Oregon State University abounds with opportunities that can be found in the least expected places...
Oregon State University abounds with opportunities that can be found in the least expected places - in a class, over coffee at Javastop, or even in your residence hall.
It was by such happenstance that Neha George met Josh Curtis, a Speech Communication major and College of Liberal Arts Ambassador. Both George and Curtis were resident assistants, working together to mentor first-year students. Little did George know that this chance meeting would prove transformative.
"I came to OSU with every intention of going on to medical school, but I realized that while I knew a lot of things about science, I had very little knowledge of the world around me," recalls George. "An honors international relations class I was enrolled in really challenged the way I thought and sparked my interest in political science. I switched to a political science major within the College of Liberal Arts and loved the content and knowledge I gained. It kept me in touch with the fact that there is a whole big world out there with so much to offer. I was really interested in reaching out to the community, a passion which began with CLA."
Curtis apprised George of the rewards and benefits of being involved within CLA. As an Ambassador, Curtis acted as a student representative of the liberal arts experience and its ongoing commitment to teaching and scholarship. Prospective freshmen were able to talk with Curtis about his multifaceted experiences within the College - educational opportunities, internships, careers, and application of the liberal arts to everyday life. Needless to say, George was fascinated.
"I was really interested in the ways Josh was able to reach out to prospective freshmen and impact their lives," says George. "When I was a high school senior, I was undecided on my academic path - I had no idea what I wanted to do. The opportunity to give these students advice sounded amazing."
George's innate gusto and energetic demeanor made her an exceptional candidate for an Ambassador position. Her experience in social justice, activism, community outreach, and mentorship were instrumental characteristics which enabled her to educate new students on a wide range of exciting possibilities within the liberal arts. And she found the niche she craved - a place within a "family" of students with a shared passion for assisting the next generation of Beavers.
"I have loved being an Ambassador for several reasons," says George. "I've really seen myself change through this experience. As an Ambassador, you really have a large platform with which to enact change. It's not just potential freshmen we influence - we really act as a little support group for each other, too. We vary in age and class standing, we vary in the subjects we're taking, we challenge each other to do better, we inspire each other to become more involved on campus and within the community, and it's really neat to see how my fellow Ambassadors have grown through the last few years."
As an Ambassador, George takes pride in "her" freshmen - the students whose eyes shine with an unmitigated exuberance, an unadulterated wonder and an unbounded curiosity for the world of college.
"It's just so neat to see these fresh young minds with all these ideas of where they want to go in life," says George. "The impact of being a mentor is tremendous. The relationships we develop with these students are so important. When we first meet potential students and their families, we don't get a huge amount of time to talk to them - maybe only 10 minutes. But that brief 10-minute conversation you have with that freshman and their family is so important. You may never see this person again, but they may end up choosing OSU and CLA for their education based on how you impacted them. That's the beauty of the Ambassador program. All of us in the Ambassador program are passionate about CLA. It offers such a variety of social and extracurricular opportunities. The passions it engenders in us really shines through every time we have a chance to interact with freshmen."