Upon my return from a month overseas, I read an article recently published in The News about the potential, but limited, benefits of joining the Northeastern chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. (“NSCS offers some benefits,” June 4)
As current NSCS chapter president, I am writing this letter to voice my disappointment with the lack of thorough research prior to the publishing of this article. The writer did her best to contact me and our advisor, but I indicated to her I would be able to better respond for the article when I returned from Europe. I would like to personally express the benefits of joining NSCS.
NSCS is a great opportunity for students to access scholarships, internships, networking and community service. There are two different facets of NSCS that I think are important to note: The first is our community service efforts and the second is a program called Planning for College Success (PFCS), in which we encourage middle and high school students that college is within their reach.
Community service is a main tenet of our organization. In the past we have volunteered for the New England Aquarium, WGBH, Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and a number of local food shelters, to name a few. We encourage members to serve their communities as often as possible and a goal of ours is to inspire members to volunteer in any capacity they can whether it be through actually attending an event or donating food as part of an annual can drive.
With PFCS, we have recently partnered with an organization called the Boston Youth Network (BYN), which is located in East Boston. As an after-school program for underprivileged kids, BYN acts as a resource for keeping kids off the streets. NSCS members volunteer at BYN weekly through mentoring/tutoring and helping with their adventure clubs in the evening, like cooking and Lego robotics. Students have the opportunity to put their energy into productive, fun and creative activities. We are always looking for more volunteers.
On April 9, we celebrated “I Stand for Integrity Day.” Officers spent an afternoon in the Snell Library quad asking hundreds of students to sign a banner committing themselves to academic and personal integrity. Our photo from this event was later posted on the home page of the myNEU portal.
The annual convention and leadership summit also provides members with a number of benefits. Workshops are designed to help members learn more about various fields, build skills in those areas and have fun doing it. Information about specific careers, direct from the sources, are also available. Skills workshops cover the fundamentals that will net any job, like resume-writing, networking, interviewing, how to get scholarship funding and more. Exhibitors from graduate schools and various companies also attend the convention in hopes of connecting with students for future applicants and networking. This year, both will be held in Orlando, Fla. from July 17 to July 19.
Because I was unavailable at the time, I could not e-mail responses to questions the writer sent me, therefore certain facts were not included in the article. Membership enrollment varies each year. Students with a GPA of 3.4 and above and who are also in the top 20 percent of those in the freshman and sophomore classes are invited to join, but not everyone takes advantage of this opportunity. Since the chapter was chartered in 2000, on average we have had 471 members join each year. For the upcoming year, 655 freshman and 668 sophomores were invited and so far 500 have joined. Last year, we had 692 members join out of an average of 1,300 invitees.
Lastly, the induction ceremony typically takes place in September or October of the new academic year. This year, the ceremony will take place in the Curry Student Center Ballroom Sept. 28 with a reception to follow in the McLeod Suites.
I hope this provides a bit more insight into what NSCS is really about.
– Jordyn Linsk is the Northeastern chapter president of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and a senior communication studies and psychology major.
