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A few months ago, I watched as the refugee crisis in Syria flooded my Facebook feed; showing images of children and families dying in an effort to reach safety. I was moved to tears by how much these families would risk to escape the horrible violence of civil war that is currently plaguing their country.

With the spread of Zika virus reaching a highpoint on February 1, 2016 when it was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its association with microcephaly and other neurological disorders, the Priddy Library here at the Universities of Shady Grove (USG) decided we needed to do something.

It would be easy to mistake the Universities at Shady Grove as a flagship public school, with its red-brick buildings and its state-of-the-art labs, library and fitness center. But Shady Grove is a program unlike any other, with nine state universities converging at the Rockville, Md., campus, part of an effort that began 16 years ago to reduce college costs, produce an educated workforce and encourage college completion among populations that traditionally struggle to get their ­degrees.

Your internship preceptors may be the key to landing your first job, so always be prepared. Continue reading →