This letter is from Nastasha Pollard, one of our  '08 scholarship winners. She dropped us a note to tell us of her college experience and activities. Please read and enjoy the pride and joy we feel at SFI.
                                                                        Thanks, Vaughn Thomas
 

Dear Mr. Thomas,

Hope you had a wonderful holiday! I just want to say again I am so appreciative of the scholarship you have awarded me.

I am finally home for Winter break and return in two weeks to Miami  :) I have been so busy but knew I had to write a little note about how everything has been going for me thus far at the beautiful campus of the University of Miami. First off, I have to honestly say I am in love with my school. I have had an unbelievable experience thus far at the University. This semester I took Calculus with a lab, Honors Chemistry with a lab, Spanish, and Economics.  I loved my professors who I really got to establish a relationship with through office hours and outside the classroom. In addition, the University has so many resources available to students which is great. On campus faculty and staff are so passionate about their subjects and helping students that it helps make learning fun and helps draw more interest into your classes. I did really well this semester in keeping a great grade point average which I was really happy about.

Diversity has been a huge part of my experience too. First off, my math professor is from France, my chemistry is from Quebec, my Spanish teacher from Argentina, and my Economics teacher is from China...already a unique mix. Students on campus are from all over the US. and the world... I have such a diverse group of friends. All of us share our different cultures and interests, which has been a unique part of my experience at the University of Miami. Everyone is from different places, which makes new friendships very exciting and campus never boring.

Community Service is and always will be a huge part of who I am. Recently, I visited children at a homeless shelter not to far from campus, where I did arts and crafts with them, field activities, played board games, talked, and showed them love. When I got there I spotted this one little boy named Jason, who looked miserable and was not smiling at all. My time spent at the shelter was to make this young boy smile any opportunity I got. I spent a good amount of time talking to him and getting to know him...at age six he had so much to say. He told me about his family, and that he missed his father who "went away" leaving him, his pregnant mother, and 5 siblings. We shared that our favorite subjects in school is Math (that is my major) and he had fun answering math problems I gave him. We played Candyland, made a turkey out a of pinecone, painted, colored (he is such an artist), and played tag. Jason has a beautiful smile, I knew I would miss him. When it was time to go, he grabbed on to my legs to hug me and wouldn't let go.

My visit to the shelter was a meaningful experience. As we rode back to campus, I knew I wanted to be there for Jason and the other kids. One visit was not enough. Right now, I am working on making our visit to the homeless shelter a monthly visit where we can mentor these children. I want to come back and mentor these kids and be there for them. That was a special experience I wanted to share with you all. In addition to that, I am an active member of our United Black Students organization on campus and right now I am a chair of our Martin Luther King Jr. Week. Currently, I've been working hard with my committee on everything we are going to have on campus that week that shares and reminds students of Dr. King's Dream and beyond the dream. In addition,

I am a member of Kids and Culture which an organization where we tutor inner city kids and make learning fun for them. Last month, I attended a Leadership Retreat called IMPACT at Marco Island, which was an amazing experience and leadership development program. I walked away with a group of mentors and new friends who love leadership and who are as eager to get involved as I am on campus. Lastly, recently I was accepted as a President 100 which is a prestigious leadership organization on campus. Becoming a President 100 was a huge process of interviews, presentations, and applications, but I got accepted and I am so excited! Our main goal as university ambassadors is to get prospective freshmen excited to come to the University of Miami and to show them why our campus is so unique. Being that I loveeee my university, this is very exhilarating for me! As a President 100, I will be giving tours of our campus to prospective students and families every other week. I also will be attending a lot of the President of our University's events and workshops where I share my experience with school counselors as well. As you can see, I've been pretty busy.

Overall, although I am very involved I am still enjoying the whole college experience. I find time to work out at our beautiful Wellness Center, and go to parties and social events, which are always a lot of fun. I have learned to find a balance between my academics, activities, work outs, and social time.

I am having a great time and couldn't be happier at the University I am at! Hope you and your family are well and healthy.

Sincerely,
Nastasha L. Pollard

P.S. I know elections are over but both presidential candidates spoke at our campus which was great!