Malcolm Glover is on a mission to create change and resolve conflict, and that goal has brought him to UCA’s Interdisciplinary PhD in Leadership (LEAD) program. A natural leader, Glover is a member of the first group of cohorts in the PhD program, and he is currently working on his dissertation. It takes a lot of effort and energy, but he is no stranger to hard work.

After nearly six years hosting National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition”, Glover began the PhD in leadership program in 2011 and is concurrently serving as a coordinator with the statewide nonprofit organization, ARVets. In addition to working for NPR, Glover has worked with the Kettering Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Heifer International, Winrock International, The National Archives, MSNBC, and MTV.

His life is a busy one, but he is accustomed to hustle and bustle, and he is happy to be a part of this program. “It’s been difficult. The PhD program is no joke… but as I get closer and closer to the finish line, I am thankful I took that leap,” Glover said.

As far as his plans for the future, Glover is met with an unlimited number of options, and he is determined to change to world for the better.

“There are a lot of things that I am interested in, and I want to be able to have an impact in some way,” Glover stated. “I would love to continue to do work in the nonprofit field. I would love to do some more travel, working with different global nonprofits, helping them resolve conflict, create space for reconciliation to occur, to help them meet goals, and really just have an opportunity to decide what comes next.”

Sergio Leal-Angeles began his journey toward nursing school last year when he registered for classes. Born in Mexico and raised in Texas and Heber Springs, Leal-Angeles chose BTÌìÌÃbecause he heard that the nursing program was the best around.

“I wanted to go to college away from home, but not too far away from home,” he said, “so BTÌìÌÃwas the perfect location.”

During his freshman year, he was asked to participate in a program recently adopted by BTÌìÌÃcalled MAP-Works. MAP-Works is a student success and retention tool that was implemented in 2013 for first-time students living on campus. The program rolls out to all first-time students in 2014.

Hosted by parent company Educational Benchmarking Inc. (EBI), MAP-Works asked participating students to write essays about their college experiences and discuss their success using MAP-Works. Leal-Angeles wrote about the trials and tribulations of being the first person in his family to attend college and how he had to learn to blaze his own trail. His essay was so inspiring that, out of 155 applicants, he was awarded a $1,500 scholarship from EBI.

“MAP-Works positively affected my college experience because it got me from not having an idea of what method of studying would be best for me to finding the perfect method of studying for me.” Leal-Angeles stated in his essay. “…I would not have met all of these friends that I have made if I had not done the MAP-Works survey, and my grades would not be where they are if I had not done the survey and listened to the suggestions that it gave me.”

Leal-Angeles is very happy that he won and he plans on finishing nursing school at UCA, getting his doctorate, and becoming a nurse anesthetist. His calm demeanor will help him stay cool and collected as an anesthetist, where his main goal will be to keep patients comfortable before, during, and after surgery.

“I love going into surgeries and shadowing and that’s why I decided to do this,” Leal-Angeles said, “It just looks so interesting to me and I’ve watched a lot of surgeries. My job will be to talk to the patients and keep them calm before and after surgery. I seem to be good at keeping people calm whenever they’re scared.”

Leal-Angeles is very excited to have won the MAP-Works scholarship and plans to use his scholarship for the next semester. He hopes to make his family proud, and he knows he will have their support as he works toward his doctorate.

Micah House never expected to go to college. He never expected that he would one day meet the perfect girl, be the first in his family to get a degree, or land his dream job either, but he did all of those things. Diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he struggled academically throughout his high school years. The only place where House really felt like he could be himself was art class.
“I found that art was my release. When I was struggling, I could go to the art room. I was good at it and it was what I liked to do… I’ve known from a young age that art was what I was going to do,” said House.

At the age of 14, House got his worker’s permit in order to help out his family financially and began working as a custodian at Cabot High School. When House graduated from high school and began attending UCA, he returned to Cabot during the summers to continue his work as a custodian. He loved his time on the BTÌìÌÃcampus, but he still worried he would not graduate due to his academic struggles. Once again, his art classes helped him through the tough times, and House became the first person in his family to graduate from college.

“The teachers and the professors here…they are so encouraging, and I’ve never been to a school that’s so supportive of our education, in making sure that we see it through to the end. And I’m not going to lie and say that there weren’t times when I thought ‘I’m going to have to drop out because I can’t handle it’. There were times I thought ‘I cannot do this’, but just like in grade school, my art classes were my release. I had enough support from my education professors to push me along, and I got through it. My wife was a big help in pushing me through it,” House said.

House met a girl and fell in love with her back in his younger years in Cabot but never dreamed it would come to anything. Years later, they ran into one another on BTÌìÌÃcampus, and they were later married in 2013. After graduating, House was also offered a job at Cabot High School as a high school art teacher, allowing him to return to his hometown and family.

“I’m ecstatic. I can’t even describe how happy I am to be in my dream job. It landed in my lap and I couldn’t be happier,” said House, beaming from ear to ear.

Ashley Ross knew exactly what she wanted from the first moment she stepped foot onto the BTÌìÌÃcampus. “I knew that I wanted to run for president of [Student Government Association] my freshman year, and it’s something that I’ve been working toward for the past three years.”

Ross became freshman class representative, procured a promotion to freshman class vice president, ran for junior class vice president during her sophomore year and became SGA president during her senior year.

Ross’ positive attitude, as well as her many supportive friends, helped her achieve her goal. “Campaigning isn’t just a two-week long process. It’s really about the opportunities that you take throughout the years. I made a lot of friends, made a lot of connections, and was very social through college. I had a lot of help and support during elections,” said Ross.

Her support team now includes the SGA executive team: Zach Carter, executive vice president; Bryce Crabb, vice president of operations, and Corey Parks, vice president of finance. “This is the most incredible team I’ve ever worked with on SGA. They’re extremely dependable and they make themselves available to help at all times. I’ve really been impressed with them and I want BTÌìÌÃstudents to know how great this team truly is.”

Ross is also a member of the Panhellenic Council, a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha, a volunteer student leader with the Student Orientation Staff, and a former member of ideal Freshman Leadership Team.

She hopes her presidency will serve as a call to action for more inclusion across all student organizations. “My presidency will have a strong focus on diversity. We want all RSOs to have equal opportunities, and not just those that tend to be in the spotlight. That has been a constant goal of mine throughout college: to be more transparent to those groups,” stated Ross. She’s also working to expand the Big Event, which is a nation-wide student-led community service project. “We want it to include more projects and really include more of the community this year.”