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 former position 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 Competiton 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. Rebelo’s resume is filled with tons of invaluable experience; from her prior position as an Administrative Assistant at a healthcare facility, to previously interning for the Human Resources sector 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.”
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