Help us congratulate our Publications Student of the Month for April... Gabriela Garcia from Miami Dade College - Eduardo J. Padron Campus! Gabriela was nominated by her advisor, Emily Sendin. 

Here is what Ms. Sendin shared with us about Gabriela: "Gabriela Garcia was first introduced to Urbana Literary & Arts magazine when her essay “Eighteen Year of Injustices Experienced as a Girl” was chosen to be published in our blog because of its distinct voice and unapologetic stance against misogyny. Later on, she was media director in training during the spring of 2021 and she then agreed to take over as Urbana Literary and Arts magazine media director for the 2021-2022 cycle. From the onset, she has shown superb organizational and leadership skills. In fact, she is now overseeing the podcast, website, blog, and social media. In addition to managing the media team, she has also contributed her own content to the magazine. It is an honor to nominate her as a student of the month for our publication.

In addition to her work in Urbana, Gaby’s academic excellence has a wide range. Recently her blog piece, “Eighteen Year of Injustices Experienced as a Girl” won Best in Show first place in the Multimedia Blog category at the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Association Fall 2021 College Media Convention and the first place for column writing Gold Circle Award from Columbia Scholastic Press Association. In addition to managing the media team and contributing her own content to the magazine, Gabriela was selected as the Phi Beta Lambda Academic Honor Society president where she has led various campus events and service opportunities. She was chosen for this role by her peers because of her consistent service to the organization. In addition, as a member of the Padrón Campus IMPACT team, I nominated Gaby to become the committee’s student ambassador. In this role, she is in charge of building a bridge between change-making campus faculty and students and developing programming to benefit roles. So far, Gaby has excelled in this position, which she plans to continue in 2021-2022. Her commitment also extends to the community at large as she has participated in various community service projects including the Overtown Youth Center Super Saturdays tutoring youth in underserved communities. As a Miami Dade College Stem researcher, she is part of the team involved in “Nonlinear Markov Chain Modelling of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic,” where she has excelled. Moreover, she was recently selected to be part of the IREX, Stevens Initiative, and State Department program Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge where she has collaborated with a team of students from the US and Iraq to engage in empathy, design a sustainable business prototype and develop and pitch a proposal in a global business expo competition. In its incipient stages, she has proven to be a valuable asset to the team. She was chosen for her work ethic and commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices. We are now in the 7th week of the program and Gaby has shined as the business concept manager - drafting the business concept and constructing the pitch and working with her Miami team as well as her Iraqi counterparts in a collegial and professional manner. She has demonstrated a business savvy and an ability to communicate effectively across cultures and contribute as a team player that always puts forth her best effort. At Urbana, we are lucky to have Gaby as our media director." 

Congratulations to our Publications Student of the Month for April and thank you to Ms. Sendin for nominating her! We are so proud of your hard work Gabriela!!!