UT Martin offers opportunities in many different ways, from internships to extra study hours around campus. However, many students find themselves getting lost in a scramble and not taking full advantage of their opportunities.
Organizations like Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) work to help students find these opportunities and use them to the fullest during their time at UT Martin.
The shift from high school to college is very significant, and students find themselves unable to adapt without falling drastically behind. Luke Stepney, MANRRS president and Sophomore Agriculture Business major, spoke on his reasons for wanting to become a part of MANRRS, “Originally being from Chattanooga, I found it very hard for myself to adapt to the changes that college brought and also being away from my family and friends. As I got deeper into my major, I realized that I was not using my resources in the proper ways, and the students around me were doing the same,” he said.
Stepney wanted to find a way to help others beyond just reaching out one-on-one with everyone, “I began to look around and tried to find a group of people who were targeting one specific audience. I quickly realized that everything kept coming to dead ends. If I wanted there to be a change, then I would have to start it myself. I began to lay the groundwork for MANRRS along with reaching out to people within the community.”
MANRRS started as a very small idea that quickly became a bigger organization within UT Martin, helping minority students find all the resources they need. Stepney spoke on events that MANRRS has done over the past semester, “We worked with CPAD, BSA, and MOX to host a resume-building event to help students look more presentable when they are performing a job interview, internship, or a graduate school interview. We had a great turnout and many students left feeling more confident about themselves when it comes to interviews.”
MANRRS also works to send students to leadership conferences all around the United States to help them build lifelong skills that they can take into the workforce with them. Stepney states, “We had a leadership conference this semester where we sent three students representing UT Martin at a regional level to speak about all their experiences and knowledge that they have gained since becoming a UTM student.”
MANRRS has already begun to plan out events for the following spring semester in order to reach out and help more students traverse the landscapes of college along with getting an understanding of who they are as a person. Stepney states, “My goal is to have MANRRS grow as much as possible and be passed down from graduating class to graduating class. I have been working with the E-board to focus on gaining more members and hosting events to connect students with jobs or members who may be able to help them outside of just the UT Martin campus,” Stepney said.
MANRRS is becoming a more well-known organization around campus, and students are becoming more involved with the communities they are in separately. Stepney states, “MANRRS growth has been amazing in such a short time and has helped many students already. As a student, it is your responsibility to find an issue and try to find an answer to combat it. If you can not find an immediate answer, then create your own. Be the change that you want to see!”
