Student Profile: Manuella Escobar Guzman

What brought you to Reynolds?

A little more than a year ago I was graduating high school back in Colombia. Before entering college there, I made the decision to visit my grandparents for the summer and spend my vacations in the US. However, what was supposed to be a couple of months turned into years! While I was here I discovered VCU and fell in love with it but I knew the costs of a 4 year university were not going to be affordable for me and my family until I discovered Reynolds. I did some research on our webpage and received a lot of help from Admissions and Advising. In less than a month into the process I was already going back to Colombia, not to stay but to change my VISA and obtain my F1 status. I came back and now I´m happily completing my associates degree at Reynolds!

What is your program of study?

I'm studying Social Sciences and plan to transfer to VCU to obtain a BA in Mass Communications with a concentration in PR and a minor in Music.

What has been your most rewarding college experience so far?

So far, my most rewarding experience has been being a Student Ambassador. Any job on campus is great but this one is the best. It has been a great opportunity to network, meet new people and put into practice my communication skills. Moreover, the advisors I work with are incredibly sweet and have enriched my college journey in great ways. Being an Ambassador allows me to give back to this community that has given me so much by helping students out in any way we can or helping at events held by the institution while it also helps me give back to my family by covering part of my tuition and expenses.

What have you found to be the most challenging?

The most challenging experience has been the Mellon Research Fellowship which I accessed thanks to the Pathways program. It is a one year commitment for which I've had to read a lot and dedicate a lot of hours but it have enjoyed every step of the way! I´m very excited to see how it will unfold and given that my research subject is related to music and culture I've learnt a lot of things that I'm sure will be useful on my educational and professional journey. It does require time and dedication from my end, but I love challenges and I'm a believer that good things happen only when you work hard for them to do so.

When not studying hard and going to classes, what do you like to do for fun?

In my free time I'm usually singing and writing songs. I love playing my Ukulele and I use music as a way to express my feelings, untangle my emotions and talk about things that happen in my life. I also love cooking for my family and hanging out with my friends!

Hear Manuella singing a song she wrote about conflict in her country . . .