What is your preferred name and major(s) and minor(s)?
My preferred name would be Aaron Sampson and I am an Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies Major, and I have a minor in History.
What are some of the jobs you held at McDaniel?
I didn’t have any on campus jobs or join any clubs, as I work part time doing independent contracting to help balance out some of the finances I have.
What organizations were you part of at McDaniel?
I was a member of the school ROTC program for 4 years, and a member of the Maryland Army National Guard for 3 years.
How much did you enjoy your time at McDaniel?
I enjoyed my time at The Hill as I found the small school was perfect for my tastes. I wanted to get my degree, work, and move on quickly, and a small campus allows me to do just that and with no hassle of thousands upon thousands of students bothering professors during office hours and such.
Who do you think is/was your best mentor(s)?
My greatest mentor would be Carol Zaru, my Arabic professor who really helped me out a lot and devoted countless hours outside of her normal office hours to ensure her students understood the material well.
What were some of the challenges you encountered and how did you overcome them?
In regards to challenges, the only challenge I had at first was finances which I took care of by receiving an ROTC Scholarship due to academics, fitness and commitment of years of service in the military. After tuition raised and my scholarship stayed stagnate, I took to working part time junior and senior year to help make up the balance. The only other challenges I faced were the same as any other student, grades and time management which is easy to adapt to. If you don’t budget your time you will fail and the blame is on you so that is an easy problem or task to manage
What are your plans for after graduation?
I currently don’t have any plans after college besides applying for a job in which I can use my Arabic skills so these 4 years don’t go to waste, haha.
What is your best memory at McDaniel?
I don’t think I have a best memory yet, but my graduation most definitely will be it.
What advice can you give to those not graduating?
To those not graduating, I would say analyze what you had to overcome to come here in the first place, analyze what kept you from completing college, be it finances, poor grades, lack of effort, time management issues, etc, and attack those problems head on. Force yourself into positions where you will fail 100% if you do not adapt and overcome those objectives. That is how I live my life and how I complete daily, or extended tasks
Anything else you want to share with the world?
I would say just attack the situations you find in life. Attack them with ferocity and don’t back down, don’t give up, don’t start to slack and just keep moving forward.
