When Aylin Ak ’24 (Germany, UWC in Mostar) learned that her grandfather had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s she became passionate about “research that improves human health by discovering actionable solutions to complicated diseases.”
Melvin Osei Opoku ’26 (Ghana, UWC-USA) works in a lab at the University of Florida where he helps investigate how certain bacteria can produce organic chemicals called terpenoids.
Zakia Maryam Najafizada ’24 (UWC Red Cross Nordic) responded to the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of her country, and its resulting barriers to higher education for women, by developing an online English-learning application for Afghan females.
Wilhem Hector (Haiti, UWC Red Cross Nordic, MIT ’25) founded and runs the Hector Foundation to help motivated Haitian high schoolers build the knowledge and skills they need to access higher education abroad.
For the last two years, Anna Diagne Sène (Senegal, UWC Red Cross Nordic, Macalester ’24) has led planning for Macalester’s first Peace Day celebrations.
Having interned last summer with his country’s mission to the UN, Hasan Jashari (Belgium, UWC South East Asia, Lehigh ’24) said that “despite the challenges we face globally, I truly believe the future is global, and closer cooperation on that level is crucial.
A communications major at Lake Forest who aims for a career in public relations, Juan Jose Campos Villalta ’24 (Costa Rica, UWC Costa Rica) describes himself as a “devoted storyteller.”
Among those who made an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden last December for the annual Nobel Week Dialogue was Nico Quijano Franco (Colombia, UWC-USA, Earlham ’23.5).
In his first year at Davidson College, Sandro Chumashvili ’24 (Georgia, UWC Dilijan) started working on a business aimed at introducing traditionally made wines from his home country into the U.S.
