22
4U
Meet the class of 2022
Our fellows have researched arguments and compiled data on a myriad of issues related to the Penn State community. Meet the team below.
Matthew Venable
Matt Venable is an Engineering Science major in the Schreyer Honors College. In addition to pursuing his engineering degree, Matt is enrolled in a variety of life science courses and plans on going to medical school. On campus, he is a member of the Penn State Blue Band and is regularly involved in the Nittany Lion community. He has recently completed his EMT training and plans to aid the Stage College area through the University Ambulance Service.
Alexandra Yukish
Alexandra is a Cybersecurity Analytics & Operations at Pennylvania State University. She dual majors in International Politics (National Security focus) and plans to enter government and, hopefully, have a lifelong career with the CIA. She is involved with the Women in IST club on campus and frequently acts as a liason for the local Democratic party.
Nick Banerjee
Nick is currently a psychology major with a concentration in business, and he also plans on dual majoring in labor and employment relations. He is a Paterno Fellows aspirant and hopes to be admitted to Schreyer Honors College by the end of my sophomore year. Nick has two older brothers and a younger sister who does competitive baton twirling! He was born and raised in State College and is a member of Penn State Boxing and the Student Programming Association.
Harold Canizales-Casiano
Harold E. Canizales-Casiano studies economics and is interested in studying law. He is a member of the THON organization Springfield.
Adwait Chafale
Adwait Chafale is a undergraduate student in The Pennsylvania State University. He is currently majoring in Psychology with a neuroscience concentration minoring in Crime, Law, and Psychology, Business, and a Trauma certificate. He currently is a SHOTIME mentor, on the Schreyer Diversity Task Force, and a Remote Area Medical member. Adwait is also in a neuropsychology research lab researching the effects of traumatic brain injury.
Chloe Connor
Chloe Connor is an undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University. She is majoring in Psychology (B.S.) and minoring in Neuroscience and Bioethics/Medical Humanities. At Penn State, Chloe is on the club cross country team, involved in THON, a member of Schreyer for Women, and a research assistant in the Developmental Personality Neuroscience Lab (DEPENd).
Hannah Conway
My name is Hannah Conway, my intended major is international politics with a focus in national security. I’m from Carthage, New York, located 30 minutes from the Canadian border and about an hour north of Syracuse. I’m part of the Army ROTC program at Penn State, which will allow me to serve as a U.S. Army officer after graduating college.
Sophia Datsko
Sophia is an undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University double majoring in Political Science, and Global and International Studies. She plans to pursue Law school in the future, and hopes to one day be instrumental in foreign policy shaping, and represent the United States abroad.
Jaden Fields
Jaden Fields is a major in Political Science at Penn State University. She is interested in American politics, cognitive psychology, and the study of dance. She is a member of Penn State’s Volé Ballet Club, and works at the Starbucks in the Paterno Library.
Chris Funari
Chris Funari is an undergraduate student at Penn State. He is majoring in Psychology on the business track. In the future, he intends to go into sales. At Penn State, Chris is involved in THON and greek life as a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.
Leon Kataw
Leon Kataw is an undergraduate at Penn
State, attempting to obtain a degree within the field of Biology with a genetics specialization. Afterwards he intends to go into graduate school and start a project of his own involving human evolution. Leon is currently involved with Shriver Labs, a biological
anthropology lab that does research on phenotypic traits of humans and how they are represented in the larger human genome.
Joseph Keeley
Joseph Keeley is a history major at Penn State University. He is involved in fitness activities such as boxing club and weight lifting. He participated in and won a consultation competition for Dell Boomi. And he is currently employed at Snap pizza.
Lily Najjar
Lily Najjar is an undergraduate student and Pennsylvania State University, majoring in Secondary Education and English. In her free time, she loves to read, journal, and spend time outdoors, enjoying the beautiful landscape of Central Pennsylvania where she was born and raised. She is a member of Eco-action, an environmental justice club at Penn State, and Penn State’s all-female choral group, Oriana Singers.
Peri Newman
Peri Newman is an undergraduate in the College of Agriculture Sciences, majoring in Immunology and Infectious Disease. She is interested in life sciences and plans to either go to medical school or graduate school. Peri is involved with THON, Hillel, Challah for Hunger, and Schreyer for Women.
Michael Paluda
Michael Paluda is an undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science, Michael is a member of the Schreyer Honors College and is an active member of the Association for Computing Machinery.
Sean Rendar
Sean Rendar is a student at The Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College studying mechanical engineering. He is a member of the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon Operations Committee, and loves to get involved in the Penn State community in as many ways as he can.
Ava Rysewyk
Ava is a freshman at Penn State.
Miranda Thompson
Miranda is a student at Penn State majoring in criminal psychology. She loves to get very involved in Penn State’s performing arts culture through Volé dance company and spends most of her extra time rehearsing, choreographing, or performing.
Olivia Tota
Olivia is a Nursing major with an Italian minor. She is a member of the Newman Catholic Student Association and a member of Mission Mexico- a mission trip that travels to Tijuana, Mexico over spring break to volunteer at an orphanage. In her spare time, Olivia enjoys competitive games of tennis, playing the piano, and cooking delicious Italian food.
Dayna Townsend
Dayna Townsend is an undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University and a member of their Schreyers Honors College. She is a Criminology major with the hopes of becoming a Criminal Lawyer in the future. On Campus, she is a member of the Caribbean Student Association, the Multicultural Undergraduate Law Association, and Treasurer and Manager of University Park’s first and only Step Performance Team, Dark Storm.
Grace Wang
Grace Wang is an undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University pursuing a double major in Philosophy (Justice, Law, and Values) and Economics. Looking forward, she hopes to find a career in the field of law. Grace is involved with the PSU EPIC Movement.