Macaulay Honors College Archives - Ƶ /tag/macaulay-honors-college/ The Spirit of Brooklyn Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:52:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 Understanding and Building Credit /event/understanding-and-building-credit/ Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:30:00 +0000 /?post_type=tribe_events&p=123889 Learn the basics of credit, including what it is and why it matters.

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In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn the basics of credit, including what it is and why it matters, how to check your credit score and reports, how to get started building credit, and how to protect your credit​.

Digital Access Information:

  • Zoom: 8536349934
  • Passcode: 261635

Sponsored by the Macaulay Honors College.

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A Natural Selection /best-of-bc/a-natural-selection/ Wed, 09 Apr 2025 21:59:13 +0000 /?p=112447 2025 Goldwater Scholar says the award is an invaluable confirmation she’s on the right path.

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Priscilla Ramchand is double majoring in biology and philosophy with a minor in chemistry. Currently a junior, she’s amassed a curriculum vitae that rivals those of seasoned graduate students.

She has conducted research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Rockefeller University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the University of Montreal. That work has included collecting dragonflies in New Zealand, studying the genetic components of aphids and wasps, investigating cardiac regeneration in zebra fish, and working on therapeutics for Down syndrome and ALS.

So, she was a natural selection for one of the most prestigious national scholarships for undergraduates in the STEM fields. Last week, she was named a Goldwater Scholar—one of five CUNY students this year and only the fourth Ƶ student to earn the award that was established by Congress and aims to identify the nation’s next generation of elite scientific researchers. The scholarship gives awardees up to $7,500 per academic year to cover tuition, books, fees, and room and board.

“It’s a pretty cool recognition of the passion I’ve put into my research,” says Ramchand of the award, administered by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. “It’s validating that the work I have been doing is meaningful. It feels like a coming of age for me.”

Ramchand immigrated to Brooklyn from Guyana with her family when she was 11 years old. The former middle school valedictorian started down her scientific path in high school, when she began taking courses at the American Museum of Natural History. There, she did her first dissections and spent time with researchers who connected her to another program that paired her with a mentor.

“That mentor really showed me what’s possible,” she says, noting that she got to present a poster project on her work looking into genetic components to the selectivity of parasitoid wasps that feed on aphids. “It was my first real chance to work on something long term and just jumping into a project in that way. It felt great.”

A scientist was born.

“From those earliest experiences with research, I was learning how exciting it was to explore uncharted territory and to work on something where everything you learn is a big deal with the potential to help the entire scientific community,” she says.

By the time she applied to Ƶ as a Macaulay Honors student, she was determined to dive into serious research at an institution that would accommodate both her scientific drive and her need for financial assistance.

“It was the most amazing thing not to have to worry about how to afford college,” she says of getting into the Macaulay Honors College, which gives students full tuition, access to mentors, and enhanced advisement. “It solved so many concerns I had because I knew I would get a great quality education here.”

After working her freshman year at the American Museum of Natural History and in a lab at Baruch College (CUNY), she signed on during her sophomore year to do epigenetic research with Associate Professor Marianna Torrente of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department.

She also became a Tow Undergraduate/Graduate International Research Stipend recipient, which took her to New Zealand over a winter intersession, and a U-RISE scholar, which gave her funds to go to a conference. She spent a summer as a Fulbright Canada–Mitacs Globalink fellow at the University of Montreal. Earlier this academic year, she began an observership program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she shadowed doctors during their rounds.

She says that often she has seen herself in her mentors, most of them women who ran their own labs and had incredible relationships with their staff. She has paid that forward by sharing her own passion with the next generation as a mentor with the New York Academy of Sciences, where she worked with fifth graders.

“Exposing them to things they might not see in class and helping them to be curious about the world, showing them what a path might look like, has been amazing,” she says.

After graduation, she plans on taking a gap year to research and to travel before heading to an M.D.-Ph.D. program, and then on to a career where she hopes to bridge scientific discovery and clinical care.

“I’ve been really thinking about my place in the world,” she says. “All of my experiences that have culminated in this award have helped me grow, become more confident, and own the path I’m on.”

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From the YMCA to the Research Lab /best-of-bc/from-the-ymca-to-the-research-lab/ Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:30:57 +0000 /?p=97429 Jake Xie always had a gift for working with children. Now he’s channeling it into his studies.

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Since waiting tables at age 17, junior Jake Xie has loved hearing people’s stories. Xie, a psychology major who grew up in Bensonhurst, is intrigued by human behavior. After working as a camp counselor at the YMCA, he realized that he wanted to focus his studies on children and help them develop emotional skills.

Xie is a Tow mentee who has been researching alongside Assistant Professor Yana Kuchirko about how White parents socialize their children to understand race. Though the research is still evolving, he is laying the foundation for uncovering how racial biases get passed down from parent to child.

We sat down with Xie to get to know him better.

What drew you to research?

I like hearing people’s stories. My dad used to tell me about how when he first immigrated here from China, he helped run a Chinese restaurant with my grandpa and two aunts. One day they got held up at gunpoint and robbed. It’s a crazy story to me. I’ve never seen a gun in my life. It’s what made me curious about what else he and my family did before I was born. I used to be shy until I started working at a sushi restaurant in high school, which made me realize that I love getting to know people. That’s a big part of qualitative research. I think that hearing people’s stories is a catalyst for change.

Why did you want to be part of this research team?

I’ve always wanted to work with kids. I used to be a summer camp counselor at the YMCA. I learned that kids are really smart, which people don’t give them credit for. I just think they’re fascinating creatures, and also very emotional, which is something I’m drawn to. The research focuses on how parents socialize their children to understand race. We’ve been observing parents and kids and studying their emotions, which has been exciting.

What are you most proud of?

It’s sort of a spiritual thing. I’ve been trying to live life day by day and appreciate the small things. When my grandma had a stroke and had to learn how to walk again, I’d come home after school and sit with her and talk to her. I’m most proud of developing that mindset and learning to appreciate the little things.

How would you describe your college experience?

I love Ƶ. You get off the bus and you see the trees and everything is so nice. The mix of people is very interesting. It’s one of the only places where you can sit down and the person next to you is a 62-year-old barber and then someone in your class is a bus driver who just got off his shift.

I’m a Macaulay Honors College student and I’ve gotten a lot out of that and my Tow mentorship. Before the Tow Mentorship Program, I didn’t know what to do. Professor Tammy Lewis is the director of the program. She encouraged me to take some cool classes and think about studying abroad and graduate school.

What’s most important to you?
Family is really important to me. We all live together and have always been very close. Family is a huge system, and it goes both ways. In the dynamic interactions between parent and child, wisdom doesn’t just go from the parent to the kid—the child also gives important insights that inevitably help them both learn.

Where do you imagine yourself in the future?

I’m still figuring it out, but I’ve been looking into school psychology master’s degrees—including Ƶ’s program—because I want to help kids develop emotional skills and give them mental health resources at school. I’m also considering someday doing a developmental psychology Ph.D. program. Besides school, I want to stay close to my family but also work to live independently soon. I’m taking it one step at a time.

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Best of Ƶ Staff Spotlight: Estefanía Ponti /best-of-bc/best-of-bc-staff-spotlight-estefania-ponti/ Wed, 22 Feb 2023 16:23:15 +0000 https://preview.brooklyn.cuny.edu/?p=53204 The associate director of student success shares how EAB Navigate is one part of a collaborative care model.

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Estefanía Ponti, the daughter of Argentinian immigrants who grew up in Staten Island, didn’t know exactly how to do it, she just knew she wanted to get a doctorate in cultural anthropology.

The former Macaulay Honors College student who took classes at Hunter says “it took a village” to get her across the finish line, from her professors and mentors to the academic and student support professionals who checked in on her. Later, as a graduate assistant and doctoral candidate, she had the opportunity to mentor students, and realized she had been honing a skill set that could lead her down a slightly different career path.

Today, she is a wife and mother to two young children, a serious kung fu practitioner, and the college’s associate director of student success and EAB Navigate manager.

You were well on your way to becoming an anthropologist and tenured professor. When did your career path shift?

I started my Ph.D. early, at 22, and I thought I knew what I wanted to do. But I realized through the mentoring work I was doing that I am really passionate about the first-generation, underrepresented, low-income student population.

My training is as a cultural anthropologist. I taught at the college level for 10 years and learned that teaching isn’t just standing up there and sharing your expertise. A huge part of it is mentoring students and being supportive.

When I got to know my students, I was seeing how all these other things outside of the classroom tied into academic success. It was my relationship with my students, my rapport with them, and me showing them that I cared that really made a difference.

So, a number of threads came together that made me move into student success and academic advisement.

You came to Ƶ eight years ago as an academic program coordinator, and in the last year you became the associate director of student success and EAB Navigate manager. Navigate is relatively new to the college. How does it work?

Navigate is a software and student management tool that has all these different features. The most popular is the appointment feature, which makes it easier for students to make appointments with faculty and administrators, and on the faculty/administrator side, it makes it easier to manage appointments.

When faculty and advisers meet with students, they can put in case notes and create a virtual case file so that we are all in communication. We can see, for example, that a student saw an adviser in the Center for Academic Advisement and Student Success, then saw an adviser in his or her major, and what they went over. We can see students’ GPA trend and other important data highlighting potential roadblocks to degree progress and ultimately, graduation. It’s essentially a collaborative care model that allows us to engage with the students better.

But I always stress that it’s only as good as those utilizing it. It doesn’t replace a human connection. When used properly, it facilitates connections and allows us to be more proactive in our outreach and streamline our work.

It seems so data-driven for someone who got into your role to work with students.

I really believe so strongly in the relationship aspect of all of this. EAB Navigate is just a way to get to the student faster and more efficiently. If we don’t cultivate relationships with students that are meaningful, that’s when we’ll lose them to life.

I was a CUNY student through and through. I know how life gets in the way. Our students are smart, they’re hustling, they work, they have families, they are in school full time. We just need to be there to walk them through this journey.

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A Different Kind of Practice /best-of-bc/a-different-kind-of-practice/ Wed, 11 Jan 2023 10:58:02 +0000 https://preview.brooklyn.cuny.edu/?p=36280 The first in a series on the robust mentorship program at Ƶ, the spotlight is on Dr. Lawrence Budnick ’74, who is helping students clear the first hurdle on their way to medical school—the admission interview.

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As a professor emeritus of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, Dr. Lawrence Budnick ’74 is perfectly poised to mentor aspiring physicians. Now semi-retired, he served on the admissions committee at the school during his more than 45-year career: He knows what makes for a winning application. Passing this “inside” knowledge on is what he had in mind when he reached out to the Magner Career Center to volunteer as a mentor, participating in a luncheon last November, where he met with prospective medical students and set up mock interviews.

“I remember not having that type of guidance when I was planning my career and wanted to give that kind of support to today’s students,” he says.

A native of Brooklyn, Budnick graduated from Sheepshead Bay High School. During the open admissions policy that allowed New York residents to attend any City University of New York school for free, he enrolled at Ƶ, earning a B.A. degree in 1974. Budnick graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical School (now SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University) in 1977 and attended Harvard School of Public Health, where he received his master’s degree in public health the same year.

Israa Ismail ’22, a Scholars Program student who majored in psychology, with a minor in chemistry, agrees that mentorship is the key.

“Dr. Budnick has been a tremendous support and given me great advice throughout my entire interviewing process,” says Ismail, who is taking a gap year to work in healthcare policy.

“Of course, all schools have different criteria, but one thing we look for is any sort of clinical work, or work in the field,” says Budnick, who has also worked at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, where he was an epidemic intelligence service officer. He was also a medical epidemiologist with the U.S. Public Health Service, and a clinical assistant professor at the Department of Environmental & Community Medicine, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ismail certainly fulfills the criteria for a student already working in the field.

As a global health policy coordinator at the American Medical Students Association, she is concerned with disparities in underserved communities. She has also participated in the COVID-19 Navigation Project at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to understand the effects of vaccine hesitancy on Arab American immigrant populations undergoing chemotherapy.

Marwa Islam is another student who has benefited from Budnick’s advice and support. Islam, a Macaulay Honors student who graduates this May with a B.S. in chemistry on a pre-med track, reached out to the Magner Center for help prepping for her medical school interviews. The center’s director, Natalia Guarin-Klein, connected her with the doctor, and a mock interview was scheduled.

“He gave me so many tips on how to improve my interviewing style,” says Islam.

“What questions that might come up, how to prepare for those questions, what to review, what to pay attention to.” He provided hints that Islam says did not show up in online searches, information that only someone with experience in medical school admissions can give. “I’ve been on interviews, and they’ve gone very well thanks to Dr. Budnick’s help.”

To enrich its mentorship programs, Ƶ is seeking more than 200 alumni to participate in various mentor initiatives in 2023. Through events and one-on-one mentoring, alumni can help students gain clarity on their career interests and develop a plan to reach their goals. All interested alumni may contact Magner Career Center Director Natalia Guarin-Klein at careernews@brooklyn.cuny.edu for more information.

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#ƵGrad22: Jessica Betancourt /bc-news/bcgrad22-jessica-betancourt/ Thu, 26 May 2022 20:10:03 +0000 http://s38197.p1486.sites.pressdns.com/?p=4973 Pre-law student Jessica Betancourt hopes to make an impact on remedying some of society’s more pressing issues.

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Graduating this spring as Phi Beta Kappa member with a B.S. in psychology and minors in neuroscience and political science, Macaulay Honors student Jessica A. Betancourt says experiencing the legal process as an intern piqued her interest in a career in public law.

Ƶ: When did you become interested in law?

JB: I served as the captain of Fort Hamilton High School’s law teams. I was able to fine-tune my public speaking, writing, and reasoning skills, but the most incredible experience was that I got to participate in a moot court competition at the Peace Palace in The Hague in the Netherlands. It was in front of a team of judges who sat on the International Criminal Court. It was there that I became committed to learning about international humanitarian law.

Ƶ: As a pre-law student, you majored in psychology? What made you choose that field of study?

JB: I was interested in studying psychopathic traits and criminality. I’ve been examining relationship differences between primary and secondary callous unemotional adolescents—two variants of the psychopathy dimension. I think that violent crimes and prison recidivism can be reduced by identifying and addressing the biological and social roots of these particular psychopathic traits and implementing tailored and early intervention.

Ƶ: Have you received any awards?

JB: I received the Stanley Geen Memorial Award. It’s a grant used to finance pre-law internship and fellowship stipends and tuition fees for LSAT prep courses. Because of the award, I was able to complete an internship at the office of New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. Working there sparked my interest in public interest law. I am so grateful for the opportunities that have opened up for me because of awards like this.

Ƶ: Any other experiences at Ƶ that stand out?

JB: I am a student representative for the Psychology Department’s curriculum committee. I also did work in Professor Ana Gantman’s lab in human morality and in the psychophysiology lab led by Associate Professor of Psychology Yu Gao.

In May of last year, I was an intern at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. I was allowed to assist in ongoing investigations and trial preparation. It was my most informative experience outside of the classroom. It was amazing to be in the courthouse all the time and gain hands-on experience with cases.

Ƶ: What are your plans?

JB: I have been accepted to Columbia Law School through early admissions and will attend in the fall. I plan on pursuing a juris doctorate and a Ph.D. in psychology. I want to use all of the access, knowledge, and experience I gain to be able to make a difference in chronic issues like crime, poverty, and human rights violations. I’ll know that I’m successful when my work has a much more significant impact, far beyond what I can do now.

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Ƶ to Celebrate the Class of 2022 at Barclays Center /bc-news/brooklyn-college-to-celebrate-the-class-of-2022-at-barclays-center/ Fri, 13 May 2022 19:03:19 +0000 http://s38197.p1486.sites.pressdns.com/?p=4875 The ceremony will feature Honorary Degree Recipient and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Roberta Gbowee.

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Marking its first return to an in-person Commencement Ceremony in two years, Ƶ will celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2022 on May 31 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The ceremony begins at 9 a.m.

The college will recognize the conferral of 3,195 baccalaureate and 966 master’s degrees, along with 96 students receiving advanced certificates. Included in the Class of 2022 are 10 veterans and service members. In all, 4,257 graduates will join the prestigious Ƶ family of more than 160,000 proud alums worldwide.

“Being able to return to an in-person celebration of our students’ remarkable accomplishments is truly something special,” said President Michelle J. Anderson. “How they have endured and persevered is remarkable, and the Class of 2022 represents the best and the brightest Ƶ has to offer. I am confident the graduates will make a tremendous impact on the world, just as they did on our campus community.”

The valedictorian is Carina D’Urso, who will receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in the . D’Urso earned a perfect 4.00 grade point average and graduates summa cum laude. Following commencement, she will pursue graduate studies in human development and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she plans to concentrate in the arts and learning. The salutatorian is Hafsa Fatima, a Macaulay Honors College graduate and chemistry minor, who will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a B.A. in art. She will be attending The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

Ƶ is pleased to announce that, pending CUNY Board of Trustees approval at its May 16 meeting, Leymah Roberta Gbowee will serve as the honorary degree recipient and keynote speaker. Gbowee is a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and renowned human rights leader who led the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that worked to end the 14-year civil war in Liberia. She is also the founding head of the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative, a forum for the victims and perpetrators of human rights violations to bring about healing and produce a more accurate accounting of the country’s devastating civil war. Today, she is the executive director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa, established in Ghana in 2006 as a nongovernmental organization to advance women’s leadership in the governance of the continent’s peace and security.

Ƶ will bestow its Distinguished Alumnus Award to philanthropist and Ƶ Foundation Board of Trustees member Leonard Tow ’50. Leonard and his wife, the late Claire Tow ’52, established The Tow Foundation in 1988. Through more than 700 fellowships, scholarships, internships, professorships, and teaching awards, they have enriched the quality of intellectual life for Ƶ’s entire campus by providing the means to allow its students and faculty to become exceptional in their fields. The couple also donated $10 million in seed money for the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Ƶ, which opened in 2018. The state-of-the-art center has transformed the campus footprint and is home to the Conservatory of Music and the Department of Theater.

The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor will be Jules Coleman ’68. Coleman is one of the world’s most renowned scholars of law and jurisprudence. Widely acknowledged to have created the field of the philosophy of tort law, as well as inclusive legal positivism, Coleman was the first and remains the most influential advocate of a corrective justice approach to tort law. A first-generation college student, Coleman received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, magna cum laude, from Ƶ in 1968; his Ph.D. in philosophy from Rockefeller University in 1972; and his master of studies in law from Yale Law School in 1976.

About Ƶ

Widely known for its offer of an excellent education at an affordable tuition and recognized nationally for its diverse student body, Ƶ has been an anchor institution within the Borough of Brooklyn and greater New York City for more than 90 years. With approximately 16,000 students in more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the arts, humanities, sciences, education, and business, the college is renowned for its rigorous academics, award-winning faculty, distinguished alumni, and community impact. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), Ƶ offers a vibrant and supportive student experience on a beautifully landscaped 35-acre campus in the borough’s Midwood neighborhood.

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A Poet’s Priorities /bc-news/a-poets-priorities/ Fri, 01 Apr 2022 21:11:57 +0000 http://s38197.p1486.sites.pressdns.com/?p=4858 When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021, Zohra Saed ’00 M.F.A. refocused her energy from preserving her culture’s ancient language to helping an activist family get out of the country. With help, she has come closer to her goal.

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When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021, Zohra Saed ’00 M.F.A. refocused her energy from preserving her culture’s ancient language to helping an activist family get out of the country. With help, she has come closer to her goal.

At 5 years old, Zohra Saed and her family fled the destruction of the Soviet-Afghan war and joined the growing diaspora of those leaving Afghanistan for the United States.

As a child, Saed began transcribing the folktales passed down to her by her family and has since used her writing to preserve and maintain her culture. “I’ve never been able to return to Afghanistan; my family was either killed in the war or joined diasporas in other countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, so Afghanistan is both far and close,” says Saed.

She has been published in numerous journals and anthologies, edited One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature, and is the co-founder, with Ƶ M.F.A. alumnus Robert Booras, of UpSet Press, an indie publication created to give a platform to people from communities and cultures overlooked or ignored by mainstream publishing. In 2021, she joined the faculty of the Macaulay’s Honors College as a distinguished lecturer.

Yet, for Saed, who graduated from Ƶ with an M.F.A. in poetry, her accomplishments as a poet and publisher have been overshadowed by the tragedy of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban. What started as a project to translate and preserve older Turkic languages of the Afghan Uzbek culture evolved into something bigger. She was given a manuscript of folk lyrics by a writer in northern Afghanistan just before the Taliban took over.

“He and his family are beautiful, incredible. They had been working for gender equity, developed a school for girls in a rural area, and sports programs for boys and girls, which made them a target for the Taliban,” says Saed. “They wanted the list of the girls in the sports program, and the writer burned the list to protect them. He put his family at risk to go to save these young girls.” The family applied for humanitarian parole but are still in the country.

“I haven’t been able to get them out yet,” says Saed. The urgency coming from her is palpable. “And humanitarian parole comes with a price tag. The application costs $570 for each family member—there are 12 in the family.”

And there are other obstacles. “Countries announce programs to allow Afghan refugees in but cumulatively, allowing 20,000 to come over four years, so 5,000 a year. Then they must pay to travel to the country in addition to the fee for humanitarian parole. So much can happen while they wait,” Saed says. “December was the hardest month; the realization set in that we wouldn’t get refugees out as we hoped. And winter is very cold in Afghanistan—we have 10 different words for snow.”

Keeping the family anonymous while working to get them out is another worry. “We’ve been trying very hard to make sure no one traces them,” says Saed. Although there are safe houses, the Taliban still find and raid them, especially targeting Afghan people who are pushing back.

“There are incredible groups that are resisting, like the national resistance front. They’re the ones standing up against the Taliban. And in the north protestors are being killed secretly; and women activists are being taken as prisoners or abducted and forced into marriages.

Since last summer, more than 75,000 Afghan refugees have made it to the United States, airlifted from Kabul Airport and flown to military bases. In July 2021, H.R.4736, Improving Access for Afghan Refugees Act, was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary to ease the way for asylum in the United States. “But right now there are refugees here in the U.S. in limbo, who have no status, and can’t get jobs because they did not come here through the regular channels of a special immigration visa.”

Saed says there are “incredible organizations giving me advice, like the Center for Women in Journalism, and Women for Afghan Women. And it is through her CUNY community, especially at Macaulay Honors College, that she was able to reach as wide an audience as possible about the poet and his family. Saed’s wants to make sure that they and the rest of the people targeted by the Taliban are not forgotten. Last October, the family’s plight was featured in an article in The New York Times.

“I was in a meeting for new faculty and Dean [Vanessa K.] Valdez from the Macaulay Honors College heard my story and said, ‘Wait, you’re doing what?’ She was wonderful. She helped get me the interview with the Times and got us help to raise funds. We raised $7,000 to pay for the humanitarian parole applications, including donations from corporate lawyers who heard about us and just wanted to help. She is currently working with individuals to find asylum for the families in Europe or South America because few humanitarian parole applications are being accepted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”

Of the individuals and organizations that have been helping and advising Saed, “I’ve never in my life met such kind people. I’m so moved by this community that comes together at times of great catastrophe.” And with the world now focused on Ukraine, Saed will continue to search for pathways to asylum for the poet, whose goal was to preserve the literary heritage and language of Afghanistan, and is desperately trying to get his family out of his besieged homeland.

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Mining the Resources /bc-news/mining-the-resources/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 18:08:52 +0000 http://s38197.p1486.sites.pressdns.com/?p=4952 Inspired by her mentors, whom she met through the Magner Career Center, Ariel Abramova has gone on to become a peer mentor herself and, through internships, is already gaining valuable experience in her chosen career of human resources.

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There’s a bit of the pay-it-forward spirit in Ariel Abramova’s decision to go into human resources as a career. The psychology major and William E. Macaulay Honors College student worked with two alumni mentors whom she met through the Magner Career Center and was so inspired by their guidance, that she knew she wanted to pursue a career helping people succeed. She has gone on to take positions with the Magner Center, first as a peer mentor, then as a career services assistant, and currently as a human resources assistant. She has also interned in the human resources departments of the New York office of the International Chamber of Commerce, a position she gained through the Magner Center, and now at the cosmetic company Clarins, focusing on talent acquisition and diversity and inclusion initiatives.

The junior credits her education in psychology with teaching her how to best approach, interact, and assist those she encounters in her academic, professional, and social life. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a master’s degree in social-organizational psychology or human resource management.

Ƶ: How did working with alumni mentors spur your decision to pursue a career in human resources?

AA: One of my mentors was Karole Levine-Meyerholz ’16 M.A. As a talent acquisition manager at Estée Lauder, she taught me a lot about what working in human resources looks like. I’ve always been interested in working in the beauty industry, and she taught me that human resources experience can apply to practically any industry. My other mentor, Anson Carter ’16 M.A., works as a consultant for the professional services network company Deloitte. He has helped me understand the world of consulting. He’s a great resource and makes himself available to talk. Overall, my mentors’ experiences and their guidance are a true source of inspiration.

Ƶ: Tell us about your experience at the International Chamber of Commerce? What were some of your duties as an intern?

AA: It was extremely valuable. I helped to lead an internship program, pre-screened hundreds of résumés, and communicated with candidates for positions ranging from head of sustainability to policy lead. I helped to hire my intern replacement there. The internship taught me how to identify exceptional candidates and communicate with individuals from around the world. I also worked on a lot of event promotion. One thing the Magner Career Center has helped me understand is that it’s important to help newly hired employees to assimilate into their new roles.

Ƶ: What other insights have you gained as an HR intern?

AA: The pandemic expanded the role of human resources. HR has had to shift focus to working with employees in a remote world and helping them navigate the stress of uncertainty and grief during this unprecedented time. I’ve seen so many professionals in the field who adapted and worked diligently to ensure that all employees are safe and well.

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Four Ƶ Students Earn Fulbright Internships /bc-news/four-brooklyn-college-students-earn-fulbright-internships/ Mon, 14 Jun 2021 13:30:54 +0000 http://s38197.p1486.sites.pressdns.com/?p=2896 The rising juniors and seniors will work on diverse research topics, from how the brain processes music to a water-purification technique.

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Four Ƶ students have been named Fulbright Canada Mitacs Globalink Interns, a program that would normally send them across the country’s northern border to conduct research with university professors for the summer. This year, the internships will be virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the students are no less excited about their projects.

Senior Carina D’Urso, a student, will be working with a professor at Toronto’s York University on a project titled, “How Should Liberal Arts Education be Transformed? Perspectives and Responses From North America, East Asia, and Western Europe.”

D’Urso is combining studies in the arts, education, and social change for her CUNY Baccalaureate. The William E. Macaulay Honors College student already has diverse experiences, including being a student curator at the Morgan Library & Museum, an intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a member of the Macaulay Theater Club.

She plans to become an educator, hoping to teach through an artistic lens, and says she is particularly fascinated by the ways in which museums, community organizations, and schools connect.

“As a member of CUNY’s interdisciplinary studies program, I was thrilled to learn that I would be studying international models of the liberal arts in higher education,” says D’Urso. “I am passionate about the role that revolutionary and experimental models of education play in shaping the didactic experiences of students. As an aspiring educator, these issues are of great importance to me.”

Junior Levi Satter, a psychology major, will be conducting research with a professor at Western University in Ontario using transcranial direct-current stimulation to understand how people experience timing and rhythm and how that impacts cognition and behavior. The work will be done with the university’s Music in Neuroscience Lab, part of the psychology department’s Brain and Mind Institute.

Satter is working toward a career in neuropsychological research, and he is trying to explore the field so that he can make an informed decision on where to specialize.

“Music existed before language. Research further shows that it can be used therapeutically to reduce symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease,” he says. “I couldn’t be more excited. Understanding fundamental cognitive processes is the coolest part of psychology.”

Senior Hafsa Fatima, another Macaulay Honors College student, who is double-majoring in art and psychology, will be working on a project that is a collaborative undertaking between the University of Ottawa, Lancaster University, and University of Montreal. The research considers the fundamental question of what counts as knowledge (and its channels and representatives) in contemporary societies and asks how nonreligion and the nonreligious are positioned in relation to knowledge.

Junior Marwa Islam, a chemistry major who is also in the Macaulay Honors College, will be working on a project that seeks to use ultraviolet LED disinfection to purify water.

“In developing countries, clean water in many locations is limited. Many people living in these situations have to walk for miles. For others, water is available but polluted, which leads to different diseases and sometimes severe conditions,” says Islam, an aspiring physician who wants to improve the health conditions in underprivileged communities. “As someone whose family came from Bangladesh, I feel very passionate about this issue. Researching UV-LED disinfection as a water purification method allows me to learn more about a possible solution to this problem.”

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