(Kayla) I am from Sarasota, Florida, and I am currently
majoring in nursing. I am currently finishing up my first year of nursing school. One of
the main reasons to come to Duquesne is to get me out of my comfort zone. Of course,
I had my doubts and second thoughts because I'm from Florida and Pittsburgh is far, far
away from where I live. And, but mostly it got me out of my comfort zone and allowed
me to experience a different city and give me a city aspect of life. Because where I'm
from is just a small town, but that's one of the main reasons why I chose Duquesne.
It's a great program. It gives you so much opportunities to get a lot of the stuff done
that you would do during your freshman year. Like I got the opportunity to get like three credits
from this program that I didn't have to do my first year. In class, Ms. Wade taught us
how to study. I learned that you can't study hours and hours at a time on one thing you
have to take breaks in between. Without that, I probably wouldn't have did so well in my
first year of college.
(Josh) How you guys doing? So, as you can see I'm from Connecticut, majoring in accounting,
minor information systems. Overall Duquesne's been an awesome experience. It's the best
decision I've ever made. I mean, definitely the first journey with the Division, you're
kind of nervous and not sure of what's going on. But throughout my years, I've really looked
back and just notice I wouldn't be where I am without the Division. They've done
a lot for me in supporting me academically, spiritually, and emotionally. They're there
for you and when they may say it, they mean it. I definitely wouldn't be in the position
of success that I am in without the Division. So yeah, they truly do help a lot, care a
lot. They're really there for you. And I just got an offer for after I graduate at Evoqua
Water Technologies doing internal audit. The connections Duquesne has is huge. I mean,
everyone knows Duquesne as a really (good) school. But again, I wouldn't be in this position
if it weren't for the GSD. I mean, in high school I didn't really care to do homework.
I was a student that just had a 2.7 (GPA) in high school. So, I wasn't really going
any places in high school, but the Division really changed my perspective and really got
me on a path towards success.
(Gabrielle) I am a junior and I am an accounting and info systems management, double major. I was nervous
coming in. I didn't know what to expect and looking back on it, it's definitely the best
experience I've had. It gave me that extra push. I had an internship this semester with
a public accounting firm. And then in the summer I will be interning with EY (Ernst
& Young), the big four accounting firm.
(Brandon) I'm from Sarasota, Florida. And I'm currently a sophomore majoring in psychology, minoring
in business management. And I would definitely give props to the GSD program for a lot of
my successes that I've had so far. I've really thrived in my environment at Duquesne and
even outside of Duquesne. Last summer when I was a freshman, I interned at United Health
Group in Minneapolis. And this summer, I'm really excited to intern for Goldman Sachs.
So, I definitely do have to give a lot of respect to, to the GSD program. In the summer
we had a workshop, which I'm sure you guys will all participate in as well, that was
computer focused. So, we had built our own website and we built a LinkedIn account. And
for me, I didn't know what LinkedIn was before. And creating my LinkedIn, which is essentially
walking resume, has been the best thing that I could have ever done with the Division.
Because just the professional development that you got from that. And of course, I definitely
have to attribute that to a lot of my internships that I've been able to do and I'm looking
forward to doing. It's definitely something that I was really, really excited about and
something that I've been able to reap some benefit from.
(Kayla) Well, I lived with my mom. So, my mom was
my personal alarm clock, waking up at 5:45 in the morning to get ready for school at
7:30. You now make your own schedule with the help of Ms. Bush. You can get up when
you want, just make sure you're on time for class. Living on your own, like in high school,
you had like your mom, you were depending on your mom, your dad, your family, and now
you're depending on yourself. You have to get up. You have to eat. You have to make
sure you do breakfast. You have to make sure you're studying. You have to stay on top
of yourself. When in high school it was different. Like, I'm not saying that in college you
don't have people to depend on, but now you have to do for yourself.
(Brandon) I was really excited to leave home. Although
Florida is definitely a great place to be, very sunny. I was really excited for this
new experience in my life, because I've been home pretty much all my life. So, being at
Duquesne, living in the dorms was definitely a transition for me, but one that I was ready
to tackle. But I think having a really healthy work life balance was probably the best decision.
Classes for me were really interesting. I think the psychology program is fantastic.
I would say just like any other major to go into it, whether you have experience prior
or if it's something that's completely brand new to you that going into any major, but
specifically psychology, you will learn so much outside of just psychology. I think the
business management certificate program, which also doubles as my minor is a really good
pairing to that. Because whether you do want to go into clinical psychology or if you want
to venture off into the business world, if you want to be in finance, it's definitely
a very flexible major where you have so many different options post-graduation where you're
not really confined to one specific direction. And that goes for a lot of other majors as
well, where you can really craft and choose how you want to utilize your studies beyond graduation.
(Josh) I would say they're all definitely, really nice. I personally really liked Towers a lot.
Every room is kinda' newly renovated. The bathrooms are really nice with wood floors
and whatnot, but overall all the rooms are nice. I've had friends that go to different universities.
Bathrooms are gross. Rooms are small. But Duquesne is not like that. The rooms are nice.
Bathrooms are clean, they're clean on a daily basis. So, you're definitely getting put into
good quality dorms for sure.
(Gabrielle) I would say definitely involve yourself. Take every opportunity that you get. On A-walk
every year, they have like activities and all the different clubs set up. And, I would
definitely recommend to go and just sign up your name, put your email on the list, so
you can go to meetings and meet people. Cause it's definitely a great opportunity to expand your network.
(Josh) I would definitely say get involved. Same advice as Gabby. I mean, getting involved
really diversifies your friend groups and whatnot. You meet people from all over campus
that you normally would not meet. I personally am in student government. I'm the VP of finance.
And that's opened up a lot of opportunities for me for internships. And it's done a lot.
I've met a lot of really cool people through that. But overall, if you don't get involved,
that definitely hinders you from your full potential, I'd say.
(Brandon) There are so many different clubs on campus.
Like Josh mentioned student government, which is a really good association to be a part
of. You get to connect with a lot of other people on campus and individualize how you
want to represent yourself and different areas of campus that you want to personally be involved
in a little bit more. But just outside of SGA (student government association), there
are so many different honor societies and there's Greek life. There's so many different
things that you can align yourself with. And so many people that you can meet along the
way. So the possibilities are endless, but you really just have to put yourself out there.
(Kayla) I would say, just keep your eyes open. It
took me a while to get in the swing of things, but it all gets better. Last year, it was
so hard to make friends. And now I have at least three good ones I could call any day.
But, keep your mind open, keep your eyes open, explore new things and just be happy that
you have the opportunity to attend Duquesne, because it's worth it all in the end.