Honors: SUMMA CUM LAUDE

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Victoria Striebel

Bachelor of Science: Psychology

Minor

Performing Arts: Music

Honors

Summa Cum Laude

Hometown

South Windsor, Connecticut

My Greatest Supporters

To start, I need to give a huge shoutout to all my friends and family that supported me along the way. I also want to personally recognize Sharon Kim, Dr.Julie Ford, Professor Poundstone, Professor Seay-Dashjian, and Professor Vu. Thank you for believing in me and always pushing me to grow. I cannot thank you all enough.

Favorite Saint Mary's Memory

There is most definitely too many to count. If I had to pick one though it would be all the late night laughs I shared in Sabatte 13 with Jill Hubbard, Crystal Monroy, Evelyn Tijero, Emily Conway, and Caroline Escobar.

My Next Chapter

I get to stay a Gael for two more years! Fall 2021 I'm off to the KSOE Counseling Program with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy :)

Clubs and Activities

Chamber Singers
Glee Club
Jazz Choir
Psychology Research Team
Saint Mary's Honor Program
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Mission and Ministry Cantoring

Veronica Rivera

Bachelor of Arts: Justice, Community, and Leadership: Special Education Teacher Education

Honors

Summa Cum Laude

Hometown

Discovery Bay, California

My Greatest Supporters

My greatest supporter was HP coach Josephine Aburquez and Dr. Rusoja.

Favorite Saint Mary's Memory

Carpooling with colleagues from Los Medanos Community College. Meeting with classmates for group projects via Zoom. All the wonderful guest speakers from SMC: Eghosa Obaizamomwan-Hamilton, Dr. Hope Whitney, Dr. Bill Mullen.

My Next Chapter

My next chapter in life would be a full time special day class teacher in an elementary school.

Clubs and Activities

I was part of the High Potential Program and National Society of Leadership and Success.

Favorite Quote

"If a child cannot learn in the way we teach, then we
must teach in the way the child can learn"
— Lovaas

Veronika Worth

Bachelor of Arts: Integral Liberal Arts

Honors

Summa Cum Laude
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Hometown

San Ramon, California

Award Bio

Veronika Worth is graduating with a BA in Integral Liberal Arts. Next fall, she will be attending San Jose State University to earn her Master’s in Library and Information Sciences to pursue a career in archival sciences.

My Next Chapter

I will be going to San Jose State to obtain my Masters in Library and Information Science with a focus on Archival studies.
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Victoria Jones

Bachelor of Science: Psychology: Child/Adolescent Development

Honors

Summa Cum Laude

Hometown

Livermore, California

Trent Greenman

Bachelor of Science: Math: Computer Science Track

Minor

Economics

Honors

Summa Cum Laude
Brother Alfred Brousseau

Hometown

San Diego, California

Award Bio

Trent Greenman is from San Diego, California, and will be graduating with a Mathematics (Computer Science track) major and a minor in Economics. He is the president of the men's club volleyball team and a manager/practice player for the women's D1 team. After graduating, he plans to find a job in software engineering while pursuing a master's degree in Computer Science.

My Greatest Supporters

My great professors, friends, and family that have helped me along the way.

Favorite Saint Mary's Memory

Going to club volleyball tournaments and playing casually with friends on the beach courts. Also, I had a lot of fun living in De La Salle for my freshman year.

My Next Chapter

I will be working as a software engineer and hopefully pursuing a Master's degree in computer science in a couple years.

Clubs and Activities

Men's Club Volleyball
NCAA Women's Volleyball Practice Player

Favorite Quote

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."
— Albert Einstein

Taylor Welsh

Bachelor of Arts: Justice, Community, and Leadership: General & Sociology

Honors

Summa Cum Laude
bell hooks
Jane Addams

Hometown

Walnut Creek, California

Award Bio

Taylor Welsh is a Sociology and Justice, Community, Leadership double major. Taylor views her time at Saint Mary's as a unique opportunity to cultivate her understanding of praxis-based approaches to social change. As a result, she has concentrated primarily on criminal justice reform in her sociological research. At Saint Mary’s, she co-founded the SMC Sustainability Blog as a Sustainability intern, which provided her with the opportunity to attend Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Conference; worked on the 4+1 Master's in Leadership Committee; and was inducted into the Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society. Additionally, Taylor serves as vice president of the Phi Kappa Phi Academic Honor Society and is a Guyette Leadership Fellow. Upon graduating, Taylor hopes to pursue a career in the nonprofit industry to work in animal welfare and species conservation.

My Greatest Supporters

My mom, who has always helped me through the ups and downs in life and has been my role model. My dad, who has inspired me to persevere through hardships. My partner, Izzy Diaz, who supports me in everything I do and always believes in me. My family - Stew, Cole, Kai, Sydney, Abby, and Andrew - who always make me laugh and have a place for me at the table.

Favorite Saint Mary's Memory

In my first semester at Saint Mary's, I met who is now my partner of three years in my first seminar class. I couldn't be more thankful for being placed in the same class as him and will never forget Professor Jessie Turner's Seminar 01!

My Next Chapter

After graduating, I plan to pursue a career in the non-profit industry. I am passionate about animal welfare, species conservation, and prison/legal reform and hope to focus my work in these interests. For the following year, I have accepted a position with MyEd Prep, a high school preparation and college advising company. In the future, I am interested in pursuing a PhD in Sociology!

Clubs and Activities

Vice President of Phi Kappa Phi Academic Honor Society
Alpha Kappa Delta Sociological Honor Society Inductee
Guyette Leadership Fellow
SMC Sustainability Blog Co-Founder
Climate Reality Leadership Campus Corps Co-Director
Dean's Academic List Member

Favorite Quote

"I want to do something splendid... I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all, some day."
— Louisa May Alcott

Sean Hennigan

Bachelor of Science: Psychology

Minor

Creative Writing

Honors

Summa Cum Laude

Hometown

Oakland, California

My Greatest Supporters

To Many to Count:
My Friends - Across the many schools and programs I’ve attended
My Parents and Sister - Who never stopped supporting or believing in me
My Grandparents - Who I consider more like second parents
My Cousins - All of whom I love like siblings above distant relatives
My Professors and Teachers - Who inspired me to keep going even when I felt I couldn't
Everyone Else - Thank you all!

Favorite Saint Mary's Memory

So hard to choose just one, although the night the power went out was quite the adventure! From late night trips for food, desperate to recharge our phones, to venturing into new areas of campus and experiencing new and exciting things with new friends I never expected I would have, it was certainly a night to remember!

My Next Chapter

I look forward to a summer of traveling and reconciling old friendships with those I’ve been separated from as a result of the pandemic. With the eventual plan of returning to academia for graduate school, I will actively look for a job, internship, or volunteer opportunity to occupy my time during my gap year.

Clubs and Activities

D20
Diversity Organization Council
Gael Force
Gael Gaming
Gael Pantry
International Club
Mental Health Club
Phi Kappa Phi
PRIDE
Psi Chi
Psychology Club

Favorite Quote

"''I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo.
'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'"
— J.R.R. Tolkien

Rylee Lautrup

Bachelor of Science: Biology

Minor

Politics

Honors

Summa Cum Laude
Carlos Freitas

Hometown

Sacramento, CA

Award Bio

From Sacramento, California, Rylee Lautrup is graduating with a BS in Biology with a minor in Politics. Her most notable achievement during her time at SMC was her work on chemotherapeutic drugs and their cytotoxicity in mammalian stem cells in Dr. Sonya Schuh's lab. After graduation, she plans to do biological research in the time between SMC and medical school.

My Greatest Supporters

Above all, I must thank my mom for the most consistent support, love, and understanding. Without her, I wouldn't be who I am today and definitely couldn't have made it through college. Thank you to my family in general, for being my cheer team on the sideline and loving me through it all. And of course, my amazing friends who went through the ups and downs of college right alongside me.

Favorite Saint Mary's Memory

As weird as it may sound, many of my favorite memories have been studying. We would study for hours upon hours in Dante Hall, being there closer to the morning than to night. We would laugh, cry, yell at each other, and quiz each other like our lives depended on it. I know that I would never have gotten the grades I did without my study group, who will also be some of my lifelong friends.

My Next Chapter

After graduation, I plan on taking a couple of gap years in order to pursue research in the biological sciences. After that, I plan on attending medical school, with the current hope of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

Clubs and Activities

- Biological Research with Dr. Sonya Schuh
- DIRT: The Brazilian Amazon
- Saint Luke's Prehealth Society
- Saint Mary's Women's Club Soccer

Favorite Quote

"Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

Keep moving forward.
— Walt Disney
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Rachel Kelley

Bachelor of Science: Psychology: Social

Minor

Theology & Religious Studies

Honors

Summa Cum Laude

Hometown

Lakeport, California
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Nicholas Covaia

Bachelor of Science: Allied Health Science

Honors

Summa Cum Laude

Hometown

Walnut Creek, California

My Greatest Supporters

My greatest supporters throughout my time at SMC have been my parents, sister, and friends.

My Next Chapter

I am planning on taking a gap year and continuing to work as a Physical Therapy Aide in Walnut Creek. I start applying for DPT programs this summer/fall for the summer/fall of 2022!