Meet Our Ace Scholars
Introducing CUNY SPS’ Spring 2023 Ace Scholar Recipients (Part One)
The ACE (Achieve Your College Education) Scholarship is a unique program at CUNY SPS offered to high-achieving undergraduate students who are close to graduating. Endowed by the generous support of founding donor Alan Fishman, the scholarship underwrites 100% of tuition and follows recipients through degree completion.
As part of their award requirements, ACE Scholars mentor newly admitted undergraduate students, in addition to strengthening the School community through various service activities. Each semester, a cohort of ACE Scholars are selected to be ACE Peer-Mentors, where they will provide unique insight and support to new students returning to complete their undergraduate studies at CUNY SPS.
To learn more about the Spring 2023 recipients and their plans, we caught up with several of them and asked them to share their thoughts on the ACE scholarship and becoming a peer mentor.
In the first part of this two-part series, we talk with Joselly Juarez Subasic (Communication and Media BA ‘23), Laurie Volkman (Information Systems BS ‘23), and Nadijah Farquharson (Human Relations BA ’23).
Is this your first semester as an ACE scholar? If so, what do you think will be the greatest impact of the ACE Scholarship? (Or if this isn’t your first semester, what has been the greatest impact so far?)
Joselly Juarez Subasic: “This is my first semester as an ACE scholar and I already feel that the greatest impact of the ACE scholarship will be the opportunity to mentor students at the beginning of their academic journey. I know how difficult it can be to choose to continue pursuing higher education after time away from school, particularly when the learning environment is completely new to you. I sometimes look back at my start at CUNY SPS and realize how anxious I felt about managing my time and navigating BlackBoard [an online learning platform].… For that reason, I know that being a form of support for students during this unpredictable and stressful time can help them become more confident to reach the semester finish line.”
Laurie Volkman: “This is my fourth and final semester at CUNY SPS, and my first semester as an ACE Scholar. I’d thought about applying in my second semester, but didn’t because I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to balance mentoring other students with my classes. In retrospect, I really wish I had.
Being an ACE scholar impacts me greatly — this is an incredible opportunity to attend school without the burden of worrying about tuition, which is a generous gift. I’m a returning student, and am on track to graduate with my bachelor’s degree at the age of 45 — the first bachelor’s degree in my family — and then dive headfirst into a mid-life career change. The ACE Scholarship is helping me change my life.”
Nadijah Farquharson: “This is my 3rd semester as an ACE mentor, and I believe that my greatest impact has been the support that I have been able to provide to students in their first semester. Being there for students so that they can have a specific person that they can reach out to for individualized support is a great feeling.”
How do you think that the ACE Scholarship has already, or will, affect your leadership skills?
Volkman: “I have almost a decade of management experience, and during my career as an e-commerce customer experience (CX) manager, I’ve built and led remote teams of customer service agents. As a person who moved up to management from the rank and file, my management style in general leans heavily toward mentorship and fostering a supportive, collaborative environment. I’ve always believed that you should hire skilled people, train them well, and then get out of their way!
The ACE Scholarship is similar — I’m a remote CUNY SPS student, and so are my mentees…The difference is that I get to mentor a group of people without having to be their boss, which is new for me. I’m trying to apply those same soft skills that made me a good manager to being the best mentor I can for my mentees, without getting in their way.”
Juarez Subasic: “The ACE Scholarship has helped me take greater initiative in lining out a mentorship plan for my mentees, which I feel has helped me work even further on my leadership skills. I also find that this scholarship has allowed me to engage in a new sort of learning experience where I can capitalize on what I’ve learned in the classroom and my other student activities like the Student Association. I never anticipated that I’d be involved as I am here at CUNY SPS, but the more I said yes to participating, the more I found myself becoming passionate about aiding the student life and academic experience.
The ACE scholarship is essentially a product of all that I’ve contributed and taken away from CUNY SPS throughout my time here. In that sense, I am happy that I can give back to the new students in a more direct way, while also learning more about what it takes to be an empathetic leader that serves others.”
Part of being an ACE Scholar involves being an ambassador for the School. What would you tell people is the best part of CUNY SPS?
Juarez Subasic: “I’ve always loved the diversity of CUNY SPS. Students come from all walks of life: some have full-time or part-time jobs, some have families to take care of, and some are returning to school after many years. Yet, no matter the circumstance, I’ve always found the students here to be more dedicated and committed than anyone, not only in their desire to complete their degree but also in their desire to connect with each other.”
Volkman: “I tell people at any given opportunity that CUNY SPS is the best of both worlds — online classes, but without sacrificing quality. It’s a CUNY education, but I don’t have to commute. Most of the courses are taught by instructors who are or have been industry professionals with a ton of experience in the subject matter they teach.”
How do you think that the skills you acquire through the ACE program will help you in your career?
Farquharson: “The skills that I have acquired through this program will help me in my career because it allows me to interact with different people of different age ranges, backgrounds, ethnicity, etc. I currently work as a guidance counselor in a high school, and I interact mostly with students ages 12–17. But I have not had a lot of experience working with older adults and in order to reach the goal of opening up a nonprofit I have to be able to interact with a multitude of different people.”
Juarez Subasic: “I feel the leadership skills I’ve obtained throughout my time here and through the ACE program will be relevant to my pursuit of a career in media. I always believed in the idea of telling important stories about underrepresented themes, places, and communities. Being able to communicate with those you wish to represent or to even get first-person accounts or participation from is something that requires a sort of nuanced approach to really achieve. You can’t really do it without cultivating relationships, being vulnerable, having self-awareness, and empathy. Thus, being mindful of that in the ACE program will help me get to that point in my career as well.”
Volkman: “I feel like the ACE Program is allowing me to use some of my skills in a different way. I’m the kind of person who, if I’m in a situation where everything is chaos and nobody else is taking charge, I’ll step up to lead. Reluctantly in most cases, because being in charge is harder than being told what to do, but I would rather create organization and motivate people to start working together rather than do nothing amid the chaos. It’s a different experience to be an ACE mentor. It’s very chill and supportive. I’m just here to be a resource and a person for my mentees to turn to for advice, someone who has been a first-semester student before and made it through to the end.”
What is the most valuable student hack you intend to pass on to your mentees?
Juarez Subasic: “Taking the time in the first week of the semester to really gauge the course load of each class. Courses that seem to be on the heavier side or have due dates earlier in the week should be prioritized first. I find that scheduling things out this way has always helped me. But, more importantly, I think just finding the time to rest or do something that brings you joy (such as baking, drawing, journaling, exercising, or watching a good film) is always important. There have been times when I felt like my brain was just overwhelmed and exhausted by work. Even though it meant delaying getting things done, I took the day off. Rather than hindering my productivity, the next day I felt refreshed enough to get more done than I would have if I never took that break. I hope my mentees, or any student, can find that time for themselves in the midst of their busy lives.”
Farquharson: “The most valuable student hack that I have passed down on to my mentees is to add your schoolwork to whatever tool that you use for organization. Many of my mentees try to create a different way of managing their academics and it can become overwhelming. For myself, I use Google calendar for everything: work, family life, etc. So, I have just added my schoolwork to that as well. And I advise my mentees to do the same. Whatever tool you use currently to keep your life on track, just add your schoolwork to that.”
Volkman: “Time management! The toughest thing about time management is that there’s no single right way to do it. The balancing act is different for everyone depending on what they have going on in their lives, and on how their brain works. Maybe you’re the type of person who likes to use a calendar for everything, or maybe you prefer spreadsheets or a card-type layout like Trello. You might be a desktop nerd like me, or maybe you’re constantly on the go and need to do almost everything on your phone. The best advice I can give anyone is to try everything. I went through a few different organization apps and software before settling on what I’ve used for all of my semesters at CUNY SPS to keep track of classes and assignment due dates. I use project management software that normally I’d have to pay for, and it’s been an enormous help.
The second part of this hack: there are tons of companies that make productivity or project management software or apps that are happy to give you a free student account. If you don’t see the option for a student account on the website, email them and ask about it!”
What are your plans post-graduation?
Volkman: “I’m embarking on a very intimidating career change attempt, from e-commerce customer service to tech. As an information systems major, my goal is to work in information technology.”
Farquharson: “Being a single mother of two young boys, directly after graduation I want to take a vacation because I have not been able to spend as much time with them between school and work. So, I want to be able to do that but also because a vacation is much needed. After taking about a year off I want to go back to school and get my master’s degree in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy.”
Any messages you would like to pass on to those students who may be deciding whether to head back to school for their degree?
Volkman: “Stop overthinking and do it. It’s an investment in yourself, and you’re worth the time and effort. I feel like I wasted a lot of years working at jobs where I was truly unhappy because I didn’t think I could reach any higher than where I was. I kept telling myself that if I had the time, had the money, etc., I’d go back to school. I talked myself out of it for several years, and I’m glad I stopped holding myself back. CUNY SPS has been one of the best experiences I’ve had in the last decade. Asynchronous online classes from a CUNY school is the best thing I could have asked for.”
Farquharson: “GO FOR IT! There will never be a perfect time to get back to school. Something is always going to get in the way. Life will always happen. So just jump in the pool and gather support from your professors and you will make it through to the end.”
Anything else that you would like to add?
Volkman: “I’m a hard worker and I take my schoolwork very seriously, but I hadn’t necessarily felt engaged with the school itself until becoming an ACE Scholar. Now I’m realizing there’s way more to CUNY SPS besides great online courses. For an all-remote branch of CUNY, there’s a surprising amount of community here. Everyone in the program has been helpful and encouraging, which has made this an all-around fantastic experience thus far.”
