2014 Scholar Update: Marianna Beaute

August 23rd, 2014

Dear SMBS Scholarship Committee/Board,

First and foremost, I would really like to thank the committee for everything they do for the organization. I was able to use the scholarship towards paying my tuition fees. Being a Stephanie Marie Burgos Inc. Scholarship Recipient means a great deal to me. It means that I have the responsibility to accomplish my goals and dreams, while giving back to my community. It also means that I should not take for granted the opportunities that I am afforded and that though there may be adversities, to always get back up. That sounds easy, but over the past year has been one of the toughest times for me and acknowledging my responsibilities has made it easier for me.

I remember the feeling of going to my school with my mom and her leaving that afternoon. I remember the hectic, but fun schedule of orientation. I had no idea of the journey I was getting ready to embark on. Although we try to prepare ourselves and people tell us what college is like, I truly believe that it is unique to everyone. This past fall I took four classes: Biology, English: Women and Culture, French, and Calculus I. The spring semester I took the next level of those courses. I will say that I am very disappointed on how I performed my freshmen year. I was in a school whose students were predominantly Caucasian. These students went to private schools and took some of the first level classes simply to get an easy A, classes that I struggled in. I felt like I didn’t belong there and that my high school did a terrible job at preparing me, especially when it came to analyzing and writing dissertations. All my life school was the only stable part. Things came easy to me, and I really did not have to study much for anything. I could always count on earning good grades and this time in my life, I couldn’t even count on that.  I dealt with guilt of leaving my family, and some friends and family feeling that I thought I was better than them because of the school I went to and the race of those around me. In addition, being that I was always on the go, whether it was to the library, dorm, classes, and club meetings, I didn’t say in contact with too many of my friends and I also didn’t create too many new friendships, leaving me to eat alone in the dining hall or attend events alone.

Though I experienced many difficulties and adjustments, I think they were crucial to helping me differentiate college from high school and learn more about myself. I had to learn exactly how I study best. One thing that I realized was that having study groups is beneficial, but I have to choose wisely who I study with. Through these obstacles I remembered where I wanted to go in life and kept reminding myself that “ Every fallback is a setback for a comeback” as someone once said to me. My transcript does not reflect what I've learned throughout this previous year. That being said, I am going into this sophomore year with a bright attitude and much wisdom from last year and I know I will do better. 

This past summer I completed an internship through the YouthMade Program at a technological company called Ombligo. At Ombligo, my role was that of a sales and marketing researcher and analyst. For two weeks, we received 60 hours of training with career and job development to prepare us to be matched to an internship. At Ombligo, my tasks included:attending weekly sales meeting, monitoring online listings on Ebay and Amazon and competitors’ listings and prices, refining Ombligo’s online listings as well as listing new products to increase sales, and contacting online customers and followers. Though initially Ombligo was not one of my choices to intern, I have learned a great deal and gained a lot of experience with marketing as well as working with Microsoft Excel. What I really enjoyed was understanding different purposes of technology that I take for granted and never understood, as well as being treated as part of a team and realizing how my work contributed to the success of the company.

As of right now I will be taking up five classes, which are Chemistry, Greek Art and Architecture, Comparative Literature, and French II, and Calculus III. I am excited for this upcoming semester and I look forward to learning a lot more.I would like to thank this wonderful Stephanie Marie Burgos Scholarship that allows me to have this family of people who I can look to for encouragement.

Sincerely,

Marianna Beaute

Sophomore at Barnard College
SMBS Scholar 2013

Marianna you are as brilliant as you are beautiful.  You are like the rest of the scholars an inspiration to many and we are proud to have you in our SMBS family.  Keep up the great work!!!