Alexis Gibson’s Story

Schoolcraft College President, Dr. Glenn Cerny, sat down with current student, Alexis Gibson, to discuss how the Foundation has helped with her college journey.

Schoolcraft College President, Dr. Glenn Cerny: Welcome to another college chat.

So we’re here in the Schoolcraft College Foundation conference room, which is brand new on our second floor, and I’ve got Alexis here today that’s going to share some information about how you’re doing, how you got here, and how the foundation is helping you to get your career going.

Alexis Gibson: Absolutely, it was nice to meet you.

Schoolcraft College President, Dr. Glenn Cerny: Nice to meet you.

Alexis Gibson: Good to be here. Schoolcraft has definitely impacted me for the best that is ever yet to come from me.

I’m a tutor here. I work in the learning center. This is my first year in Broadcast Communications and I was really looking for information on scholarships and, you know, a bunch of information on clubs and stuff.

So I did my research. I talked to a wonderful team of academic advising and the foundation in general, and they really helped me find some stuff and I applied. I signed up for it, and a couple of my supervisors reached out to me for the STARS, DEI Scholarship, and I’m aware that it’s the first year of it, so we were kind of like the guinea pigs. But the impact was just amazing because I believe every school should have diversity, equity, and inclusion, but also for STARS, which is students taking off academically and rising to success. That’s just key in every student’s, you know, every student’s life. So being a part of that helped me, being with scholars I was able to help our mentors and our mentees come up with different activities for diversity, equity, and inclusion. So it’s really fun.

Schoolcraft College President, Dr. Glenn Cerny: And, you know, the colleges that really embraced the idea, which is inclusion, diversity, and our version of it. What’s the thing that you didn’t know about Schoolcraft that now you do base on your being here?

Alexis Gibson: So I really didn’t think that Schoolcraft had as many resources as they did, nor did I think they had a lot of connections. So when I apply for Schoolcraft, my intention was to go to Specs Howard, and so Schoolcraft has an articulation agreement with Specs Howard and I am like: I’d rather do my academics than do all the fun stuff later. And so that’s what I chose. So I didn’t know that, and they’re just really resourceful when they came in then.

Schoolcraft College President, Dr. Glenn Cerny: Okay. All right. Is there anything else from a career standpoint that we can assist or the foundation? Or have you found anything else? You know, the clubs, obviously, you said, are good. That’s helpful. Getting outside the classroom? That’s good for you.

Alexis Gibson: It is. It is. It keeps you busy. I would say advise any student that signs up for a club that interest your degree. When I signed up for Broadcast Communications, I was looking into the clubs immediately because I’m like, I want to be involved in something so I can get some hands-on experience. So when I sign up for Video Production Club, they’re like, No one’s running it right now. So you’re a new president, so. Well, thank you.

And so it’s been a really fun journey and really awesome working with Schoolcraft connections.

You know the newspaper doing a lot of projects, helping them, but definitely getting involved with something that interests your degree is, you know, very key. Very vital.

Schoolcraft College President, Dr. Glenn Cerny: That’s great. Finally, foundation-wise, tell me a little bit about your experience with the scholarships and all those pieces.

Alexis Gibson: You know what? The scholarship that I got from STARS DEI, really came in handy. I didn’t think that there was like a monetary reward that came with it. It was just like, you know, so much more than a piece of paper and is more about being involved, being able to get the message across that every school, every student, every person in general deserves, you know, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

But at the same time, rising up to succeed academically with our success, coaches like Ursula McWhorter and Dr. Carmen Wilson and Jennie Rokakis that was just, you know, amazing to work with them one on one. So with the foundation, they laid the foundation for us to be encouraged and inspired to go further, you know, within the Scholarship itself. So it was like very we weren’t even guinea pigs, we were just pros at it. And so there are different levels that you can reach. I originally signed up to be a mentor, but during the interview, they said: we want you to be a scholar. I was like: “That’s a big role”, but I can do it, though. And so it was the encouragement and support from the foundation of talking to them, understanding what it is. You know, what’s going to be involved, the risk and stuff like that. And that really put me at ease. I’m like, I can do this, and I did it. And I end up winning student of the year, and I didn’t even know until I got it in the mail. I was like, Oh, I don’t know what to say. So it was really, really, really heartwarming. Like, I want to cry now. It has been amazing. So I’m signing up again for this semester too.

Schoolcraft College President, Dr. Glenn Cerny: I love it. I want to thank you, Alexis, for taking a little bit of time to share your experience and the story. And that’s a great college chat. So we’re going to continue with these college chats and we’re going to have some other individuals that show that the College Foundation really, truly does make an impact on students, and you can see it with the student life here with Alexis, so thank you. Tune in for additional college chats.