Scholar / Project
Major: Physics
Minor: Mathematics
Project: Find ways to fund tutoring and after-school programs. Find ways to get students of color to help in tutoring other students of color.
Inspirations: All of my professors are white, and I wouldn’t be able to take physics in Boulder due to the fact that I have no money for that kind of education.
Future Goals: Get more students of color to apply for STEM positions. Find a way to help our society in a different way.
Major: Music Performance
Project: I don’t have a very specific goal. But with this opportunity I have been given, I will be more than grateful to be able to help somebody in need in any way possible.
Inspiration: I have seen how life-draining it can be to deal with an addiction and how much it affects not only the person but their peers.
Future Goals: Make someone feel like they’re supported like they have someone they can lean on when the world feels empty around them.
Major: Human Development/Family Studies
Project: I’m interested in bringing more inclusion to individuals with disabilities on campus and around Denver. I’d like to do this by hosting a social gathering of some sort that many people may not have access to due to funds or no opportunities. I’ve had experience teaching kids art and think this would be a great way to include all kinds of skill levels.
Inspiration: I’ve worked with individuals with disabilities, kids and adults, for 3 years now. I love being able to see growth in individuals’ skills and confidence by teaching new things.
Future Plans: I hope I can create a space where people can come together and feel welcome. At work, I’ve gone to Library for All events and the individuals love the ability to connect with others and learn new things. This is my inspection for my Puksta Project.
Major: Zoology
Project: The project I am pursuing is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, specifically focusing on the Indigenous community that lives in northern Colorado. I will be a mentor and lead community events, and provide a space for Indigenous peoples to come together and heal, give preventative courses and resources, and provide overall support for the Indigenous community.
Inspiration: I am an Indigenous woman who has seen my community members be hurt mentally and physically by others, I have seen little to no coverage of Missing and Murdered Indigenous peoples in the media and news. I think that education is very important, if I can educate the community Indigenous and non-Indigenous about these issues there can be a change.
Future Plans: I hope that I can accomplish educating the community, and provide a safe place where triggering conversations can be held. I hope to teach those around us what actions to take when placed in a harmful situation, to decrease the number of community members that have faced violence.
Major: Clinical Psychology, Spanish Language Minor
Project: The goal of my project is to educate others on ways to promote resilience and protective factors for LGBTQ+ and Foster Youth. By fostering the development of protective factors, and teaching adolescents how to effectively manage, adapt to, and bounce back from hardship, we can create opportunities that will allow these young leaders to prosper. Ultimately, the intended outcomes of the project will look to spread awareness of adversity in these communities and educate people on ways to incorporate a more supportive ideology into their own socio-political interventions.
Inspiration: My project is an extension of my personal experiences that looks to create positive change in these communities. My family runs a trauma-informed home designed to help facilitate the social rehabilitation of LGBTQ+ teens, pregnant teens, and teen moms. I grew up in a welcoming household, with a revolving front door, hence I want to carry on the legacy of generosity of my parents. I have experienced firsthand what it means to overcome adversity, and I am passionate about helping others do the same.
Future Plans: I am a compassionate individual, oriented towards building mutual aid through education and empathy. By exploring factors that affect the way different people cope with stress, hardship, and trauma, I intend to create a support network catered to adolescents facing these types of adversity. Ultimately, I hope to advocate in support of those silenced by harmful stigmas.
Major: Biomedical Science
Project: I want to continue research to see what best ways POC can access employment in the medical field. I also want to help increase diversity in the medical field.
Inspiration: I chose this because as someone interested in being an OBGYN, I’ve come to realize that many people do not feel represented by their doctors. There is a large racial disparity in the medical field and I want to help make it smaller.
Future Plans: I want to show other POC that there are jobs available to them that don’t require a doctor’s degree. Everyone has been raised that being a doctor is the way into the medical field when there are various opportunities available.
Major: Construction Management
Project: Working with an organization that has mental health as a main focus
Inspiration: A personal struggle I dealt with and would like to help others with
Future Plans: Help people with mental health issues overcome their obstacles in a safe and healthy way.
Major: Geography- Urban Planning
Project: I will continue working on my free and open-source database in which people can access information about underrepresented topics in mainstream education. These include social and environmental justice topics.
Inspiration: I was inspired by the information I was able to find in my search for “social justice”. I wanted to share this information with others in a free and accessible way.
Future Plans: I hope to make it so people are not as intimidated by the idea of social justice in Denver and beyond. I wanted to make resources easier to find.
Major: Entrepreneurship (Business School)
Project: Free (wireless) internet for impoverished students and those on EBT/Medicaid.
Inspiration: I hacked video games at the age of 8 (1997) and am very knowledgeable about anything dealing with computers and networking. I founded my own computer repair business around the age of 15 that is still in operation, going on for 2 decades. This project won’t take much funding other than equipment costs. I have friends in the South who can professionally climb towers and set everything up.
Future Goals: Providing resources for those who can’t afford internet, even with the ACP program which takes $30 off any eligible internet service provider. I’ve run out of internet on my phone and had to pay more, so I can imagine how much more it impacts those even less unfortunate than I am. This will include home and mobile internet, so one can stream videos on khan, YouTube, or any medium and never worry about at least one resource needed for a proper education.
