>> My name is Ayanna Tilghman, I serve as Area Director and counselor here at the University
of Maryland, Eastern Shore in the office of Residence Life.
Most days, I am engaged with students in some personal level,
whether it be a student experiencing an academic issue or a personal matter.
Also, building management is a big part of our job so making sure
that the community is functioning as it should, that students are living civilly
and we're maintaining an environment where learning is key.
It is not only our responsibility to ensure that our students are,
that we're providing a living conducive to learning but it's important
that we provide programming and one on one direct contact with our students
so that they understand there's a support here for them and that we
as professionals are the example for them to follow.
When I first came to UMES, one of the projects that I started was Women
of Distinction's Summer Academy for Girls and we targeted young ladies in the Tri-County area,
Somerset County, Worcester and Wicomico.
Students who had an interest in attending college or post-secondary education
and our goal was to bring them onto our campus and simulate the actual college experience,
and that program spun off into other years of programming
and now those students are here matriculating as college students in our academic environment.