Success Stories

Success Stories

Every person, and every person’s story, is unique. Yet when you put our students' stories about this year side-by-side, several themes emerge, including tales of perseverance, resilience, ingenuity, and triumph.

From adapting to new ways of learning, to pushing themselves to succeed and making sure to take care of themselves and others, IU Northwest students are thriving together.

Hear from several students about their experiences and how they are not letting a global pandemic slow down the pursuit of their dreams.

Mercedes Andrade, Neuroscience, Class of 2021

Working alongside Assistant Professor of Psychology, Dr. Rutherford, Mercedes recently won an award for her research on how certain substances affect stress pathways in zebrafish. She is thankful for this experience and the support of her professors and fellow student researchers this semester.

Description of the video:

Hi everyone my name is Mercedes and I am majoring in Neuroscience at IU Northwest and so this year i had an opportunity to be a part of the lsamp program  so lsamp is a research program on campus  that works to support  underrepresented students in the stem fields my mentor was Dr. Rutherford  she is both a professor and a researcher from the psychology department our research focus this year was to look at how early life exposure to certain substances could potentially affect our stress response pathway and for that we use zebrafish embryos Anthony Garcia he is also an lsam scholar this year and he worked with Dr. Wang from the Computer Information Systems department and both of us had a research conference a few weeks ago and we ended up winning in our own  divisions which was fantastic and I think both of us did not anticipate to have a  research internship during a pandemic but I think this just goes to show how dedicated and committed IU is to supporting students’ needs as well as their career goals and I know Anthony and I were both very thankful for that.

Ammaar Mohammed, Biology, Class of 2022

Listen as Ammaar shares how he and fellow student club leaders are being creative about bringing fun, engaging, and academically-enriching opportunities to students this semester.

Description of the video:

Hey how you win my name is Amar Muhammad I am a second year Biology major on the Pre-Medicine track I just want to talk about how I am continuing to pursue my goals and continuing to better Indiana University northwest despite this huge roadblock named covete19 that has come in our way as senator of student government as well as being event coordinator for Student Alumni Association COVID 19 has affected both those clubs greatly and one thing we're trying to do is we're trying to maneuver around the roadblock that it is created and it's a tough situation but we're continuingly trying to work harder to accomplish our goals and bypass that roadblock and and get what needs to get done and um in terms of classes I know classes are a lot harder because of um of them being online through Zoom but I encourage all of you guys to stay motivated and one way I’m staying motivated is by taking pride in my abilities to work hard and continue to work hard in such a tough time in my and I feel like my ability to do that is allowing me to be motivated to work even harder and stay on top of all my work so thank you guys so much and stay safe.

Danielle Roeske, Business, Class of 2021

"Busy" must be Danielle's middle name. She attends IU Northwest full-time, owns and manages a hair salon, and is a landlord. Oh, and she's only 22 years old. Needless to say, she's felt the magnitude of COVID-19, but despite it, continues to stay positive recognizing how hard her professors are working to keep her on track to achieve her goal of graduating.

Description of the video:

2020 has been a crazy time for everyone, however at IU Northwest I just want to thank all of my professors for being so giving with their time; the endless zoom calls and emails back and forth. As a Senior year business student this year is extremely crucial for me and I don’t have enough good things to say about how my professors have been handling everything. It’s a very stressful time for everybody but they have not only been very accommodating of my schedule but of my different groups schedule at I just don’t have enough good things to say about all the business professors at IU Northwest.

Paige Wisner, Biology, Class of 2024

Paige could never have predicted starting her first year of college virtually, yet she is loving how different—and better—the experience is than high school eLearning. Hear how Paige remains focused by staying positive and giving back to her hometown schools.

Description of the video:

Hi IUN my name is Paige and I’m a freshman biology major and I just wanted to talk today about the difference of online school from my senior year perspective to collage. So for my senior year obviously only like the second half-ish was online and most or my teacher’s were pretty lenient with our homework, we still had homework and everything but it was a lighter load than college is right now. College being on line, sometimes you have to take it upon yourself if its an all online class to actually learn the material and comprehend what’s going on, some are all zooms and assignment and some were actually in person for me. My online classes we definitely the hardest because you have to have the time management to teach yourself and just really under stand what is going on. It’s really up to you how much you understand with those. Zooms, as long as you attend them, in my opinion, you are ok and doing the assignments was fine. Most of the teachers were super super super good and gave extra help whenever I needed it. Overall it hasn’t been too bad, its been stressful but definitely manageable so if you are in the same boat as me I urge you to keep pushing. Hopefully it will get better and yeah!

Precious Conrad, Social Work, Class of 2022

COVID-19 has not kept Precious from staying on her path to a degree in social work. With the help of her professors and classmates, Precious is thriving. Her key to success: be sure to put aside some time for yourself to unplug and unwind.

Description of the video:

hello everybody my name is Precious Conrad I'm a junior in the Socialwork program um at IU Northwest this semester has been very very difficult with the help of my professors and my um cohorts of friends slash classmates it's been um it's it's been very therapeutic um the professors are very helpful you know due to not having class physically in person you know any time that we have any questions um for the professors they have no problem answering us um you know they're even willing to meet with us via zoom if we have any questions about the assignment that we're struggling with or any papers um the my cohort of classmates classmates friends are are just it's amazing um we help each other to keep each other um on track um we always you know remind each other about papers that are due assignments that are due quizzes that are due just to help each other stay on track because we all have busy lives and with classes all being online sometimes it's easy for one person to forget that an assignment is due so just keeping that friendly reminder for everyone else is really helpful um ways that i help keep myself you know take care of myself is first and foremost I take one day out of the week um sometimes too if I'm feeling generous for myself just to have a me day whether that's just relaxing all day doing nothing or if that's me watching binge watching a show on netflix or on demand on my comcast um those are ways that I keep myself just like woosa um and another thing that I rely on is my planner my planner helps me keep track of all my assignments that are due in papers and quizzes and tests without my planner i honestly don't know what I would do because it's so difficult to try to remember for me all my assignments that are due in the week I hope you guys all stay safe during this pandemic and have a great holiday and holiday break

Neal Govani Biology, Class of 2021

The challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic did not knock Neal down. It did the exact opposite. Neal took advantage of the new ways of learning, adapted, and succeeded. Due to his perseverance, hard work, and dedication from his professors, Neal was recently accepted to five, yes five, dental schools. What a major accomplishment!

Description of the video:

hey iun i'm Neal Govani a senior at iu northwest majoring in biology as a freshman coming into college i realized i needed to be more proactive with my education and to take advantage of the opportunities presented to me following this i currently serve as the vice president of student government association and the president of the national society of leadership and success but value northwest i had become so accustomed to abruptly changed with the covet 19 outbreak as everyone adapted to the virtual setting i personally struggled adjusting my own study habits while this test was difficult at first i adjusted and learned to take advantage of the benefits of remote learning one such advantage includes a flexible schedule which grants me the opportunity to squeeze in assignments and studying throughout my entire day remote learning requires some adjustments at first but i feel the quality of education has remained unchanged if not only improved as now i can dictate my own schedule and focus on areas and lectures that i need more time almost like i'm receiving a custom tailored education and overall iun successfully guided me to receiving multiple acceptances to dental school i'm humbled to say i'll be continuing the iu legacy at the iu school of dentistry

I decided to take online-only classes this semester and thought it was going to be harder than in-person learning. I was very wrong. All of my professors did an amazing job of moving everything online. I’ve decided to take all my classes online next semester, and can’t wait to see what the future holds for me at IU Northwest.

Gavin Gibson, Criminal Justice, Class of 2024