Amanda Rebelo is a student in the business management program and due to graduate
in December 2023. She said, “I am about to embark on my last semester of my undergraduate
studies, and yet it still feels like just yesterday I was a clueless freshman with
not a single idea of what path I wanted to pursue. I fall into the category of what
many refer to as ‘pandemic babies.’ I suppose that is a good way of putting no senior
year of high school, no graduation, and an awful start to virtual college, in shorter
terms- early on in my senior year of high school I committed to a private university
in New York on a 75% academic scholarship; however, due to the pandemic, far drive,
work opportunities, and simply just the extreme uncertainty, I decided to stay local
and start at Farmingdale State College.”
During Amanda’s earlier years, she felt an immense amount of pressure by her high
school guidance counselors to pick a degree and even had terrible anxiety when it
came to the ACT and SAT. This led to her wanting to only get an associate’s degree
and then possibly follow up with a trade school. “Well spoiler alert,” she said, “I
soon realized that maybe it is true what they say, ‘Everything happens for a reason.’
In May of 2022, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with my associate degree in liberal arts
and sciences, maintained a President’s List standing, and even got invited to join
the State University of New York Pathways Scholar Award Program and the Golden Key
International Honor Society, which I did while working for the East Meadow School
District throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.”
While balancing classes, Amanda also became inspired by her time working as an Administrative
Assistant with the Family and Children’s Associations Family Treatment and Recovery
Center, a not for profit that provides a myriad of services to communities all around
Long Island to help improve the lives of many. She took her inspiration and participated
in the New York Business Plan Competition with “A Spray Away From Survival Program.”
It is aimed at all New York high schools. Her goal with this program is to require
proper training of Narcan to all 9th grade students and to ensure all individuals
are prepared if ever encountered with the need during a time of crisis. Naloxone,
more commonly referred to as Narcan is a nasal spray that one must be trained to use
as it reverses the effects of an overdose on opioids. Substance abuse is an extreme
problem in today's society, and her goal with A Spray Away from Survival Program is
to make all students aware at a young age of the negative effects of drugs, as well
as how to be prepared. She placed second in the Farmingdale State College New York
Business Plan Competition with this idea.
Additionally, she’s currently an Administrative Assistant at a healthcare facility
as well as a Human Resources Intern at Farmingdale Union Free School District. After
completing her bachelor's degree, she plans to earn her master's in human resources
management, as she is an aspiring HR Manager. Alongside her work with Narcan preparedness
she has become secretary of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority Zeta Lambda chapter, maintained
a consecutive Dean's List standing, served as a student representative for college
grade grievances, and got inducted into Order of Omega Greek Honor Society.
Amanda said, “If you told 18-year-old me, who constantly anxiously compared herself
to other students, and wondered why they scored so much higher than her on the SAT,
that she would be graduating an entire semester early with her bachelor's degree while
already having earned an associate’s degree, she would have laughed in your face.
Everything really does happen for a reason. I truly feel there was a reason why I
decided at the last minute to switch to Farmingdale State as it opened a plethora
of opportunities for me, all of which I am extremely grateful for! Not only within
academics but in life itself as I have grown into the young woman I am today, I have
experienced ups and downs and learned along the way that there is a reason for everything
that happens in your life, even if you do not know what it is quite yet.”
Student Spotlight: Amanda Rebelo- A Spray Away
September 13, 2023
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