Yeah, I teared up a bit writing it.

“I am not led; I lead”

This quote is something that has come to define me in the past year.   In order to understand the present, I should expound on my past.

I grew up as the son of a single mother in Gloucester, MA, where I was always referred to as being smart, but I just didn’t “apply myself”. I never had an idea of what I wanted to do after high school, and the only talent I had was art. This wasn’t really my calling, and I had to forsake it and try to find my niche in the world. I worked in hotels and then found a home in the computer field, where I have worked for the last 10 years. A couple of years ago, I realized that this would need to change as I was becoming continually complacent and realized that I have spent most of my adult life making other people rich and comfortable, and being the sprocket in their american dream machine.

This needed to change.

In 2007, I fulfilled a life long dream of going through the EMS academy and earning my EMT certification. I did this, not because I want to be an EMT, but because I always had a goal of having training as a paramedic, and being able to know that I can help those around me if need be. After the academy, I set my eye on getting into the nursing program, which is what my goal was up until July of this year.

As I said, I’m the son of a single mother.  She was date raped at the age of 19 and gave birth to me at the age of 20, and never was able to go to college a she had dreamed.  She never used this as an excuse for her station in life, and over the past 10 years, as her health declined, I never once heard her lament the course it had taken. She was truly my friend, and champion.

August 8^th, of this year, my mother passed away. She was hospitalized with MRSA, Staph, and pneaumonia. It was during late night research sessions and frantic phone calls to her doctor that made me realize that I do not have the mindset to be a nurse. I need to be more of an active participant in changing the lives of those around me, and am not comfortable with simply being a provider.  When I had to make the call, while en route to Boston, to have her taken off of the life support, I swore silently to her that the next half of my life would be devoted to providing strength to the weak, a voice to the silent, and empowering those around me.

“I am not led; I lead”

I have changed my major to Chemistry and undertaken an arduous goal of getting into medical school. I always did like to bite off more than I could chew, knowing that anything can be consumed, one bite at a time.  I will make the decision in the next couple of years of whether or not to continue on my goal of medical school, or become a science/chemistry teacher.  Either way, I want to give back to this world. I want to be someone’s champion. I want to make sure that my mother’s sacrifice was not in vain.

I find it ironic that I find myself applying for this scholarship because back in August, I setup a memorial scholarship in my mother’s name. This would be awarded to a student of a single parent, who, “wants to change the world”.

Honestly, I never applied for a scholarship because I always thought that there were others more worthy/needy than I am. It would help me immensely because I’m paying for all of my classes and incidentals with student loans, and since I had to spend what little bit of savings I had burying my mother, anything would be of great assistance. Just for being considered, I thank you very much.

Here is the response:

From: Patti Barney <pbarney@broward.edu>
Subject: RE: WIFI Access
To: “Robert Muise” <robbmuise@yahoo.com>
Cc: “J. David Armstrong” <darmstro@broward.edu>
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 9:37 PM

I sent this to you on Monday, and am wondering when I may get a response.

I’d also like to add a new issue that has come up. I have received a call from financial aid today, to let me know that my funds for my student loan are now delayed because Broward College requires an updated transcript showing the 2 summer classes that I took at PBCC and subsequently had to withdraw from. When I asked the gentlemen who called why I was only notified of this AFTER my loan funds were available, he stated that it was because they only check for discrepancies after the loan funds are ready for disbursement. This will now delay the disbursement of my student loan for at least 2 1/2 weeks.

I have requested a transcript from PBCC in both written and electronic form. The last time I requested it be transferred electronically, your admissions personnel informed me it could take 2-3 weeks for them to process it electronically.

I’d like to know why:

• BC does not proactively inform students of problems with their paperwork. I’d be delighted to share the story of how it took me almost 2 months to transfer from PBCC to BC because of all the snafus and roadblocks put into place by your institution.
• Why, in 2009, it takes longer to have a transcript sent and evaluated electronically than being hand delivered.

When I first brought my transcript, i had to go on to the archaic Broward College website and try to schedule an appointment with an advisor, in person, so that I could ask them to please submit my transcript for evaluation. I was informed that the 1 person who evaluates transcripts has a lot of work to do and is behind schedule since she went on vacation in the month of july, arguably one of the busier months before the fall session starts.

I anxiously await your reply to this and the prior matter.

I am currently enrolled in 3 classes. One thing that I have noticed is the lack of WIFI internet access in the classrooms. Since it is 2009, and laptops/netbooks are quite prevalent, I am at a loss as to why this is not the case. I checked my fees, beyond the tuition, I am being charged in  EACH class, the following:

UNKNOWN FEE                               $9.60

The last item, doesn’t even have something listed next to it, so I’m to assume it is a gratuity of some sort? This means that I am paying $60.30 for each class, or a total of $180.90  in extraneous fees this semester. Yet, I do not have wifi access in any of the classrooms I am in this semester. In fact, I see that on north campus, and downtown campus, its only available in a few select classrooms.

Previously, I attended PBCC and in both campuses, I had full access to the school administrated WIFI system. This allowed me to access files for class remotely, access online resources, and in general, get a lot more done.

Since I am a customer of Broward College, I would like to have an explanation of why WIFI access is not accessible throughout the campus. I would like to know what the additional 9.60 fee that I get charged is for. I would like to know what plans Broward College has to provide WIFI access throughout the entire campus?

Perhaps while you are viewing this, you might want to walk through the registration/administration areas of the school, as if you were a student. Getting the simplest of things done at this school is an exercise in futility and has made me rethink my enrollment on more than one occasion. I would be more than happy to provide details of where the system is faulty by design, and show where improvements to the process could be made.

Thank you for your time.
Robert Muise