- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/james-sellers/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 06 Dec 2018 23:32:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Boy next door leads to new campus family at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/2018/12/06/lucee-lugo/ Thu, 06 Dec 2018 23:32:39 +0000 /news/?p=72905 ... Boy next door leads to new campus family at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock]]> A tip from the boy next door led Lucee Lugo, a senior interdisciplinary studies major, to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she gets the intimacy of a small, family campus that appeals to this small-town girl from De Queen, Arkansas. 鈥淲hile I never pictured myself at this university, the moment I set foot on campus, I knew it was the school for me,” she said. “My next-door neighbor, James Sellers, who is a year ahead of me mentioned that I should apply. I remember being so afraid to move from a small, rural town to the big capital city of Little Rock. This university has a family type feeling that appealed to me.鈥 Lugo started college with a full scholarship through the Chancellor鈥檚 Leadership Corps (CLC), a competitive scholarship based on leadership, service, and high school performance. She is doing well in CLC and is now a student peer mentor and event coordinator for the academic year. 鈥淚 received the Chancellor’s Leadership Corps Scholarship Program and so that was where I began to make my first friends,鈥 Lugo said. 鈥淲e all lived together on the third floor of West Hall. As I began to make friends and meet people on campus, I became involved in Greek life, the Baptist Campus Ministry, intramural sports, admissions, and an orientation leader. I really began to find my place at the university the more I put myself into various activities and organizations. I am now going into my senior year and can’t wait to spend my last year at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock actively involved.鈥 She is thankful to CLC Coordinator Amber Wolf for making a positive impact on her college experience. 鈥淭he Chancellor’s Leadership Corps has blessed me in a plethora of ways that range from scholarships to lifelong connections to providing me with knowledge and skills that I will be able to use in the real world,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he coordinator, Amber Wolf, has always been an advocate for CLC scholars and it’s comforting to know her door is always open. In addition to this, I have worked for the program as a peer mentor for a year and half, and it’s very inspiring to be able to give back to the program that gave so much to me.鈥 While at campus, Lugo has also been active in West Hall Council, Maroon Mob, and Pre-Health Club. This past spring, she had the opportunity to complete an internship as a research assistant in the emergency room at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. 鈥淢y favorite part of being on campus and the thing I will miss the most when I leave is the community,鈥 she said. 鈥淣o matter what you are involved in, I feel like we are all tied together. Being able to be in a class and know some of my classmates, or being in Greek life and CLC, I know that all these people have my back, I have some great teachers, and I like the small student-to-teacher ratio. I like how we still have a close-knit feeling. There are a lot of faculty and staff who want us to grow not only in the classroom, but in our lives as well. That is something you don鈥檛 always find in larger campuses.鈥 Lugo started off as a biology major, but she recently switched to interdisciplinary studies so she can make the most of her education. The interdisciplinary studies degree allows Lugo to combine three areas of study 鈥 biology, Spanish, and health and exercise science 鈥 into one unique degree that fits her academic and professional interests. She is especially looking forward to improving her language skills to connect with her own heritage. She also thinks knowing more Spanish will be of help in her work as a patient care technician at Baptist Health.
Lucee Lugo studies in Ottenheimer LIbrary. Photo by Benjamin Krain.

Lucee Lugo studies in Ottenheimer LIbrary. Photo by Benjamin Krain.

鈥淢y father is Puerto Rican and is the pastor of a Hispanic church in De Queen,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y dad is fluent, but I did not grow up speaking Spanish, and it gives me a chance to learn about my own culture.鈥 Faith has always been a strong part of Lugo鈥檚 identity, whether it is being active in the Baptist Campus Ministry at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock or the annual trip to Ethiopia that her hometown church, First Baptist Church, takes. 鈥淭here are about 175 students in Ethiopia who are orphans or have lost one parent,鈥 she said. 鈥淎 bunch of people from our church sponsor them for $38 dollars a month because the students cannot go to school without uniforms and supplies. We bring toys, do crafts, play soccer, and do Bible camp. It鈥檚 so neat to just give back. It鈥檚 one of the best feelings ever.鈥 After she graduates in 2019, Lugo plans to earn a master鈥檚 degree and is considering working in student affairs or public health. 鈥淲hile I am still not 100 percent sure of what my future plans are, I would like to pursue a master’s degree,鈥 Lugo said. 鈥淲hatever path I choose, I am confident I will succeed because this university has done a phenomenal job of preparing me for whatever lies ahead.鈥 Lugo鈥檚 advice for new students is to take advantage of all the resources that are available on campus. Whenever she needed advice or someone to talk to, there was always someone available for Lugo. 鈥淚 think something we all have in common, whether we realize it or not, is that we all need help from time to time,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hether that be a need for counseling services, health services, financial aid, or even tutoring assistance, it’s important to remember that we are all struggling in one way or another. The transition from high school to college and from college into adulthood is difficult and utilizing the resources that have been made so readily available to students here at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock can make all the difference in terms of one’s college experience.鈥 In the upper right photo,聽Lucee Lugo plays soccer on the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Intramural league. Photo by Benjamin Krain.]]> Small town: Big heart /news-archive/2018/05/08/james-sellers/ Tue, 08 May 2018 19:44:08 +0000 /news/?p=70468 ... Small town: Big heart]]> Graduating senior James Sellers credits his chance encounter with a University of Arkansas at Little Rock recruiter for helping him get to where he is today. Sellers, 22, met 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock recruiter Louis Scivally at College Day at DeQueen High School four years ago. At the time, Sellers wasn鈥檛 sure of the college application process, and Scivally steered him toward scholarship opportunities and connected him with advisors. After visiting 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock during a Discover Day, Sellers made up his mind. He enrolled at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in fall 2014, deciding on a chemistry major with a biology minor. College life was unfamiliar territory to Sellers, who is the first in his immediate family to get a university education. 鈥淲hen I got here, I really didn鈥檛 understand how to college,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y GPA was decent, but not impressive. Dr. Johanna Lewis, my advisor in CALS [College of Arts, Letters and Sciences], told me I needed to get my act together if I wanted to be a competitive applicant to medical school. She has been a huge influence on me and my future.鈥 Sellers took Lewis鈥 advice and got to work. He graduates May 12 with a 3.77 GPA. He also is the recipient of this year鈥檚 American Institute of Chemistry Outstanding Graduating Senior Award and has been accepted into the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine Class of 2022. 聽 In four years, Sellers has not only mastered the academic side of college but has also seized leadership opportunities that have helped him evolve from a teenager focused on self to a young adult focused on service. 鈥淲ho I was coming in and who I am going out are two different people,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to think of where I鈥檇 be if I didn鈥檛 come here. I鈥檝e loved every moment of being at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. 聽It has prepared me for the difficult higher education I鈥檓 about to go into, and I know what it takes to succeed. I know how to handle a tough course load and do it well.鈥 Sellers, who grew up in Gillham (population: 188), was a bit reserved when he arrived on campus, but he quickly became friends with the students living on West Hall鈥檚 fourth floor. During his first semester, the Chancellor鈥檚 Leadership Corps hosted a Boys Will Be Girls pageant as a fundraiser. Sellers was a good sport and donned a dress. 聽 鈥淭hat definitely got me out of my shell,鈥 he recalled, 鈥渁nd something so goofy was the catalyst for the start of many good friendships.鈥 Later that year, he became the university鈥檚 Trojan Man mascot and traveled with the team to the NCAA tournament in Tempe, Arizona. He also started a new student organization dedicated to hanging out with friends and meeting new ones. 鈥淚 was walking across campus with friends and thought 鈥榃hat if we just sat around in lawn chairs at random spots on campus?鈥欌 he said. Thus, the Lawn Chair Club was born, and Sellers, as the founder, became 鈥淕randpappy James.鈥 At the end of his freshman year, Sellers received the Campus Living Resident of the Year and Chancellor’s Leadership Corps Male of the Year awards. He became even more involved as a sophomore, joining Student Government Association, Pi Kappa Alpha, and serving as director of involvement for the Maroon Mob. He has been a part of the Chancellor鈥檚 Leadership Corps and Science Scholars Program and started tutoring students in chemistry. He also became a resident assistant for the following three years – two years in West Hall and one year in South Hall. 鈥淏eing an RA has been the highlight of my undergrad experience because it has taught me that college isn鈥檛 about me. It鈥檚 about us,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t taught me how to care about other people. We鈥檝e had lot of fun, goofy times but also serious moments, and through it all, it has helped me become a leader and a mentor.鈥 By the middle of his sophomore year, Sellers was feeling some burn-out and backed off many of his extracurricular activities. 鈥淚 got so busy and realized I was doing a whole lot of things half-way,鈥 he said. He began focusing on medical school applications and preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). He tracked his study time, logging 310 hours of MCAT preparation. His disciplined approach paid off, but not without a bittersweet moment. On the day before the exam, Sellers鈥 longtime family friend and mentor, Frances Smith, succumbed to terminal liver cancer. Sellers had met Frances and her husband Don at church when he was in fourth grade. 鈥淭hey asked me if I wanted to come back to church the next week and offered to drive me,鈥 Sellers recalled. 鈥淥ne week turned into seven years. She was, in a lot of ways, the closest thing I had to grandma.鈥 Later, Frances helped Sellers get his first job at Walmart, where she worked as a hiring associate. Sellers worked there for three years and plans to work there again this summer prior to medical school. 鈥淪he was the most passionate person about me getting into medical school,鈥 Sellers said. 鈥淪he knew I had dreams, and she pushed me. She wanted to be at my white coat ceremony more than anything.鈥 Sellers has remained involved with church ever since meeting Frances. After his freshman year, Sellers and members of First Baptist Church of DeQueen traveled to Ethiopia on a mission trip with Children鈥檚 Hope Chest International, an organization that assists impoverished families and orphans. Sellers has spent the past three summers traveling to Ethiopia and forming strong bonds with the children and families. He has his own sponsor child, Abenezer, that he gets to see every year. His volunteer work has helped him feel gratitude for his education and experiences and has steered him to a career in which he can help others. 鈥淚 want what I do to have purpose,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 want meaning out of my life. I feel like you can only get that through helping others. When I鈥檓 old and gray, looking back at all that I鈥檝e done in life and the impact that I left on this world, I refuse to feel anything but joy and fulfillment.鈥 James Sellers learned to ride a unicycle while living in West Hall his freshman year. He graduates May 12 and begins medical school this fall. Photo by Benjamin Krain.]]>