Vinila Varghese, through the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies program, created her two majors: Race and Criminal Justice, and Philosophy and Law. She received the CUNY BA/BS Distinguished Scholar Award in May 2020. She is a former Thomas W. Smith for Academic Achievement fellow. Currently, as part of the Pinkerton Fellowship (Summer 2019-May 2020), she is placed at the Legal Aid Society’s Community Justice Unit (CJU). She is currently a projectBasta fellow.

Prior to this, Vinila worked as a Fatherhood Engagement intern at the Midtown Community Court, a Peer Ambassador at John Jay, and a tutor at the Mexican American Students’ Alliance in the South Bronx. She was the co-captain of a Quidditch team (the Macaulay Marauders), and John Jay Honors Peer Leader, and the president and founder of the John Jay Chapter of “Leading Womxn of Tomorrow.” In January 2019, she went to Florence, Italy to study abroad. After graduation, Vinila plans to go to law school and fulfill her life goal of becoming a social justice advocate after taking a gap year.

Paul Menestrier is a Financial Mathematics major at Baruch College. During his undergraduate years, Paul served many different roles. At Baruch College, he worked in the Mathematics department, served as a peer-mentor for incoming students, and was the latest Teaching Assistant for the Financial Leadership Program. Paul was also an integral member of the Investment Management Group, a club managing part of Baruch’s endowment. In his final roles as Chief Investment and Chief Operating Officers, he managed over $400k and secured an additional $150k in funding. Paul was also nominated to be on the Baruch Presidential Search Committee, playing a role in the selection of Baruch’s incoming president.

Paul’s undergraduate years would be incomplete without mention of his community service. For the past 7 years, Paul has served at the Whitestone Volunteer Ambulance Service. Climbing up the ranks to his current role as senior-EMT and Membership Committee Chair, Paul has directly served his community on hundreds of free emergency calls and looks forward to continuing his service after graduation.

Jordan Williams is a Political Science and Economics double major and Spanish minor. She is guided by her interests in public policy and global development. Jordan served as the Co-Coordinator of Peer Health Exchange at Brooklyn College and the Director of Speakers and Programming at TEDxCUNY. In the fall of 2017, Jordan began interning with the New York State Legislature as part of the Edward T. Rogowsky Internship Program in Government and Public Affairs. Later that year, she was selected as a William R. Kenan Scholar. As a Kenan Scholar, she traveled to Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Ecuador to complete service-learning projects centered on environmental protection and youth development. In the spring of 2019, she became a Program Development Intern for Latin America at Trickle Up. Jordan spent the summer of 2019 interning at the Economic Policy Research Institute in Cape Town, South Africa where she contributed to large-scale impact evaluations of social protection schemes. Jordan is interested in applying to law school in the near future.

Joseph V. Gurbo is a Film Major with a concentration in Screenwriting with double minors in Acting and Television and Radio. In the summer of 2019, he interned at City Lore, a not-for-profit gallery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that is dedicated to fostering New York City’s and America’s living cultural heritage through education and public programs. He worked as a photographer and videographer documenting the Urban Explorers Program, a program designed to encourage New York City high school students to express themselves through dance, theatre, art, and film.

In the Spring of 2020, Gurbo was a general production intern with The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. This was a multifaceted internship that provided a working understanding of how a contemporary late-night talk show is written, produced, and broadcast within the same day. Over the course of this internship, working in many different departments, Gurbo gained experience in the rigorous undertakings of producing a show that is filmed daily before a live studio audience.

Mia Chin graduates with a dual degree in Biology and Anthropology. During her undergraduate career, she co-founded a campus-wide civic engagement initiative “Humanizing Homelessness,” whose primary goal is to provide resources to the homeless of New York City while encouraging local volunteerism. In the fall of 2017, Mia was named an S Jay Levy Fellow in honor of her outstanding academic performance and leadership potential. Following her sophomore year, Mia began work as a research assistant at NYU Langone Headache Center under the supervision of Dr. Mia Minen. As part of her role, she facilitated the implementation of several neurological research studies and co-piloted the Headache and Arts program. This past Summer, Mia volunteered for the United to Benefit Ecuadorian Children International Foundation in Quito, Ecuador, and the Intercultural Outreach Initiative in the Galapagos Islands with her William Kenan Scholar cohort. In May, she begins her postgraduate studies at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health, where she pursues an MPH in Health Policy and Management.

Tayba Aziz is a first-generation college student majoring in Biology, minoring in Anthropology and Chemistry at the City College of New York. She is actively involved in extracurriculars on and off-campus. On-campus she has served in various positions in
CCNY Circle K, a collegiate organization affiliated with Kiwanis. Her roles included club Treasurer, President, and Club Building and Strengthening Chair where she led a committee to train club officers of over 40 schools. She also is involved in biology honors research where she studies vocal learning in zebra finches.

Off-campus, she has completed over 363 hours of community service, held over 46 service events, and helped fundraise over $12,000 to provide clean water to a village in Eswatini. Her most impactful service experience was with Einstein Community Health Outreach, a free health clinic in the Bronx. Her work with ECHO inspired her to pursue a career in medicine and to work in underserved communities as a primary care physician.

Rebecca DelVecchio is a Political Science and International Studies double major with minors in Spanish, Legal Studies, Business, and Public Administration. Currently, she works as a Field Organizer at Max Rose for Congress where she started in Summer 2018 as a volunteer. In Fall 2017 and Spring 2018, she was a youth programs intern at the Center for Court Innovation. In Summer 2018, she started working at United Activities Unlimited in the prevention department focusing on social emotional learning for youth. In Spring 2019 she interned at the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office in the executive bureau. In Summer 2019 she interned in Congressman Max Rose’s Washington D.C. office and was a fellow at Biden for President. She studied abroad in Florence in Winter 2018 and in Buenos Aires in Winter 2020. After taking a few years off, she plans to go to law school.

Shelly Zou majors in Biology and double minors in Chemistry and Psychology. In Spring 2017, Shelly became a Resident Assistant at The Towers residence hall. In the following Fall semester, she co-founded a service-oriented club called Humanizing that has partnered with City College clubs and Macaulay’s Service and Green Initiatives to encourage greater involvement in community service. Starting her junior year, Shelly began research in Dr. Osceola Whitney’s neuroscience laboratory at the Center for Discovery and Innovation and has achieved Honors in Biology. She serves as the Director of Volunteer Services of the CCNY Biology Club, previously holding the position of Director of Outreach. In Winter 2020, Shelly received the Schor Scholars Opportunities Fund to study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. Over her gap year, she hopes to gain clinical exposure before applying to medical school. In her spare time, Shelly enjoys gardening, crafting, and piecing together puzzles.

Annmarie Gajdos is graduating as Baruch College’s 2020 Valedictorian with a major in Computer Information Systems, a concentration in Music Management, and double minors in Business Law and NYC Studies. She volunteered abroad extensively, spending time in the Galápagos Islands, Israel, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Republic of Georgia. She currently holds several roles on campus, such as the Chair of Graphics for Baruch Student Government and the President of the Baruch Pre-Law Society, while serving as a Senior Campus Ambassador for WiTNY at Cornell Tech and the National Internal Communications Manager for AIESEC United States.

In Spring 2019, Annmarie was granted a Mayoral Service Award for completing more than 1,000 service hours for the year. She is a William R. Kenan Scholar, a Max-Berger Pre-Law fellow, and a Dr. Wendy Heyman Public Interest fellow. She is also the recipient of a 2020 Critical Language Scholarship for Swahili. Annmarie intends to pursue a career as an international human rights lawyer, in addition to working as a legal consultant in the music industry.

Roshan Chudhry is a clinical psychology major and a biology minor who has aimed to emphasize the importance of mental health throughout her college career. Working as a peer health educator, she taught ninth grade students about mental health issues and provided resources they could utilize throughout the city. She also sought to expand mental health education in the CUNY community by facilitating mental health first aid trainings as president of the Macaulay Psychology Club. Furthermore, Roshan has worked as a peer mentor to help alleviate anxiety that incoming students held in transitioning to college.

Roshan currently works as a researcher at the Emotion Regulation Lab, investigating the relationship between ethnicity and anxiety. In the future, Roshan will be applying to medical school after taking two gap years in which she will continue with her research. Recently accepted as an American Pakistani Foundation fellow, Roshan will also be traveling to Pakistan during her gap years to provide much needed healthcare and educational resources to underserved communities.