Sabrina Fehr wants to help people prepare for severe weather and teach people about the world around them. Fehr is looking forward to learning more about meteorology and oceanography. She cannot wait to go on research cruises around the world and experience extreme weather in person.

Fehr, a junior meteorology and physical oceanography major, is involved in the Millersville University Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (MU-AMS) and the Ocean Science Club. MU-AMS also offers a program for incoming meteorology majors called Met-Mentor. Fehr was part of this program as a mentee and mentor. She found Met-Mentor very helpful in adjusting to college life and helping others grow.

Fehr decided to attend Millersville because it was one of the only two schools in Pennsylvania that offered meteorology as a major. The fact that Millersville also offered oceanography was a deciding factor for her as well. Fehr is hoping to go on to graduate school to earn her master’s degree in either meteorology or oceanography, pursuing a career in one of these fields. 

Millersville has given me more opportunities than a larger university would. Due to its smaller size, I have been able to be more involved in clubs and activities. I also like how my professors are able to work with me one-on-one and are easy to get in touch with if I have questions.

As public relations chair for the Society on Latino Affairs (SOLA) at Millersville University, Ricardo Brens Matos helps make sure the campus community knows about the group’s mission of promoting diversity and unity among students. By getting involved in campus activities early on, Brens Matos said he has grown tremendously, in both his social and speaking skills.
 
"Since I learned English I have always been afraid of speaking in public because of my accent. Being involved has helped me to realize that my accent is worth the effort I’ve put into everything after coming to this country and learning the language. Now I have decided to be proud of it and embrace it."

 

Brens Matos also works as a student office assistant in the Sociology/Anthropology Department. He has won several academic honors for his classroom performance.

 

After graduation, still two years away, he hopes to work in a high school and teach courses in both Spanish and Latino studies. He said his goal is “to give students who want to learn the language or about the Latino culture more knowledge on the subject.” He also wants to pursue a master’s degree in education or school counseling.

 

"I am very positive that once I graduate, I will always be thankful to Millersville University for helping me achieve my educational goals in life."

I have become a more confident, knowledgeable and professional student thanks to great professors here at Millersville University.

Michael “Gage” Crosen came to California University of Pennsylvania looking for new opportunities both on and off campus, along with one-to-one interactions with his professors.

“I went to a small high school so I am used to having teachers care about their students, much like they do at Cal U,” he says.

Crosen enrolled initially as a history major, but his recent appointment as the student representative to the Cal U Council of Trustees has him considering a different career path.

“The more I get involved with student government and the Council of Trustees, the more I realize how much I would love to pursue legislation and politics,” he says.

A first sergeant in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, Crosen was one of 300 ROTC cadets from across the country selected to attend the Army Air Assault School at Fort Benning, Ga., this summer. He described the experience as “an immediate gut check.”

“The school really taught me the importance of accountability and that it takes only one minor detail to ruin an entire operation. I have translated that into paying more attention to the small details in both ROTC and in my life as a Cal U student.”

In addition to his service to the commonwealth and his country, Crosen is a Cal U Alumni Board student representative and vice president of finance for Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity.

His service in ROTC has been a stepping-stone for his involvement at the University.

“Basic training teaches you to have excellent time-management skills,” he says. “It really helped me figure out how to plan out my weeks, so that I can be part of many different activities. I believe if you are going to do something, you should do it to the best of your ability. I might as well be the best I can be while I’m at Cal U.”

Cal U is a fostering environment that promotes success. It is small enough that you can get a customized education, yet large enough so you can expand yourself exponentially.

For Brittany Kusniar, Cal U feels like family. She recalls first coming to California for a campus tour when she spied faculty member Dr. Mario Majcen, who teaches several meteorology courses.

 

"He said, 'Let's go back to the Eberly Science and Technology Center,' " Kusniar says. "He showed me the classrooms, the studio and the weather lab. I job-shadowed him twice and was able to meet other meteorology students."

 

Kusniar, a member of the Honors Program at Cal U, has taken advantage of a variety of educational opportunities as well as extracurricular activities. She has presented research at the Pennsylvania Geographical Society Conference and at the second annual PASSHE Honors Student Development Conference. She was the planning committee chair for the 2013 Intersections Undergraduate Research Conference at Cal U.

 

She is assisting Dr. Chad Kauffman on research about students’ perceptions of climate change. "I can’t say enough about how lucky I am to be in such a program and work so closely with my professors."

 

She serves as president of the Student Honors Advisory Board, which provides input to the Honors Program director and assistant director and provides programming for honors students; is secretary of the Meteorology Club; and is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta , an honor society for first-year students, among other activities.

 

She acknowledges the challenges of a busy schedule.

 

"I definitely had to learn time management and organizational skills very quickly. And I did struggle for a while, even though I was an honors student in high school. But I surrounded myself with upperclassmen at Cal U, and that really helped a lot. We are all very supportive of each other."

I came to campus and basically jumped right in. I was selected to go to a conference my first year, and that had a snowball effect. Once you get involved, you can’t stop.