{"id":250,"date":"2019-10-29T08:51:48","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T08:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/2019\/10\/29\/opportunities-adding-up\/"},"modified":"2019-10-29T08:51:48","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T08:51:48","slug":"opportunities-adding-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/2019\/10\/29\/opportunities-adding-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Opportunities Adding Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a hint of destiny \u2013 and of an equation being solved \u2013 in NC State senior Yussef Guerrab\u2019s college story.<\/span><\/p>\n

By his last year of high school, Guerrab hadn\u2019t given much thought to higher education. No one in his immediate family has earned a four-year degree. At some point, he thought, I\u2019ll look into community college and maybe if I do well, transfer from there.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His older sister, though, encouraged him to apply to NC State. The only reason he had confidence to try? He was enrolled at Wake STEM Early College High School, whose students take NC State courses as well as high school ones.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea how to apply or what FAFSA even was, but I said, well, I\u2019m going to figure this out somehow,\u201d Guerrab said. \u201cIt was really last minute, but my grades were OK, so why not?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He successfully navigated the process, just meeting the final late admission deadline, but didn\u2019t hear anything for several weeks. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t meant for me,\u201d Guerrab recalled thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

But just as he nearly gave up, he got an acceptance notice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was so excited,\u201d he said. \u201cBut one of my biggest concerns was money. It was like, OK, I\u2019m happy, but that high didn\u2019t last long, once I started looking more carefully at tuition and the other costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen while I was deciding if there was any way I could do this, I got a letter about Pack Promise, which I had not heard of. So, sure, let\u2019s try it, and lo and behold, I did get the Pack Promise support. I\u2019m very thankful. Without it, I would be so much more stressed \u2013 probably constantly working long overnight shifts somewhere, if I could even make that work, instead of the more manageable job that I have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pack Promise is an initiative aimed at making college more accessible for North Carolina residents from low-income backgrounds and attracting talented scholars to NC State. The program ensures those who qualify will receive financial aid packages meeting 100% of their demonstrated need, with a combination of scholarships, grants, federal work-study jobs and loans of no more than $3,500 per year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guerrab also became involved in the federal TRIO<\/a> program, which focuses on college access and support. Together with Pack Promise, which has some philanthropic support, TRIO has aided him in navigating details of everything from orientation to work-study. His campus opportunities are helping his NC State experience add up to a future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I really appreciate about NC State is the rigor of the programs and the willingness of the professors to help you out and to challenge you,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Guerrab moved to Raleigh as a second-grader. He started in the College of Sciences<\/a> aiming toward a degree in applied mathematics with a financial math concentration. After growing up in a family with limited money, he said, it seemed like a pathway to security.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through TRIO, though, he was chosen for the Ronald E. McNair Scholars, a federally funded initiative removing barriers to graduate school and doctorates for underrepresented, first-generation and financially disadvantaged students. By opening doors to research mentors and projects, the program has been life changing for Guerrab, pointing him in a slightly different math direction and, eventually, perhaps a Ph.D. in public policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

His first year at NC State, he performed applied math research related to modeling treatments for tumors. Next came a psychology and social sciences project. He\u2019s looking for his next research opportunity. \u201cThat journey has been invaluable,\u201d Guerrab said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few College of Education<\/a> classes also have been impactful. He\u2019s now pursuing a self-designed major and a minor in statistics, planning to graduate in December 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in bridging the gap between research and policy makers \u2013 measuring the impact of educational programs, for example,\u201d Guerrab said. \u201cI love conceptual thinking, and I\u2019m really interested in applying and explaining qualitative analysis in a way that demonstrates where you can actually make a difference. It\u2019s still math, but it\u2019s using math to help people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Other key factors in his extraordinary journey have been a math department program in which, as an undergraduate, he benefited from graduate students mentoring students from underrepresented groups; his work at the University Tutorial Center; and involvement in the American Justice Corps and the Muslim Student Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>lso influencing Guerrab\u2019s goals: his mentoring of Latino students through his work-study job with NC State Extension\u2019s Juntos<\/a> program and of low-income students as a volunteer at Longview School, a Wake County Public School System program for students who struggled in their base schools. \u201cI love it, even when it\u2019s difficult,\u201d Guerrab said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He can talk to kids about his own challenges, including taking a year off from NC State after he lost Medicaid coverage to pay for important prescription medication. That led, temporarily, to health issues that spiraled into classroom struggles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guerrab already can point to definitive influence on one younger student. His brother enrolled in Harvard this fall with a full scholarship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to mentor and empower students to go for more after high school \u2013 whether that\u2019s a four-year school, a two-year school, a vocational program or whatever,\u201d he said. \u201cA big question I always hear is \u2018how am I going to pay for it,\u2019 and I want them to know they can find a way. I want to instill hope in them. Everything is possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This post was originally published<\/a> in Giving News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"There\u2019s a hint of destiny \u2013 and of an equation being solved \u2013 in NC State senior Yussef Guerrab\u2019s college story.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBy his last year of high school, Guerrab hadn\u2019t given much thought to higher education. No one in his immediate family has earned a four-year degree. At some point, he thought, I\u2019ll look into community college and maybe if I do well, transfer from there.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nHis older sister, though, encouraged him to apply to NC State. The only reason he had confidence to try? He was enrolled at Wake STEM Early College High School, whose students take NC State courses as well as high school ones.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI had no idea how to apply or what FAFSA even was, but I said, well, I\u2019m going to figure this out somehow,\u201d Guerrab said. \u201cIt was really last minute, but my grades were OK, so why not?\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe successfully navigated the process, just meeting the final late admission deadline, but didn\u2019t hear anything for several weeks. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t meant for me,\u201d Guerrab recalled thinking.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBut just as he nearly gave up, he got an acceptance notice.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI was so excited,\u201d he said. \u201cBut one of my biggest concerns was money. It was like, OK, I\u2019m happy, but that high didn\u2019t last long, once I started looking more carefully at tuition and the other costs.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cThen while I was deciding if there was any way I could do this, I got a letter about Pack Promise, which I had not heard of. So, sure, let\u2019s try it, and lo and behold, I did get the Pack Promise support. I\u2019m very thankful. Without it, I would be so much more stressed \u2013 probably constantly working long overnight shifts somewhere, if I could even make that work, instead of the more manageable job that I have.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nPack Promise is an initiative aimed at making college more accessible for North Carolina residents from low-income backgrounds and attracting talented scholars to NC State. The program ensures those who qualify will receive financial aid packages meeting 100% of their demonstrated need, with a combination of scholarships, grants, federal work-study jobs and loans of no more than $3,500 per year.<\/span>\r\n\r\nGuerrab also became involved in the federal TRIO<\/a> program, which focuses on college access and support. Together with Pack Promise, which has some philanthropic support, TRIO has aided him in navigating details of everything from orientation to work-study. His campus opportunities are helping his NC State experience add up to a future.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cOne thing I really appreciate about NC State is the rigor of the programs and the willingness of the professors to help you out and to challenge you,\u201d he said.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBorn in Brooklyn, New York, Guerrab moved to Raleigh as a second-grader. He started in the College of Sciences<\/a> aiming toward a degree in applied mathematics with a financial math concentration. After growing up in a family with limited money, he said, it seemed like a pathway to security.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThrough TRIO, though, he was chosen for the Ronald E. McNair Scholars, a federally funded initiative removing barriers to graduate school and doctorates for underrepresented, first-generation and financially disadvantaged students. By opening doors to research mentors and projects, the program has been life changing for Guerrab, pointing him in a slightly different math direction and, eventually, perhaps a Ph.D. in public policy.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHis first year at NC State, he performed applied math research related to modeling treatments for tumors. Next came a psychology and social sciences project. He\u2019s looking for his next research opportunity. \u201cThat journey has been invaluable,\u201d Guerrab said.<\/span>\r\n\r\nA few College of Education<\/a> classes also have been impactful. He\u2019s now pursuing a self-designed major and a minor in statistics, planning to graduate in December 2020.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019m interested in bridging the gap between research and policy makers \u2013 measuring the impact of educational programs, for example,\u201d Guerrab said. \u201cI love conceptual thinking, and I\u2019m really interested in applying and explaining qualitative analysis in a way that demonstrates where you can actually make a difference. It\u2019s still math, but it\u2019s using math to help people.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nOther key factors in his extraordinary journey have been a math department program in which, as an undergraduate, he benefited from graduate students mentoring students from underrepresented groups; his work at the University Tutorial Center; and involvement in the American Justice Corps and the Muslim Student Association.<\/span>\r\n\r\nA<\/span>lso influencing Guerrab\u2019s goals: his mentoring of Latino students through his work-study job with NC State Extension\u2019s Juntos<\/a> program and of low-income students as a volunteer at Longview School, a Wake County Public School System program for students who struggled in their base schools. \u201cI love it, even when it\u2019s difficult,\u201d Guerrab said.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe can talk to kids about his own challenges, including taking a year off from NC State after he lost Medicaid coverage to pay for important prescription medication. That led, temporarily, to health issues that spiraled into classroom struggles.<\/span>\r\n\r\nGuerrab already can point to definitive influence on one younger student. His brother enrolled in Harvard this fall with a full scholarship.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019m trying to mentor and empower students to go for more after high school \u2013 whether that\u2019s a four-year school, a two-year school, a vocational program or whatever,\u201d he said. \u201cA big question I always hear is \u2018how am I going to pay for it,\u2019 and I want them to know they can find a way. I want to instill hope in them. Everything is possible.\u201d<\/span>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NC State senior Yussef Guerrab hopes to blend interests in math, statistics, education and public policy into a career helping others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-_from-newswire-collection-6"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.ucomm.ncsu.edu\/web-platform-free-tier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}