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The Undergraduate Experience: Saying Yes to Success

Areyana Proctor (Jour, CritMedia鈥�23) wouldn鈥檛 be where she is today without setting herself up for success by saying 鈥測es鈥� to opportunity.听

I know Areyana Proctor because she is one of those people that seems to be everywhere. She has a place in so many places that she鈥檚 become a representative of what it means to be involved. Her involvement has made way for recognition by way of her achievements. By the time she graduated from CU in May 2023, she had been recognized by such titles as 2023鈥檚 William W. White Outstanding Senior for the Journalism department and one of 2022鈥檚 Student Leaders of the Year. As it is with anyone whose found success, this it wasn鈥檛 always this way.听

Learning to come out of the shell

听鈥淒uring my freshman year, I was either in my dorm or in class,鈥� Proctor said of her largely uneventful first year of college, 鈥渂ut, after [COVID], I was able to find some communities that helped me to grow out of my shell a bit.鈥澨齈roctor, a Colorado native, initially set her eyes on attending New York University. However, as more factors were taken into consideration, she settled on CU 麻豆官网 as her school of choice. As a young freshman adjusting to college life, Proctor admits that she was intimidated and scared to get involved. The transition from the world of high school to college can be difficult, and, after a major shakeup, Proctor managed to find her way.

Proctor started her time at CU in August 2019, but by March 2020 she and thousands of other college students across Colorado were forced to leave their new lives in the dorms as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of these unforeseen circumstances, though, she was inspired to make more of an effort in being involved. While easing back into life at CU throughout the 2020-2021 school year, Proctor made the decision to try something new: saying yes. 鈥淲hen I was feeling conflicted about doing something, I just said 鈥榶es鈥� if something in my heart was telling me that I should; I had to learn how to speak up, be vulnerable, say yes to things and say yes to people,鈥� she explained.

Reflecting on the undergraduate career

Now that she has time to reflect on her entire undergraduate career at CU, she sees this decision to seek and affirmatively embrace opportunity as a key moment where she set herself up for success. Through the things she became involved in. Proctor was able to form connections and friendships that strengthened her network of support. 鈥淥ne big person that has helped me is Sabrina Sideris, the Program Director of INVST Community Studies, who has been a big help to me. She鈥檚 written so many letters of recommendation for me鈥� I know I鈥檒l always have her in my corner academically and emotionally,鈥� Proctor said.

Another major milestone that Proctor believes was a key step in her journey to success is moving away from home and moving into her first dorm room and, later, her first apartment. This experience is something she holds close because it gave her the room she needed to find a new version of herself that exists in an entirely different context from the one that she had once known. 鈥淚鈥檝e come out of college as an entirely different person, and I got to watch my friend group grow throughout the years, bringing out the best in me,鈥� she said.听
In the Fall of 2022, Proctor said yes to another opportunity that bore a world of new experiences: Semester at Sea. Proctor touted the joy that came from meeting new, awesome people and seeing a wide breath of cultures in such a short amount of time. Her experiences traversing 11 countries also gave her time to reflect on the work she was doing, and the work she鈥檇 like to do in the future. 鈥淚t was very hectic and intense, but it was also an exciting experience that I鈥檓 happy I had the chance to have had,鈥� she explains.听

By her final year at CU, Proctor was involved in two different leadership studies programs (Multicultural Leadership Scholars and INVST Community Studies), she was a contributor to CU鈥檚 student-led media outlet (The Bold) and she had interned for or done research for various local groups, programs and organizations including Motus Theatre, the 麻豆官网 International Film Festival and the CU-麻豆官网 Affordable Housing Research Initiative. She achieved a dual degree in journalism and media production with dual minors in leadership studies and sociology, she graduated summa cum laude, and she was recognized as a Student Leader of the Year, Civic Newton Fellow, McNair Scholar and an Outstanding Student in Journalism. Even after everything she鈥檚 been able to accomplish, she still has her eyes focused on the success to come.听

Finding success in the future

In the Fall of 2023, Proctor will make the move from Colorado to Wisconsin to start her graduate studies in Communications at the University of Wisconsin Madison. She attributes much of her decision to make the jump into graduate school to her involvement in the McNair Scholars program, which gave her the tools she needed to be accepted into her program of choice. 鈥淚 want to be more engaged and dig into the things that interest me; I enjoy learning and finding out new things about the world, and I want to take everything I learned from journalism and put it into a new practice,鈥� she said.听

Being a Buff is an unshakable piece of her experiences that Proctor will be taking with her to Wisconsin. She emphasized how important it was for her to embrace her background and identity in the work that she does, as pieces of her being that allow her to shine as a student. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to cherish students who are passionate, who let that background story be something that makes [them] stand out, using it for [themselves] and making it work to [their] advantage,鈥� Proctor concluded.