We in the Alumni Association know this has been such an unprecedented year, but one thing that has not changed is our ability to express gratitude.
Today we would like to share with you a website dedicated to saying thank you to the alumni and friends who have supported a UNMC Innovation Fund for any college. Donor support is making an impact and the students are grateful for the generosity. But don’t just take my word for it, take a look at any one of the 28 videos featuring 35 students as they say “thanks” and share a bit about themselves.
We promise that this will put a smile on your face. We have such amazing students and it was so special to interact with each and every one of them via Zoom to record these videos for you. They are the future of healthcare and it is a bright road ahead.
I am glad to see those who got blessed with an opportunity in graduate studies. I am an alumni of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate program from UNMC myself. Based on my experience there I would encourage those that are currently enrolled to be able to appreciate that the educational experience has much more depth to it than what it may seem on the surface.
While I was enrolled as a graduate student at UNMC I was very much fixated on the employment opportunities that my chosen field could get me. Although I have had lucrative jobs come about as a result of my education from UNMC, I failed to appreciate that my education was developing in me abilities to think critically and independently; skills that are worth far more than any dollar amount a job can ever give.
I would strongly encourage current students to be cognizant of this and would also encourage them to be focused on developing those abilities within themselves. Certainly, we have a long road of reconstruction ahead of us in the wake of the “crisis” and I choose to believe that the capacity for one to think independently is of critical necessity as we pursue the restoration process. My heart continues to go out to the educational institutions and young people of this nation: who I continue to feel have been hit the hardest during this crisis and run the risk of being deprived many of the freedoms I had when I pursued my education at UNMC less than a decade ago. Conversely to that, though, I also believe that it is everyone’s duty to contribute to the restoration process and that waiting for some “go ahead” signal is the wrong tack to be taking. As students and alumni of medicine we are on the front lines of this battle whether we are willing to admit it to ourselves or not. It is for that reason that developing our abilities to think critically and independently are more important than ever so that we may effectively do our part in moving past this “crisis”.
I pray for you sustained success in your programs of study! God bless you all in your academic endeavors 🙂