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Journalism Major to Give
Litza J. Meléndez, a Journalism major who has advised and assisted new students on campus for three years, will be the student speaker at this week-end's Undergraduate Commencement. A Dean's List student, Meléndez is is a member of the ALANAI (African, Latino, Asian, Native American, and International) and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. A Commonwealth Scholar, she holds a Four-Year Talented Minority Scholarship and was also named a William F. Field Alumni Scholar. Meléndez has been a staff member for the New Students Program since 1997, scheduling and coordinating public relations events, administering math placement tests and tests for international students, and overseeing the design, production and organization of hundreds of signs for the numerous information sessions scheduled during orientation days on campus. She has also been an academic program assistant in Patterson House, serving as a resident advisor for first-year students and teaching assistant for the course "UMass Unplugged." She has additionally been a volunteer tutor and mentor for international students on campus. Meléndez will talk about the ups and downs of college life, and the lessons learned as this year's graduates move on to their new lives. "Ever since I was a freshman," says Meléndez, "I would tell people that I wanted to be the student speaker at my graduation, but I never thought I would actually accomplish that goal. Now I'm a little bit nervous." Meléndez was born in Puerto Rico, but grew up in Amherst. Her family has strong ties to the University. Both her parents are alumni: Her mother, Janet Reyes, a teacher at Morgan Elementary School in Holyoke, and her father, Eduardo Meléndez, principal of Holyoke Alternative School, received their master's degrees in Education. Both Litza's brother and sister are graduate students at UMass. Her aunt received a doctorate from the University, one cousin received a bachelor's degree, and two other cousins are currently students here. |
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