Written By || Malik Samuel; Development Intern
“Stand for something or you'll fall for anything,” a quote attributed to Alexander Hamilton reminds me every day to stay true to what I believe and be firm on my word. I am a very resilient individual who has failed and came short many times in life, but it is all a part of my testimony and makes me strive harder each day to be better than I was in the previous.
My name is Malik Samuel, I am the new Development Intern at Students United. I’m also a student at the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities finishing up my last semester of my undergraduate where I’m studying Political Science. I am no stranger to the seven Minnesota State Universities, as I was enrolled as a St Cloud State student my freshman year. I aspire to play a vital role in contributing to our society and reaching a status of socioeconomic equality. I would like to impact underrepresented areas and disadvantaged areas and their residents by giving them a bigger voice in addition to creating resources that offer opportunities like scholarships. Many areas are less informed and deemed less credible of being a recipient when it comes to valuable resources like such. This is a global issue, definitely, but change begins locally. We must first address this issue in our local communities.
While I am at Students United, I will be managing the scholarships, doing outreach for all our seven scholarships, plus the Nellie Stone Johnson (NSJ) scholarship. I’ll be supporting events like the NSJ Fundraising Dinner and the Students United Golf Scramble. I am looking forward to promoting the much-needed resources that will help push students through the often challenging financial burden of college. Access to quality education is crucial in terms of reaching the status of socioeconomic equality. Being able to have a positive impact on society through promotions of our scholarships means so much to me because I know that many students struggle to continue school for financial reasons, so being able to positively impact societies and students that have the financial need is pivotal to me.
Do you know of any organizations or students that could benefit from learning about our scholarships? We have more than $40,000 to award and the NSJ scholarship can follow you throughout school once it’s awarded. Let me know! msamuel@studentsunited.org