Students in Focus
When Clare Wise聽joined the Colorado ski team as a freshman in 2012, the message from team leaders was simple and to the point:
鈥淚t is made clear that when you join the CU ski team the expectation is that we have the highest team GPA and we win national championships,鈥 Wise says with a grin. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just how it is. That鈥檚 our legacy and that鈥檚 what we strive to do.鈥
Bridgette Zuckerman never planned to join the Army. She grew up in an Army family and graduated from high school in Colorado Springs. Her mom and dad both enlisted and, by the time Zuckerman was starting college, her sister Briana (15鈥橧ntPhys) was already a cadet in the ROTC program at CU-Boulder. But family tradition won out. Briana convinced Bridgette to give it a shot.
Like in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, CU-Boulder ended up being just right for Matthias Malojer, 2016 outstanding graduate from the Leeds School of Business.
Connor Winter's path at the University of Colorado is nearly at an end 鈥 but he has used that path to map out a road for the future that has stirred his competitive fire and passion to new heights. Saturday, the Buffs cross country and track standout (two-time first team All-American, a Pac-12 individual champion and member of two national championship teams) will graduate with his degree in mechanical engineering.
John Logan Brock doesn鈥檛 remember when he first wanted to be a medical doctor, but in kindergarten, he didn鈥檛 nap with his classmates. He used nap time to peruse human anatomy books, and to ask his teacher how old she was so he could calculate her number of red blood cells. Brock, 21, is graduating from CU-Boulder with a bachelor's in neuroscience and a minor in economics.
Bridgette Zuckerman never planned to join the Army. She grew up in an Army family and graduated from high school in Colorado Springs. Her mom and dad both enlisted and, by the time Zuckerman was starting college, her sister Briana (15鈥橧ntPhys) was already a cadet in the ROTC program at CU-Boulder.聽But family tradition won out. Briana convinced Bridgette to give it a shot.
Yessica Canas got her first pair of glasses when she was 3, and has since wondered what it would be like to help others see the world around them more clearly. Next fall, she鈥檒l find out when she heads to Midwestern University in Arizona to pursue a lifelong dream and a doctorate in optometry.
It was a long journey from the tiny Mexican town of Tlazazalca Michoacan to Boulder for Emmanuel Melgoza Alfaro. And an equally long distance, culturally, to become his family鈥檚 first high school and college graduate. On Saturday, Alfaro will complete this journey when he graduates from CU-Boulder with a degree in ethnic studies.
This fall, Renee Paiement will join a highly-selective group of 12 to 15 students admitted to Columbia University's MFA program in screenwriting. The CU-Boulder senior applied to the Ivy League school last fall, submitting the first long screenplay she wrote. Acceptance is a high honor since only about 6 percent of applicants are granted admission.
English major Kate Brady Ross has exciting plans post-graduation. She's planning to move to LA and continue collaborating on a record with Ariel Rechtshaid - the same Grammy Award-winning producer who鈥檚 worked with Adele and Justin Bieber - after winning the Guitar Center鈥檚 Singer Songwriter 5 Competition in March.