the da grad tab 05-09-2014

GRADUATION EDITION

The Daily Athenaeum May 9-11

THE DAILY ATHENAEUM Friday May 9, 20142 | Graduation edition

Congrats, WVU class of 2014

More than 4,300 West Virginia University stu-dents will move their tas-sels to the left during the 2014 Commencement Weekend and celebrate the closing of a chapter in their lives.

The Daily Athenaeum staff would like to congrat-ulate each of these grad-uates and their support systems on this outstand-ing accomplishment and milestone.

Time spent at this Uni-versity is special and comes at a critical point in the lives of young adults. Through-out your time here, you’ve no doubt experimented with new things and many

of your beliefs were sure to be challenged.

While many college days were spent partying with friends and enjoy-ing youthful bliss, a major-ity of your days as a Moun-taineer were spent focused on the tasks at hand. You spent endless hours work-ing toward your long-term academic and professional goals, and those efforts have finally paid off.

For some graduates, this weekend marks a transi-tion from one level of ac-ademia to another, as they continue on to pursue higher degrees. For oth-ers, it marks the end of their educational career

that began more than 16 years earlier when they got on a school bus to head to kindergarten.

Regardless of what com-mencement means to you, graduation is a defining moment in each of your lives – a fork in the road so to speak. As with all mile-stones in life, this weekend marks the end of one chal-lenge and the beginning of another.

In addition to celebrat-ing your achievements and marking the beginning of new paths, graduation is also a time for you and your loved ones to reflect on the last few years of your life.

During your time at

WVU, you’ve made life-long friends, chosen a ca-reer path and then changed it one or more times, found the love of your life and became a lifelong Mountaineer.

Together with your class-mates, you witnessed the WVU football team beat the Clemson Tigers 70-33 in the 2012 Orange Bowl, saw the girls soccer team win the 2013 Big 12 Cham-pionship and the rifle team become National Champi-ons for the sixteenth time.

In August, you saw Macklemore and Ryan Lewis rock the Mountain-lair Green surrounded by thousands of your closest

friends at Fall Fest. You learned from some

of the brightest minds in the world and studied next to students who garnered national attention for their accomplishments. You aced the GEC courses, and you struggled through Calc 2, Calc 2 again for a second time and then maybe even a third.

This tremendous expe-rience is now drawing to a close. Whether you will be returning to WVU to further your education or whether you are embarking out into the “real world,” take this opportunity to reflect on your time at this University and all it has meant. Re-

member all the good times, and the bad, you had here.

The experiences you had here and the lessons you learned will help you suc-ceed in the next stage of your life, no matter where that road may lead you.

Again, we offer our con-gratulations to you on a job well done.

You made it. The tassel was worth the hassle!

Now, go out there and make West Virginia Uni-versity proud. Show the world what the Mountain-eer spirit and work ethic is all about.

And please, never for-get… Once A Mountaineer, Always A Mountaineer.

mel moraes/Daily athenaeumA student excitedly receives her diploma during last year’s graduation.

THE DAILY ATHENAEUMFRIDAY MAY 9, 2014 AD | 3


2014 graduates reflect on time at WVUBY Caroline Peters

Staff Writer @DailyatHeNaeUM

After years at West Vir-ginia University, it is time for the graduating class to bid farewell to the blue and gold. For many, this good-bye is bittersweet as they are ending one chapter of their lives and opening a new one.

Andrew Sealy, a tele-vision journalism grad-uate, said he will always view the Mountaineer Nation as his extended family.

“I have a mix of emo-tions. It’s exciting that big things are happening and new opportunities are on the way, but I look back on the best four years of my life, and I’m having trou-ble letting go,” Sealy said. “WVU has become my home, and Mountaineers are my family.

“Some of the people that are closest to me are moving across the coun-try, so it’s exciting to start a new chapter, but I’m too nostalgic.”

Although saying good-bye is difficult for most graduates, others are ready to enter the next stage of life.

Josh Feeser, a business graduate, said he is ready to move on to the next big step in life.

“This is one of the best moments in my life – truly makes me feel accom-plished by checking off an-other objective,” Feser said. “It’s a completely surreal feeling.”

Scott Fowler, an exercise physiology graduate, said WVU has played a critical role in his life throughout the years.

Fowler said his time at the University has al-lowed him to grow as an

individual. “Throughout my time

at WVU, I’ve grown and matured into someone I never knew I was capa-ble of,” Fowler said. “The hard times and unfath-omable challenges that stood in my way these past four years have taught me that no chal-lenge is too large to bear or overcome.

“I will always bleed blue and gold, and the mountains and coun-try roads will always stay instilled within my soul.”

Lane Horter, a pub-lic relations graduate, said the University has been a major part of his life, and the future is uncertain.

“It’s definitely weird. WVU has played such a big role in my life the past four years, and now, to be mov-ing on is kind of strange,”

Horter said. “I’m excited, but at the same time, there are still a lot of uncer-tainties, which make me nervous.”

After four years of learn-ing and meeting people, Alexis Vongohren, a jour-nalism graduate, said she will miss her friends from college more than anything.

“It feels like just yester-day I was walking around Towers meeting people I never imagined would still be my friends to-day,” Vongohren said. “To watch those friends grow has been wonderful, and I am so proud of all of us.

“The friends I made in Morgantown will be with me forever. A part of me will go with them, and a part of them will stay with me.”

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Mel Moraes/Daily athenaeuMA graduate shows his enthusiasm during last year’s graduation.

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THE DAILY ATHENAEUMFriday May 9, 2014 Graduation edition | 5

Career Services tools, programs available beyond graduation

BY AlexiS RAndolphStaff Writer

@Dailyathenaeum

Graduation is an exciting time for students, but there is still the age-old question of “what next?” that can damper the experience.

The current unemploy-ment rate for the United States is 6.3 percent. In West Virginia, the rate is slightly lower at 6.2 percent, and even lower yet for the city of Mor-gantown with a rate of 4.9 percent.

Even with a positive trend in the unemployment rate, many recent college gradu-ates have trouble finding the job they have spent the last four years working toward.

West Virginia University can still help these students as alumni with services such as MountaineerTRAK and the WVU Career Service Center.

“It is really important for alumni to realize they still have access to our services after they graduate,” said Sarah Glenn, assistant direc-tor of employer relations for the WVU Career Service Cen-ter. “They can come in and meet with one of our career counselors, get assistance with their resume and get help developing a job search strategy.”

According to Glenn, one way for graduates to engage in the job search is through social media. Recent grad-uates can develop a Linke-dIn profile and begin joining alumni association groups and groups linked to the in-dustry they are interested in.

“Not only do you want to be proactive, but you want to manage your relationship and make sure you are never burning down a bridge you may need further down the road,” Glenn said.

Not restricting yourself to one location which may lack jobs in your field is also im-portant Glenn said.

“Be open geographically. Sometimes you may have to

move early on in your career in order to find a great oppor-tunity,” she said.

Networking is a big part of the job hunt. Glenn said there are many places to start ex-panding your network.

“Attend alumni association events held in your home-town or the area you are mov-ing to after graduation,” Glenn said. “This is a great way to start making connections.”

Professors, former employ-ers and sources of internships are other places students can start to network and look for jobs.

Adrian Ferrera, a career service counselor, also had some advice for networking sources.

“Start talking with your parents, and talk to your par-ent’s friends. Obviously, these are people that want you to be successful. They want you to have a job,” he said. “Often times, this may lead to a job.”

Ferrera said students hold-ing out for the career of their dreams may need to take a step back and understand the importance of any type of employment.

“Sometimes you may need to take a part time job just to make sure you are pay-ing your bills and paying off those student loans,” he said. “And when you have that part time job, make sure you are still looking for your big boy or girl job.”

Rejection is something students need to accept and move on from according to

Ferrera. He said everyone is going to be rejected at least once in their life, but build-ing from that rejection is the key to success.

“If it is possible to get feed-back of why you were re-jected, take it,” Ferrera said. “Listen, and then make those adjustments when you apply for the next one.”

A recent graduate may be turned down from a job for many reasons, such as lack of experience or that they weren’t the right cultural fit for a company.

Ferrera suggests an early and active approach with a student’s job search. Pre-paring resumes and applica-tions on Saturdays and Sun-days and sending out emails on Mondays allows the ap-plicant to have the remain-ing part of the week to corre-spond with companies.

Keeping track of your search and staying orga-nized are important factors too. Glenn suggests the use of an Microsoft Excel spread sheet to help stay on top of your search.

Students should remain timely in their search. As the summer goes on and contin-ues into fall, many entry level positions in the student’s field of study will be filled.

To learn more about the WVU Career Service Cen-ter and the tools available to alumni visit http://careerser-vices.wvu.edu

[email protected]

file photoAlumni can use tools such as scheduled career fairs.

THE DA IS HIRING WRITERS FOR SUMMER 2014inquire about paid positions at the daily athenaeum at [email protected] or pick up an application at our office at 284 Prospect St.


Economic outlook grim for graduating seniorsBy JacoB BoJEsson

Staff Writer @Dailyathenaeum

The West Virginia Uni-versity Class of 2014 will en-

ter one of the toughest la-bor markets since the turn of the century, according a recent report by the Eco-nomic Policy Institute.

The labor market has

made slight progress since the Great Recession in 2008 but continues to be rough on young workers.

At an unemployment rate of 14.5 percent for peo-

ple under the age of 25 as of March 2014 – twice the overall unemployment rate – many graduates are expected to find them-selves without a job after graduation.

“A college degree does not necessarily protect you from high unemployment and underemployment,” said Heidi Shierholz, EPI economist. “The unemploy-ment of recent college grad-uates is generally improving but agonizingly slowly, and it remains extremely high relative to where it was in 2007.

“Furthermore, many young college graduates are underemployed. They ei-ther don’t get the hours they need, or they are working in jobs that don’t require their college degree.”

According to Shierholz, the problem is not that graduates lack the suffi-cient level of education but rather the current la-bor market, which sees no need for them.

“It’s not about them not having the right creden-tials,” she said. “It stems

from weak demands for goods and services, which makes it unnecessary for employers to significantly ramp up hiring.”

Many graduates find themselves “idled” mean-ing they are neither work-ing nor in school.

The rate of idleness for young college graduates rose from 8.4 percent in 2007 to 11.4 in 2012 and has just barely improved to 11.2 percent in 2014.

“They have been unable to take either of the two cheap paths that generally for young people help them continue prepare for their careers,” Shierholz said. “This high rate of idleness for both high school and re-cent college graduates rep-resent an enormous loss of opportunity for these young people that will have last-ing consequences for their careers.”

An estimated 1 million Americans under the age of 25 are currently unem-ployed because of the weak labor market, which would not be the case if job oppor-tunities were stronger.

The wages of young work-ers with a college degree have also declined substan-tially since 2007, and there has been no growth in over a decade, according to the report.

Numbers for health care coverage and pensions have also seen a significant drop.

Another trend in the la-bor market is that college graduates who do find a job will have a hard time mov-ing to more prestigious and higher paid jobs in the near future.

There are now 20 percent fewer “voluntary quits” in the labor market than there were in 2007.

“Graduating in a bad economy has long lasting economic consequences,” Shierholz said. “Research suggests that for at least the next 10-15 years, the class of 2014 will likely earn less on average than if they had graduated when job oppor-tunities were positive.”

The entire report is avail-able at http://www.epi.org/publication/class-of-2014

[email protected]

THE DAILY ATHENAEUM FRIDAY MAY 9, 20148 | GRADUATION EDITION

CHECK US OUT ON ISSUU.COMIn addition to our print coverage, The Daily Athenaeum posts version of its print edition on issuu.com.

2014 WVU COMMENCEMENT SCHEDULEFriday, May 9:

• SchoolofPublicHealth 4p.m.,MorgantownEventCenter• HonorsCollegeRecognitionCeremony 4:30p.m.,CreativeArtsCenter

Saturday, May 10:

• SchoolofDentistry 9a.m.,MorgantownEventCenter• CollegeofEducationandHumanServices 9a.m.,Coliseum• PerleyIsaacReedSchoolofJournalism 9:30a.m.,CreativeArtsCenter• StatlerCollegeofEngineering&MineralResources 1p.m.,Coliseum• SchoolofNursing 1p.m.,MorgantownEventCenter• CollegeofLaw 1p.m.,CreativeArtsCenter• SchoolofPharmacy 5p.m.,MorgantownEventCenter• CollegeofCreativeArts 5p.m.,CreativeArtsCenter• CollegeofBusinessandEconomics 6p.m.,Coliseum

Sunday, May 11:

• SchoolofMedicine,M.D.andPh.D. 9a.m.,MorgantownEventCenter• DavisCollegeofAg.,NaturalResources&Design 9:30a.m.,Coliseum• EberlyCollegeofArtsandSciences,Doctoral/Master’s 10a.m.,CreativeArtsCenter• SchoolofMedicine,ProfessionalPrograms 2p.m.,MorgantownEventCenter• EberlyCollegeofArtsandSciences 2p.m.,Coliseum• CollegeofPhysicalActivityandSportSciences 2:30p.m.,CreativeArtsCenter

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WVU names Goldwater Scholars

By AlyssA lAzArStaff Writer

@Dailyathenaeum

West Virginia University has announced three Gold-water Scholars for the aca-demic year 2013-2014.

The scholars are: Trevor Butcher, Virginia Cunning-ham and Andrew Maloney.

These students have dem-onstrated the excellence needed to earn the country’s premiere scholarship for un-dergraduate research in the STEM field.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship is open to soph-omores and juniors in the mathematics, sciences and engineering fields who are currently pursuing under-graduate research in their re-spective fields and who wish to pursue it later on in their career.

Butcher is a sophomore chemistry student from Hol-lywood, Md. Cunningham is a junior physics student from Hurricane, W.Va., and Malo-ney is a sophomore chemi-cal engineering student from Morgantown, W.Va.

“70 percent of applicants are juniors, and 80 percent of winners are juniors. So, that means only 20 percent of winners are sophomores,” said Cate Johnson, program coordinator for the ASPIRE Office. “This year, two of our winners are sophomores; this is a really big deal.

“They all came from differ-ent fields. It is not one par-ticular STEM program that is nurturing undergraduate research; it is happening all across the university.”

The University receives numerous applicants from students from these back-

grounds but only chooses four to nominate every aca-demic year.

The Goldwater Committee is comprised of faculty mem-bers at WVU who review the applications and choose the best four to nominate at the national level.

This year, the Goldwater Committee nominated four applicants, and three were selected.

“It is wonderful for WVU to be able to say we have three scholars, and this is the third time in history to have three,” Johnson said. “It shows that we do compete on a national level with research institutions.”

The ASPIRE office is a re-source students can use to achieve their goals of com-peting for a nationally com-petitive scholarship or fel-lowship. They assist students with their applications for these scholarships. They also provide graduate and profes-sional school counseling and guidance for students inter-ested in these fields.

Johnson, along with Amy Cyphert, director of the AS-PIRE Office, and Keith Gar-butt, faculty advisor for the ASPIRE Office, work with stu-dents who are chosen to as-sist them with the editing pro-cess as well as the rest of the application.

The scholarship awards $7,500 to each scholar that can be used for tuition, books and supplies. Many of the scholars are already re-ceiving fully-funded schol-arships with the University, and so they receive very little money. However, the schol-ars benefit immensely from the prestige of being a Gold-water Scholar.

“The real benefit of receiv-ing the Goldwater scholar-ship is the prestige of it,” John-son said. “It is like being an actor and having the title of Academy Award winner next to your name. It is a gold seal on their resume.”

Johnson said receiving this award is also beneficial in their occupational outlook because these students are interested in pursuing a ca-reer in research.

“The application is a series of short essays where they write about what they want to do in their career. They have to go into a career with re-search,” she said. “They need to be on a path to get a Ph.D. in a STEM field, whether in academia, private industry or government agency.”

These students were espe-cially eligible for the scholar-ship because of their current research.

“The Goldwater Foun-dation seeks to invest in the next generation of STEM re-searchers,” said Keith Gar-butt, dean of the Honors col-lege, and faculty advisor for the ASPIRE office.

Johnson said having three Goldwater Scholars in one academic year is also benefi-cial for the University.

“It demonstrates the ex-cellence in undergradu-ate research that we have at this University,” she said. “It shows that our university is doing really good work.”

These scholars bring the total number of WVU Gold-water Scholars to 39.

Interested sophomore and juniors can learn more about the application process by visiting http://aspire.wvu.edu

[email protected]

wvutoday.wvu.eduTrevor Butcher

wvutoday.wvu.eduVirginia Cunningham

wvutoday.wvu.eduAndy Maloney


First-generation college grad heads to HarvardBy HannaH Wigal


First generation college student and West Virginia University senior, Adam Carte, has accepted an of-fer from Harvard University for entrance into their Sys-tems Biology Ph.D. program in August.

Carte will graduate from WVU with a degree in bio-chemistry and a minor in bi-ology. During his time at the University, he served on the Student Government Asso-ciation Board of Governors and founded the WVU As-sociation of Undergraduate Researchers.

Carte grew up in Hico, W.Va, on a small farm where he was homeschooled until eighth grade.

“I asked a lot of questions as a kid, and I was always cu-rious how and why things worked,” Carte said.

Over time, Carte devel-oped a curiosity for how things work on a biologi-cal level and said he cred-its one of his high school teachers at Nicholas County High School, Ms. Arthur, for furthering his interest in biology.

Carte earned gas money to commute from school in the next county over by tu-toring students after school. Through this, he devel-oped a passion for teaching others.

“I knew I wasn’t going to college unless I could do well with scholarship money.

That’s just something I real-ized,” Carte said. “I did well coming out of high school, and financially, I have not had to worry while at WVU.”

Carte attributes much of his success in his under-graduate career to McNair Scholars, which is a program that serves first-generation and low-income students as well as students from groups that are underrepresented in higher education.

The McNair Scholars Pro-gram is designed to prepare students for the next level of higher education. Partici-pants spend six weeks of the summer in a classroom set-ting learning scientific writ-ing skills and professional research techniques.

“McNair is the reason why I’m here now,” Carte said.

Carte participated in the McNair Scholars Program the summer following his sophomore year, and after conducting research in a laboratory setting he knew the research field would be a good fit for his skills.

Prior to applying to the Harvard Systems Biology Ph.D. program, Carte in-terned with the program for ten weeks after completing his junior year.

“I was able to work with great professors while in-terning at Harvard,” he said. “I was able to get an idea of where the other in-terns were applying for grad school, and I got a good idea of what the top-tier pro-grams were.”

Carte accepted inter-views from two Ph.D. pro-grams at Harvard University – Biological and Biomedical Sciences and Harvard Sys-tems Biology.

He also traveled across the United States through-out the spring 2014 semes-ter interviewing with other Ph.D. programs at universi-ties including Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rockefeller University, Stanford Uni-versity and the University of California Berkeley.

“I wanted to go to Har-vard, but I wanted to give the other programs a chance,” Carte said.

After the interview pro-cess was completed, Carte said he attempted to ig-nore any outside influences when choosing which pro-gram would suit him best.

“I think Harvard is the best place for me,” he said. “I got into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences and the Systems Biology Pro-grams, however Systems Bi-ology fits my skill-set and

personality better.”As Carte reflects upon

his time spent at WVU, he said the University has ad-equately prepared him for a future in the research field.

“No one should feel lim-ited coming out of West Vir-ginia, especially coming out

of WVU,” he said. “It’s all about what you choose to do and how hard you work. You have to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible.”

Even though his under-graduate career at WVU has come to a close, Carte

wishes to keep close ties with the University.

“I hope that I shined some good light here be-cause there are many op-portunities for students at West Virginia University.”

[email protected]

Kyle Monroe/The Daily aThenaeuMAdam Carte prepares himself for Harvard after studying at WVU.


Kimble passes musket to next Mountaineerby Jacob boJesson


Michael Garcia officially became the new Mountain-eer Mascot for the 2014-15 academic year when Jona-than Kimble handed over the musket during a cere-mony in April.

Garcia, a junior politi-cal science student from Fairmont, W.Va., was an-nounced as the new mas-cot in March and made his first appearance in buck-skins during the Gold-Blue Spring football game April 12.

“I’m trying to represent the state by getting to know the state,” Garcia said. “I want to meet the people and get to know them and represent them as the best Mountaineer that I can be.”

Garcia said it is a dream come true to be the Moun-taineer, and he’s eager to start his new job.

“I’m really looking for-ward to the experience,” he said. “Going to ele-mentary schools starting on Monday to see the kids and travel a lot is what I’m looking forward to.”

Garcia said Kimble was the inspiration who made him decide to apply to be the new mascot.

Garcia and Kimble have worked closely over the last few weeks to prepare Garcia for the job.

“I’ve met a lot with Jon-athan. He’s really been a great help to me,” Gar-cia said. “We’ve talked

about almost everything that could go wrong, and I’ve met a lot of (former) Mountaineers tonight, so that’s always good, too.”

Kimble is the first Moun-taineer Mascot since WVU made the move from the Big East Conference to the Big 12 Conference in 2012.

Before handing over the rifle, he fired off his last shots outside the Erickson Alumni Center and started one last “Let’s Go Moun-taineers” chant.

Looking back on his two years in the buckskins, it is not the thrilling sports games he will remember the most, but rather the philanthropic work that’s part of the job.

“My best memories are just being around the kids and being a role model for them means a lot,” Kimble said. “Not waking up and putting on the buckskin. in the morning ... I’m going to miss it a lot.”

Several previous Moun-taineers were present at the ceremony, as well. West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant served as mascot in 1990 and got to know Garcia in summer 2013 when he in-terned in her office.

“He has what it takes to make his own history,” Ten-nant said. “As Jonathan has made history, and as all the Mountaineers before have made history for our state and our University.”

[email protected]

Kyle Monroe/The Daily aThenaeUMJonathan Kimble passes the musket to the new mountaineer Michael Garcia.

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WVU associate professor awarded for leadership with Prison Book Project

By JacoB BoJessonStaff Writer

@Dailyathenaeum

Katy Ryan, an associ-ate professor in English at West Virginia University, has been named this year’s Neil S. Bucklew Award re-cipient for her work with the Appalachian Prison Book Project.

The award is presented by the WVU Division of Di-versity, Equity & Inclusion and recognizes a person for his or her demonstra-tions of leadership, cour-age and support on a con-tinuous basis in the area of social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Ryan started the Appa-lachian Prison Book Proj-ect a decade ago, and the nonprofit organization supplies prison inmates in six states with free books.

“A fantastic group of volunteers has kept the project going for 10 years,” Ryan said. ”The Bucklew Award is a recognition of the great collective work of many, many people who are committed to eco-nomic and social justice.”

Ryan said the project has been a success, and since the start in 2004, the group has mailed more than 13,000 books to pris-ons in and around West Virginia.

“We started the project in 2004 because there was such an obvious need for books inside prisons,” she said. “Anyone in prison can write to us and make a request for reading ma-terial, and we do our best to find a good fit from our shelves of donated books.”

The project has seen a positive response from the

inmates who keep request-ing more reading material.

“Storytelling and read-ing are fundamental hu-man activities,” Ryan said. ”There are humane and practical reasons to pro-vide imprisoned people with tools that might im-prove their lives and all of our lives. We know that ed-ucation is the single best way to reduce recidivism, and we consider the book project part of that larger social goal.”

Social justice issues have long been an impor-tant topic for Ryan. She has committed a lot of time to researching topics such as the death penalty.

She said the APBP is a matter larger than just giv-ing books to inmates; it is a way of holding a discus-sion regarding social is-sues regarding education

and the justice system.“This is an opportunity

for anyone interested in prisons, education or so-cial justice to learn more about what is going on in West Virginia and other states in terms of higher education in prisons and alternative sentencing.”

[email protected]

ap.orgArtwork and thank-you notes from inmates are on display at the office.

english.wvu.edu


By Meagan CarpenterStaff Writer

@Dailyathenaeum

Three West Virginia Uni-versity students have been chosen as recipients of the Critical Language Scholar-ship through the U.S. De-partment of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cul-tural Affairs. This program targets rare and critical lan-guages in which the gov-ernment is interested.

Nicholas Amos, Holly McCleery and Emily Mor-gan will travel this sum-mer to different coun-tries to live, learn about the cultures and advance their skills in their chosen language.

Amos, McCleery and Morgan were selected out of more than 5,500 appli-cations from more than 650 colleges and universities.

WVU has had nine Crit-

ical Language Scholars since 2010, and this is the second time the Univer-sity has had three in a sin-gle year.

Each student worked closely with the ASPIRE office at WVU to ensure their applications and es-says met the application requirements.

All scholarship winners will leave for Washington, D.C., in June and will re-turn from their countries in early August.

Amos will focus on Ar-abic and travel to Oman, a country south of Saudi Arabia in the Arabian Gulf. McCleery will travel to Guangzhou, China, and Morgan will travel to Su-zhou, China.

The CLS covers all ex-penses for the students’ travel, which includes the flight to D.C. for training, the flight to the country

they will be studying in for two months, all room and board costs, and weekend excursions the host coun-try will plan.

Amos, a second-year graduate student teaching English as a second lan-guage, said he is excited about being able to travel around the country.

“For the two months, I will be in language train-ing for six hours a day Sun-day-Thursday, because their weekends are Friday and Saturday,” he said. “We will be going on weekend excursions to learn more about the culture.”

Amos said he has a lot of Arab friends, which is why he became interested in the language and is most look-ing forward to experiencing the culture.

“I’m really sensitive to the environment when I travel, and I’m really in-

terested in what I’m go-ing to experience in the at-mosphere of that region,” he said. “I can’t wait to be immersed in the reality of what the Arab culture looks like.”

McCleery, a senior inter-national studies and Chi-nese studies student, lived in China for three years with her family, and when she moved back to the United States she said she regretted not learning more of the language and made a promise to return to China.

“This is my last opportu-nity to be completely im-mersed in the Chinese cul-ture 24/7 and not have to worry about my classes or other school work,” Mc-Cleery said.

Morgan, a junior biology and Chinese studies stu-dent, has traveled to China twice before and said she wants to take every oppor-

tunity given while she is in China this summer and explore.

“In the past when I have been in China, I never went on the excursions that were planned to leave the city,” Morgan said.

“This year, I want to get out and eat all the food and see all the sights.”

Morgan, like the other scholarship winners, said she encourages every stu-dent who is interested to apply for the program.

“It takes a lot of time to contact people for the ap-plication, so start early,” she said. “I encourage stu-dents to make sure to draw on personal experience and make your application as unique as possible.”

To learn more informa-tion about CLS, visit http://clscholarship.org

[email protected]

Three WVU students awarded Critical Language Scholarship

wvutoday.wvu.eduNicholas Amos

wvutoday.wvu.eduHolly McCleery

wvutoday.wvu.eduEmily Morgan


Social media helps WVU students in search of jobsBy AlexiS RAndolph


Students and graduates who are active social me-dia users may have an up-per hand when it comes to finding a dream job or internship.

Websites such as Twit-ter, Facebook and Linke-dIn give students who are searching for jobs a chance to go outside of traditional routes for finding a job.

Sarah Glenn, the assis-tant director of employer relations with the West Virginia University Career Services Center, said stu-dents need to be aware of what they are putting out that potential employers could see.

“Students need to have a very professional and clean social media pres-ence,” Glenn said. “Be very cautious about the pic-tures you post, the content of your status updates and even the pages you like. Students can do what they want with their own time, but if they are going to use social media to find jobs, they need to be (aware) of this.”

Glenn said being profes-sional is not enough when it comes to looking for a job or internship.

“In addition to being professional, they must be proactive with what they are putting out there,” Glenn said. “(Do) not just have a Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, but also be on LinkedIn, a pro-fessional social media website.”

LinkedIn can serve much like a living online resume for students. They can go into detail about internships, previous jobs and study abroad pro-grams. On LinkedIn, stu-dents are able to connect with alumni, employers and companies they may be interested in working for.

Glenn said many com-panies go through Linke-dIn profiles to see if candidates meet the re-quirements for their positions.

Reaching out to compa-nies through social media is another way to advance your search options. Many companies not only have a general page, but they also have campus recruitment pages, as well.

Glenn said it is impor-tant for students who are looking into jobs involv-ing social media to have a large number of friends or followers, and they must update their accounts frequently.

Cara Wood, a sopho-more strategic communi-cations student, works as an intern for The Celeb-rity Cafe. She posts jobs on social media but said she feels it has also made the job search harder in a way.

“It’s hard because now through social media peo-ple can talk about not lik-ing a job or giving a place bad reviews just because they don’t like working for them,” Wood said. “Then it is hard because when you think you got a great job, you look at reviews and get doubts about it.”

Wood said to be careful with emotional posts.

“As hard as it is, never post about a boss,” she said. “Keep it to yourself, because you never know who is going to see it.”

Ryan Petrovich, a junior television journalism stu-dent, found a summer in-ternship through a tweet sent out by Eric Minor, the director of Student Ca-reers and Opportunities in the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism.

Petrovich worked as an intern for WV Illustrated, where he covered athletic teams at WVU.

He said social media was a great tool for him and can be for all students.

“I think it can help im-

mensely. If other students are like myself then they’re constantly checking their Twitter, Facebook and what not,” Petrovich said. “They’re more likely to come across opportuni-ties on there because that’s where they spend time. I would’ve never known about WV Illustrated had I not seen a tweet.”

He said with so many students on social me-dia, they are more likely to look there than on other platforms.

While it can be a great tool, Petrovich said stu-dents still need to be cau-tious with their posts.

“You just have to be careful. If you have a sec-ond thought about send-ing a tweet that might not go over well if your future boss saw it, then it is prob-ably not a good idea,” he said. “Have fun though. Twitter is supposed to be entertaining.”

For more informa-tion and job opportuni-ties, visit the Career Ser-vices Center’s LinkedIn page at http://linkedin.c o m / g rou p s / W V U - Ca -r e e r-S e r v i c e s - C e n t e r-N e t w o r k i n g - 2 8 4 0 0 1 7 /about.

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To learn more about job and internship oppor-tunities in social media and other areas, visit the WVU Career Services Center’s LinkedIn

page at http://linkedin.com/groups/

WVU-Career-Services-Center-Networking-2840017/about.


By HannaH WigalStaff Writer

@Dailyathenaeum

West Virginia University honored 34 top-ranked se-niors with the WVU Foun-dation Outstanding Senior Award on April 15 with a ceremony held at the Erick-son Alumni Center.

The event is part of the University’s annual Week of Honors, which takes place each April to commend ex-ceptional achievements of WVU’s faculty, staff and students.

The Outstanding Senior Award honors students for their contributions and achievements in scholar-ship, leadership and ser-vice and was established in 1995 to mark the 40th anniversary of the WVU Foundation.

Eight of the 34 students received the Order of the Augusta Award, which is the most distinguished aca-demic honor a student can receive at WVU.

Augusta was among one of the original names con-sidered by the Legislature when the state seceded from Virginia in 1863, and the award is named for the historical significance in the state.

The Order of the Augusta further recognizes the stu-dents’ superior scholarship, demonstrated leadership and record of community and public service.

“It is an absolute honor to be selected as an Order of (the) Augusta scholar,” said Brooke Bertus, a 2014 Order of the Augusta recipient. “I have worked immensely hard during my time at West

Virginia University, and re-ceiving this honor makes me feel as if my hard work and efforts have really paid off.”

The 2014 Order of the Augusta recipients are Brooke Bertus, of Parkers-burg, W.Va.; Zachary Clau-dio, of Charleston, W.Va.; Jessica Harlee, of Bel Air, Md.; Priyanka Jagannath, of Charleston, W.Va.; Ra-chel James, of Crawford, W.Va.; Rachel Manning, of Huntingtown, Md.; Caro-line Miskovsky, of Hedges-ville, W.Va.; and Benjamin Seebaugh, of Parkersburg, W.Va.

“Overall, at West Virginia University I have been able to learn a lot about myself and create a new plan for my future,” Bertus said. “I wholeheartedly believe that I would not have been given

the chance to embrace such a plethora of high-quality opportunities at any other academic institution.”

Bertus is pursuing de-grees in biology and chem-istry with a minor in French

and said the support and knowledge she has gained from the University has pre-pared her for her future as a physician.

“I’ve been given the con-fidence to pursue my own

career path and to exploit other opportunities,” Bertus said. “I could not be more appreciative for what I have learned at this University.”

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Wythe Woods/daily athenaeumSeniors await walking across the stage during last year’s graduation, some garnered with Outstanding Senior Awards.

WVU’s top seniors receive Order of augusta award

THE DAILY ATHENAEUMFriday May 9, 2014THE DAILY ATHENAEUM Friday May 9, 201420 | Graduation edition

The Daily Athenaeum’s graduating editors bid farewell, prepare for real world

Three and a half years ago, I took a huge leap of faith and came to West Virginia University as a 23-year-old, non-traditional student.

When I arrived in Mor-gantown, I knew no one and often times, felt like a fish out of water during my first semester on campus. I was a few years older than all of my classmates and never had the opportunity to live in the dorms. Both of these factors made making friends and finding the place I could flourish quite difficult.

After interning with the Student Government As-sociation during my soph-omore year and then run-ning for Board of Governors and losing by 67 votes that spring, I became frustrated.

I couldn’t seem to find my niche. Everything I thought I would be perfect at just didn’t quite work out.

During my junior year, I decided to go out on a limb and apply to be a writer at The Daily Athenaeum. I had always been told I had a knack for writing, but I never really put much thought into it.

Carlee Lammers, City Ed-itor of The DA at the time, decided to give me a shot. I become a Correspondent and just two weeks later, was moved to a Staff Writer. I loved every assignment I got and worked hard to prove I was a journalist. When I re-ceived the role of City Editor at the end of my junior year, I was elated.

Words cannot describe the excitement and pride I have when I see some-one walk to a news stand on campus and pick up a

copy of The DA. Many times I have been out in the com-munity at restaurants or gro-cery stores and have seen residents or visitors to the area pick up the paper and read it. Each time I see this occur, it reminds me that my work and the work of my teammates at The DA is im-portant. Few undergraduate students have the opportu-nity to say their writing was read by thousands of people on a daily basis.

Being in this role over the course of the last year has given me more opportuni-ties than I ever dreamed of. I made connections with people all across campus and the city of Morgantown. I went from not knowing a single person in this town to knowing a handful of people every time I walk from one class to another.

It was difficult to find a way to even start this column. Over my years at West Virginia Univer-sity and as an employee at The Daily Athenaeum, I truly believe I learned a lot about myself.

As the Sports Editor of my high school newspa-per, I discovered my pas-sion for sports and sports writing. I knew I wanted to cover teams and have the opportunity to write about what I’ve enjoyed playing and watching for as long as I can remember.

The journey wasn’t always smooth, but I learned how to get a feel for sports writing and the ins-and-outs of what is needed to be done to

be effective. I knew if I worked hard enough and was committed, I could reach my goals.

I applied to become a sports writer with The DA my sophomore year of col-lege. I was lucky enough to get men’s soccer as my first beat in the fall. It was a bit of a transition from what I did in the past, but I got the feel for AP style writing and learned to do what was expected.

I have never missed a deadline to this day, and I’m proud to say I never gave up against adver-sity. After two years of hard work, I was able to get a promotion and be-come the Sports Editor at The DA.

Let me be clear with one thing; I was never re-ally the type of person who was creative with de-sign and laying out pages.

I’ve always been a writer, and even though my per-sonality says otherwise at times, I’m not a creative genius.

Thanks to the help of my writers and the Associ-ate Sports Editor and good friend Connor Murray, I was able to get the feel for this position. There was a lot of pressure on me at first, but I can honestly hold my head up high knowing I gave it my all. I hope the end result was satisfying for those who read the paper and those I worked with.

The most rewarding part of this job was know-ing fellow students, and even those who I never interacted with, en-joyed some of the work I did and all the efforts the staff put in. There’s

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SummeR RatcliffCity Editor@summErratCliff

amit BatRasports Editor@Batra01


Little by little this town and this University has be-come my home among the hills. I even had the honor of wearing the buckskins as a Mountaineer Mascot final-ist this past spring, which is an experience I will remem-ber forever.

It is time to close the un-dergraduate chapter in the story of my life. But I close it as a changed person. I am no longer that fish out of wa-ter. My time at The DA and

my time at WVU have given me the tools I need to suc-ceed in whatever situations life throws my way.

I encourage anyone read-ing this column to take a step of faith into unknown territory any time an oppor-tunity presents itself. You never know what the expe-rience will teach you and what doors it will open for you.

I have been forever changed by being a Moun-taineer. I bleed blue and gold. I’m forever a Moun-tain Momma.

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not a better feeling in the world than knowing someone can come up to you and say they’ve read your work and enjoyed it.

That’s the true beauty of The DA and WVU in general. I got the experi-ence and opportunity I needed to further my ca-reer. Having fun along the way was an added bonus.

I’d like to thank all of the people who read my work over the years and all

my coworkers. Each and every one of you made me want to be better and never settle for the bare minimum.

Not many college stu-dents can say they had the opportunity to travel to places like Texas and Oklahoma to cover sports, but through The DA, I was

able to meet some great people from all over the country. That was truly special.

Four years ago, I had no idea why I was coming to West Virginia to further my education. I was the first student from my high school to do so. So many people asked me why I was

coming to Morgantown from a small town in cen-tral New Jersey.

Besides the reasonable out-of-state tuition (com-pared to the in-state tu-ition at Rutgers), I wasn’t really sure. Now, four years later, I have realized this phase of my life is over, and I have to move on. I

know I made the best de-cision of my life coming to WVU.

And just for the record, it will feel pretty weird not being able to correct peo-ple when they ask me why I went to school in “West-ern” Virginia.

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wants to know what advice graduates wish they had been given as an incoming freshmen. Tweet your tips at

us for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue.

@dailyathenaeum

THE DAILY ATHENAEUM


Charles Sims’ time at WVU helps draft stock

Kyle Monroe/The Daily aThenaeuMCharles Sims breaks tackles versus Baylor.

By Amit BAtrASportS Editor

@Batra01

As former West Virginia University running back Charles Sims prepares for the next stage of his career in the National Football League, he is taking time to reflect on his time in Mor-gantown and at WVU and how it may have helped his draft stock.

“It worked out great for him,” said WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen in a Big 12 teleconference in April. “He knew what he was getting with me, so it made sense for him to come. His ulti-mate goal was to play in the Big 12 (Conference). He came here and adjusted quickly.”

Sims was able to show-case his talents all sea-son, and was able to get the attention and recogni-tion of coaches all over the country. As Big 12 Offen-sive Newcomer of the Year, Sims was able to impress the country and also had a chance to play against some of the best competition in the nation.

In the 2013 season, Sims rushed for 1,095 yards and had 11 touchdowns in 208 attempts. In his career at Houston and WVU, he

rushed for 3,465 yards and 40 touchdowns. He also had 11 receiving touchdowns. He finished third in the league in rushing.

Sims also left his leg-acy upon running backs on the current WVU roster. The likely NFL-bound play-maker earned the praise of Holgorsen throughout the season and after the annual Gold-Blue Spring Game April 12.

“The best thing that Charles Sims ever did by coming here is to teach those guys how to be versa-tile,” Holgorsen said. “(He taught them) how to prac-tice hard, be unselfish and, all those guys, it doesn’t matter what position they are playing, they all want the ball, and they all want to be a featured running back, but they don’t mind getting in as receivers and catching passes down field.”

Following the Iowa State game, Holgorsen said how glad he was to have Sims for a season. After a season in which the Mountaineers went 4-8, Sims exceeded expectations.

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has Sims as one of his players to watch for in the NFL Draft. His cutting skills and ability to create in open space makes Kiper be-

lieve Sims will be a steal for whichever team lands him.

While Sims lacks size and speed for an all-purpose running back, his vision and ability to read blocks is what attracts NFL scouts.

The Houston, Texas na-tive has the ability to reach top speed within the open field, and his excellent hands have made his coach-ing staffs satisfied over the years, he can be tackled by the first hit due to lack of a physicalness.

Sims, referred to by some scouts as a “finesse run-ner”, went through the rig-ors of the NFL Combine and WVU’s annual Pro Day ear-lier this spring. Even though his name has been men-tioned as one on the rise of draft boards since the end of the 2013 season, Sims says he just focuses on improv-ing his game, even when he has been compared to NFL players such as Matt Forte.

“I don’t pay attention to it,” he said at WVU’s Pro Day in March. “I just focus on getting better everyday. I think (coming to West Vir-ginia) helped my stock. It would mean a lot (to be the No. 1 running back in this draft class). I put in the hard work everyday.”

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Graduating seniors gather for Zero-Year Reunion at Erickson Alumni Center

kyle monroe/The Daily aThenaeumA student decorates her mortarboard during the senior send-off.

By JacoB BoJessonStaff Writer

@Dailyathenaeum

The West Virginia Univer-sity Alumni Association and the WVU Division of Student Affairs hosted the annual Se-nior Send-Off: A Zero-Year Reunion in April to give the class of 2014 its last supper af-ter four years of hard work.

The Senior Send-Off is an annual event where seniors enjoy food, drinks and par-ticipate in a number of activ-ities, while at the same time getting an introduction to how they can stay involved with the University through the Alumni Association.

“The most important thing we do is bring seniors to-gether one last time to create some best last memories and let them be a part of some-thing fun with their friends,” said Tara Curtis, spokesper-son for the WVU Alumni Association.

Hundreds of graduating se-niors made their way to the Erickson Alumni Center for the event.

An interactive photo expe-rience was set up where the students got to take pictures with their friends, and they were asked to pin their next destination in life on a world map.

Sixteen teams competed in a cornhole tournament, and there was a bow tie tying competition in honor of WVU President Gordon Gee.

With graduation less than a month away, the event marked one of the last chances for friends to get to-gether before splitting up around the world.

While most of the seniors felt excitement about the next stage in life, many admit-ted they will leave Morgan-town and WVU with mixed emotions.

“Next week is Easter and af-ter that there’s finals, so this is it. We had to come,” said Tina McGugan, a senior finance student. “I’m sad about (not getting to see) the people but excited for the next chapter.”

The send-off is supposed to represent the class of 2014’s

first reunion.In order to promote the

Alumni Association and showcase the benefits of be-ing involved, a group of public relations students have spent the semester promoting the send-off as part of their cap-stone project.

“A lot of people think of them as just wanting money and don’t see the benefits of it,” said Nick Gordon, one of

the students involved in the project. “We want to bring them here, so we can show them all the benefits they can have if they join the Alumni Association past their first (free) year of membership.”

For more information about the WVU Alumni As-sociation visit http://alumni.wvu.edu/

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kyle monroe/The Daily aThenaeumStudents stand in line for food at the senior send-off.

THE DAILY ATHENAEUM FRIDAY MAY 9, 201424 | AD

the da grad tab 05-09-2014

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