Shurney sitting in his office The Xavierite
Right before summer, TRIO, one of Saint Xavier’s student support programs, hired a new specialist—Melone Shurney. As someone who’s a part of TRIO, I thought it only natural to introduce Shurney to those who have yet to meet him.
TRIO is a program meant to provide support for first-generation, low-income, and or disabled students. They have a team of specialists who offer individualized support to students, like Shurney.
In an interview with Shurney, he explained why he joined the community here at SXU, along with his experience as a TRIO specialist.
Shurney shared that he previously worked in other sectors of education, ranging from elementary to high school, and that he came to SXU after no longer feeling fully fulfilled through his previous work.
“I kind of out-grew the day to day operations of working in primary, middle, and high school. I wanted to transition to a space where I could support young adults and basically help them transition into the professional world,”he said.
After hearing this response, I wondered how his experience had been since joining TRIO as a specialist. In response, Shurney smiled and shared his various experiences, namely lessons he learned and interactions with students.
He stated, “I would have to definitely say you can’t assume just because college students are young adults that they have it all together or they know everything.”
Shurney elaborated, “they still need actual support. They still need guidance and they still need help, you know, maneuvering and navigating through new things, if that makes sense.”
In regards to his experience at TRIO as a whole, Shurney emphasized that the students within the program accepted him warmly.
“I love it (here). Everybody has welcomed me with open arms at this point. Like, I really feel like we’re like a small community on campus, but we’re also a family. We all support each other. We have fun together. Each day somebody comes and (you know) you’re gonna get some type of positive vibe, no matter who you come across going into this office.”
I wanted to dig deeper on Shurney’s experience within TRIO, so I asked him to describe any notable stories he had to share. He was eager to share a few, including several “Uno wars” and mini competitions amongst the students.
“We recently just had a bulletin board war, that was pretty fun with our three committees … I loved it like the bulletin wars were fun and I just love the competitive spirit we had when we all played Uno in the office.”
Focusing more on Shurney, I asked him to share some things about himself that may let others get to know more about him as a person.
“I would want people to know that anything I do, I give it 100% effort. I’m always trying to stay ahead of the curve, so I like to be a very informative person. I’m always reading, always paying attention to new trends; whether it’s the world of business, technology, or just higher ed itself. I’m always looking for that thing that’s coming next so I can stay on top of things in order to be prepared and be able to maneuver—like as you can see I’m 33 years old, but at the same time like I’m still hip to what’s going on today and I could still relate to every student that comes across my path.”
In closing our interview, I asked him to share a few words of advice for the students here at SXU that may be reading.
He made it a point to state that following one’s intuition is absolutely vital.
“I would definitely say always follow your heart and make your own decisions, like do what you want to do with your life because you don’t want to get to that age where you’re living off everybody else’s word or doing everything that your parents told you to do and things of that nature.”
Shurney also stated that it is important to follow your dreams, no matter what.
“If you have a dream, pursue that dream. Even if people laugh at it, even if people say like, ‘oh, that’s not going to make you any money’. Block all external noises and do what’s best for you. (Because) at the end of the day, we all have our own lives.”
After my interview with Shurney, I spoke with a few students in TRIO who had a few words to share about him.
Lino Perez, who is a current sophomore and peer mentor at TRIO, had this to say, “He’s a very passionate person that always helps (the) students. He enjoys meeting new students and is a confident person.”
Another student, Demetrius Blue, who is also a peer mentor at TRIO, stated, “Melone always does a great job of listening to student’s needs.”
After speaking with students and speaking with Shurney myself, I can attest he is an absolutely vital member of not only TRIO, but the SXU community as a whole. I believe that he is a welcome addition to the community and I am sure that all those who encounter him would feel the same.