Making Lincoln home, as told by current students

As a first-generation college graduate, and later first-generation Ph.D. student in creative writing in poetry, the notion of sacrifice is not alien to me. A native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, I knew my academic and writerly life would perhaps lack stability and cachet and would always take me away from where I grew up. Thus, my journey began in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and continued on to the sometimes somnolent desert of Las Cruces, New Mexico, before I finally arrived in Lincoln to attend the creative writing program here at UNL.

Living in the Southwest, moving to the Midwest, returning to the Southwest and eventually ending up in the Midwest, I often joke that this zigzag has taught me just as much about myself as it has about my surroundings. Be open-minded and willing to truly live in the state you attend school, I'd remind myself. Of course, it's hard to imagine at times because relocating to earn a graduate degree can be a challenging experience. Even so, it can be a rewarding experience.

Lugging boxes up three flights of stairs to my apartment, in 103 degree weather and slick with humidity, I didn't know what I had gotten myself into. I was in Lincoln, finally, and there was no returning to the arid climate of the desert Southwest. This I knew, and by the next morning I was okay with it because I knew I'd made the right decision. Sure, two of my former professors were UNL graduates. Sure, they loved the prairie. But what they brought to the classroom as professors brought me to the classrooms of UNL.

Their love for their scholarship, for their teaching, and for their profession left a lasting impression on me — so much so, in fact, that this was one of the programs to remain on my list of places to apply. The more research I did, the more I learned why I was adamant about applying in the first place. My department worked hard to provide opportunities for me to feel involved, to develop professionally, and to grow to become a future colleague.

To say that the welcoming feeling is only applicable to the university would be a mistake. Lincoln is a smaller city, but it has a variety of exhibitions at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, a variety of readings from local and national writers to attend, and a variety of theatrical and musical events to take in mid-week or on weekends when you've the chance to put the books down and breathe.

No matter the intention to come to UNL, life here in Nebraska is similar to life everywhere else. Wherever you go, there you are. It's what you make of it! But if you're open to growth and hard work (two seeming philosophies of Nebraskans), life in Nebraska will make of you — to my mind, at least — a competitive, future professional in any given field.

My brother Ryan and I have a lot in common. For one, we've both always worked hard in school and been determined to be successful, resulting in us both receiving full-tuition Regents Scholarships to attend UNL as undergraduates. After completing our undergraduate degrees, we both decided to stay at UNL for our graduate degrees: mine focusing on educational testing in the Educational Psychology department and his emphasizing in robotics in the Mechanical Engineering department. Once we found out how respected UNL's programs were in our fields, we didn't have any reason to go elsewhere, and I can't imagine that we would have had better outcomes if we had picked a different university for graduate school.

Of course, it's nice to be close to our family in Omaha and see them for special events, but more important is the great academic experience both of us have had here. The similarities in our successes and opportunities are striking and emphasize the quality of the graduate experiences available at UNL.

We've both had the invaluable good fortune of working with highly respected professionals who stand out in our fields. We've been able to complete hands-on training and research through our assistantships, mine through the renowned Buros Center for Testing and his creating miniature surgical robots that are likely to revolutionize medical procedures. At the beginning of April, we presented our research during the same week at the leading national conference in our respective fields, mine in New Orleans and Ryan's in Minneapolis. Those presentations are the latest in a growing list for us, in addition to publications in journals and book chapters. Thanks to our programs' reputations for preparing students, we both got our first choice summer internships. I interned at in the research division of Educational Testing Service in New Jersey two summers ago, and Ryan was at Lockheed Martin's Space Systems division in Denver last summer.

Especially remarkable is that we were both awarded federal grants to promote graduate work in high-demand technical careers. My program was one of only three in the country in my field to be selected to receive a GAANN grant, a funding opportunity for selected doctoral students in the program which included me. Ryan's fellowship was through the NASA Space Grant. There is one accomplishment of mine that he hasn't also racked up: after finishing my master's degree in summer 2009, I was awarded the Folsom Distinguished Master's Thesis award. Ryan has a very special accomplishment I may never have: a patent application as a result of his remarkable research.

Ryan graduated with his master's degree last summer, while I have another year before I finish my dissertation and get my PhD. As I get closer to graduation, I appreciate even more the time we got to spend with our family, the Husker games we went to together, and especially the rich academic experiences that will have provided such an excellent basis for our success in the future.

During an international conference at Sao Paulo State University in Brazil, where I received my master's degree, I met Dr. Chris Calkins, UNL professor of meat science. This opened the doors to Nebraska for me. I went on to earn my Doctor of Medicine Veterinary and worked for the Brazilian beef industry for one year before contacting Dr. Calkins who would later become my adviser. I was very fortunate in securing a Ph.D. Fulbright/CAPES scholarship, which sponsored my studies for four years. I looked forward to studying at Nebraska in the Animal Science's Meat Sciences program, which is one of the best programs in the U.S.

I'm originally from the country side of Sao Paulo state where ranching and cropping is very common. Therefore, I thought that moving to Lincoln would not be challenging since agriculture is one of the most important activities in Nebraska. Arriving in Lincoln was an interesting experience. Although the language barrier was initially a big deal, after 2 months things really got better. The college atmosphere, the football spirit, and the university activities helped me a lot during the adaptation stage. As a Ph.D. student, I was responsible for conducting a lot of different projects. Classes were very interesting also. Although some of them were really demanding, I learned how to challenge myself and run that extra mile to get As.

The heterogeneity on campus is amazing. I've met a lot people from every part of the world. This helped me to learn about different cultures which I had no idea about it. Also, Lincoln offers good recreation facilities, theaters, amazing restaurants, street festivals, and of course, cool bars for gathering. I really did not have time to feel any effect of homesickness. Work and classes kept my mind busy enough. The Recreation Center, intramural games, and the beautiful jogging tracks around Lincoln were essential for keeping me healthy. Following my first semester, my wife moved to Lincoln to seek her M.A. in textile design at UNL. Now I call Nebraska home.

Being a student at UNL allows you to make friends and to build bridges with future employers through career fairs. All professors, instructors, and assistants have an open door policy, which helps a lot when questions pop up. Definitely, there is no place like Nebraska.

I've also travelled around the state, visited tourist places, and learned a lot about Nebraska's history. Regarding Lincoln, the Star City, it has its own charm. During the football season, it is a sea of red. At night, a lot of people walk downtown. Usually, there is no rush. People here are helpful and happy. In a few words, here we have all the ingredients for having a good experience.

"You're going where?" That was the question I received a lot when I announced I had been accepted to and planned to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Speech-Language Pathology master's program. Nebraska was one of those states — a state that you flew over, a state that was flat, a state that had cows, a state that had corn, and a state that loved the color red! My answer was easy though, "I got into one of the best programs for speech pathology in the country. Why wouldn't I go?"

It was hard to imagine leaving the northern coast of Maine surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, blueberry barrens, trees and Red Sox's fans for the Midwest, but in 2001 I left the comforts of home and headed to Lincoln, Nebraska (for the first time).

I completed my master's program in 2004 and returned to Maine only to find that though I loved being near my family, I didn't enjoy the cold and snow. My journey then took me to Knoxville, Tennessee. After three years of working full-time, I knew it was time to return to school for my doctorate and that the only place for me was UNL.

Although I had physically left Nebraska, I still had strong ties. I stayed in touch with several close friends in Lincoln and Omaha and I wore red every Saturday, and cheered hard for the Huskers even though I was in Volunteer country. Plus, the experts in my field with whom I wanted to study with were, and still are, in Nebraska.

With the decision to return made and an acceptance letter in hand, my dad flew to Tennessee from Maine to help me pack a Budget truck filled to the top with my worldly possessions. It was early August and Tennessee was having the hottest week of the summer. Once the truck was loaded and the car was securely on the trailer behind, we headed west. We slowly made our way across the country and after two days we arrived in Lincoln.

It felt like a homecoming. Not only were the streets the same, the baggers at the grocery store still asked if you wanted a paper or plastic "sack" instead of "bag," the waiters at the restaurants asked if you wanted "pop" instead of "soda," and everyone donned red on Saturdays. Some people, in both Maine and Tennessee wonder why I moved to Nebraska, not once, but twice. I can confidently say that coming to UNL not only once, but twice was one of the best decisions I've ever made! I'm part Husker after all.