Flourish In Your First Year
The FLOURISH program provides critical tools for first year graduate students to succeed and thrive beginning in the first year and throughout their graduate school experience.
Objectives of the FLOURISH program:
- Introduce students to the elements of a transformative graduate education,
- Develop learning and academic skills for the graduate level,
- Create a sense of belonging and community, academically and socially,
- Equip students with agency to navigate academic, administrative, and professional development resources, and
- Promote a student’s self-awareness and understanding of a healthy, sustainable graduate lifestyle/experience.
Upcoming Events Spring 2026
Envisioning Your Year
Join fellow CGU first year students for a vision board and community building workshop. First year students will have the opportunity to learn the importance of outlining goals for the year and create their own vision boards as a reminder of what they aim to accomplish over the next 12 months! This event is fully in-person, and vision board materials will be provided!
Date: Thursday, January 22, 2026
Time: 12:00pm-4:00pm
Location: OSE House
Building Advising Relationships
The Flourish in your First Year program invites you to join in conversation with your CGU faculty advisors to learn more about building advising relationships! Learn how to navigate your academic journey, connect with mentors, and maximize your graduate experience from esteemed faculty. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to start your graduate career on the right foot!
Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Time: 12:00pm-1:30PM Pacific time
Location: Burkle 12
FYE Building Advising Relationships
FYE Financial Aid 102: Navigating Your Finances in Graduate School
Navigating the financial aspects of graduate school can prove challenging. In this session, our Financial Aid team will discuss methods by which you can manage your personal finances while enrolled at CGU. Join us for an interactive session exploring budgeting tips and strategies that will help make each dollar go farther.
Date: Friday, February 6, 2026
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm Pacific time
Location: Zoom!
Financial Aid 102: Money Management in Graduate School
Elevating your Academic Presentations: Canva 101
Are you looking to create engaging presentations? Need flyers for a club event or to promote your student organization? Join the Office of Student Engagement to learn about the basics of Canva! This workshop will cover templates, branding, engaging tools, special features and more! Finding creative methods to present and promote your work will be a vital skill in the graduate school setting and future work endeavors.
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm Pacific time
Location: Burkle 24
Canva 101: Elevating Your Academic Presentations
FYE Research 102: Utilizing Library Tools
Jumpstart your academic success with this essential introduction to research tools and resources offered by Research Libarian, Nazia Islam. Designed specifically for first-year graduate students, this hands-on workshop will walk you through how to effectively access scholarly databases, search for peer-reviewed articles, manage citations, and navigate library services. Whether you’re preparing for your first research paper or looking to sharpen your skills, you’ll leave with practical tips and strategies to make the most of what the library has to offer.
Date: Thursday, March 26, 2026
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm Pacific time
Location: Zoom!
End of Year Celebration
Congratulations on completing your first year! Join FLOURISH in Your First Year to celebrate your peers, yourself, and all your achievements throughout your first year at CGU. What you have taken on this past year is no small feat and we encourage you to recognize what you have accomplished so far! Refreshments will be provided. Sign up and share with your friends
Date: Friday, April 24, 2026
Time: 5:00pm-7:00pm Pacific time
Location: Harper Courtyard
Check out our Flourish in Your First Year Spring 2022 Edition
Check out our Flourish in Your First Year Fall 2021 Edition
First Year Student Spotlights
We asked first year students who participated in our FLOURISH program to provide some information about their background and course of study at CGU, what led them to choose CGU for their graduate studies, any challenges they faced in their first year, advice they are willing to share with other incoming first-year students, and any extra-curricular hobbies they are engaged in. We hope sharing their experience helps you identify ways in which you can navigate your first year at CGU.
Hi, my name is Kareem Powell, and I am a current STEM MBA student with a concentration in Information Technology Management. My experience at Claremont Graduate University (CGU) has been nothing short of transformative, thanks to an incredible community that has supported my professional and academic growth.
In my first year at CGU, I had the pleasure of participating in the First Year Experience (FYE) program. The FYE program, offered by the Office of Student Engagement, provides first-year students with an immersive and engaging “outside-the-classroom” learning experience. The program provides new students with useful information on various school resources, through newsletters and events. The program also offers developmental learning sessions through workshops that teach practical skills, such as the “FYE Financial Literacy Workshop”.
The First Year Experience program provides a fun and engaging way for students to fully immerse themselves in the graduate student experience. It also provides students with the opportunity to network, while building community, through events that comprise of students, faculty and staff.
As a new student, moving into a new place comes with a lot many challenges but thank you to the staff at OSE and SLDL, they helped me smoothly delve into grad school through events like Ask-me pop-up where we could interact with our peers and seek professional dexterity by involving in different departments.
Also, events like THRIVE are a great initiative to help new students connect with the alumni network and the leaders in the corporate domain which aided in graphing my process at CGU. Moreover, the staff at OSE have been very supportive towards welcoming students and guiding them with their expertise on how to channel through the semester focusing on mental health, for better academic and professional development. I would highly recommend any new student to connect and speak with mentors and the staff as the process can be overwhelming and dealing with multiple things can be a bitter-sweet experience yet, they will all be worth enriching in the end.
My first year at CGU has flown by, but the connections and experiences I’ve gained over the past year are unforgettable. I’d like to extend a special shout-out to the CGU staff, faculty, and colleagues for contributing to these valuable memories and achievements. I’ve been working at OSE as a Graduate Assistant (GA) for almost a year, and my initial interaction with the team remains a cherished memory. Student Support Specialists are often the first people that newly admitted students meet during their registration process, typically in a pre-advising session. I arrived in Claremont a few weeks after the start of the first semester, making the catch-up process quite overwhelming. Thankfully, the staff at both OSE and SLDL were incredibly supportive, helping me adapt quickly to life at school and in Claremont.
My role as a GA at OSE has provided me with numerous opportunities to connect with a diverse group of people at CGU. If I hadn’t worked there, I would have missed out on meeting the wonderful faculty, staff, and students, as well as participating in some fantastic school events. I’m extremely grateful for these connections and experiences, and I also appreciate the staff from other school resources who have been supportive.
I greatly admire the Student Support Specialists at OSE for their dedication to supporting CGU students. It’s been amazing to witness their passion firsthand. Behind the scenes, they consistently put tremendous effort into helping CGU students thrive academically. While it’s bittersweet for me to move on to the next phase of my career, I want to assure you that the OSE staff will always be there for you. They genuinely care and are always willing to assist, just as they did for me.
Jacqueline “Jacky” Sanchez, pursuing her PhD in English, comes to CGU after completing her MA at La Sierra Univeristy. She teaches first-year composition.
What are your career goals after graduating?
“I’ve never made the habit of picking only one absolute goal because I felt that it might keep me from other opportunities. As of right now, I love teaching. I didn’t know I liked teaching until I began as a graduate student. My goal is to continue teaching but expand the types of classes I teach. I can’t wait to teach a class about Gothic literature, media adaptations, or Victoria literature. I also have a desire to get more involved with non-profits. For a brief time, I worked at a non-profit emergency homeless shelter, and it taught me a lot of things. I hope to find ways to combine the two.”
What are some of your favorite things to do outside of school?
“Now more than ever, my favorite is visiting the beach. Not because I’m a good swimmer or anything, but because sometimes I just need to absorb as much sun as I can. My other favorite thing to do is paint with my nephew; again, not because I’m good, but because we have a great time making fun of each other’s skills’.”
What advice would you give an incoming first-year student?
“My first semester kicked my butt. And that’s okay because it got me ready to kick the second semester’s butt. My advice to any student is taking it one day at a time. If you can’t finish something, if the workload just feels like too much, if imposter-syndrome is hitting hard, or if you just can’t get out of a funk, just start again tomorrow.”
Elizabeth “Beth” Allen has worked in the television industry for about 20 years, she joined grad school as she enjoys learning about neuroses of psychology and what makes people mentally ill but what she enjoys most is how do people flourish. Currently, she is interested in researching the intentions and what motivates somebody to seek help.
Beth likes that people are using positive psychology intervention to deal with things like depression, anxiety, and phobias. She says that it hasn’t been easy to transition to a grad student life, but she believes in tackling one thing at a time. Her suggestion for students is to interact with people from different cultures and ages, as she believes it is rewarding to learn from them.