Alumi Thoughts about the S-STEM Program
"The faculty, staff, and students have made it feel like a second home. I have learned so much from my time here. "
— Michael Yang Summer 2017
S-STEM provided an excellent opportunity to gain experience working in groups. One of the most common questions asked when I interviewed for internships and job positions was whether I had team work experience. Thanks to S-STEM, I always had valid experience to draw from.
— Michael Hancock
It made learning fun!
— Mark Lingelbach
Provides a plan for success.
— Matthew Lingelbach
RT (Rahman Tashakkori) is the man!
— Jeremy Walker
S-STEM had a valuable effect on my college experience.
— Luke Rice
A valuable, team-oriented experience.
— Jeremy Shope
S-STEM has really provided me with great resources to perform better in my classes here at ASU. S-STEM has also allowed me to meet a lot of great friends in my time in the program.
— Joey Gryder
It was very helpful to meet other people in similar areas and see what various people are researching.
— Ondrej Dyck
S-STEM is your family.
— Chelsea Bussy
S-STEM has given me the opportunities needed to feel fully prepared for my step in to a career working closely with others.
— Briana Mendiola
S-STEM allowed me to meet a lot of different types of people during my four years.
— Taryn Roten
S-STEM has been the single most important factor in my success at Appalchian State University.
— Bobby Lunceford
S-STEM provided me an opportunity to grow academically and personally.
— Isaac Bryan
I was really lucky to find out about S-STEM. I don't think I could have afforded to finish college without the support it provided.
— Justin Seldomridge
S-STEM is a golden opportunity for any student to learn and grown in.
— Andrew Leszczewski
A fun and demanding experience!
— Matthew Minnick
My time in S-STEM has made me a much more rounded person, with great friendships.
— Daniel Wilson
The S-STEM program has blessed me in so many ways.
— Zachary Bryan
S-STEM, while extremely valuable as a funding source, is a rewarding experience for the resume-enhancing projects and the socialization and collaboration skills they engender, with or without the financial incentive. I would have been the last person to cheerfully volunteer for a program that required "socialization" but in the end, against expectations, the program has in fact resulted in some of the closest of the relatively few meaningful friendships and associations I will care to take with me.
— Michael Salley
I feel proud to have been a part of the SSTEM scholarship program at Appalachian for three and a half years. The biggest skill that I am taking away from this program is leadership. Leadership isn't an ability that many courses, where individual and partner work is more prevalent, focus on. It has been great to be a group leader for three of my years in the program. Dr. Tashakkori often refers to everyone in SSTEM as a family, and although many of us do not interact on a daily basis, I definitely have made friends with many scholars in the program.
— Jason Wyatt
S-STEM was an excellent experience that provided me with invaluable mentoring during my stay at Appalachian State. Without the guidance of Dr. Tashakkori and the help and tutoring from members of the program, I may not have performed as well as I did.
— Clinton Freeman
Without the S-STEM program, I would not have attended graduate school when I did or possibly ever. The work I was allowed to do during the program has helped me gain confidence in my abilities. I believe that there are not many problems that I would be unable to understand and make progress on. Because of this, I approach every new challenge knowing that I will eventually prevail.
— Brent Woodruff (Appalachian State University Technology Support Services)
I enjoyed tutoring and having a chance to pass on personal mathematical knowledge and tips. Tutoring offered a good foundation for teaching which helped me through grad school and teaching on my own.
— Celest Alexander (PhD Student, Florida State University)
High impact. Getting input early in my academic career from both professors and grad students helped me to get through the early bumps and bruises of college life and academic obstacles. I am confident that I would not have continued pursuing a degree in Computer Science after my first 2 semesters in school if it had not been for the encouragement, guidance, and support of S-STEM mentors Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, Dr. James Wilkes, Dr. Cindy Norris, and Grad Student Chris Ellsworth. Because I listened to the advice and encouragement of these mentors I'm now working in a job I love in a field I felt very prepared for.
— Chris Flanagan (Wachovia Bank)
I learned how to organize/divide work and communicate with a team during S-STEM and as a graduate student in general. I also learned the pitfalls of group-think and the necessity of evaluating your work with an outside perspective.
— Jonathan Chapman (Dassault Systems)
S-STEM provided excellent preparation for navigating and handling issues in an academic bureaucracy. This has been invaluable in dealing with my graduate program.
— Nathan Vish (Graduate Student, Wake Forest University)
...the guest lecture seminars are the best opportunity on campus to see inside the different fields available to you with a degree in Math or CS.
