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This past year has afforded Nicolas a great deal of opportunity
and success, and much of that opportunity is due to the CUIP Program.
During the past few years of his academic career, he has found his
niche here at the University of California Santa Cruz, in the realm
of leadership and student programming. Before he came to UCSC, when
he was still in the process of selecting a university at which to
matriculate, he was torn between the larger, research institutions
and the smaller, liberal arts colleges where he was certain he would
have the opportunity for a significant amount of student-teacher/administrator
contact, as well as the opportunity for personal and social growth
through the seizure of opportunities which would facilitate the
contribution of his gifts and passions to a student body. He found
that UC Santa Cruz offered the best of both worlds: a large, research
based university with many resources and a rich history, complete
with a collegiate system that facilitates community building and
personal growth.
Amongst the colleges, Nicolas selected Kresge College because of
its particular emphasis on community. It is there where he has thrived
as a student, continuously encouraged and empowered by its excellent
faculty and staff, and it is the college in which he blossomed as
a leader.
It became apparent, as he became more and more involved and visible
as a leader within the community, that it is very easy, especially
at this University, to become very college-centric in terms of one’s
experience of UCSC, and in terms of what one allows oneself to affect.
Towards the end of his junior year, he felt that it was imperative,
if he were to continue to grow as a leader and as an individual,
that he continue to challenge and expose himself to new opportunities,
to work more intercollegiately within the University and to engage
more fully in the Town-Gown Relationship.
The CUIP program, as Nicolas has experienced it, turned out to be
the perfect avenue through which he has been able to learn about
the University as a whole, and from a more informed perspective,
be able to positively affect change beyond his own college. He was
also given the opportunity to work more collaboratively with people
whose experience, knowledge and skill base greatly differed from
his own.
As a Good Neighbor initiative intern, under the supervision and
guidance of a wonderful mentor and staff in the Government and Community
Relations office, Nicolas seized the opportunity to engage collaboratively
with several City Council members and University Officials, students
and community members around issues that pertain to the Town-Gown
relationship. As he has come to sincerely care about the future
of the campus and student body, and as he enjoys taking a proactive
role in shaping the course that UCSC will take in the coming years,
he feels fortunate to have been able to contribute his own personal
project and skill-set to help ease and repair the troubled relationship
between the University and the City of Santa Cruz. He was able to
contribute his own experience and vision of a campus and community
that is more united and communicative through symposium and community
building. His skills for networking and creative problem solving
were not simply utilized, they were honed as he lent himself as
an effective leader to both the UCSC and Santa Cruz communities,
and he was allowed to serve these communities in the best way possible.
Nicolas feels very fortunate to have been a participant in the
CUIP program and hopes that many other students will continue to
have the opportunity to benefit and grow from it as he has.
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