UAlbany seniors - accomplished, outstanding and ready to make their mark on the world

Jeff Locke

Brian DePersiis

Priya Mehra

Catherine Provost

Yuliana De los Santos

Sam Huntington

Cynthia Bernal

UAlbany seniors are finishing up papers, projects and exams in a whirlwind of activity as they move toward their final days before Commencement on May 15th. There are many outstanding seniors who have used their four years to pursue and extract all the countless opportunities that are available at this great University. It is impossible to mention all of them, but here are a representative few:

Jeff Locke
Rochester, NY
Major: Political Science
Minors: English and Communication

Activities: President, Pi Sigma Alpha (National Honor Society), President, UAlbany Debate Club, Albany County Youth Democrat, Circle Kiwanis volunteer, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Presidential Scholar Leadership Council, Presidential Honor Society, 2004 Commencement speaker.

Internships: Currently in London at the Office of Hon. Barbara Roche, MP Labor Party British Parliament; also interned with NYS Association of Cerebral Palsy and US Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee.

Professional aspirations: I'm awaiting word on graduate study and volunteer opportunities like the Peace Corps or Americorps. After two years I plan to enroll in law school for a career in public health policy.

Favorites: My favorite thing to do is to write into the early morning hours, when it is very quiet. I can't say who my favorite professor is, I've had too many who have mentored or helped me along the way - you know who you are and thank you!

Quote: Don't be intimidated by anyone - they put their pants on the same way you do�one leg at a time.

Brian DePersiis
Owego, NY
Major: Business Administration with a combined concentration in MIS & MGT
Minor: Political Science

Activities: President, Omicron Delta Kappa (the National Leadership Honor Society), Peer Advisor for Study Abroad & Exchange, Admissions Tour Guide, Housing manager for Residential Life.

Internships: Marketing & Sales with Cornell University Directories, IT Risk Analyst with Ernst & Young, LLC.

Plans for after graduation: I will be starting full time for Ernst & Young, LLC in Manhattan in their Technology & Security Risk Services (TSRS) division as an IT and Systems Auditor.

Professional Aspirations: I plan to obtain my MBA or CPA and eventually become a CIO of an organization; perhaps start my own company!

Favorites: Favorite Professor: Professor Sanjay Goel; I never learned so much in such a short period of time. His teaching methods really helped to shape the environment that I will be entering after graduation and outside of class he was able to offer relevant career advice as well. Favorite things to do: Golf, run, read, always keep busy.

Lisa Fund
Massapequa, NY
Major: Mathematics
Minors: Business Administration and Education

Activities: UAlbany Women's Tennis Team, Captain, MVP & Coach's Award 2003-04, Student Athletic Advisory Committee, Secretary of Presidential Honors Society, Treasurer of Kappa Delta Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa, featured in the UAlbany 2002-03 view book, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, UAlbany Profiler group.

Internships: Teaching Assistant for the School of Education, Center for Judaic Studies at UAlbany, Office of the State Comptroller.

Professional aspirations: After graduation I will be working as an analyst for Goldman Sachs in the Global Equities Division. In a few years I plan to get my MBA.

Favorites: I enjoy playing tennis and being part of the athletic community at UAlbany, as well as volunteering with the many organizations that Presidential Honor Society arranges. Favorite Prof -- Tim Lance in the math department.

Activities: Pi Sigma Alpha (National Honor Society in Political Science), Presidential Honors Society (President, Junior year), Chair of Student Association Senate Finance Committee, Project SHAPE, Winner of Outstanding Senior Award and Ada Craig Walker Award, Study Abroad in Spain.

Professional aspirations: I'd like to work in a developing nation with the resources provided by the U.S. to help build the health care structures or laws necessary to improve the standard of living in the developing country. I'm especially interested in HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and treatment.

Quote: See, you don't have to worry about doing the right thing. If
you're for the right thing then you'll do it without thinking. Maya
Angelou.

Activities: National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Pi Sigma Alpha (National Honor Society in Political Science), Newman Association, Presidential Honors Society, Albany Young Democrats, Liberty Partnership Program, and recently "shadowed" new UAlbany President Kermit L. Hall for a day.

Internships: Washington D.C., NYS Legislature, Internship coordinator for NY Wired for Education Digital Youth 2005 Certificate Program.

Professional aspirations: After graduation I will be moving to Washington, D.C., to serve as one of the National Society of Collegiate Scholar's Scholar Ambassadors. NSCS has six Scholar Ambassadors every year for the purposes of traveling the nation on the organization's behalf, to advocate the virtues of scholarship, leadership and service on campuses worldwide. Following my tenure with NSCS, which ends in the spring of 2006, I will then be traveling to Russia for graduate studies. I have been chosen as the State University of New York's 2006 scholarship candidate to the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and it is my intention to study international relations and diplomacy there.

Favorites: My undergraduate professors were memorable for their engagement with students and the support of their endeavors; I've especially enjoyed the support of: Professors Walker (Political Science), Schoolman (Political Science), Baran (Russian), Rougle (Russian), Delano (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) and Faerman (Public Administration). I also like to hang around with friends and family, watch The West Wing and keep busy!

Quote: If it is to be, it is up to me. (Morris "Marty" Silverman, philanthropist and UAlbany�s 2005 Citizen Laureate.)

Activities: Omicron Delta Kappa (National Leadership Society), Presidential Honors Society, Chi Alpha Epsilon (EOP/Ronald McNair Scholars Honor Society), Frederick Douglass Scholar.

Internships/Research: Yuliana has worked in the lab of Chemistry Professor, Dr. Rabi Musah for a year, testing the toxicity of organic and natural compounds towards bacteria.

Favorites: Outdoor activities; biking and traveling. In her spare time she likes to watch movies and go out to eat with her best friends.

Professional aspirations: She enjoys working in the lab with (Chemistry professor) Dr. Rabi Musah as her mentor. After graduating, she plans to spend two more years doing research.

Sam Huntington
Dresden, NY
Major/Minor: History (U.S. Concentration and International Perspectives (Global Issues Concentration)

Activities: Presidential Honors Society, President, 2004; Phi Alpha Theta, President, 04-05; Web "Profiler."

Internships/ Research: Historic Guide, Ft. Ticonderoga Association Summer Internship; Founding co-editor of the e-journal "Transcending Silence: An Undergraduate Peer-Reviewed Journal;" Senior Honors Thesis (3 semesters): "Winslow Homer and his World: Sentiment and Thought in the 19th Century Experience"

Professional aspirations: PhD in history with a concentration in 19th Century American culture and be a university professor.

Favorites: Movies - Harvey, Good Will Hunting; Music - Led Zepplin, classical, Bob Dylan, The Blues, Dave Matthew's Band; UAlbany - Running around campus, the view from Mohawk and Livingston towers; Albany - Center Square in downtown Albany.

Quote: In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, and seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you write with. But I would rather have it bent and dull and know I had to put in on the grindstone again and hammer it into shape that I had something to write about than to have it bright and shining and nothing to say, or smooth and well-oiled in the closet, but unused. (Ernest Hemmingway)

Activities: Phi Delta Epsilon (Medical Fraternity), National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Biology Club, Charles Drew Science Club, Alpha Pi Omnicron (National Senior Honor Society), Ronald McNair scholar, Hispanic Scholar, National Youth Leadership Forum, Delegate for International Mission on Medicine in South Africa.

Internships/Research: Attended a summer training program at Dartmouth called Biocomplexity from System to Gene; International Mission on Medicine in South Africa where she conducted research study analyzing the effect of HIV/AIDS.
Conducted research study at Albany Medical College on oxidant-dependent regulation of gene expression.

Favorites: Traveling, especially to Ecuador, where she has family; watching movies with friends, Bengal tigers.

Professional aspirations: In 2004 Cynthia went to South Africa through an International Mission where she studied the effect of HIV/AIDS and saw a young child abandoned and suffering. It solidified her intent to become a doctor.

Quote: I have had the pleasure of taking certain classes with professors who have always kept an open mind about things and have made me part of an active learning environment. Professors who do not impose their political or religious views on their students definitely make you appreciate the opportunity to learn.