在威尼斯人娱乐城，学生们撰写自己的故事，形成自己对成功的定义，并规划创新的职业道路。 以堪萨斯城为教室，他们每天把梦想变成现实。
艾米丽Shoemake
预期毕业后: 2027
威尼斯人娱乐城学位课程： History
家乡: Troy, Missouri
When 艾米丽Shoemake was looking for colleges, she didn’t have high expectations.
“I had negative preconceived notions about what college would be,” Shoemake said.
作为一名高中生，她看着她的姐姐与癌症作斗争，同时努力获得学位，克服行政障碍，并保持作为学生运动员的奖学金。 这段经历让休梅克和她的家人对她选择的大学是否能兑现通常承诺的支持和社区持怀疑态度。
所以，当她决定去哪里的时候，舒梅克知道她的优先事项。 She and her family toured 威尼斯人娱乐城, where they learned about support programs like 第一总务室, 同行学术领导, Roo健康 and the Raj Bala Agrawal护理中心. It sounded great, but given their experience with her sister’s institution, they were skeptical. 尽管犹豫不决，休梅克还是决定大胆尝试。
“I chose 威尼斯人娱乐城 because they offered more resources than I ever thought I would need,” Shoemake said. “It was my first week when I realized that 威尼斯人娱乐城 intended on following through with their promise to care and help me succeed here.”
Shoemake参与了第一总务室项目，该项目为学生提供编程支持，帮助他们熟悉和适应大学生活。 在第一代项目中，这种支持变得势不可当。
她与项目主管梅根·埃尔森（Megan Elsen）进行了交谈，埃尔森帮助休梅克与Roo健康和咨询服务机构取得了联系。
“They made sure I was okay, which is incredibly comforting,” Shoemake said. “So after that first week and after that day, I think I was able to settle in and adjust and realize that this campus is offering everything that I'm going to need to succeed and focus on my academics.”
她做到了。 舒梅克说，她得到了许多教授的支持，她发现他们平易近人、乐于助人，并致力于帮助她取得成功。
“威尼斯人娱乐城 is one of the only schools that truly delivers on its mission statement,” she said. “I’ve actually been introduced to some contacts in the history department through First Gen about some opportunities with learning more about World War I, and the potential internships, and 出国留学. So there are lots of connections just based through networking and talking about my interest with history.”
In addition to classes, Shoemake has joined 职业生涯自动扶梯, where she’s learned career skills and networked with professionals.
“They've been helping with resumé building and how to come off professional in interviews, whether it be a career fair or things like that,” Shoemake said.
She has also taken part in the 荣誉项目 and student organizations such as 历史俱乐部, where she knew she’d found her crowd from the day she attended the welcome back potluck.
“It felt like for the first time I stepped into a room full of people like me,” Shoemake said. “That evening left me with a sense of home I was not expecting.”
休梅克在第一学期担任了“同伴学术领导”的学生支持专家，现在她正在接受培训，通过成为一名导师来支持其他学生。
She has no plans to slow down: she’s working on two papers she hopes to publish and has signed up for a 出国留学 trip to the Netherlands in the summer to learn about art, culture and history with an itinerary that includes stops at the Van Gogh Museum, Rembrandt Music Museum, concentration camps and Anne Frank's house.
With her first year having exceeded her expectations, Shoemake said she’s proud to be a Roo.
“The people here are what set this apart,” she said. “And if there's one final thing I am proud to say, it's that I am a person at 威尼斯人娱乐城, and I will make a difference.”