NSPE::Mimi Clitus
Myrianne Clitus
I’m Mimi, a non-traditional student from the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY entering my third semester at Milano/GPIA. I’m pursuing a M.S. in Nonprofit Management and a Certificate in Organizational Change Management. I have also been conducting research for the Social Justice Initiatives for a month. Before amassing ten years of workforce development experience moving within the nonprofit sector, I taught test preparation skills and remedial skills to H.S students for two years. I learned the skills I needed with adults in the workplace were the same skills I needed to deal with younger high school-aged children in the classroom. I decided to go back to school when I realized there was very little difference between my aspirations and those of the people I had worked to serve over the years. I couldn’t just keep talking about progress to them. It had become time for me to as well.
Since coming to Milano/GPIA I’ve collaborated with and befriended other students in a way that has only enriched my experience. Regardless of the differences between people, I’ve recognized we want to be appreciated and acknowledged, not despite of those differences but also because of them. I’m learning while experience is something to be respected, it doesn’t necessarily foster creativity, compassion, or allow opportunities for individuals to develop fervent character and harness their potential. Experience and Inexperience are both great teachers. Without passion, patience, a willingness to cooperate and a willingness to meet people where they are, we run the risk of burning out with or without experience. The Real World is right here at TNS. I hope to join you in connecting more with like-minded students and in developing and advancing your own agendas. For this reason, I would consider it an honor to work with you as a student senator.