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    1. UNG
    2. News

    Hundreds view REACH Georgia event

    February 23, 2022
    Nathalia Ingles, a junior pursuing a degree in communication with a concentration in public relations, was one of those who assisted with the REACH Georgia event for middle and high school students.

    Article By: Denise Ray

    A litany of encouragement, information, and uplifting speeches is how the Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen (REACH) Georgia virtual day began Feb. 17. Middle and high school students, along with their teachers, mentors, and parents, learned about various aspects of attending college.

    Sponsored by the University of North Georgia (UNG), the three-hour event was divided into 30-minute segments featuring UNG staff from admissions, financial aid, and registration.

    REACH Georgia is a needs-based mentoring and scholarship program providing promising students the academic, social, and financial support to graduate from high school and achieve post-secondary success.

    UNG Gainesville, in partnership with REACH Georgia, hosted an in-person event in 2018. Dr. Richard Oates and Shannon Shockley helped us pull the event off at UNG, Jennifer Herring, special assistant to the vice president of UNG's Gainesville Campus, said. She and Sandy Ott, executive director of UNG's Blue Ridge Campus, later realized that a virtual event would provide even more students the critical information they'd been missing. In 2021, the program was held virtually for the first time.

    It was important for me to be part of the day because I wanted to showcase that we are all capable of being leaders.

    Nathalia Ingles

    Junior pursuing a degree in communication with a concentration in public relations

    One way to impart the information was an interactive panel hosted by current college students.

    "The students can tell the REACH scholars about things they wished they had known before entering college," Herring said. "It helped to have the students' perspective."

    Students and faculty members from all five UNG campuses participated in this year's event.

    Nathalia Ingles, a junior pursuing a degree in communication with a concentration in public relations, was one of those who assisted.

    "It was important for me to be part of the day because I wanted to showcase that we are all capable of being leaders," Ingles said. "I also wanted to showcase that part of the college experience is getting involved, which is as easy as finding a club that interests the student, and that opens a lot of doors at UNG."

    One of the event's panels focused on demystifying professors, who many students believe are "big and scary."

    "It's great to see both academic affairs and student affairs wanting to help," Herring said. "Engaging with REACH scholars lets them know they have opportunities and there's a place for them at UNG."

    Ott said response to this year's event was tremendous.

    "We had participants from across the great state of Georgia," Ott said. "The attendees were so engaged and so grateful for the program support from across UNG and from the Georgia Student Finance Commission."

    REACH serves all 180 K-12 school systems across Georgia and funded more than $36 million in scholarships.

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    Cadet earns national leadership scholarship

    Cadet earns national leadership scholarship

    UNG cadet Benjamin Yetman received a leadership scholarship award from the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States.
    1,300 grads honored at commencement

    1,300 grads honored at commencement

    UNG honored more than 1,300 graduates in three commencement ceremonies May 6-7 in the Convocation Center on the Dahlonega Campus.
    Sniffen takes part in Flagship competitions

    Sniffen takes part in Flagship competitions

    Freshman Autumn Sniffen participated in her second Language Flagship Hackathon, an event where Flagship students work on finding ways to use technology to help students learn languages.
    Cadets win ROTC title at Sandhurst

    Cadets win ROTC title at Sandhurst

    UNG's Ranger Challenge team earned a fourth consecutive ROTC championship and took home fourth place overall in the 2022 Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

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