It's hard to believe another year has come and gone already! I’ve been living in Boston since moving here in August of 2022. I’ve continued to work at Edelstein & Company, which is a CPA firm in Boston’s Financial District. More specifically, I work in the health care department. We provide accounting, consulting, and tax services for our clients, which are mainly in the healthcare industry. I love working downtown because it's in close proximity to all the fun things the city has to offer. There are lots of opportunities for things to do after work like concerts, comedy shows, and sporting events. One of my favorites though is to just grab drinks with coworkers. It's only been a little over a year since I began in this position, but I have already progressed in my career. In June I was promoted to senior associate! With this new role I’ve been given more responsibilities and more opportunities for leadership. I’m the “development coach” of three associates now and these associates report directly to me. I train them, help them with their projects as needed, and assist in their professional growth. My job is very dependent on the seasons. We are extremely busy during tax season working long hours. We make up for it in the summer though, when it's not so busy. Our work hours are decreased, and the firm shuts down for the whole week of the fourth of July. I was lucky enough to spend that week on the Vineyard with friends and family. I like living close to home because it's very easy to come back and visit. The community on the Vineyard is very special. I would like to thank MVYouth for all their support in getting me to where I am now. I can’t wait to see what comes next for me.
Meghan Sawyer - Colgate University
What an eventful year! Last May I graduated from Colgate University with a degree in Mathematical Economics. I still cannot believe how quickly the years flew by. I remember my freshman year when I first arrived at Colgate, it was an adjustment. Being away from home for the first time, I was scared, nervous, but excited for what was ahead. Four years later at graduation, I couldn’t help but feel as I did when I arrived. I was scared of leaving behind the wonderful people and places I’ve come to know so well, nervous about what comes next, but excited about all the possibilities the future holds. I came home, unpacked my bags and thought to myself, “Ok, now what?”. I had an incredible summer on the island while I was on the job hunt. Luckily, after a few months I landed a job at an amazing company, and in August I moved to Boston and started my new position. I currently work at Edelstein & Company, a public accounting firm located in Boston’s financial district. I am an associate in the Healthcare department, so I do work for different medical practices and physicians. Since starting I love my job and I love the amazing people I’ve met at Edelstein. Living in Boston has been a dream. I've been exploring all over the city, and I can't wait to continue getting to know Boston. I’ve done a lot of growing since that day when I first arrived at Colgate, and I want to thank MVYouth for supporting me all throughout undergrad.
Meghan Sawyer - Colgate University
I can’t believe my time at Colgate University is now coming to an end. The past three and a half years I’ve spent here have been so wonderful and I can’t express how much I appreciate MVYouth’s support towards my college education. This semester I experienced a much greater return to normalcy compared to last semester's COVID precautions. All my classes were in person and campus was much more lively. One of my favorite classes this semester was one called Natural Resource Economics. I loved learning about economic techniques used to inform environmental policies. This course explored real life problems as we developed mathematical models to solve for optimal ways to allocate and distribute resources. Some examples of problems we discussed include proper water allocation, combating air pollution, oil extraction, and fishery management. I also really enjoyed an astronomy class I took this semester. This class met in the visualization lab, which is a room meant for large-scale visualization. It has a large dome ceiling that projects images of outer space for our viewing and learning. It was an exciting environment to be in, and it altered my perspective of the universe and even our own lives here on Earth. Outside of academics, I’ve been busy participating in a fundraising campaign with my sorority for St. Jude Children's Hospital, and I was also a captain of our club ultimate frisbee team. I’ve been traveling some weekends to places like Saratoga Springs and Ithaca for tournaments. I’ve really enjoyed leading a team because I get to see the improvement of new and current players that I’ve coached first hand. Thank you MVYouth for everything.
Meghan Sawyer - Colgate University
This semester I was fortunate to have the opportunity to live at school and attend classes in-person and online. To ensure it would be a safe learning environment, my university enforced a two week quarantine period upon arrival. Our meals were delivered to us and we attended classes online until the quarantine period ended. I wasn’t totally stuck inside though as we were allotted two periods of outside time a day where we could exercise and escape our rooms. This is my first year as an upperclassman, so I got to enjoy the benefits of living in a university owned apartment with three of my close friends. I found this especially beneficial for the quarantine period as I wasn’t confined to just a dorm room. I also enjoyed having my own kitchen because I spent a lot of my time cooking my own meals and trying new recipes. Covid-19 restrictions hindered a lot of my extracurricular activities, but as restrictions were lifted I was able to return to the things I loved doing like playing ultimate frisbee on the club team with my friends. I had a particularly tough course load this semester, but two of my favorite classes were Games and Strategies and Health Economics. In Games and Strategies I learned about game theory, which is the study of decisions where the best strategy requires taking into account the decisions of others. In Health Economics I learned tools to study health care markets. We learned about social determinants of health, supply and demand of health insurance, hospital competition, comparisons of different health systems in the world, and more. Even with all the covid restrictions I had a great semester, and it gave me a greater appreciation of my university for working so hard to allow the students to come back. I would like to thank MVYouth for their continued financial support throughout my higher education. I am so grateful, and I cannot wait to return to school for the spring semester!
Meghan Sawyer - Colgate University
I had an incredible 3rd semester at Colgate this year! Early in the semester I joined the sorority Delta Delta Delta (Tridelta), and it has been an amazing organization to be a part of. One of the reasons I joined Tridelta was because of their partnership with St. Jude Children’s Hospital. St. Jude provides treatment for children battling cancer at no cost to the family. They are a really great charity and one I was passionate about helping. We have done some fundraising campaigns this year to benefit St. Jude and we have raised over $45,000 dollars so far. I am also on the women’s club ultimate frisbee team, so I’ve spent a lot of time this fall at practice. We compete in tournaments a lot of weekends which has been super fun. Next semester I will be officially declaring my major in mathematical economics, and I will either minor or double major in biology as well. This semester I took microeconomics and linear algebra which were requirements for my major, and I also took a university required class called Legacies of the Ancient World. This wouldn’t be a class I would have normally signed up for, but it was actually interesting as we read and analyzed ancient texts from Plato, Homer, the Bible, the Quran, and many more. Next semester I will be taking Macroeconomics, a Probability course, a course about the middle east, and another biology class. I also recently found out that in the spring semester of 2021 I will be studying abroad in London as part of the Colgate economics study group. I had the best semester yet at Colgate and I would like to thank everyone at MVYouth for making it possible. I can’t express how much your support means to my family and I, and we are so grateful for everything.
Meghan Sawyer - Colgate University
I can’t believe my first semester of college has gone by so quickly. I feel as though I’ve still just moved in. My experience at Colgate so far has been equally amazing and stimulating. At first the adjustment to a college workload was challenging, but I’ve learned how to manage my time and adapt to the higher academic standards. I’ve really enjoyed my classes this semester. My freshman seminar class is a sociology class on popular culture and contested identities in the United States. We examined how ethnicity, race, gender, class, and other social identities shape the production and consumption of popular culture. This class has changed the way I look at culture and entertainment today and throughout our history. I also took chemistry, multi-variable calculus, and a geology and sustainability class called Earth’s Resources.
Going into college I wanted to try new things, so I joined the Ultimate frisbee team. Ultimate frisbee has been a blast, and I’ve enjoyed learning the sport. I spend a lot of time going to practices and playing in tournaments on the weekends. I also joined the Beekeeping Club. Colgate is a fairly small university in a remote location, but they do a great job of bringing events on to campus. This year marked Colgate’s Bicentennial, and they had a huge celebration with fireworks and an Earth, Wind & Fire concert. I’ve been exploring downtown area as well. The town of Hamilton is a super close community and they have a farmer’s market every Saturday in the summer and fall. I’m so grateful to everyone at MVYouth for granting me this incredible scholarship and opportunity. I already can’t wait for my next semester to start, and I know this is the right place for me. Thank you so much!