PASA student thriving as a USC Rossier Dean’s Scholar
Demontea Thompson is in his second year in USC Rossier’s Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs (PASA) program and is a recipient of a new initiative that provides scholarship awards and programming to uniquely qualified master’s students.
Designed to increase the caliber and diversity of USC Rossier’s student population, the Dean’s Scholars Program enables students to pursue careers in public service regardless of their personal financial situations. Thompson is also a recipient of the prestigious USC Norman Topping Scholarship.
What has it meant to receive these two scholarships?
The possibilities are endless when you have the support and guidance of people who care. The support of this community has allowed me to transform into a Trojan who is not afraid to be courageous, talented, scholarly, skillful and ambitious. And these scholarships have allowed me to be among the small percentage of foster youth who are pursuing graduate degrees. I am excited to one day do the same for others.
What have you been able to do?
It’s really amazing how a scholarship can contribute to a person’s character and improves one’s sense of self-efficacy. And they have unlocked many doors for me. They’ve allowed me to conduct research in Japan, present research in Bermuda and serve the aging and disabled in Peru.
Last April, you were selected to speak at TEDxTrousdale, USC’s TED Talks event. What was that like?
I spoke about my student trajectory and expressed my failures as a way to inspire those faced with adversity. I also shared some of my successes to demonstrate that perseverance and passion can often outweigh traditional perspectives. Before ending the talk with an original spoken word piece, I discussed three things students should do to become resilient: First, fail like you’ve never failed before—learn more from your failures than your successes. Second, talk to yourself, encourage yourself; focus on your own goals because you know yourself better than anyone else. And third, duplicate excellence—forge mentorships and don’t take mentors for granted. If I was able to change even one person’s perspective through my talk—to convince just one person to see the light at the end of the tunnel—then I’ve fulfilled my purpose.
How do you see your career unfolding?
I aspire to work within higher education to support marginalized students. I plan to pursue a PhD with a focus on foster youth and homeless students, specifically. I am not shy when it comes to aligning my work with my passion for social justice. I see obtaining a doctorate as a means to influence policy. My postdoctoral plans will be to teach at a program similar to the PASA program at USC Rossier.
The Dean’s Scholars Program enables USC Rossier to compete on equal terms with public peer institutions as it seeks to recruit students of the highest caliber. To support this program, please contact Diana Hernandez, director of development, at dehernan@usc.edu or (213) 740-3499.
To learn more about Demontea Thompson’s journey from foster youth to college graduate, watch this video. His TED talk, “Bend Towards Success,” is available on YouTube.
*Thank you to all of our donors who generously supported USC Rossier during fiscal year 2016 (July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016).
