CLAS ’09 graduates leave an impressive record

The CLAS ’09 graduates made full use of their opportunities at UConn.
Here is a sampling of their stories and plans:

Amanda Ploch
Major: Political Science and Individualized major in Human Rights

A University Scholar from Cheshire, CT, Amanda completed an internship in Capetown, South Africa. Her honors thesis compares NGOs in the U.S. and South Africa. In August, she heads to New York City where she will begin studying for her law degree in civil justice from New York University. She recently won a Phi Kappa Phi honor society fellowship.

Sean Easter
Major: English

Sean began his studies as a math major, then switched to English with a focus on creative writing. He plans to work on a novel after graduation. In 2002, he joined he National Guard, and he served in Afghanistan, protecting American delegates who were negotiating with the Afghan government. He recently published a short story in the Long River Review, "What You Would Think."

Lauren Donnelly
Major: Political Science and Individualized major in Human Rights

An honors student from New Canaan, CT, Lauren was awarded a fellowship from the Human Rights Institute at UConn to go to The Hague in the Netherlands will she will work with prosecutors who are pursuing war crimes against women. She was active in the Women’s Center on campus and studied abroad in South Africa in 2007.

Aaron Lee
Major: Biological Sciences

Aaron always wanted to do two things: go to medical school, and become an educator. After graduation, he will work for two years for Teach for America, then attend UConn Medical School, where he was granted deferred admission. An honors student, Aaron did research in physiology and neurobiology with Prof. Akiko Nishiyama. He was also the CLAS webmaster for four years.

Charlayne McStay
Major: Chemistry

Charlayne came to UConn from Flanders, NJ, and served as a Husky Ambassador coordinator in addition to doing summer research with Prof. Ashis Basu, volunteering at Windham Hospital, working for the UConn Health Center’s summer migrant worker clinics, and traveling to the Dominican Republic for a human rights project. The University Scholar was one of eight members of the Global Leadership Commission, which brought speakers to campus. She will attend UConn Medical School.

Ben Plourde
Major: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Ben traveled to Costa Rica twice to do research for Prof. Robin Chazdon at La Selva Biological Station. A University Scholar, he had National Science Foundation research support. He was president of the UConn Outing Club for two years and a University Scholar. A graduate of Bristol, CT, High School, he has applied to alternative teaching certification programs.

Joseph Pomianowski
Major: Molecular and Cell Biology and Applied Mathematics

Joseph was an Upward Bound tutor, a certified emergency technician, and a music producer, among other things. He was awarded a research grant by the Humanities Institute to travel to Poland to research the history of mathematician Stefan Banach, the founder of modern functional analysis. He will begin work at Harvard this fall on his master’s degree in the history of science, He hopes eventually to earn a PhD.

Benjamin Gruenbaum
Major: Psychology

Ben is headed to medical school, a choice he made after testing his career plans when he was chosen for the competitive Magen David Adom summer volunteer EMT program in Israel. He spent a summer shadowing a doctor at Hartford Hospital, and he won a national video competition on “why I want to be a doctor” sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges. He has done research with Prof. Etan Markus, mentored other students, and won psychology’s William D. Orbison Award for excellence in psychological studies.

Fernando Alfonso
Major: English

Fernando wants to be a staff writer at a newspaper. He recently won one of two Newhouse Graduate Newspaper Fellowships and Apprenticeships for Minorities to earn a master’s degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. The fellowship includes internships at The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse and a guaranteed placement at a Newhouse publication. Fernando, who is from Pleasant Valley, NY, has interned with the Hartford Courant and the Journal Inquirer newspapers in Connecticut and studied abroad for a semester in London.

Pooja Kondabolu
Major: English and Economics

Pooja is headed to the London School of Economics for a master’s degree. She completed her undergraduate work in three years after graduating from high school in Dix Hills, Long Island. She worked as a Writing Center tutor, was president of the South Asian Dance Team, and worked on an honors thesis about economic development. She plans to attend Law School.