student achievements

When Frances Ostensen ’24 set sail aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans this fall, she knew she was in for an adventure. Ostensen, a biology and Science in Society Program double major who spent the semester abroad with the Sea Education Association (SEA), learned more about the environment, human civilizations, and their endless connections than she ever expected. Her chosen program, called Sustainability in Pacific Island Communities and Ecosystems, began in Woods Hole, Mass. in October. After flying to the South Pacific in November, Ostensen set sail in a loop around Polynesia alongside seven other students, professors, and crew members…

When Dr. Andrea Grubb Barthwell '76 arrived on campus the summer of 1972, she was in the second full class of women admitted to Wesleyan. "I chose to become educated in a place that was undergoing change," she said. "One principle that guides my life is, embrace change, it is inevitable." Barthwell, who delivered the keynote address during the Spring 2022 Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremony, graduated with a degree in psychology and went on to founding the health care policy firm Encounter Medical Group and directs Two Dreams, a comprehensive alcoholism and addiction treatment system. She previously served under President…

Two first-generation college students are working to help the planet, one garment at a time. As cofounders of the sustainable fashion startup, Infinitely, Nimra Karamat ’23 and Ashley Cardenas '23 are creating high-quality, affordable clothing that is "ready to take down the world of fast fashion." "Brands that greenwash and benefit off of the backs of underpaid workers in underdeveloped countries are the top sellers in fashion," Cardenas said. "This shouldn’t be our reality. Through Infinitely, we want to inspire people of all backgrounds and identities to lead sustainable lives and help people understand how fast fashion is damaging for…

By Maia Dawson '24 Ivanie Cedeño '22, a lauded entrepreneur, remembers a metal container her grandmother, Eurania, used to have. Cedeño recalls how she would watch her sew. “When she would put clothes away they were all pressed and everything had its spot, everything fit perfectly,” Cedeño said. She is cautious about the precision of the memory, though. Perhaps her love for her grandmother has idealized her recollection. Cedeño’s startup, Sol Blossom Crochet, honors these memories. The company won first place at a presentation to Middletown’s Board of Commissioners, the final stage for a Startup Incubator class she took this…

Sebastian Evans '23 believes that "being human" can't be defined strictly through science. Instead, he turns to the writings of the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca; Alexiad author Anna Komnene; and English playwright William Shakespeare to better understand "something valuable" about what it really is to be human. "In all the humanities, I see and gain a lot of value from the way that we as human beings experience and process the world, ultimately working our way toward discovering how to best live as with and as parts of it," said Evans, who's majoring in the College of Letters (COL) and Hispanic literatures…

Jasmyn Choi '22 vividly recalls when her Korean-born mother was pulled over by police in Los Angeles 12 years ago. Rather than speaking to the driver, who had broken English, the officer leaned into the vehicle to question 8-year-old Jasmyn instead. Jasmyn, after all, had "perfect" English. "I’ve always dealt with the particular trauma of strangers diminishing my mother’s intelligence because of her accent," Choi recalls. "I tremble in anger thinking of the times she’s had her voice stolen from her. We both sat in the car in oppressive silence, yet it was comforting because silence is all we have…

The entrance to the Science Library in Exley Science Center houses a taxidermied peacock that has been restored by faculty and students in the biology department. The peacock, originally rediscovered in 2018 and put on exhibit in spring 2019, is part of a bird collection that was first displayed at the museum in Judd Hall and now belongs to the Wesleyan Museum of Natural History. The restoration team, which includes Professor of Biology Ann Campbell Burke, Yu Kai Tan BA/MA ’21, Andy Tan ’21, and Fletcher Levy ’23, recently updated the display to include new signage and fresh peacock feathers…

This month, the Office of Student Affairs presented the 2021 student prizes. The recipients and awards include: George H. Acheson and Grass Foundation Prize in Neuroscience Established in 1992 by a gift from the Grass Foundation, this prize is awarded to an outstanding undergraduate in the Neuroscience and Behavior Program who demonstrates excellence in the program and who also shows promise for future contributions in the field of neuroscience. Kian Caplan 2021 Ana Finnerty-Haggerty 2021 Andrew Northrop 2021 Fitzroy "Pablo" Wickham 2021 Alumni Prize in the History of Art Established by Wesleyan alumni and awarded to a senior who has…

As a one-year pilot program, the Fries Center for Global Studies has created the Wesleyan Global Fellowship with the intention of awarding graduating seniors nominated but not chosen for the Watson Fellowship, a grant for a year of independent exploration outside the United States post-graduation. The three students who won this new fellowship for the 2021 academic year are William Briskin ‘21, Grace Lopez ‘21, and Indigo Pellegrini de Paur ‘21. “The Watson is a unique program because it gives the fellow complete freedom in designing their project,” according to the Wesleyan & the World blog. “Since the fellowship involves…

This month, five students were recognized with the First-Year Seminar Writing Prize for essays they wrote in their first-year seminars throughout 2020. A total of 137 first-year students submitted to the contest this year. Each winner will receive a $100 prize, and each honorable mention will receive a $50 prize. These students will have their work published online along with an audio recording of them reading their essays aloud. The First-Year Seminar Writing Prize celebrates the work of first-year writers at Wesleyan. The three winners are: Nathan Foote ’24, for “Anti-Gospel,” written for Anne Greene’s Place, Character, and Design. Gissel…

In 2020, Katerina Ramos-Jordán ’21 won first prize in the Center for Book Arts Chapbook Contest for her chapbook titled “ECHOESISTEMAS /lentos cerramientos.” Now, her work has now been published in book form, designed and produced by book artist Erika Morillo. Ramos-Jordán, born in Puerto Rico, is a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and a 2020 recipient of the Beinecke Scholarship. She is double majoring in English and dance with a concentration in Caribbean studies. “This collection is dense in its tenderness, adding tildes (accent marks) to words in English, harboring dialect, and embracing blank space as cavernous,” contest judge Raquel…

Shawn H. Lin ’22 is the recipient of a 2021 poster award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s 25th Annual Undergraduate Poster Competition. Lin’s poster took the prize in Category 3: DNA, Chromosomes and Gene Regulation. This is the second poster award Lin has won this year. In March, he was honored with the Biophysical Society’s Undergraduate Poster Award for his work titled “Elucidation of Interactions Between Integration Host Factor and a DNA Four-Way Junction.” Lin is a Freeman Asian Scholar from Taiwan and is majoring in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MB&B). Lin also works in the…

Exploring Sustainability, Building Community, and Fostering Connections: Frances Ostensen ’24 and Her SEA Semester

Phi Beta Kappa Inductees Advised to Create, Innovate the Future

Karamat ’23, Cardenas ’23, Ostfeld ’10, MA ’12, Winners of CT Entrepreneur Awards

Solarpunk, Operation Bootstrap, and Cedeño’s ’22 Sol Blossom Crochet

Wesleyan Students Named to National Humanities Leadership Council

Shu Tokita Prize Winners Reid ’22, Choi ’22 Use Literature to Cope with POC Experiences

Restored Peacock Displayed in Wesleyan’s Science Library

Students Receive 2021 Academic Prizes, Scholarships, Fellowships

3 Seniors Awarded Inaugural Wesleyan Global Fellowship

5 Students Honored with First-Year Seminar Writing Prizes

Chapbook By Ramos-Jordán ’21 Published by Center for Book Arts

Lin ’22 Wins Poster Award for Work on DNA, Chromosomes, and Gene Regulation