-Alston

and Presenter: Professor Dorothy Hollowell

EOF Service Award Winner—

Michele Dunn, Registrar

Educator of the Year—Professor Helen

Mastrobuoni and Presenter: EOF Student—

Robert Mehan

CCM Leadership Award Winners—Presenter: Dr. Bette Simmons, First Row– Left:

Sara Moreira, Heidi Martinez, Patricia Kijak, Zhurong Chen, Ishita Akter, Edward

Akaezuwa, Donald Marulanda, Second Row—Left: Ayesha Aly Ahmed, Stephany

Cedano, Yasmine Ibrahim, Robert Mehan, Paula Garcia, and Aron Davis

Ayesha Aly

Ahmed

LEADERSHIP AWARDS

AESNJ Student Alliance Interclub Council

Ishita Akter Natalie Lattimore Ayesha Aly Ahmed (Chairperson) Victoria Bronson

Stephany Cedano Jewish Student Association Crystal DaSilva Heidi Martinez Paula Garcia

Christian Gonzalez Peer Mentors Support Group Denia Guzman Robert Mehan Yasmine Ibrahim

Diego Jaramillo Performing Arts Patricia Kijak Aron Davis Natalie Lattimore

Heidi Martinez Phi Theta Kappa Donald Marulanda Victoria Bronson Jonathan Marulanda Jouliette Ibrahim Robert Mehan Donald Marulanda Sara Moreira Jonathan Marulanda Cassandra Quintero Robert Mehan Ambassadors Spanish Film Club

Ayesha Aly Ahmed Edward Akaezuwa Basketball Team Strategic Gaming Club

Damon Garrett Ayesha Aly Ahmed Victoria Bronson Black Student Union

Robert Jones Student Government

Association

Campus Christian Fellowship Victoria Bronson Heidi Martinez (President) Cassandra Quintero Chi Alpha Epsilon

Victoria Bronson Zhurong Chen Jouliette Ibrahim Yasmine Ibrahim Robert Jones Demetrios Makrikostas Robert Mehan

Outstanding EOF accomplishmentsOutstanding EOF accomplishments

Graduating Seniors and students who received awards at the EOF Recognition Dinner, April 22, 2010.

E O F M O N T H L Y N E W L E T E R P A G E 3

CCM GRADUATING SENIORS

December 2009 May 2010

Jeffrey Durante Robert Jones Cassandra Quintero Jouliette Ibrahim Anais Roché Samantha Lucas Robert Ruiz Donald Marulanda Guadalupe Sanchez Jonathan Marulanda Sara Moreira August 2010

Zhurong Chen

RECOGNITION AWARDS

EOFPA NJ Outstanding Academic Achievement Award

Jouliette Ibrahim Jonathan Marulanda Donald Marulanda EOFPANJ Academic Achievement Award

Sara Moreira Anais Roché EOFPANJ Outstanding Achievement Award

Karlene Green Scholar of the Year Community Service

Nicole Barrett Robert Mehan Alumni of the Year Persistence Award

Kelly Sponeybarger Nadia Lovett-Alston Academic Achievement Awards

Edward Akaezuwa Patricia Kijak Stefanie Barone Samantha Lucas Elijah Barrett Demetrios Makrikostas Nicole Barrett Donald Marulanda Victoria Bronson Jonathan Marulanda Zhurong Chen Robert Mehan Danielle Garcia Sara Moreira Shane Hawkins Yury Rincon Jouliette Ibrahim Anais Roché Yasmine Ibrahim Oliver Sheffield Student Scholarship

Elijah Barrett Donald Marulanda Zhurong Chen Jonathan Marulanda Paula Garcia Sara Moreira Damon Garrett Yury Rincon Denia Guzman Anais Roché Jouliette Ibrahim Robert Ruiz Yasmine Ibrahim Dameon Watson Robert Jones Aloha Wilkins Demetrios Makrikostas

W h a t

a r e

your plans after

graduation? I

am planning to

get my bache-

lor’s degree in

the Health Pro-

fession and

work towards medical school, and

becoming a doctor.

How has County College of Morris

and EOF prepared you for life after

college? I was well prepared be-

cause I am so confident about my-

self now.

Now that you are approaching

graduation, what do you claim as

your most important asset as you

enter the workforce and the world?

Self-confidence!

What role has the EOF program

played in your academic, personal,

and, profess ional develop-

ment? EOF has played a very im-

portant role through my college

years at CCM. Whenever I had a

problem, they were there for me.

entation Program? Wow, I could

write a big paper on it! I have been

changed a lot, from a lack of confi-

dence and not knowing what I want

to do, to becoming a very self-

confident person.

What are memorable moments you

have had with EOF? MANY! Mrs.

Dickerson's warm smile, Gene's

gentle voice, Beth and Edie's help-

fulness...

When you are not studying and en-

gaging academic life, how do you

spend your free time? When I have

free time, I would like to have a cup

of coffee, sit in the sun and look up

at the blue sky.

Would you like to add anything

else? Truly, if not for the continu-

ous support and guidance I received

from EOF- both financially and

academically - I am sure my college

experience at CCM would have

been much different, and probably

not for the better. Thank you----

EOF!!

Zhurong Chen

What things have motivated you to

continue striving for academic suc-

cess and professional growth?

There are so many people that have

motivated me to go forward, but my

family and EOF have always have

been the primary ones.

What advice or message would you

like to leave to current and/or fu-

ture EOF students? Never look

down on yourself no matter how

difficult the life is, just keep telling

yourself that you can do it! If Presi-

dent Obama could become the

president of U.S., why can't you?

What would you say is your phi-

losophy in life? No special ones,

maybe "tomorrow is another day".

What personal experience, if any,

has had a huge impact on your per-

sonal philosophies and/or plans in

the future? Through participation in

the Alliance and eventually leading

it as its President, I have learned

important skills, such as organizing,

planning, fundraising, and leading.

In what ways have you changed or

remained the same since your par-

ticipation in the EOF Summer Ori-

Senior “Spotlight”Senior “Spotlight” Zhur on g Ch enZhur on g Ch en

P A G E 4 C O N N E C T I O N S

Top Row: Left: Jeffrey Durante, Cassandra Quintero, Anais Roché, Robert Ruiz, and Guadalupe Sanchez—graduated December

2009. Robert Jones, Jouliette Ibrahim, Samantha Lucas, Donald Marulanda, Jonathan Marulanda, and Sara Moreira—

candidates for graduation May 2010. Zhurong Chen—candidate for graduation August 2010.

EOF ALUMNI & GRADUATING SeniorsEOF ALUMNI & GRADUATING Seniors

EOF STUDENT ALLIANCEEOF STUDENT ALLIANCE Tricky Tray FundraiserTricky Tray Fundraiser

Ahmed who labored wrapping up

perfect baskets for us for two days!

Kudos to her for receiving the first

AESNJ Leadership Award at the

Awards Dinner.

April 29 was the Spring Picnic and

the EOF table has come to be

known as cotton candy central! As

it has been in the past, the students

were flooding the table in lines. At

one point we lost power, but soon

got it restored and were back to

making the webs of sugar! The

O ur third Annual Tricky Tray

on April 22 was a hit again

for our third year in a row! We

raised $916.75 for the EOF Contin-

gency funds, which assists students

with an emergency need and the

Alliance activities. To all the do-

nors of various items, baskets fully

made and cash donations to pur-

chase completed baskets, thank you

all so much! Your help was invalu-

able in making this fundraiser so

successful! In addition, a thank you

to all the students who assisted both

during the day and the evening sell-

ing tickets, announcing winners and

delivering baskets. We could not

have done it without Ayesha Aly

word does get out at bit more each

semester about who EOF is. We

appreciate students Ayesha Aly Ah-

med, Nicole Barrett, Isha Akter,

and Patricia Kijak who volunteered

their time for this event.

Our Spring luncheon was post-

poned until the beginning of fall.

This will be our first Kick-Off

meeting and we hope more students

will sign up to attend at that time.

We need new officers so please

consider getting involved next aca-

demic year! Officers have a one-

year term, unless of course, students

move on from CCM. Try it out and

develop your leadership and organ-

izational skills, and also meet new

people! It is a lot of fun!

George Dragonetti Distinguished Leader Awardees

Ayesha Aly Ahmed ( EOF Alliance President)

Victoria Bronson (SGA President)

Natalie Lattimore (ICC President) (For students who made significant contributions and demonstrated consistent

service to the CCM Campus Life Program).

Douglas A Patton Student Life Scholarship Awardee

Damon Garrett ( Basketball) (For the student who demonstrated serious dedication in the classroom as well as being

an outstanding member to the overall Campus life program of Athletics).

CCM Board of Trustees Service Awardee

Victoria Bronson (Student Government Association President) (For the student who demonstrated the most consistent service towards the overall

development and continuity of the Campus Life Program).

Left: Ayesha Aly Ahmed and Friend

Kudos to our EOF students who won the Kudos to our EOF students who won the

following Campus Life Appreciation Dinner following Campus Life Appreciation Dinner

Dance Awards! Dance Awards!

E O F M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R P A G E 5

Each Of Us Must climb Our Separate Mountain!Each Of Us Must climb Our Separate Mountain! By: Wi l l i am Byr dBy : Wi l l i am Byr d

C O N N E C T I O N S P A G E 6

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 3 4 5

6 7 8 Classes End

9 10 Final Exams

(Day Classes)

Final Exams (Evening Classes)

11 12 13 14 Last Day to Submit

Workshop & Community Service Forms

15 Semester Ends

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 Day I Session

Begins Memorial Day Campus Closed

25 Day I Session

Last Day to ADD a Class

26

27 Graduation

HPE Building 7:00 PM

28 Day I Session

Last Day to DROP classes without

Academic Grade

29

MAY 20 10MAY 20 10

30 31

Each of us must climb our separate mountainEach of us must climb our separate mountain

To reach at last our own extended view.To reach at last our own extended view.

We can be no more than what we are,We can be no more than what we are,

Yet that is quite enough for us to do.Yet that is quite enough for us to do.

The world is far too great for comprehension,The world is far too great for comprehension,

And so we only know what we can know.And so we only know what we can know.

But given the abilities we're given,But given the abilities we're given,

That's still a long and weary way to go.That's still a long and weary way to go.

Yet on the way, how beautiful the moments!Yet on the way, how beautiful the moments!

How good it feels to have some skill or art!How good it feels to have some skill or art!

How wonderful to pause in awestruck wonderHow wonderful to pause in awestruck wonder

At what must fill the unsuspecting heart!At what must fill the unsuspecting heart!

And so we're proud of each of you todayAnd so we're proud of each of you today

For all you've learned, and all you've tried to learnFor all you've learned, and all you've tried to learn..

Knowledge brings the deepest satisfaction,Knowledge brings the deepest satisfaction,

Not least because it's something that you earn.Not least because it's something that you earn.