{"id":205070,"date":"2013-09-27T09:54:56","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T13:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=205070"},"modified":"2023-09-25T09:58:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T13:58:05","slug":"neag-school-undergrad-student-leader-believes-in-community-involvement-and-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/09\/neag-school-undergrad-student-leader-believes-in-community-involvement-and-giving-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Neag School Undergrad Student Leader Believes in Community Involvement and Giving Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senior Justis Lopez expected the\u00a0Neag School of Education<\/a>\u00a0to show him how to become a social studies teacher. He did not expect it to shape him into a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the many things I\u2019ve learned is how important it is to learn about yourself and find your own identity\u2014how \u00a0important it is to know what you can bring to the table to impact the world,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

A Manchester, CT native, Lopez\u2019s transformative journey began in 2010 when, as a freshman, he became a member of the\u00a0Leadership Learning Community<\/a>, one of 17 undergraduate learning programs run by Student Support Services that allow those with similar interests to live and take classes together, as well as to take part in group team-building activities, community service and other projects.<\/p>\n

It was in this community, Lopez said, that he began to more clearly see his talents and potential. Among other abilities, he learned he was a strong and energetic program organizer, as well as a comfortable public speaker. Indeed, he became the first-ever freshman to serve as master of ceremonies of the Asian Nite event that packs the Jorgensen Center for Performing Arts with students, parents, friends and others\u2014an experience Lopez remembers as \u201cthrilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Justis<\/a>Since then, Lopez has emceed, organized and hosted a variety of other events, including various Learning Community kick-offs and campus-wide talent shows, homecomings, lip syncs and poetry slams. \u00a0His involvement in the Leadership Learning Community and UConn overall only deepened when he became a residential assistant and began the dual work of helping new students adjust to college life \u00a0and creating student leadership programs. The latter allowed him to work with many within the larger community, including ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my roles at UConn helped shaped who I am today, whether being a student, a mentor, an emcee or a residential assistant,\u201d said Lopez, who spent part of this past summer in Europe as part of UConn\u2019s Global Educators Study Abroad program that provides students with a first-hand account of how Europeans experienced World War II. It included time in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin, where among other sites they visited Nazi headquarters.<\/p>\n

According to Neag Associate Professor Alan Marcus, trip organizer and one of Justis\u2019 favorite professors, \u201cOn our trip to Europe to visit WWII historic sites and museums Justis started each day with the words \u2018I can\u2019t believe we are here, I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m standing where \u2026\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0He was like a sponge absorbing new ideas and new perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trip provided Justis with the opportunity to see historic events from a more global perspective which he is now using to be a more effective social studies teacher,\u201d continued Marcus.<\/p>\n

The first member of his family to attend college, Lopez\u2019s dedication to service and excellence led to him being selected for the Leadership Legacy Experience, a year-long enhancement program that allows 14 exceptional students to build on their college experiences and prepare to become lifelong leaders.<\/p>\n

Marcus is impressed with how Justis has become one of the most dynamic student leaders on campus. \u201cHe not only leads by running events and enthusiastically participating in activities, he leads by modeling. He is also a good listener and is open to ideas and perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a transformational leader in that he provides leadership that improves the lives of others, but also modifies his ideas and actions in response to others\u2019 needs and feedback,\u201d said Marcus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so thankful to everyone who helped me get where I am today,\u201d said Lopez, adding that he\u2019s looking forward to the day when he can give students some of the same opportunities he received. \u201cI\u2019m excited to become a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior Justis Lopez expected the\u00a0Neag School of Education\u00a0to show him how to become a social studies teacher. He did not expect it to shape him into a leader. \u201cOne of the many things I\u2019ve learned is how important it is to learn about yourself and find your own identity\u2014how \u00a0important it is to know what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":205071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2455],"class_list":["post-205070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-10 03:31:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205072,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205070\/revisions\/205072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/205071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205070"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=205070"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=205070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}