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Spotlight on "Student Success 2008" - October 2008
Andrea Hernandez Morales, CSP first-year student.
This past summer, Andrea won “The Next Decade Award”, presented by the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (DHDC). She was given this award in recognition of her dedication to the DHDC. Andrea is the youngest recipient of the award this year.
Andrea elaborated on her experience with the DHDC: “I have been involved with the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation since the beginning of my Junior year of high school. At the time, I did the announcements for my school, and discovered that they were looking for students to come join a program that would help kids to develop not only leadership skills, but entrepreneurial skills as well. They did this by actively involving them in media literacy learning. We helped to create the worlds first and only youth run and operated media productions company, “Out The Box Media Productions”, a division of Urban Arts Inc. I, helped to develop the yearly business plan in which we planned to write a play, put it into production, and use the revenue to turn it into a feature length film about the problems faced by urban youth today.I was the main speaker during presentations of the business plan to potential investors, and through this I developed confidence and public speaking skills. I enjoyed script writing, and video production, and now plan to concentrate on Screen Arts and Cultures here at the University.”
The Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, is a non-profit community organization founded in 1997 by Executive Director, Angela G. Reyes. She was a life-long resident of Detroit and wanted to address the high level of gang violence in Southwest Detroit. The DHDC has developed a wide-range of comprehensive bi-lingual services that reach over 10,000 youth, adults and families annually. For more info about this agency, visit their website at www.dhdc1.org
Joe Fakhoury,CSP Graduate
B.S. Neuroscience, August 2008
This has been a good year for Joseph Fakhoury. He graduated, got into medical school, and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. He will look back at this time in his life with a smile on his face, diploma on his wall, and a nostalgic Red Wings Jersey hanging in his closet. Joseph started his journey with CSP in the Fall of 2006, when he became our Pre-health Peer Advisor. He was a great resource to our students and advising staff. It is not every day that you meet a cool guy like Joe. He was such a part of our office that we still look for him in the room he occupied for two years.
This fall he has started his medical program at American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten. Of course, the Caribbean has better weather and more sunshine than we will ever see in Michigan. In between classes, Joe can be found hanging out on the beach catching a wave! For those of us that still want to keep in touch, his e-mail address is josephdf@gmail.com Congratulations Joe, we miss you already. For more information about attending medical school in a tropical paradise go to: http://www.aucmed.edu/
Sade Bradford, CSP Senior
B.A. English & Sociology
Sade spent this past summer in Oregon working for an organization called Foster Club. Sade spent seven years in the Michigan Foster Care system. She is using her personal experiences and success to motivate other foster children to achieve their goals. She has created a couple You-Tube Blogs about her service in the Foster Club. While on campus, she continues her work as a foster care advocate. She is a board member for Court Appointed Special Advocates for children (CASA), and is a consultant for Foster Club. Sade is also in the process of co-authoring a handbook for foster kids on how to make safe connections with their biological families. For more information about Foster Club please visit: www.fosterclub.com
