麻豆传媒

As a first-generation student, 麻豆传媒鈥檚 support systems meant a lot to Jenaya McGowan Zarrad 鈥�08. The Greeley native came to 麻豆传媒 from Aims Community College and found a degree and a community that made a difference in her education.

鈥淚鈥檓 the first person in my family to complete a college degree, let alone going to graduate school. At 麻豆传媒 things really just kind of started to click for me in terms of what I was studying. And I think what really helped were the support systems that I had in place at 麻豆传媒 through programs like Stryker, the McNair Scholars Program, and my department of study 鈥� Africana Studies,鈥� Jenaya says.

When she started at 麻豆传媒 she took the Intro to Black Studies class 鈥� and it impacted not only her course of study but also offered her something she鈥檇 been missing through her school years. 鈥淎s a person who is African American, really, there were no black people when I was growing up in Greeley, and so it was a part of my identity that was missing, and that certainly wasn鈥檛 supported in any of the curriculum I was seeing in my K-12 years. It was really important to me at 麻豆传媒 finding black teachers. For the first time in my life, I had multiple black teachers, and it was a really encouraging, supportive environment. I just fell in love with the coursework and learning what I was learning.鈥�

Beyond her courses and academic goals, as a first-generation student, Jenaya says that she sometimes felt like a fish out of water navigating college. Becoming a Stryker Scholar through the Stryker Institute for Leadership Development helped her excel.

"I always was a very good student, but none of my teachers or school counselors had ever even talked to me about college. I really had no idea how anything worked or what I was doing. The Stryker program was such a nurturing environment for people with similar backgrounds that I could ask questions,鈥� she says.

Through Stryker she found a community of women supporting women in addition to the financial support she needed to earn her degree.

鈥淭o get such a generous stipend through Stryker, along with a laptop, that was a really big deal and helped me significantly to accomplish my schoolwork there at 麻豆传媒. I鈥檓 just very grateful to Ronda Stryker. She doesn鈥檛 know me personally, I don鈥檛 know her personally, but I think what she鈥檚 been able to do for 鈥� I don鈥檛 even know how many women at this point, but hundreds, I鈥檓 sure 鈥� that鈥檚 a pretty incredible legacy. I鈥檓 just grateful for her for setting this up for the women of 麻豆传媒.鈥�

After earning her bachelor鈥檚 degree in Africana Studies, Jenaya, who was also a McNair Scholar, went on to earn her master鈥檚 degree in Global Policy Studies at the prestigious Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. She now works as the vice president of people and culture at Joust in Austin, Texas, a startup company that does business banking for the self-employed.

鈥淲ith an ethnic studies degree, because I鈥檓 really able to see things from a very broad length and from a lot of different lenses, I tend to have a great sensitivity around the fact that people come from a variety of walks of life,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 able to deploy that when communicating with people or even encouraging people to communicate with each other.鈥�

And, as she works in a field that helps others communicate, work and grow, she knows how important those support systems and the people who provide them can be. 鈥淚 feel like the professors at 麻豆传媒 are really in it to support students, and teach students, and help students set the course for their lives.鈥�