Students on the Move | May 2024
Congrats to Oscar Maguina Lazo, a first-year mechanical engineering technology major. He is headed to Croatia where his coursework will focus on his minor, business administration. Last summer he was also studying—taking part in the DDI Summer Experience program on the Henrietta campus.
Another first-year student, Damarley Barrett, will spend his summer in an internship program at Yale University. It is made possible through the New Haven Promise program-a link he has kept since high school in Connecticut. Barrett is very active with a variety of clubs here and is the incoming vice president for the RIT chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. (NSBE)
That’s a wrap! MCAS student employee, Laylah Vital, fourth-year management information systems major, showed her creative skills by creating a video with closed captioning about Men of Color, Honor and Ambition (MOCHA) and Women of Color, Honor and Ambition (WOCHA) at RIT. The one year leadership development programs provide a variety of initiatives for students through monthly meetings and workshops. In the video, students share their experiences with one of those: the Dale Carnegie program. The video is being utilized as a promotional tool while the MOCHA/WOCHA application process is underway.
Sharing his voice. Another MCAS student employee, Jaelin Vernon, created a zine this semester. He is a third-year art and design student. His publication is entitled The PWI Survival Handbook “Voices Amplified: Empowering Students of Diverse Backgrounds in PWI Spaces.” Check out his self-published work here.
We are proud of you! There is a lot of good news to share about CSTEP/LSAMP/McNair students this month. Congratulations to each of you.
Mya Soto, third-year biochemistry major and a member of both McNair and CSTEP, is one of four RIT students recently inducted into a national honor society associated with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). When asked, Soto shared, “This is a competitive process, and the selection progress is quite rigorous.” According to ASBMB, eligible students must demonstrate high achievement in academics, undergraduate research, and science outreach. Thirty-one students nationwide were inducted into the ASBMB Honor Society (ΧΩΛ) this year. Soto attended ASBMB’s annual meeting along with three others; third-year biomedical sciences major Tahaara Gazali, a McNair Scholar and CSTEP/LSAMP member; fourth-year chemistry major Gabriela Gonzalez: McNair Scholar, CSTEP/ LSAMP member and fourth-year biochemistry major Nico Burgado, a member of CSTEP / LSAMP.
James Walter Campbell, McNair Scholar, CSTEP member and a third-year psychology major traveled to the PAX East conference in Boston this March to present his research and was a panelist along with his faculty mentor, Celeste Sangiorgio for the talk, “And Now, Kiss: Learning about Intimacy from Romancing, Dating Sims, and Otome Games.” Campbell showcased his dating sim game designed to teach healthy relationships and beliefs. The research project was funded by CSTEP.
Look who is headed to graduate school! Jay Hemby: McNair Scholar, fourth-year psychology major, accepted into MA program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Gallaudet University; Andy Gonzalez: McNair Scholar, CSTEP member, LSAMP member, fourth-year physics major, accepted into the Physics and Biology in Medicine PhD program at UCLA with an institutional fellowship and will start his program in Fall 2024.Gabriela Gonzalez: McNair Scholar, CSTEP member, LSAMP member, fourth-year chemistry major, accepted into the Chemistry PhD program at Duke University and will start her program in July. She received a Teaching Assistantship as well as an additional scholarship from Duke.
Several CSTEP/LSAMP/McNair students were honored recently with Student Leadership Awards by the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement. Halley Deme, CSTEP member, second year, biotech and molecular bioscience received the Alfred L. and Ruby C. Davis Scholarship & Joseph T. Ferraro Memorial Scholarship; Ethan Feldman, McNair Scholar and fourth-year MIS major, received the Excellence in Student Life Award; graduate student Aedan Frank, CSTEP member and MBA Business Administration major was honored with the Excellence in Student Life Award; Guerline Guerrier, CSTEP/ LSAMP member and a third-year biomedical sciences major received the Alfred L. and Ruby C. Davis Scholarship; Jay Hemby, McNair Scholar, fourth-year psychology major, received the Legacy Leader Award; Sarah Hong, McNair Scholar, CSTEP member and a third-year Nutritional Sciences major received the Alfred L. and Ruby C. Davis Scholarship and the Isaac L. Jordan Sr. Endowed Scholarship, Cindy Lam, McNair Scholar and fifth-year physician assistant major was honored with the Legacy Leader Award and earlier this semester, was awarded the Dr. Penny Kris- Etherson Endowment, courtesy of the College of Health Sciences and Technology. Oluwajedalo Makindipe, LSAMP member and second-year civil engineering technology major, received the Alfred L. and Ruby C. Davis Scholarship ,Buyi Owo-Odusi, a third-year biomedical sciences major and McNair Scholar, LSAMP member, received the Alfred L. and Ruby C. Davis Scholarship, Edwil Philippe, LSAMP member, fourth-year electrical engineering technology received the Walls Olsen Memorial Scholarship and Jaharie Waterman-Jordan: CSTEP member, LSAMP member and a fourth-year robotics engineering technology major received the Alfred L. and Ruby C. Davis Scholarship.