Vilma Rodrigues-Silva has a world of opportunity ahead of her. The hard part will be choosing what path she ultimately wants to take.
This fifth-year senior is graduating with a major in sociology and a minor in women’s studies. A native of the Cape Verde Islands, she grew up in Bridgeport, Conn. Her next stop will be Stratham, N.H. as part of ‘City Year New Hampshire,’ a program for disadvantaged youth under the auspices of AmeriCorps – the national service program that addresses critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.
Rodrigues-Silva came to UConn as a freshman, confident in her ability to master the university experience. She quickly found she wasn’t quite as well prepared as she thought she was. Despite frequently assuring her parents “everything is fine,” her first year in the classroom presented unaccustomed challenges.
Fortunately, one of her strongest attributes is an iron will to succeed. That, and the fact that she was enrolled in the Student Support Services (SSS) program through the University’s Center for Academic Programs (CAP), turned her around and started her on a path of academic excellence.
CAP programs are designed to assist high-potential students who come from underrepresented ethnic or economic backgrounds and/or are first-generation college students. With peer counseling, group meetings, and a supportive atmosphere, incoming freshmen are guided through what can be a most challenging year.
In Rodrigues-Silva’s case, her personal experience inspired her to become an SSS peer advisor. That led to her current role as senior peer advisor, in which she oversees the 30-member peer advisement team. She has also served as a residential advisor to the students who attend a six-week pre-collegiate summer program sponsored by SSS.
In her spare time, she has also been active with the Husky Sport program, visiting underprivileged children in the Hartford Public School system, and as a student employee at the UConn Alumni Association.
Adding to her already impressive resume, Rodrigues-Silva earned a scholarship to study abroad at the University of Liverpool in the summer of 2008. She was one of two students selected in a national competition to return to England in the summer of 2009 as an intern with the University’s Widening Participation Program.
As an intern, Rodrigues-Silva worked with the unemployed, school dropouts, and young single parents of Liverpool. The program provides outreach and support for re-entry into the British educational system.
Marie McCain, SSS counselor and supervisor of the Peer Education Program recently nominated Rodrigues-Silva for the Student Multicultural Award given by UConn’s Division of Student Affairs. In her nomination letter McCain wrote, “As her SSS counselor, I began working with Vilma in June 2005 … she impressed me from the onset as one focused on academic achievement and personal growth for herself as well as her peers.”
The selection committee agreed with McCain, and Rodrigues-Silva was awarded the Student Multicultural Award for 2010.
As for the future, Rodrigues-Silva is considering an MSW, law school, or perhaps a master of arts in management degree offered by Wake Forest University to students without a traditional undergraduate business background. On the other hand, she says, “What I’d really like to do is establish some sort of program where I could encourage minority and underprivileged kids to do what I did. To think about the future, set goals, and go after their dreams.”
