Tag Archives: 2021 Senior Awards

Shawn Eapen Abraham

Shawn Eapen Abraham '21 (CSI)
Shawn Eapen Abraham ’21 graduated from the College of Staten Island with a B.S. in Information Systems & Informatics, a B.S. in Economics, a B.S. in Business and a minor in Business Data Analytics.

For the past four years, Shawn served as Macaulay Scholars Council class representative and was VP for two years. He was elected as a CSI Student Government Senator. Shawn was appointed as a Commissioner to the CSI SGA and served as a member of CUNY’s University-wide Student Senate. He also served as VP to the Information Systems Club and Treasurer of the Finance Club. Shawn is a member of the Sigma Beta Delta honor society and Omicron Delta Epsilon honor society. From Merrill Lynch to UAU, Shawn interned at various organizations and firms.

Shawn currently serves as Secretary of the Staten Island Young Republicans Club and is a member of the Richmond County Republican Committee. Shawn has worked in various campaigns on the city, state, and federal levels of government.

This Summer, Shawn will be studying abroad at the London School of Economics. Upon his return, Shawn will be pursuing his Masters in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences at Columbia University.

Christine Chow

Christine Chow '21 (Brooklyn)

Christine Chow ’21 is a Chemistry and Psychology double major. She was the Macaulay Scholars Council Brooklyn College Class of 2021 Representative during her 4 years at Macaulay Honors College. She served on the Academic Affairs Committee from 2017 to 2019, and on the IT/Communications Committee from 2019 to 2021. Christine is also the recipient of the Brooklyn College Presidential Scholarship and the Peter F. Vallone Scholarship.

In Summer 2015, she became a Research Intern with the Hu Group at CUNY College of Staten Island, where she eventually published her work in a Polymer magazine in Summer 2019. From 2014 to 2019, she served as a patient care volunteer every summer at the NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Currently, she works as a Medical Assistant in an oncology/hematology medical office, where she started as a Medical Scribe in Summer 2020. She also volunteers with the Myanmar American Medical Education Society to provide free healthcare to immigrants in New York. In the future, Christine plans to apply to medical schools after taking a gap year.

Dylan Senkiw

Dylan Senkiw '21 (John Jay)

Dylan Senkiw ’21 is a Political Science and Computer Science double major. He is currently a judicial intern for the Office for Justice Initiatives in the New York State Unified Court System under the Honorable Judge Edwina Mendelson. He is a four-year representative on the Macaulay Scholar’s Council and a four-year member of the John Jay NCAA Men’s Volleyball team.

Dylan spent Summer 2018 in the Baltics where he studied Russian writers en route to the West. The following Summer he studied in Moscow, Russia, focusing on the politics, economic system, role of oil and advanced technologies, demographics, and mass media. During Spring 2019 he interned with the State Department at the United States Mission to the United Nations, focusing on negotiations within the UN General Assembly on economics, technology, and sustainable development. In Fall 2020, he volunteered with the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center to facilitate access to critical services to NYC residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic. After graduation, Dylan will attend Duke University for a Master’s of Public Policy.

Urooj Khan

Urooj Khan '21 (Hunter)

Urooj Khan ’21 is a Psychology major with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience and an English minor. Currently, she works as a Patient Care Associate at MiDoctor Urgent Care where she started in Summer 2020. She assists in patient outreach, registration, and assistance in setting up COVID-19 testing and vaccine appointments.

In Fall 2017, she joined Macaulay’s newspaper, the Macaulay Messenger as the Opinions Editor and has served as the Co-Editor in Chief for the past 2 years. She also contributed creative writing pieces to the 67th Street Scribe. In Spring 2018, she started volunteering through the C.A.R.E. geriatric program at the Mount Sinai ED. In Fall 2018, she started work as a Clinical Research Intern at the World Trade Center Health Research Program at the Icahn School of Medicine where she conducted health phone screens and assisted in the neuroimaging study. She has served as the President of the Hunter Society of Bioethics and Medicine, President of the Macaulay STEM Society, and Secretary of the Psychology Club. In the future, she plans on attending medical school.

Teona Pagan

Teona Pagan '21 (Baruch)

Teona Pagan ’21 is a Communication Studies Major with a concentration in International and Intercultural Studies. Currently, she is a Policy & Research Associate at the Center for Strategic Solutions (CSS) at the NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools where she started as an Assistant Research Scientist in January of 2020. She is also the recipient of the 2021 Baruch Women`s Committee Award and the Elias Schonberger `42 Student Leadership Award.

In January of 2019, Teona became a Research Intern at the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ). During this year, she co-authored two reports released by CEJ that illuminated the urgent need for culturally responsive curriculum in NYC public schools. At Baruch she held many titles, including First Year Seminar Peer Mentor, Secretary of the Black Student Union and Honors Program Ambassador.

Teona’s future looks very promising as she is excited to continue ensuring that she does the work necessary to disrupt and dismantle the inequities within her spheres of influence.

Shilpa Shaju

Shilpa Shaju '21 (City)

Shilpa Shaju ’21 is a Political Science and International Studies major with a minor in Legal Studies.  She currently works as a legal assistant at The Law Firm of Moumita Rahman. She served as the President of the Macaulay Pre-Law Club and as the Secretary of the CCNY International Studies Club as well. She has been selected to be the Salutatorian of the CCNY 2021 graduating class and will be additionally attending UC Hastings Law School in the coming fall.

Sebastian Leung

Sebastian Leung '21 (Lehman)

Sebastian Leung ’21 is a Political Science major at Lehman. During his Freshman year, Sebastian became very involved with Macaulay, joining the Scholars Council and interning at Macaulay as a Career Development Intern. This internship continued through his second year, and he also became VP of Student Life for the Scholars Council.

After his sophomore year, Sebastian became a Summer Legal Intern at Duane Morris, a law firm in NYC. The position allowed him to interact with lawyers and clients on a daily basis, and showed him what the routine of an attorney might be. This opportunity solidified Sebastian’s plans to attend law school and pursue a career as a future lawyer.

Throughout his college career, Sebastian spent time volunteering for and leading extracurricular organizations. This included helping to coach a Junior Robotics team for underprivileged children, and leading a cycling club for youth.

Upon graduation, Sebastian will be attending Fordham Law School, where he hopes to further his education in the legal field and eventually work for a law firm in NYC.

Romario Ricketts

Romario Ricketts '21 (Lehman)

Romario Ricketts ’21 graduated summa cum laude from Macaulay at Lehman College with a B.A. in Political Science in December 2020. The Macaulay Bridge Scholar currently works as an Account Coordinator for Issue Advocacy at BerlinRosen, focusing on human rights, global health equity, and reproductive justice.

At Macaulay, Romario served as the Publicity Coordinator for the Pre-Law Club and secured communications internships at the ACLU and Brennan Center for Justice, where he provided strategic media support for the organizations’ litigation, legislative and advocacy efforts across a broad range of policy issues, including voting rights, criminal justice reform, and immigration. In his final semester, he served as a Communications Intern for Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Eric L. Adams, where he contributed to speech writing and media monitoring.

The Jamaican native and first-generation college student is passionate about working with underserved populations and plans to pursue a career in public interest law.

Robin Tainsh

Robin Tainsh '21 (Brooklyn)

Robin Tainsh ’21 is a History major and a Theater minor at Brooklyn College. She loves attending history colloquia in her spare time, most especially those of the Late Antique-Medieval-Early Modern Faculty Working Group at Brooklyn College. She wrote an honors thesis in the History department advised by Professor Mancia on witchcraft, magic, and the Protestant Reformation in Early Modern Scotland.

As a Macaulay Honors student Robin has been an active member in clubs, served as Assistant Director of Macaulay Theater Club for a year and as the Director for two years. In addition to spreading her passion for theater, Robin regularly attended Macaulay Scholars Council meetings, represented the interests of student activities on the MHC Reopening Task Force, and loved to support other club events. She fostered a cross campus community among her Brooklyn Macaulay cohort and other senior colleges, and mentored her friends and peers.

She leaves a legacy of service, student engagement, scholarship, and shenanigans.

NatalieDeana Badillo

Natalie Badillo '21 (City)

NatalieDeana Badillo is a Biomedical Engineering major entering medical school in the fall. Currently Vice-Chair in the Association of Filipino Scientists in America (AFSA), she has been involved in the Filipino community since her positions as Secretary and President in CCNY’s PAO. She received the FAHNS Metro NY chapter’s 2020 Award for Distinguished Young Professional for her involvement.

Since Fall 2017, she has conducted biomedical design research with her work on the SafeToddles Toddler Cane project at CCNY and has continued research at the CUNY ASRC working on microfluidic applications in structural biology. She has been in multiple leadership positions at Macaulay in STEM Society, Art of Science, Art Tank, and most recently as the 2021 Student Life Intern. She is a Kenan scholar and traveled with her cohort for a service trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos in 2019. She runs an Etsy shop (shopninatalie) as an artistic outlet and will be a first-year medical student at Weill Cornell where she seeks to continue her work in DEI in science, medicine, and healthcare administration.