Archives: Scholars
Scholar / Project
Miguel Eduardo Lopez
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.
Guinevere Vigil-Goltermann
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.
Aaron Staten
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.
Mayra Luna
Major: Psychology with a Minor in Human Development and Family Relations
Project: This year I helped a counselor who works in the future center at the high school I graduated from and help seniors apply to colleges and promote the future center on campus. I facilitated a workshop and promoted MSU for any senior interested in applying and knowing more about the school at North High School during school hours.
Inspiration: I decided to do this project because as a first generation student, I know how hard it is to navigate the transition to college and that with the help of a mentor it is easier. I want to provide that to other students.
Future Plans: I hope to accomplish more awareness and people to learn how long and difficult the process of becoming a resident/citizen is. Many people don’t know the laws like I didn’t know and know the conditions of people who barely cross the border to the US.
Maddy Kessler
Major: Architecture and Planning
Project: I am hoping to learn how to best give these resources out to local towns and maybe even get a stronger engagement with the people in each neighborhood! I am currently researching how best to engage people to come together, as well as talk with government agencies with a powerful voice.
Inspiration: I was shocked to learn how many people did not know about redlining and the systemic issues that shaped where people live in this state. Many don’t know about the resources they have so they aren’t forced to move, and I want more regulation on the amount of gentrification that has been happening to Coloradans.
Future Plans: I hope to slow the ongoing displacement happening and raise awareness of the devastating impacts it has on the economy and local people.
Jonathan Hardwick
Major: Music – Recording Arts Emphasis
Minor: Music Industry Studies
Project: My project is centered around psychology and helping incarcerated individuals with self-care and mental health. I plan to introduce Mutual Aid Self/Social Therapy, or MAST, to prison populations. MAST is essentially group therapy without having to pay for a therapist, rather you utilize friends and colleagues. It utilizes methods from psychology such as cognitive behavioral therapy, which explores the intricate relationships between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. MAST was originally developed by social activists as a way for oppressed people to practice self-care and improve mental health. I am developing a training to show to willing participants, and I plan to be the proctor for these MAST sessions for incarcerated individuals.
Inspiration: There are numerous racial disparities in the criminal justice and mental health systems. I hope that MAST will provide a way around these systems and improve incarcerated individuals’ mental health. As a former psychology major and as someone with multiple mental health diagnoses, I know just how helpful learning more about one’s mind can be. I believe that MAST will provide incarcerated people with helpful tools to use during incarceration and reentry alike.
Future Goals: I plan to be a mental health advocate and help break the stigma around mental health in all that I do. Even with my music major, I plan to be a producer and provide artists with a platform to share their stories while promoting their well-being. As for my project, I plan to continue working until MAST is implemented as an integral part of rehabilitation and incarceration.
Leo Banuelos-Rivera
Major: Construction Management, Minor in Business
Project: Finding a possibility of reusing construction material rather than it just being thrown out. Anything from drywall, and plywood to cabinets, and more, etc. After the material is damaged, just barely or even left over. A lot of times it is thrown out rather than saved or recycled.
Inspiration: I began working construction in September 2021 and was surprised when they’d tell me, “just throw it out”, and it could be material that was still good for a purpose. Maybe not at the time, but eventually it could have been used or rather donated somewhere to be used.
Future Goals: I’d like to reach out to an organization that has begun doing such things already, One I have found in the Denver area is “Perks Deconstruction”, which focuses on salvaging material during demolitions. I’d like to work alongside a group such as theirs to help push the thought of saving material even more.
Nour Zouhou
Major: Studio Art
Project: I hope to develop a project to celebrate, protect, and project the voices, identities, and stories of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people through the arts and literature. I would also love to explore this with a focus on Arab/Arab American identities.
Inspiration: I have always navigated the world through stories. Whether through books, movies, cartoons, or graphic novels I have been able to make the experience of my world richer by indulging in the creativity and stories of people from all stretches of life even if I was just at home. Art is powerful and it has moved me to care for so much of our world and I hope that I can contribute to that so that our world can be more compassionate, fun, and equitable.
Future Plans: I hope that whatever work I choose to do helps strengthen communities, fights against erasure, and moves LGBTQ+ and BIPOC resistance and pride forward.
Elizabeth Navarro
Major: Real Estate and Built Environment
Project: This year I truly want to focus on helping incoming first-generation college students with the college process! I am trying to find an internship that will help me connect with these students, I am focusing on the Denver Public School district because of its high rate of first-generation students! I also plan to increase my DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) work here at the University of Denver. I have seen many different situations that have negatively impacted the students of color and latino/a communities and I plan to raise awareness for such an uneducated student body and faculty.
Inspiration: As a first-generation student myself, I want to help others figure out their pathway to/ with college. The whole college process was very difficult for me and I had to go through it alone because it was something new for myself and both of my parents. It was stressful and overwhelming and I hope to take those feelings away for other students in the same circumstance.
Future Plans: I hope to help as many students as I can figure out how to fill out all different kinds of college documents, apply to colleges, sign up for campus tours, and ultimately help them figure out their next steps after high school.
