Milton Hershey School Residential Education Professional, Alumna Inspired by Influence of Houseparents

By Quad Abdul-Aziz ’15, MHS Transitional Living Assistant

I came to MHS in fifth grade so I was here from the ages of 10 to 18. My houseparents played a huge role in my development and where I am now. They are the example of who we want to be when we grow up. I know students at MHS sometimes don’t have a healthy example to follow so houseparents are there to model that.

Student-to-staff relationships with houseparents become friend relationships. I am best friends with my houseparents now as I’m working in the TL program at MHS. It’s pretty awesome. They helped me move into college all four years.

These role models have so much strength to be able to do what they do. They’re warm and loving. They’re the ones you go to when you need advice even with my current role in TL. I can talk to them about challenges and how to best work through situations with my students. I want to be that caring person for my own students as well as an alumna.