IPie MmedlM Me/mld
March 22, 2017
Meredith Creates Time Capsule to Be Opened 50 Years From Now
what's Inside?
Emma Gomes, Staff Writer
Compressed into a bucket-sized time capsule, over 40 valuable
Items wait to be unearthed by Meredith Angels 50 years down the line.
With the heip of Dr, Daniel Fountain, Carrie Nichols, and Meredith’s
SGA, a variety of memorabilia from the 2015-2016 school year was
placed into the time capsule in commemoration of Meredith’s 125th
Anniversary. Among these items were photographs, letters from current
students to future students, a video compilation of students and faculty
members speaking about their hopes and dreams for Meredith’s
future, articles from The Meredith Flerald, and digital images of both
the historical marker that stood at the entrance of Meredith’s campus,
as well as photos of the new marker. In 2067, the unveiling of these
artifacts will be intriguing for some and emotional for others.
Is There Another Capsule Hidden?
Carolina Brust, Staff Writer
A senior member of the Centennial Committee previously
recalled there being another time capsule, which led the committee to
search for evidence to prove its existence,
Fiowever, other members from the centennial committee
report no memory of any capsule to begin with. Additionally, there was
no record of the supposed capsule in the archives or any campus
publications.
For those who continue to believe in the mystery. Dr. Fountain
offers the following advice:
“Keep hope alive. Keep your eyes on the ground for areas of
erosion. If you believe, good luck finding records.’’ Fie adds, “I’d love to
hear from you.’’
Leslie Arreaza: Resilient Student Writer
Morgan Whithaus, Op-Ed Editor
Attending
a high school
where the default
mindset for
seniors was that
college is not a
viable option,
sophomore
Leslie Arreaza
clearly defies
that mentality.
With the
help of a high
school counselor
who pushed her
older brother to
attend college,
Arreaza attended
community
college before
transferring to
Meredith, Due to
this counselor’s
impact on her
life, as well as a
peer mentoring
program she
participated
in during
high school,
Arreaza is
now studying psychology with
hopes of becoming a high school
psychologist or counselor.
Displaying resilience,
Arreaza has worked hard to
get herself to Meredith. Before
attending Meredith, she spent
most of her time, when she was
not working at Starbucks, studying
for her classes at community
college. She also became a
medical translator, since she
speaks both English and Spanish
fluently.
Additionally, Arreaza has
been named a scholar through the
Golden Door Scholars program,
which promotes economic mobility
for undocumented students and
invests in education and career
access for high-performing
undocumented students. Without
the Golden Door program, it would
have been incredibly difficult for
her to attend Meredith because as
an undocumented immigrant, she
is not eligible for in-state tuition
and federal and state funding such
as the Federal Pell Grant and
the North Carolina Need-Based
Scholarship that some students at
Meredith benefit from.
Although Arreaza is an
undocumented immigrant, which
means that she does not have
a legal right to be in the United
States, she does qualify for
Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA). DACA gives
certain eligible undocumented
immigrants who came to the
United States before the age of 16
two years’ relief from deportation,
according to Nolo.com.
It is not a path to
permanent U.S. residency and
it is only temporary, but DACA
makes it much more feasible
for an undocumented student
to receive a higher education
than an undocumented student
without DACA. (There have
been indications that the Trump
Administration may cancel the
program, but no decisions have
been made yet.)
“Being an immigrant, to
me, means not taking for granted
the opportunities that America
has to offer: I worked hard, ail
through school, to prove myself
and to show my classmates that
I was as American as they were,”
Arreaza writes in an article recently
featured in the News & Observer.
“Amid the violence and uncertainty
of postwar Guatemala, I had
dreamed simply of going to school
without fear.”
Besides having her article
featured in the News & Observer,
Arreaza also posts her writing
on Medium, an open platform
site, and was recently selected
to be a contributing writer for The
Fluffington Post. She believes that
writing helps her to best educate
others about undocumented
immigration because she can
easily reach a large audience.
“I believe that for a lot
of the issues we have, not just
regarding immigration, but
regarding
everything, the
problem is that
people tend
to look at us
[immigrants] as
numbers and
not as people,”
Arreaza said. “So
the moment that
they start looking
at us as people,
that’s when
[discrimination
and stereotypes]
stop.”
Aside from
writing, Arreaza
also enjoys
spending her
time at Meredith
by participating
in community
service and
advocating off-
campus. She
is an active
participant in
Angeles Latinas
where she is
thinking about
running for office in the future,
and she also helped co-found
the new Immigrants and Refugee
Club on campus. She is currently
serving as the vice president of the
organization.
As a force to be reckoned
with, Arreaza is determined to
reach her goals and to continue
to advocate for undocumented
immigrants and their rights.
“Young immigrants like
me, who were raised in America
and identify as American, are
called DREAMers for a reason:
it’s because we’re marked by our
dreams, our ambitions and our
determination to make a positive
difference in our communities,”
Arreaza writes. “We love our
country, and now it’s time for our
country to take action, and help us
to keep our dream alive.”
Arreaza’s News & Observer
article can be found at http://www.
newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/
article 134136404. html.