If you don’t already know… NUFP is the stuff!

The NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program (NUFP) is a semi-structured mentoring program for undergraduate students interested in learning more about the field of student affairs and higher education. If accepted into the program, the students receive a complimentary NASPA Undergraduate Student Membership, as well as access to conference programming, scholarships, and internships. Applications are due May 11, and we need your help in achieving NUFP's mission of increasing the number of historically disenfranchised and underrepresented professionals in student affairs and/or higher education, including but not limited to those of racial and ethnic-minority background; those having a disability; and those identifying as LGBTQ. Continue reading for a personal perspective on the power of NUFP. 

My participation in the NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program has provided me with access to countless experiences that have contributed tremendously to the student and young adult that I am today. My NUFP transformation began in 2013, at the start of my sophomore year of college. I stumbled upon the program while looking for resources for first-generation college students. Being a first-generation college student myself, I have advocated extensively for other students that are like me, in this sense, at my private liberal arts college. After reading through the NASPA- NUFP website I knew I had found gold – and I wanted some of that gold! It was that very afternoon that I completed my application for the program and a few short weeks later I became a part of the NUFP family. 

Mentors have always served pivotal roles in my life. The guidance, encouragements, and support I have received are what fuel my motivation for a career in student affairs. I will be grateful to be able to impact even just one student to the degree that my mentors have impacted me. When I realized that a main component of NUFP is mentorship I thought to myself, “this program really is the jackpot!” Since I have joined NUPF I have not only developed strong new mentoring relationships with student affairs professionals (even at institutions besides me own) but also with upcoming student affairs professionals that are in graduate school, which will be the next step for me. The feedback and guidance I receive from these individuals is invaluable. When I think of mentors and NUFP I think, “Mentors here, mentors there, NUFP has mentors everywhere!”

This past summer I was a NUPF intern at Loyola University at Chicago.  

After just one week at this internship I knew NUFP was something very, very special. Loyola University at Chicago is a Jesuit institution with a large-scale focus on social justice and deep commitments to producing students that are equipped to better society. It took only one week of interning here for my eyes, mind, and heart to be opened. Having never been exposed to this in an academic setting, this institution impacted me most with its thorough presence of spirituality and religion. At Loyola University at Chicago varying religions and spiritualties are not only welcomed but also thoroughly supported and deeply ingrained in the culture of the university. I was surrounded by not only students but also faculty and staff of all faiths who exercised their beliefs daily and also with individuals of beliefs that differed from their own. It was truly fascinating, touching, and phenomenal to be able to see a large-scale community thriving on the differences of the individuals of which it is made. I was overjoyed to realize that this internship would allow for me to utilize things I learned and experienced in ways that would enhance me intellectually, personally, but also spiritually.  

From this summer internship at Loyola University at Chicago and the resources consistently provided in the NUFP community, I have learned so much more about myself.  A recurring quote around the Loyola campus from St. Ignacius Loyola is “Go forth and set the world on fire.”  In my opinion, you must first yourself be ablaze with passion and ambition to do good in the world before you can set the world on fire, in the words of St. Ignacius. NUFP has helped me to tend to the fire within myself, to change the world through student affairs, and I am confident that my experiences in NUFP will only cause the fire within me to grow bigger. 

*If you’re interested here is a link to a blog I created during my internship!

Christy is finishing up her junior year as a very involved student at Illinois Wesleyan University.  She majors in Philosophy and French and is considering taking a gap year after graduating next year to teach English abroad in France, Dubai, China, or South Korea - to satiate her love of traveling and international students.  After having a few adventures abroad Christy will complete a graduate program in Student Affairs (hopefully in California) that will focus on international students and multicultural students.  In the three years she has been in college Christy has advocated significantly for first generation college students, like herself, and was featured on the cover of her university's magazine and in a spread for her accomplishments.  For a career, Christy hopes to be a student affairs professional in an American university that is abroad. Maybe a Director of an International Student Affairs of International Student Affairs office.  Christy also hopes to be a lifelong member of NASPA and to eventually serve as an outstanding mentor for future NUFP fellows.