[The Stute] May 17, 2024 (Issue 28, Volume CXXI)

The student newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology, and creator of Attila the Duck. www.thestute.com TikTok @thestute Instagram @thestute facebook.com/stevensthestute

That’s a wrap on The Stute Volume CXXI!

We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ | MAY 22, 2024

VOLUME CXXI No. 28

NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904

CONGRATS CLASS OF 2024

INSIDE THIS ISSUE SPORTS

SEASON RECAP PAGE 3 FEATURE

FIRST IN CLASS COHORT PAGE 4

FEATURE

LIST OF Wittpenn walking 2024: seniors edition GRADUATING BY JARED DONNELLY, Lin and Attila, commenced from conclusion as first-year students their first. This year’s event held Palmer Lawn to Babbio following walk upwards on Wittpenn Walk particular significance due to the CONTRIBUTOR SENIORS the path alongside the UCC and to begin Convocation and down- unique circumstances faced by the PHOTO COURTESY OF KATHY CACICEDO

On May 2 at 4:30 p.m., a “random Thursday afternoon,” many Seniors celebrated the end of their careers at Stevens. A procession of a couple hundred students, led by flag bearers Joyce

PAGE 5

FEATURE

Davis Hall in a tradition known as the Wittpenn Walk. The walk concluded with the Senior Toast, hosted by Student Affairs.

For many Stevens classes, the walk begins years prior to its

Ansary Competition recap

AWARDS RECIPIENTS

ward four years later. As Stevens notes, “The Wittpenn Walk tradition symbolizes the start and end of a student’s academic career at Stevens.” However, for a majority of the class of 2024 this walk was

graduating class, notably the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

With missed milestones such as proms, high school graduations,

SEE WITTPENN PAGE 2

Introducing Marques Brownlee: This year’s undergraduate commencement speaker

PAGE 6

FEATURE

STUTE BY THE NUMBERS PAGE 7

BY ARTHUR SERRA, MANAGING EDITOR

FEATURE

SENIOR ESSAYS PAGE 8 PULSE

ROVING AND PUZZLES PAGE 10

Every year at the Innovation Expo, Stevens students showcase their senior design projects. These projects range from creating a high speed electric boat to using Chat-GPT to predict the stock market, to research applications of stereochemistry. Senior design is the capstone of a Stevens education, and is the culmination of a year’s work. Some choose to continue their project, turning it into a viable product or service, while others may use it as a basis for further research in graduate work. Innovation Expo is where students get to show off their hard work on these projects, and for a select few, the expo is not only a culmination but also a literally crowning achievement.

The Ansary Entrepreneurship

NEWS (2)

FEATURES (4-9)

SPORTS (3) Recap of Athletics See what the Stevens teams have accomplished this year and recognize our senior MAC players of the year and graduating varsity athletes!

PULSE (10)

End of Year Activities Read about the tradition of Wittpenn Walk and the Ansary Entreprenuership Competition!

First in Class Cohort Senior Awards Stute Senior Essays Graduating Seniors List Read answers from graduating seniors to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly puzzle and sudoku.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENS.EDU

Competition aspect of the Innovation Expo was added in 2016.

This competition is sponsored by the Cy and Jan Ansary Foundation with the purpose of motivating and rewarding entrepreneurial students. Over the course of the senior design process students wishing to enter the competition go through various rounds of pitches and Q&A sessions. Firstly, each participating academic department holds a live quarter-final where course instructors serve as the judges and pick the best projects to move along to the semis. At the semi-finals, 45 teams present their pitches and are scored by a panel of judges; the top six teams advance to the finals. The final round is held the week leading up to the Innovation Expo, at which

SEE ANSARY PAGE 2

BY TANYA AVADIA, BUSINESS MANAGER Commencement is a time of great joy and celebration; bringing together graduating seniors, their families, school administrators and faculty, and of course alumni.

On May 2, 2024 it was announced by the university that alumnus Marques Brownlee would be the Commencement Speaker for the Undergraduate Class of 2024. This announcement was greeted with excitement and enthusiasm by members of the graduating class with the general consensus being that it makes this year’s graduation ceremony extra special given that many of the current seniors did not have a graduation ceremony in high school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Brownlee has matched the school’s excitement in looking forward to the ceremony stating

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENS.EDU

how much he is looking forward to addressing the Class of 2024 and seeing the many great things they will go on and do.

Brownlee is a Stevens alumnus graduating from the university in 2015 with a degree in Business and Technology from the Stevens’ School of Business which, at the time, was known as the Howe School of Technology Management. Since then he has had a career as both a YouTuber and a professional Ultimate Frisbee player. Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, first started his YouTube channel back in high school during 2008. Since then his brand has grown significantly, amassing over 20 million subscribers across all channels and a near total of 4 billion video views. In addition to

SEE BROWNLEE PAGE 2

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Wednesday, May 22

News Masthead Volume CXXI No. 28 Executive Board EDITOR-IN-CHIEF......................................ISABELLA ZIV ‘25 BUSINESS MANAGER............................TANYA AVADIA ‘26 MANAGING EDITOR..............................ARTHUR SERRA ‘27 LAYOUT EDITOR................................JIYA JAISINGHANI ‘27 OUTREACH CHAIR.........................................AVA WANG ‘25 DIGITAL MANAGER...................................ABBY JACOBS ‘27 SECRETARY..........................................NICOLE GIARDINO ‘25 HEAD COPY EDITOR.....................EVAN PAPAGEORGE ‘26

Editorial Board

NEWS EDITOR.........................................BEN KNOBLOCH ‘25 SCIENCE EDITOR..................................RIYANA PHADKE ‘27 OPINION EDITOR.............................KAYDEN CANNILLA ‘24 SPORTS EDITOR................................RUTHIE MULLISKY ‘26 FEATURES EDITOR................................TASHA KHOSLA ‘25 PULSE EDITOR........................................MIA PETROLINO ‘25

WITTPENN

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and traditional orientation activities, the Wittpenn Walk served as one of the few opportunities for seniors to celebrate tradition and come together to commemorate their achievements.

Although the event was overall received warmly by those in attendance, some members of the senior class saw the walk as an empty gesture or as insufficient considering all the other Stevens experiences which they missed out on due to COVID. Many in-

stead focused on the cheers of the crowd of the students and faculty who lined Wittpenn Walk. Notable attendees in the crowd included President Farvardin, Provost Qui, and CS Department Chair Naumann. The Senior Toast commenced upon the seniors arrival into Babbio with complimentary refreshments provided.

At the Senior Toast, speeches were given by Dean of Students Nilsen, Dean of Undergraduate Education Riskin, Dean of STEP Berkley, Vice President Klein, Director of Annual Giving Klob, and Professors Dr. Chun of HASS and Dr. Rabinovitch of Mechanical Engineering. The speeches,

while difficult to hear past the enthusiastic conversations echoing around Babbio Atrium, focused on the students’ accomplishments thus far and (assuming finals go well) celebrating the fact they were finished. The speeches also took time to highlight the importance of giving back as an alumni, through time, networking, and funding - emphasizing the importance of an engaged Stevens community in the continued improvement of the institution.

Congratulations to all the graduating seniors and may this not be your final walk through these hallowed halls of the Old Stone Mill.

Operations Board

HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER.......................RAFAEL LEE LI ‘25 ARCHIVES LIAISON.......................KEVIN CASTNER JR. ‘24

Operations Board

ASSIS. LAYOUT EDITOR...........................SHREYA ROY ‘27 ASSIS. LAYOUT EDITOR......................LIZ SEPULVEDA ‘27

Staff & Contributors Claire Hannan Ethan Kleschinsky Keenan Yates Jack Scherban

PHOTO COURTESY OF KATHY CACICEDO

ANSARY

Contact Us

GENERAL.........................................EBOARD@THESTUTE.COM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.........................EDITOR@THESTUTE.COM ADVERTISING.............................BUSINESS@THESTUTE.COM OFFICE.................................UNIVERSITY CENTER ROOM 216B

Corrections NOTICE A MISTAKE? Email us at eboard@thestute.com.

Disclaimer

All opinions and editorials reflect the views of their respective author(s). No Part of The Stute may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief. Cited references of The Stute are permitted.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the top three winning teams are announced and rewarded a total of $17,500.

The top three teams were as follows. In first place, Knee-sy Does It – Jalen Bailey, Grace Fukazawa, Maggie Gibson and Brandon Sems won $10,000. In second place, TinnX – Nicholas DiMeglio, Rohit Jayas and Shady Kamel won $5,000. In third place, Pulse PairIt – Nina Burden, Alicia Cardoso, Stephanie Deren, Arianna Gehan and Julia Zatyko won $2,500.

The Stute interviewed the Pulse PairIt team which placed third in the competition. Their project

ISABELLA ZIV FOR THE STUTE

was a wireless device to measure the vitals of a newborn, drawing inspiration from a real need for a lightweight device in infant care.

A passion for this project developed when they visited a neonatal intensive care unit and saw a need for a better device. When asked about how they made it so far in the competition, the team cited a strong team work foundation and a genuine passion for the possibility of making a real difference in the world. They also highlighted being supported by their professors, Dr. Sally Shady and Professor Ryan Ona. Furthermore, it was made clear that the principal objective of the competition is not engineering but – as the name suggests – entrepreneurship. Each team needed not only a good prod-

uct, but also a great business plan and the skills to pitch it. In future the team will be using their prize money to further their education and into forming a company to further develop their device. The device has already attracted attention for usage, and hopefully more good will arise from this year-long project.

As for the other teams in final six, the opportunity to pitch their project to a panel of judges from industry-leading companies was an amazing opportunity and, regardless of leaderboard placement, a victorious culmination of their project. The Stute congratulates all the finalists of the Ansary Entrepreneurship Competition, and wishes a very happy graduation to all graduating students.

Policy on Letters to the Editor

All members of the Stevens community are able to submit a Letter to the Editor to be published in The Stute. Letters must refer either to a piece published in The Stute or to The Stute in general and must be between 400 – 800 words in length. Submit letters to editor@thestute.com with your name and title (when applicable) or using our Google form. For writers who wish to write a Letter to the Editor anonymously, please see our policy on anonymity.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to choose whether or not to publish a submitted Letter to the Editor based on a majority rule vote, and additionally reserves the right to edit letters for clarity or request authors to revise. Provided that the author approves the final version, The Stute reserves the right to edit letters according to our copy editing procedures, defined in our policies.

Policy on Op-Eds

All members of the Stevens community are able to submit a standalone opinion piece (otherwise known as an Op-Ed) to be published in The Stute. Op-Eds must be between 400 – 800 words, but longer submissions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. To submit an OpEd please email eboard@thestute.com with your name and title (when applicable) or using our Google form (tinyurl.com/submit-t0-stute). For writers who wish to write an Op-Ed anonymously, please see our policy on anonymity.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to choose whether or not to publish a submitted Op-Ed based on a majority rule vote, and additionally reserves the right to edit Op-Eds for clarity or request authors to revise.

Provided that the author approves the final version, The Stute reserves the right to edit Op-Eds according to our copy editing procedures, defined in our policies.

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tinyurl.com/stutesubmit

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENS.EDU

BROWNLEE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 his YouTube channel in which he conducts in-depth product reviews of different tech products, Brownlee is also the founder and co-host of the podcast Waveform (WVFRM). This platform shares with its listeners the latest trends of the technology sector and conducts interviews with industry leaders such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. Additionally, Brownlee has also gone pro as an Ultimate Frisbee player for the New York Empire in the Ultimate Frisbee Association.

During the Duck2Duck student-alumni panel discussion held in 2022, Brownlee shared his ex-

periences at Stevens and how he managed being a college student while continuing to grow his online platform. He shared how once he found something he truly enjoyed, he just ran with it, stating, “being able to turn it [MKBHD] into a job when I graduated was perfect.” When it came to looking for colleges, he had several options but chose Stevens because of the unique combination of a technology-centric business education. Reminiscing on his time at Stevens, he shared how he lived in both Jonas and Humphreys Resident Halls, got pizza regularly from Grimaldi’s, and spent a lot of time on Palmer Lawn playing Ultimate Frisbee while also working hard in all of his classes to graduate.

Brownlee’s commitment to be-

ing involved in the Stevens community hasn’t stopped since his graduation. He was awarded the Stevens Young Alumni Achievement Award in 2018 and has been a member of the President’s Leadership Council. He will also be presented with an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree at this year’s Commencement. When asked to share his thoughts on the Class of 2024, he shared, “One of my favorite hard-to-believe-buttrue facts is that many of the students graduating from Stevens in 2024 will go on to have long and successful careers in fields that haven’t even been created yet and no matter what they go on to do, they’re now armed with the technical background and the problem solving skills required to pursue it at the highest level.”

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Wednesday, May 22

Sports Stevens athletics triumphs throughout the 2023-24 year

BY RUTHIE MULLISKY, SPORTS EDITOR Stevens athletics has truly been a force to be reckoned with, especially after their performances this past year, both on the varsity and club level. The Ducks amassed 12 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship titles, on top of impressive regular season records and accomplishments. Moreover, their impressive play allowed for many athletes to earn recognition and awards.

In the fall, the Ducks won four MAC titles. Men’s Soccer won the conference championship game in a nail-biting 1-0 victory against Lebanon Valley College, marking their third consecutive conference title. The team made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament and lost a hard-fought game against Amherst College 0-1. The Field Hockey team also won their conference championship game against DeSales University with a score of 1-0. This is on top of an overall season record of 17-3 and an undefeated 7-0 record in conference play. Additionally, Women’s Volleyball won a MAC Freedom Title after defeating

Lebanon Valley College 3-1. This title marks the fourth consecutive conference championship that the team has won.

The winter season only continued this successful momentum. Men’s Basketball won their conference championship in a suspenseful 54-53 victory over DeSales University, marking their third all-time championship title since joining the MAC. Firstyear Tommy Scholl was named the championship’s most valuable player after scoring a career-high 16 points. The Wrestling team also had a very successful season, with an overall record of 13-4, that culminated in both their fourth consecutive MAC Championship title and fourth consecutive Regional Championship title. As a result of winning the Regional Championship, the Ducks sent five athletes to nationals: graduate student Akhil Vega, seniors Luke Hoerle, Stefan Major, and Joel Martsinovsky, and sophomore Ryan Smith. Additionally, Men’s Swimming won their fifth consecutive MAC Championship title after amassing 1,444.5 points at the conference championship meet.

In the spring, the Ducks only

found more success. The Golf team won their fourth consecutive MAC Freedom Championship after finishing the tournament with a score of 618, which put them nine strokes ahead of the second place finisher, DeSales University. Additionally, both the Men’s Lacrosse and Women’s Lacrosse teams won their respective conference championships. The men’s team beat DeSales University with a score of 15-7 to win their fourth straight MAC championship. This was on top of an 18-3 overall record and an undefeated 7-0 conference record. The women’s team defeated Lebanon Valley College 19-4 to mark their third consecutive MAC Championship. From this game, sophomore Stefanie Sellitto was named the championship’s most valuable player after scoring seven goals and an assist. Like lacrosse, both the Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams won their respective MAC Freedom Championships. The men’s team defeated Lebanon Valley College 5-0 to win their fourth straight conference title in the MAC and their 14th straight conference championship in program history. The women’s team defeat-

ed Misericordia University 5-4 to win their third consecutive conference title. Junior Emma Eguia won the point that ultimately won the championship for the Ducks, and was named the championship’s most valuable player. Additionally, the Men’s Volleyball team also won their third straight conference championship against Misericordia University with a score of 3-0, where they ultimately made it to the NCAA Semifinals and lost a hard-fought game against California Lutheran University.

On the club level, there was also tremendous success. The lifting team had three team members qualify for nationals and two represent Stevens at nationals: Abigail Izzo and Chloe Brenna. Additionally, the team placed third at the NJ Collegiate Championship. Additionally, five members of the ice hockey team, Dylan Faulhaber, Nick Adams, Tom Bissaillon, Sean Kiewe, and Dave Canales, represented Stevens in the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) All Star game. Furthermore, the men’s soccer team were Region 1 NY Metro Champions.

MAC PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

VARSITY GRADUATES Baseball

Kieran O’Brien, Christian Kreiser, Marc Rivera, Frank Tonina, Jack Stafford, Peter Mastropolo, Axel Johnson, Jack Irby, Jacob Buurman

Women/Men’s Basektball

Anika Damera, Elissa Nsenkyire, Mike Goodall, Matthew Coletti, Frank Gelfman

Women/Men’s Cross Country

Fionna Feerick, Jacqueline Lulaj, Jake Aylmer, Liam Concannon, Bryan Onody, Frank Orlando

Women/Men’s Fencing

Victoria Beke, Megha Jain, Alana Schmitt, Erik Marran, Caleb Romero, Christopher Stone

Men’s Golf

Joss Hindin, Gus Vickers

Women/Men’s Lacrosse

Emily Leiby, Carly Walker, Keegan Hughes, Paddy Phelps, David Bendis, Joseph Grippo, Jake Zeyher, Jack Savarese, Conner Park, Jesse Tareco, Gavin Maute, Frankie DeRosa

Women/Men’s Soccer

Dana Perry, Morgan Whitlock, Gab Aloe, Elaine Kooiker, Claire Ganley, Jana Mucci, Marissa Sciorilli, Amelia Rehrig, Elsa Bley, Nina Burden, Fritz Kabeiseman, Adam Cohen, Dylan Maund

Women/Men’s Swimming

Claire Hannan, Keenan Yates, Douglas Sousa, Phong Tran

Women/Men’s Tennis

Polina Odintseva, Andrew He, Aashi Kulakarni

Women/Men’s Track & Field

Nina Burden, Allie Canciani, Fionna Feerick, Lauren Ingraham, Jacqueline Lulaj, Nicole Waletzki, Andrew Anantharajah, Dhavan Antala, Jake Aylmer, Liam Concannon, Colin Keady, Bryan Onody, Frank Orlando, Christopher Rodriguez, Christian Templin, Federico Yacoubian

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENSDUCKS.COM

Men’s Golf Gus Vickers Vickers was recognized for his performance in the MAC Freedom Tournament, as well as his performances throughout the season. Last year, he was named MAC Freedom Golfer of the Year, and he has continued this momentum into his performance this year.

Women’s Lacrosse Emily Leiby Leiby was recognized for her strong efforts on the offensive end.

Throughout this most recent season, she tallied 52 goals and 26 assists. Additionally, she was able to hit the 100 career goal milestone in March against Cabrini University.

Men’s Cross Country Jake Aylmer Aylmer was recognized after his eighth place finish out of 132 runners in the MAC Championships where he ran the race in 27:24.5.

Men’s Soccer Fritz Kabeiseman Kabeiseman was recognized for his strong defensive efforts throughout the fall season. He helped the Ducks only allow a mere 0.67 goals per game, as well as contribute on the offensive end by scoring the game-winning goal in the conference championship game, where he was awarded MAC Freedom Tournament MVP. Wrestling Stefan Major Major was recognized for his strong efforts throughout the most recent season, which extended far into the postseason. His strong performances in the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships among countless wins throughout the season helped him to achieve this recognition.

Women’s Fencing Alana Schmitt Schmitt was recognized for her strong performance throughout the season, especially as she has amassed over 200 career victories.

Additionally, for this past season, she was named Saber Captain for the Women’s Fencing team.

Women’s Soccer Elsa Bley Bley was recognized for her consistent efforts for the Ducks. Throughout the fall season, she tallied eight assists, the third highest in the MAC, and four goals.

Men’s Lacrosse Keegan Hughes Hughes was recognized for his strong presence on the field, as throughout this most recent season, he tallied 23 goals and 23 assists, as well as 20 ground balls.

Softball Jessica Guerrero Guerrero was recognized for her strong efforts as shortstop. She tallied 39 assists in conference play, the most in the conference, and 84 assists in overall play. Additionally, her fielding percentage was 0.942, and her batting average was 0.362.

Women’s Volleyball Meg Dion Dion was recognized for her persistent efforts throughout the season. She led the team in blocks with 101 blocks, and averaged 0.96 blocks per set. She also tallied 216 kills, with an average of 2.06 kills per set. Additionally, her hitting percentage was 0.250. She was named the MAC Freedom Championship MVP.

Women/Men’s Volleyball

Kristy Chen, Madison Sappia, Meg Dion, Elle Maggio, Liz Patterson, Phu-Quy Ho, Carver Weirick

Wrestling

Michael Conrad, Andrew Finateri, Luke Hoerle, Stefan Major, Joel Martsinovsky

Field Hockey

Paulina Georgoutsos, Julia Zatyko, Dani Hessels, Amanda Murnick

Softball

Carolyn Yahn, Jessica Guerrero

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Wednesday, May 22

Feature

FIRST IN CLASS COHORT The following students from the Class of 2024 each earned a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout their academic journey at Stevens. These students span across three schools and nine different majors. Read about what they are most proud of, their advice to younger students, and their plans for the future.

JACOB ASHKENAS What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I’m most proud of the research I did with Professor Lindsey Cormack.

We built a tool that’s been used for meaningful research by the NY Times and other institutions.

SIDHARTH PERI What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I think the thing I am most proud of is being able to make a lot of meaningful friendships with a variety of different people. I was able to see myself transition from having a lot of older friends I looked up to, and now I have a lot of younger friends who say they look up to me, which I think is pretty cool.

MATTHEW KELLERMAN

JULIE GARRY

HALEY KIRMAIER

What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I am most proud of all the relationships I have built and all the accomplishments I have made by working with fellow Stevens cohort.

What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

The relationships and experiences I have with fellow students, faculty, and staff. I met a lot of great people at this school who I will miss.

What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I am most proud of my participation in the e-board of Society of Women Engineers and my engagement in creating space for women to gain confidence in their abilities and form lasting friendships.

What advice do you have for younger students?

Be willing to fail or be in an unfamiliar situation. Life is about experiencing the good and bad so do not let fear hold you back.

What are your future plans?

I will be working at AWS in Seattle and trying to get more into hiking and bouldering!

What advice do you have for younger students?

My advice to younger students is to always chase learning and knowledge and as a by product success will follow. Don’t always stress about tangible results as the process of learning is more valuable and important. Go after knowledge and excellence will eventually follow.

What are your future plans?

I plan on returning to work as a Quant Research Associate at Sumridge Partners and finishing my last semester of AMP in Machine Learning. I plan on hopefully returning to school soon to pursue an MFE or Phd.

What advice do you have for younger students?

Find a balance between work and play. School should always be your top priority, but taking time to have fun with friends is worth it and way more memorable.

What are your future plans?

I am pursuing a master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Water Resources at Stevens through the Accelerated Master’s Program. I will also be working in the i-SMART Lab at Stevens conducting stormwater research as a Graduate Research Assistant.

What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I am most proud of all the people I was fortunate enough to meet at Stevens.

AASHUTOSH KULAKARNI PHILIP MASCARO What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I am most proud of the three summers of research that I did with the Pinnacle Scholars Program.

What advice do you have for younger students?

Make sure to take time for yourself to enjoy life outside of classes.

What are your future plans?

I am going be pursuing a PhD at Stevens. I hope to one day become a professor.

KEVIN CASTNER JR.

What are your future plans?

I will be getting my Masters in Mechanical Engineering through the AMP here at Stevens. You’re not rid of me yet haha.

What are your future plans?

I will be working full-time as an engineer in Makeup Formulation for The Estee Lauder Companies.

ALEXANDER LEATHER

What are your future plans?

I’ll be moving to Connecticut to start my career as an actuary.

What advice do you have for younger students?

Hang out with your friends more.

Studying for hours upon hours has diminishing gains past a point.

I think most importantly, don’t stress over things that have not even happened yet. If you think you did poorly on an exam, no sense in worrying about that until you actually get the grade back.

If you have to pick an emotion to have about the future, you’ll be a lot better off with optimism than foreboding.

What are your future plans?

While working full time in industry I intend to keep pursuing further education in my free time.

I would like to eventually become a professor so that I can pass on what I’ve learned to others.

ARIANNA GEHAN

What advice do you have for younger students?

My advice I would give to younger students is to not be scared of taking risks and to live your life without regret.

What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I am most proud of the times where I was able to make peoples’ lives just a little bit better. Whether that was helping out somebody with an assignment or just being there to listen. Those are the sorts of things with lasting impact that get passed on.

What advice do you have for younger students?

Get involved in extracurriculars!

I’m proud of my contributions to various organizations and this allowed me to make important networking and social connections.

College is so much more than classes; have fun!

What advice do you have for younger students?

Step outside of your comfort zone and join clubs that you normally wouldn’t think of being in. It’s an easy way to gain new interests and discover new talents you didn’t know you had.

What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I am proud of how well rounded I have become in my thinking, thanks to the diverse people that I met, who also helped me identify my own values.

What advice do you have for younger students?

It’s okay for you to have different definitions of success compared to your peers. Whatever your values are, stay true to them and know that there are ample opportunities for you to pursue your goals.

What are your future plans?

I am pursuing a doctorate in Solid Mechanics at Brown University.

What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I am most proud of Daia, my app I have been building along with another Stevens graduate that allows for safer and smarter sharing of blood sugar values for diabetics. As a type one diabetic myself, I was always passionate about giving back to the diabetes community, and it has been incredible to blend this passion with the technical skills I learned during my four years here!

What advice do you have for younger students?

Get involved! Being involved in organizations and attending random events on campus helped me meet incredible people, grow professionally, and just enriched my overall college experience.

What are your future plans?

This fall I will be attending Columbia to pursue a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering. I will also continue to develop Daia (@daia. diabetes ) by releasing it on the App Store and hiring more people to help us grow and build new features!

😉

MILES BIRD What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

It’s hard to pick but to me it has to be how proud I am of my friends and colleagues that I grew close to during my time here. It never seizes to surprise me how everyone has blossomed into some of the most intelligent and charismatic people I have ever met.

What advice do you have for younger students?

I’d say academically, it’s important to be patient with yourself and to keep trying new things. But the number one thing I learned here is how important it is to have fun in clubs and being with friends.

What are your future plans?

After graduation I will be working as a consulting engineering in HVAC controls in NYC, and I will be getting my P.E. and am strongly considering an MBA as well.

GRACE LEE What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

During my time at Stevens, studying abroad at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, and Florence University of the Arts in Florence, Italy, stood out to me the most.

They expanded my horizons, fostering cultural immersion and academic enrichment.

What advice do you have for younger students?

Don’t hesitate to reach out to your professors for assistance; they’re there to help you succeed.

What are your future plans?

I am continuing my academic career and pursing a masters in business analytics at Columbia University.

ROBERT BRANDL What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

I’m most proud of the knowledge I gained in the computer science field and the work ethic I developed, as well as the friends and connections I made along the way.

What advice do you have for younger students?

Focus on what you are interested in and let your inspiration drive you to the best career for you, and make sure to prioritize your physical and mental health.

What are your future plans?

I will be attending the Master of Science program at the University of Texas - Austin for computer science.

WINSTON LEE What are you most proud of from your time at Stevens?

Holding some of the funniest events on campus like the Maid Cafe with Castle Point Anime Convention.

What advice do you have for younger students?

You’re only a student for so long, so take advantage of everything that you can only do as a student right now.

What are your future plans?

Getting a Master’s in Mathematics and then hopefully a PhD in Math.

Wednesday, May 22

5

Graduating Seniors The Stute would like to recognize and congratulate each of the 896 students of the graduating class of 2024. You did it!

Jonah Abrams, Catalina Abusada, Lucas Acocella, Jacob Agbata, Justin Ahn, Ryan Alberti, John Albrecht, Joseph Alcide, Sebastian Almonte, Gabrielle Aloe, Craig Ambrosio, Joseph Ames, Abdellah Amrhar, Ellen An, Stephanie Anaya, Jorden Andrugsurba, Phillip Anerine, Tejas Appana, Ameenah Aref, Reynaldo Arias, Gabrielle Armetta, Jacob Ashkenas, Alex Asmussen, Chancelor Assiamah, Melissa Atmaca, Harshdeep Aujla, Justin Andre Avendaño, Faith Avila, Shawn Aviles, Jacob Aylmer, Malak Aziz, Julia Baber, Jalen Bailey, Matthew Bairstow, Dariya Baizhigitova, David Bajollari, Alexander Bakos, Rohan Balani, Dimitrios Ballas, Elizabeth Banas, Michael Banks, Andrew Bannon, Lindsey Baratta, James Barra, Ashlynn Barry, Caitlin Barry, Jake Bastible, Daniel Baton, Rashmika Batra, Kayla Batzer, Andrew Bauman, Tahyr Bayryyev, Michael Bearint, Marissa Behrens, Alexander Beke, Victoria Beke, Amanda Beltre, David Bendis, Cole Benkendorf, Karina Berberian, Samuel Berman, Jake Bermudez, Joshua Bernstein, Angela Bevilacqua, Anisha Bhagat, Aditya Bhangale, Sid Bhatia, Hiya Bhavsar, Mason Biddle, Jacob Billotti, Miles Bird, Jonathan Blaya, Elsa Bley, Kyle Boberg, Nicholas Boggiano, Adam Borowczak, Amrita Bose, Brandon Boutin, Jacob Bower, Kayleigh Bowler, Luke Bowyer, Robert Brandl, Elliott Braverman, Jordan Braycewski, Yzabel Breboneria, Philip Brendel, Chloe Brenna, Connor Brenna, Fiona Brockner, Ryan Brown, Julianna Bruzzese, Phuong Bui, Samuel Bunis, Nina Burden, Jake Burdge, Lea Burton, Steven Busseno, Jacob Buurman, Jack Byrne, Thomas Byrnes, Nicholas Cali, Shanel Calle Urgiles, Gianna Callegari, Aaron Camacho, Alexandra Canciani, Marie Canencia, Kayden Cannilla, Giovanna Caravaglia, Caitlin Carbone, Jonathan Carbonneau, Alicia Cardoso, Julieta Caroppo, Julien Carr, David Carrera, George Carvellas, Jordan Casey, Zoe Casten, Kevin Castner, Michael Catania, Alyssa Cavella, Trevor Cazeau, Josephine Cerino, Genesis Cevallos, Adil Chaka, Kaelan Chaubal, Areeb Chaudhry, Ethan Chen, Jia Chen, Justin Chen, Kristy Chen, Pengfei Chen, Spencer Chen, Zuting Chen, Harshil Cherukuri, Tin Cheung, Maurice Chevalier, Michella Chiaramonte, Ryan Chin, Junhyuk Choi, Isara Cholaseuk, Thomas Chow, Rian Chowdhury, Jolene Ciccarone, Evan Ciok, Nicholas Ciraulo, Daniel Claro, Angel Clavijo, Aidan Clifford, Adam Cohen, Melissa Colella, La’nasya Coleman-dewitt, Matthew Coletti, Liam Concannon, Michael Conrad, Constantinos Contomichalos, Luke Conway, Nicholas Couto, Evan Couval, Ella Crabtree, Daniel Craig, Dennise Criollo-quille, Stephen Crocco, David Cruz, Lucie Cunniffe, Michael Cunningham, Irving Curiel-martinez, Nicholas Dahdah, Anika Damera, Samuel Danby, Mariam Dardir, Danielle Dauphinais, Jacqueline Davis, Christopher Deffigos, Jillian Degeorge, Antonio Del Rosso, Brooke Delo, Regina Demaio, Catherine Demario, Dorzhi Denisov, Eric Derco II, Stephanie Deren, Francesco Derosa, Sara Deuidicibus, Mohamadou Diagne, Barry Diaz, Emanuel Diaz, Gianangelo Dichio, Hannah Dicovitsky, Sophia Dicuffa, Adriana Didesidero, Marc Digeronimo, Nicholas Digiacomo, Nicholas Dimeglio, Rocco Dioguardi, Isabella Disturco, Andrew Donahue, Jared Donnelly, Sean Donohue, Alice Dorfman, Christopher Dos Santos, Isar Doshi, Sierra Doss, Haydn Dotterer, Hans Drexler Rivero, Weylin D’souza, Sean Duarte, Ron Dumalagan, Elijah Durantine, Kayhan Durmus, Andrew Dzikowski, Russell Eberding, Morgan Eckerty, Dylan Edelman, Spencer Edwards, Meghan Elder, Muhammad Elfayoumi, William Ellsworth, Adam El-sawaf, Zeyad Eltemsah, Jeffrey Eng, Olivia Eng, Sarah Erickson, Cesar Espejo, Tomas Esson, Mark Falletta, Thomas Fallon, Jenny Fang, Ninghui Fang, Jack Farina, Fionna Feerick, Bryan Feighner, Robert Feliciano, Steven Feliciano, Matthew Ferguson, Cody Fernandez,WilliamFernandez, Matthew Feroz, Connor Feulner, Andrew Finateri, Marc Finelli, Alan Fink, Clare Fitzgerald, Rachel Flynn, Brandon Fong, Nicholas Forcellati, John Foreman, Sophie Fortunato, Elizabeth Foster, Garrett Franckle, Stephen Frank, Justin Frederickson, Benjamin Fuentes, Hector Fuentes, Grace Fukazawa, Riho Fukura, Isabella Furrick, Cavin Gada, Jenaro Galan Prieto, Daniel Galindo, Ave Gallagher, Pavan Gandi, Jhanvi Ganesh, Claire Ganley, Rocco Gannon, George Ganson, Janelle Garcia, Sara Gardner, Paul Garipov, Julie Garry, Samuel Gedal, Nathaniel Gee, Arianna Gehan, Daniel Geib, William Geissel, Frank Gelfman, Carmine Gentile, Christina Georgiades, Panagiota Georgoutsos, Rachel Germain, Ashwin Ghera, Jakob Gibson, Margaret Gibson, Melissa Gil Avendano, Ryan Giovanniello, John Goceljak, Michael Gomez, Ricardo Gomez, David Goncalves, Fabian Gonzalez, Santiago Gonzalez Bonilla, Michael Goodall, Leon Gorelik, Joshua Gorman, Robert Greenwood, Owen Gresham, Michelle Grilli, Vincent Grillo, Joseph Grippo, Joseph Grosso, Jaslyn Grover, Renée Grunwald, Paul liday, Kyle Halton, Changwoo Ham, JanGschneidner, William Guzman, Zoe Hack, Brennan Hall, Kirstin Halet Hamrani, William Hanna, Claire Hannan, Luke Harney, Jack Harrington, Gregory Harrison, Benjamin Hayden, Andrew He, Corey Heckel, Nicholas Hennessy, Kevin Herbst, Karen Herrera Moreno, Danielle Hessels, Joshua Hindin, Jason Ho, Phuquy Ho, Maggie Hodges, Luke Hoerle, Benjamin Holko, Krystal Hong, Suji Hong, Michael Hoovler, Zackary Horton, Nicholas Housel, Rayhan Howlader, Calvin Huang, Steve Huashuayo, Steve Huashuayo, Mark Huggins, Isabel Hughes, Isabelle Hunt, Michael Hurtado, Aisha Hussain, Ha-mil Hutty, Alex Iervolino, Lauren Ingraham, Nikko Inserra, Paraskevi Iordamlis, John Irby, Ahmed Ismail, Connor Ivancik, Tyler Jacklitsch, Eshita Jain, Megha Jain, Yash Jalan, Hao-yun Jan, Jae Jang, Rohit Jayas, Wilson Jeng, Kai Jiang, Jack Jimenez, Juan Jimenez, Brandon Joel, Tegh Johar, Ryan John, Amber Johns, Axel Johnson, Elaina Johnson-glaser, Zachary Jones, Ryan Jonnada, Jamielyn Juan, Christopher Jung, Wiktoria Jurgowska, Fredric Kabeiseman, Albion Kaferi, Daphne Kalkanis, Alexandros Kalogerou, Aaron Kamal, Shady Kamel, Dhruv Kanchi, Daniel Kang, Vasili Karalewich, Edward Kashulsky, Alim Kassymov, Mathew Kawaja, Samuel Kaz, Colin Keady, Liam Keane, Gavin man, Grace Kennedy, Keating, Shreyas Keerthi, Matthew KellerYousef Khalil, Aman Khandelwal, Arjun Khatri, Ayaz Khilji, Adib Khondoker, Gabrielle Khoury, Sean Kiewe, Andrew Kim, Andrew Kim, Daniel Kim, David Kim, Hansel Kim, Joseph Kim, Ryan Kim, Sean Kim, Athena Kiriakoulis, Haley Kirmaier, Sejad Kiyam, Ethan Kleschinsky, Trevor Kliem, Kim Koellmann, Meher Kohli, Jaden Kokinakos, Lennox Kolics, Elaine Kooiker, Andrew Korbul, Arjun Koshal, Arjun Koshal, Christopher Kotelnick, Maciej Kowalczyk, Jack Kraus, David Krauthamer, Ryan Krawczyk, Erin Kreis, Brandon Kreiser, Christian Kreiser, David Kreyn, Jeremy Krugman, Nicholas Kukoda, Aashutosh Kulakarni Prachet, Yashwi Kumar, Neha Kundra, Isaac Kupferschmid, Sean Kyung, Fenella Lachica, Suneedhi Laddha, Justin Lai, Jake Laifer, Geordan Lamanna, Richael Lamendola, Nathan Lancia, Tyler Lane, Nicholas Lang, Thomas Lapinta, Kevin Lasluisa, Aidan Leahy, Alexander Leather, Justin Lebet, Kerry Leccese, Damian Lech, Carson Lee, Cindy Lee, Grace Lee, Jihoon Lee, Ryan Lee, Winston Lee, Paul Leible, Emily Leiby, Christopher Leite, Kajetan Leitner, Dianni Leon Almeida, Adam Leszczynski, Brandon Leung, Nicole Leyderman, Ethan Li, Jason Li, Jessi Li, John Li, Joseph Li, Kevin Li, David Liang, Kevin Liao, Benjamin Lin, Joyce Lin, Vincent Lin, Sydney Linford, Jake Linsalata, Daniel Liu, Bryce Lopez, Esteban Lopez, Qianyu Lu, Connor Lucas, Jacqueline Lulaj, Xinyuan Luo, Tri Luu, Saumit Madireddy, Luke Magette, Elizabeth Maggio, Sophia Mains, Stefan Major, Olena Malich, Catherine Maloney, Michael Malozemov, Kevin Mamo, Matthew Man, Michael Mancino, Gianna Mancuso, Matteo Marchesi, Mateusz Marciniak, Rylan Marquez, Erik Marran, Alexander Marsh, Tanner Marshall, David Martinez, Stephanie Martinez, Joel Martsinovsky, Philip Mascaro, Laura Masciola, Matthew Mascolo, Peter Mastropolo, Nicholas Matranga, Anthony Mauceri, Dylan Maund, Gavin Maute, Amanda Mavricos, Susan Mcaloon, John Jobin Mcauliffe, Walter Mcbride, Aidan Mccartin, Andrew Mccauley, Xavion Mcclary-fagan, Conor Mccreedy, Eegan Mcdermott, Nicholas Mcdonald, Trevor Mckay, William Mckim, Tara Mcloughlin, Cara Mcmahon, Carson Mcmanus, Bailey Mcnamara, Edward Mcquilken, Patrick Mcquillan, Joseph Meditz, Terrence Meekins, Joshua Meharg, Sean Mehra, Om Mehta, Olivia Mei, Rudhra Merchant, Mark Merson, Christopher Meumann, Hrushikesha Mewada, Laura Meyer, Naseem Miah, Nathan Michener, Serena Migdal, Candida Migueis, Maria Mihalatos, Robert Miller, Taran Miller, Carina Ming, Catherine Minteer, Anthony Mitri, Luke Mizus, Nathan Molinari, Tracy Montez, Jillian Moran, Louden Moran, Michael Moreno, James Morris, William Morris, Adam Moskowitz, Adam Moszczynski, Ajay Movva, Jana Mucci, Luke Muhnicky, Tanaka Mukudzavhu, Nicholas Mule, Sebastian Muriel, Amanda Murnick, Saeed Nagim, Jiyun Nam, Sevryn Napora, Mika Naseef, Ryan Naulty, Jacqueline Nesi, Justus Neumeister, Kevin Ng, Tamnhu Nguyen, Nicolai Nodjanosh, Cesar Noguera, Elissa Nsenkyire, Teddy Nueva Espana, Thomas Obiedzinski, Nicholas Oblonsky, Kieran O’brien, Juan Ocampo, Edward Ochanas, Christian O’connell, Matthew O’connor, Ursula Oddo-white, Polina Odintseva, Paul Odre, John Oesterle, Katherine Ohotin, Maya Okrasinska, Lennon Okun, Kenji Onari, Bryan Onody, Frank Orlando, Nicole Osborne, Benjamin Otto, Matthew Oyales, Andrew Ozsu, Timothy Paczesniak, Jason Pagan, Nicholas Palladino, Nina Palmiotto, Zhonghan Pan, Byron Panrudkevich, Grace Panzarella, Spruha Paradkar, Nidhi Parekh, William Parente, Conner Park, David Park, Eric Park, Jeena Park, Seongbin Park, Olivia Parlow, Priyanka Parmar, Daniel Partika, Vadym Pastukh, Dev Patel, Jash Patel, Khushi Patel, Krishnu Patel, Rohit Patel, Shreya Patel, Melissa Pathil, Elizabeth Patterson, Merritt Patterson, Konstantina Pavlatos, Sofia Pazmino, Tain Peacock, Daileen Pena, Nathalie Pena, Jasmine Perez, Nicolas Perez, Julian Perez-colletti, Sidharth Peri, Dana Perry, Christian Pescatore, Christopher Pescatore, Kyriacos Petrou, Zachary Petrov, Jack Phelan, Padraig Phelps, Connor Phillips, Lucas Piccininni, Jack Piccirillo, Edward Pieluc, Jason Pinga, Thomas Pinnola, Adam Piorkowski, Nicholas Piotrowski, Robert Plastina, Mora Pochettino, Robert Polotaye, Alexis Pope, Ryan Potenza, Logan Potts, Joshua Prasad, Aleksander Prasak, Samuel Preston, Ryan Price, Samuel Proto, Jennifer Przybysz, Maciej Pudlik, Ian Pulver, Adriel Pupo, Krishant Putrevu, Harris Pyo, Seunghyun Pyo, Nolan Quade, Colleen Que, Charles Quinn, Alvin Radoncic, Matthew Raghunandan, Fariha Rahman, Ashna Razdan, Facundo Rechter, Matthew Regan, Owen Regehly, Amelia Rehrig, Gillian Reinhardt, Kevin Reinhart, Michael Reinhart, Tyler Rempo, Joshua Richter, Maya Rifai, Marc Rivera, Anthony Rivera-calva, Jake Roberts, Gavin Robinson, Christopher Roddy, Christopher Rodriguez, Gabriella Rodriguez, India Roemlein, Thomas Roff, Jamie Rollins, Shalom Romero-retana, Diana Rosado, Nicholas Rose, Stephanie Ross, Joseph Rotundo, Jake Roux, Jared Runaas, Austin Ruth, Matthew Ruzich, Alec Rybarski, Jessica Sabatino, Steven Sack, Bishawjit Saha, Haneef Sajjad, Nawrin Saju, Marcos Salazar Torres, Justin Saldana, Yazan Sanadiki, Diego Sanchez, Donovan Sanchez, Guy Sandman, Megan Sanford, Hans San-luis, Jack Santoro, Eva Santos, Madison Sappia, Ushmil Sarkar, Mona Savalia, Jack Savarese, Giovanni Savatta, Frank Savattere, Mary Savelyev, Ryan Savin, Zachary Scarpati, Krista Scartozzi, James Schade, Sophia Schaefer, Samuel Schmieder, Alana Schmitt, Alejandro Schnettler, Alexandra Schoellig, Zachary Schuh, Katherine Schwartz, Marissa Sciorilli, Jenna Scuteri, Pauline Seagal, Stephanie Searing, Jack Seitz, Brandon Sems, Ronald Sena, Jillian Shaffery, Katherine Shagalov, Roger Shagawat, Mihika Shah, Stacy Shang, Sri Hari Shankar, Eshan Sharma, Yashvardhan Sharma, George Sheng, John Shepitka, Rohin Shetty, Terry Shim, Riley Sikorski, Jordan Simon, Jarrod Smeyers, Brian Smith, Lauren Smith, Eddison So, Joseph Sofia, Tyler Soiferman, Bryan Solano, Joy Son, Eric Song, Alexa Soroka, Douglas Sousa, Anya Speck-mcmorris, Skanda Srikkanth, Scott Stafford, Emily Steele, William Stefanic, Devlin Stein, Dmitriy Stepanyan, Robert Stepien, Benjamin Stoll, Christopher Stone, Isabella Stone, Caden Stott, Joo-mahn Sun, Alexander Szpindor, Jarvis Tam, Hasumi Tanemori, Alexandria Tao, Christopher Tarabay, Jesse Tareco, Noah Taub, El Taylor, Campbell Tedtsen, Christian Templin, Ekin Temur, Ajay Thakkar, Jeffrey Tharakan, Matthew Thomas, Zachary Thurlow, Carmine Timmoneri, Jett Tinik, Breanna Tolocka, Frank Tonina, Gabriella Toryk, Cindy Tran, Dylan Tran, Khoa Tran, Phong Tran, Carly Tronolone, Eric Trostin, Leonel Trubbo, Bryant Truong, Darius Truong, Steven Truong, Kimberly Tsang, Paul Tsien, Kyle Tumser, Matthew Turner, Chibunnam Ugorji, Zachary Uhler, Taeseo Um, Randy Urquizo, Rocco Vaccone, Nathanael Vachon, Danielle Valentino, Dominick Varano, Christopher Varseveld, Joseph Vasallo, Matthew Vaughan, Elton Vaz, Steve Vecchio, Hailey Veres, Michael Vickers, Bryan Villalta, Dennis Vink, Cole Vonvorys, Sabrina Vuong, Shailaja Vyas, Nicole Waletzki, Carly Walker, Ruichen Wang, Tianyuanye Wang, Carver Weirick, Zachary Weiserth, Zachary Weng, Aurelia Whitehead, Morgan Whitlock, Nicholas Whitt, Jacob Wills, Jake Winant, Gabrielle Woerner, Dominic Wojewodka, Erin Wolf, Michelle Wolf, Alexandra Wong, Franklin Wong, Adam Woo, Noah Wood, Dylan Woodward, Rodney Wotton, Jake Wright, Matthew Wrobel, Jenna Wynd, Federico Yacoubian, Abhishek Yadav, Carolyn Yahn, Pranav Yalamala, Eric Yang, Daniel Yassa, Keenan Yates, Rem Yates, Burak Yesil, Isa Yilmaz, David Youm, Kevin Young, Ioannis Ypsilantis, Jason Yu, Ryan Yu, Kelly Yuan, Aya Zaatreh, Julia Zatyko, Piotr Zelazny, Tyler Zellner, Jake Zeyher, Leo Zhang, Jiehao Zheng, Roger Zheng, Wenhan Zheng, Luke Zibbell, Natalie Zoladkiewicz

6

Wednesday, May 22

Feature

SENIOR AWARDS Below is a list of the awards and recipients presented at the Senior Award Ceremony.

Lawrence C. F. Horle Memorial Award

Jacob Ashkenas Miles Bird Robert Brandl Kevin Castner Rian Chowdhury Julie Garry Arianna Gehan Matthew Kellerman Haley Kirmaier Alexander Leather Grace Lee Winston Lee Philip Mascaro Sidharth Peri Aashutosh Kulakarni Prachet

Distinguished Chemical Engineering Student Award Kieran O’Brien Rian Chowdhury Isabella Furrick Joseph Alcide Haley Kirmaier

Best Experiment-Based Chemical Engineering Senior Design Award Angela Bevilacqua Amrita Bose Morgan Eckerty Isabella Furrick Sara Gardner Joseph Alcide Haley Kirmaier Kajetan Leitner

Special Chemical Engineering Senior Design Award Lucas Acocella Dariya Baizhigitova Jeena Park

The Kenneth J. Moser Award Kevin Castner Isara Cholaseuk Nicholas Oblonsky

The Arthur J. Grymes, Jr. Book Award Franklin Wong Leo Zhang

The Richard S. Magee ‘63 ‘64 ‘68 Excellence Award Erin Kreis Sara Deuidicibus

Senior Design Award for Mechanical Engineering Genesis Cevallos Spencer Chen William Hanna Jamielyn Juan Amanda Murnick

The Richard B. Cole Award Miles Bird

The Fernando Sisto Award Nicholas Oblonsky Joyce Lin

The Col. John Stevens Power and Energy Systems Award Steven Sack Faith Avila

The Andrew Carnegie Machine Systems Award

William Hanna Aashutosh Kulakarni Prachet

Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Senior Award

The Elie Fonrose Award

Warren Wells ‘42 Distinguished Service Award

The Robert H. Thurston Leadership Award

Arianna Gehan

Ursula Oddo-White

Clinical Engineering Services, Inc. Design Excellence Award Aya Zaatreh Lauren Smith Sophia Mains Dylan Maund Jana Mucci Nicholas Forcellati Ursula Oddo-White

American Concrete Institute Award Hans Drexler Rivero

Robert Ridgeway Award Emily Leiby

Isabella DiSturco Mona Savalia

Thomas Fallon

Bachelor Award in Electrical Engineering David Krauthamer Dorzhi Denisov

Bachelor Award in Computer Engineering Philip Mascaro Harris Pyo

Paul M. Chirlian Award Jason Li

Stuart K. Tewksbury Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Studies in Computer and Digital Systems

Sidney F. Borg Award

Shady Kamel

Matthew Klemchalk ‘01 Memorial Award

Francis Boesch Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Studies in Communications and Signal Processing

Frank Gelfman

Ayaz Khilji Ryan Naulty

Outstanding Senior Design in Civil, Environmental or Naval Engineering Stephen Crocco Caden Stott Jacob Wills Joseph Meditz Boswell Engineering Award Maggie Hodges Ryan Krawczyk

Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering Award Julie Garry

Daniel Savitsky Award Gregory Harrison Stephanie Searing

Dr. Sophia Hassiotis Memorial Award Jacob Wills

The Eugene Fezandie Award Miles Bird Kevin Castner Aashutosh Kulakarni Prachet Franklin Wong

Cesar Espejo

Harry Heffes Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Studies in Mathematics, Modeling and Simulation Dana Perry

ECE Outstanding Senior Design Award for Electrical and Computer Engineering Jason Li Christopher Alessandri Michael Banks Xavion McClary Fagan Marc DiGeronimo Elliott Braverman

The Alfred M. Mayer Prize Gabriella Toryk

Physics Department Leadership Prize Elizabeth Maggio

Young Woman Talent in Physics Gabriella Toryk

Senior Design Award for Computer Science Thomas Byrnes Joshua Meharg Aman Khandelwal Ella Crabtree Spruha Paradkar Jessica Sabatino

Computer Science Departmental Award Danielle Dauphinais Jessica Sabatino

Stephen L. Bloom Theoretical Computer Science Award Ella Crabtree

The Ari Birnbaum Award Tyler Soiferman Jakob Gibson

The Luigi Pollara Award Aisha Hussain Laura Masciola

The Priestly Prize Austin Ruth

Excellence in Biology Award Teagan Polotaye

Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department (1st place Poster Award) Michael Greenberg

Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department (2nd place Poster Award) Malak Aziz

Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department (3rd place Poster Award) Robert Teagan Polotaye

Humphreys/Ennis/ Lesser Award Evan Ciok Philip Mascaro

Frederick Winslow Taylor Award William Geissel

The John Mihalasky Award Luke Mizus Stefan Major Christian Pescatore John Foreman Michael Conrad Andrew Finateri Nicholas Boggiano

Outstanding Industrial and Systems Engineer Dean’s Award Ryan Price

Industrial and Systems Engineering Senior Design Award Kevin Young India Roemlein Christopher Jung Paraskevi Iordamlis Sakthivijay Jayaraman Regina DeMaio

Outstanding Software Engineer Dean’s Award Jolene Ciccarone

Software Engineering Senior Design Award Carson McManus Michael Moreno Christopher Roddy Victor Giraldo Estrada

Outstanding Senior

Design Project Business Consulting Track Jeffrey Eng Eshita Jain Sabrina Vuong Himaya Jeyakumar Mihika Rachamallu Clare Fitzgerald Gabrielle Aloe Elissa Nsenkyire John Irby Lindsey Baratta

Outstanding Senior Design Project Entrepreneurship Track Brandon Schwartz Luke Hoerle Phu-Quy Ho Ethan Chen Isa Yilmaz Hansel Kim

Outstanding Senior Design Project Research Track Renee Grunwald Jake Bermudez

Outstanding Academic Performance Award for Bachelor of Science in Business Aditya Bhangale Grace Lee

Outstanding Academic Performance Award in Quantitative Finance Sidharth Peri

School of Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award Carmine Timmoneri

Outstanding Service Award

Paul Garipov

Ansary Prize for Student Entrepreneurship (1st Place) Brandon Sems Margaret Gibson Grace Fukazawa Jalen Bailey

Ansary Prize for Student Entrepreneurship (2nd Place) Shady Kamel Nicholas DiMeglio Rohit Jayas

Ansary Prize for Student Entrepreneurship (3rd Place) Arianna Gehan Julia Zatyko Stephanie Deren Nina Burden Alicia Cardoso

Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising Ann Petrigliano

Customer Service Excellence Award Ushmil Sarkar Katherine Shagalov

Honor System Service Award Nicholas Housel

Career Center Ambassador Award Nathanael Vachon

Career Center Excellence in Experiential Education Award Gavin Keating

Co-op Program Ambassador Award

Mary Savelyev Renee Grunwald Riley Sikorski Elsa Bley Lea Burton Serena Migdal James Schade Lindsey Baratta Nathaniel Gee William Parente Eshita Jain Danielle Valentino Sabrina Vuong Nikki Leyderman Joseph Ames Sid Bhatia Aditya Bhangale Natalie Zoladkiewicz

The Resident Assistant Outstanding Service Award

Julia and Frederic Bissinger Award

Luke Magette

Diana Rosado Miles Bird Emanuel Diaz Lucas Acocella Paul Leible

Christopher Rodriguez

The Thomas E. McCandless Music Award Justin Lebet Matthew Oyales

Linda Vollkommer Award

James Barra

Spirit of STEP Award

Joseph M. Farber Memorial Prize

Piotr Zelazny Amanda Beltre

Jillian Shaffery

Capstone Award Best in Show

Anya Speck-McMorris

Capstone Award Runner-Up Sydney Linford

Capstone Award Honorable Mention

Appreciation Award for Contribution to Student Mental Health Panagiota Georgoutsos

Social Justice Advocate Zeyad Eltemsah

Stevens Pride Award Kevin Castner

Ashwin Ghera Timothy Paczesniak

Leader of Distinction

Center for Environmental Systems Hydroglobe Award

Phi Sigma Sigma Award

Zoe Hack

Elizabeth Patterson Julia Baber

Claire Hannan Michael Cunningham Maggie Hodges Lauren Hiley Ryan Krawczyk

Maurice E. Roglin III Award

John Barnes Senior Design Award

Podolsky Award

Sebastian Almonte Paul Leible Richard He Emanuel Diaz Kimberly Tsang Hasumi Tanemori

David and GG Farber Societal Impact Award Sophia Schaefer Maurice Chevalier

Louden Moran Keenan Yates

Chloe Brenna

Waldo Shumway Award Kevin Castner

The Ada and Edwin “Doc” Farrell Memorial Award Panagiota Georgoutsos

7

Wednesday, May 22

Stute Feature THE STUTE EDITORIAL

Celebrating the Class of 2024 In writing this final editorial for The Stute’s 121st volume, I find myself filled with a mix of emotions. Although I am not graduating this year since I’m on a five-year co-op track, I began my journey with many members of the class of 2024 in 2020. Reflecting on the past four years, the people I’ve met will always be the most memorable aspect. This group of individuals is not just a class that faced adversity; it is a class that responded to unprecedented challenges, so much so that the word “unprecedented” itself lost its meaning.

Many will undoubtedly speak of how the Class of 2024 endured hardships, from an abrupt end to high school to a COVID-revolving start to college, characterized by online classes and heavy restrictions. This class entered college in a time of uncertainty—some beginning their higher education journey online, while others navigated the constraints of in-person learning without the usual social freedoms. The college experience, often romanticized as a period of exploration and social adventure, was very different for them. These experiences, while

undeniably difficult, set the stage for a story of incredible perseverance, innovation, and even some funny memories. Those who were on-campus during the 2020-21 school year will always remember spitting in tubes together every week, late nights in academic buildings or the tents, and takeout meals from Pierce. Even those who stayed home adapted and thrived through online outlets and eventually joined their peers in rebuilding a vibrant, connected campus life.

The Class of 2024 not only survived tumultuous times but emerged as leaders who rebuilt and redefined campus culture, experiencing immense growth and paving the way for future students. This transcended just taking on leadership roles in clubs and engaging in academic opportunities on campus. Many students creatively found ways to build connections and socialize safely despite missing out on traditional first-year festivities, and gained independence by living off campus earlier after just one year.

They started their academic journey with online classes, quickly adapting to new technologies and

programs, and learning to take full advantage of available resources. The heightened focus on health and safety through rigorous COVID testing, isolation period, and masking policies taught them to be responsible and conscious of their impact on others.

Driven by a demand for quality education and prioritizing their goals at Stevens, these students exemplified independence, innovation, and drive—traits that extend beyond campus life and will serve them well in the future.

Not only did they pave a path for themselves, but they also led others through their experiences.

Despite not getting many of the typical Stevens experiences, the Class of 2024 showed others what it means to step up and adapt in the face of adversity. By embracing change and fostering a sense of togetherness, they demonstrated that true leadership is about perseverance, creativity, and the ability to inspire those around them. The legacy they leave sets a powerful example for future classes to follow and ensures that the impact they made will continue to shape the Stevens community for years to come.

As I prepare for my own graduation next year, I will remember these lessons and continue to pass them on. This class’s resilience, leadership, and camaraderie have set a standard that I, and many others, aspire to uphold. To the families and friends attending graduation today, thank you for supporting these amazing graduates. Your unwavering encouragement has undoubtedly been a cornerstone of their success.

To the graduating class of 2024, thank you. You have been a huge part of my journey, and I’m so grateful for every laugh, tear, and shared moment as we navigated life together, especially those who I’ve known since Fall 2020. Some of my best friends are among you, and watching you graduate is a bittersweet experience. Amidst the nostalgia and grief of the end of an era, it’s sad to know that we won’t share these moments in the same way again.

Yet, I am also filled with so much pride and excitement, knowing the incredible things you will achieve as you step into the world beyond Stevens.

Congratulations, Class of 2024!

Stute by the Numbers

28

Issues

700+ Articles

Staff Members

Opinion Columnists

4.5k+

7

308

245k

Graduating Seniors

Instagram Followers

Pages of Layout

Editor-in-Chief

Memorable Moments

20

50

Isabella Ziv ‘25

Website Visits

Top 10 Viewed Articles on thestute.com this year Rank

Views

Section

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Cult Seen Dragging Students to Humps Basement

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2

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New Jersey earthquake rattles campus

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3

2,188

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Career Outcomes Report trumpets stellar statistics

Evan Papageorge

4

2,132

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New core curriculum revealed: SUCCESS

Madison Heller

5

1,678

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Stevens receives nearly $1 million for flooding research Jeremiah Chinwendu

6

1,552

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Peter Higgs: a particle physics legend

Hemanth Pillala

7

1,543

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Facebook moms rally in support of snow day!

Jiya Jaisinghani

8

1,542

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My favorite Techfest was on Zoom

Kayden Cannilla

9

1,495

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Unconventional ways to have fun

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10

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Techfest with Neon Trees rocks River Lot

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COMIC CORNER

BY LIZ SEPULVEDA

8

Wednesday, May 22

Senior Essays

STUTE

SENIOR ESSAYS Hug all your friends

BY KAYDEN CANNILLA Journalistic writing has always been important to me, and I’m so grateful for being able to express myself in the Stute throughout my time here.

In elementary school, I started my own newspaper to share my ideas with my classmates.

Handwritten and photocopied at Staples, it was a short-lived but fondly remembered venture into print journalism. In high school, my focus shifted from the humanities to the more technical; I got involved in carpentry and engineering electives. When I was accepted into Stevens, my mom encouraged me to enroll in a school that had more options for humanities,

because she knew I would need a creative outlet.

Coming to campus in 2020, it was really difficult to be involved with clubs with everything online. Zoom GBMs didn’t allow me to connect with my peers like I wanted, and I was only vaguely aware of The Stute because we weren’t printing weekly, just posting online. I wrote my first article because I was interested in discussing the cost of living on campus and how the UCC Residential Towers would change upperclassmen housing. In each of my articles, I tried to document the student perspective: a slice of what life was like at the time. I can look back on my growth at Stevens through the lens of my writing. I

loved documenting how culture has changed over my time here: masking policies, the opening of the UCC, and the return of the live music scene. I’ve enjoyed speaking with clubs, departments, and offices that I otherwise would not have overlapped with to explore current events within the student body.

Of course, I’ve loved the people I met through The Stute. I’ve had so much fun with this group: coming up with Stupe articles, end-of-year dinners, GBMs and board meetings, Stute Weekend, decorating, reorganizating, and moving offices, and pranking the SGA office by completely wrapping it in newspapers. The Stute team has been some of the most supportive, brilliant peo-

ple I’ve interacted with. It’s one thing to be able to understand tough technical and engineering concepts, and another to be able to write about it in a way that engages and connects with your audience. I admire that the Stute staff is dedicated to practicing that skill regularly, on top of their other, often unrelated school assignments. We do it because we love it, we grow from it, and writing makes us better.

To my underclassmen: I’m happy to leave The Stute in your hands. Remember The Stute is a platform for all students, we have a gift and responsibility to amplify student voices. Go and search for the stories that need telling, the organizations that deserve recognition, and the

questions that need to be analyzed. Teach the incoming journalists how to think critically about information they receive, ask the right questions, and report holistically.

To the people I’ve spent my years with: I will miss seeing you so frequently. I know I will see updates of your success from afar, and be so proud that I’m able to call you my friends. I’m looking forward to reminiscing, calling just to chat, and talking about the lives we’ve made for ourselves. No matter the distance or time that separates us, even if we lose frequent contact, I will remember the impact your love has had on me. And of course, when you ever remember me fondly: reach out.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KAYDEN CANNILLA

Upswingin

BY KEENAN YATES The J Curve is a trendline showing an initial loss immediately followed by a dramatic gain, kind of in the shape of a “J” (hence the name). It’s often related to the performance of a business or investment over a period of time. In economic theory, for example, the J Curve has been used to demonstrate how a country’s trade balance will decline after devaluation of its currency before it gradually improves. That’s all well and good but why bring all that up for a senior essay? Well, because my four years at Stevens looked startlingly similar to what I learned about the J curve in classes.

My freshman year I took classes online from home in California. I tried coming all the way out to Jersey, sure, but it was humid as hell and we were all quarantined for being outof-state students, so at some point it was pretty obvious that while I’d be doing online classes for the foreseeable future in any case, there would at least be better food at home. I remember the trip home and being at the airport — my overfilled suitcase clocking in at 76 pounds, and my brain trying to justify the $100 I would have to spend to pay in fees for an overweight bag. The lady working said to me that sometimes, you get to make someone’s day, and that was a perk of the job. She let the bag go for free, and I still haven’t stopped being thankful for her kindness. It wasn’t the $100 that mattered, it was that I was lost,

scared, and reeling from some sort of whiplash at whatever life there was to be enjoyed in Hoboken that I couldn’t find.

All’s well that ends okay, and so after getting off the f light and getting accustomed to 5 a.m. math and science classes due to the time difference, I did get to enjoy my freshman year. All my classes would be done by 1, so I’d get to go surfing with friends, or hiking during the week, and we’d often make the four-hour trip to Big Sur, California to go swimming in the rivers and cliff jumping. There was a limitless amount of opportunities, and classes were infinitely easier not having a sport to do in the meantime. I remember telling my parents that it felt like cheating not having to train for hours a day, even though I missed competing.

In some ways it’s easy to be upset about not having a normal freshman year. But in other ways, I couldn’t be more thankful for the freedom I felt being in nature for camping or surfing trips during that era. By the time sophomore year came around, I finally made the trek for good.

Needless to say, it wasn’t great in the slightest. I felt the classic J curve decline in having no time between practices, classes, and cooking for myself at my apartment. It taught me a lot about living situations, and how having a bad living environment can affect all areas of your life.

To date I’ve never slept less than during that time, and I remember the janitor checking in on me at the Stute office because I would be in there well past

midnight consistently because it was better than being at my apartment. I wanted to transfer, and I remembered how visiting my brother at his college practically every other weekend were the only times I felt like a real person.

That summer it felt like the sun came out after a long period of overcast weather and rainy days. By the time I came back to Hoboken for my junior year, I was determined to come at it with an open mind and give it a real, genuine shot. In some ways it was great I had such a shitty living situation my sophomore year — it pushed me to be on campus as much as possible, and I had the opportunity to jump into a lot of leadership roles I otherwise would not have gotten, had I been too comfortable. If you’ve ever put on a pair of jeans at the store that fit just right, then this was my junior year if those jeans were just a tad too long. Insanely busy still, yes, but figuring things out and happy and meeting new people that pushed me out of my comfort zone and showed me the many things there are to love about Jersey.

I met Tommy then, who’s graduating today and probably sitting next to me right now and also nice enough to read this essay for me to add any edits before submitting. I never really thought I’d meet someone seriously in college, but there he was one day with curly hair that was calling for shampoo and conditioner recommendations. Well, to be honest I met him the year before but this was finally the

year I was giving New Jersey, Hoboken, and Stevens a chance, and his million dollar smile was impossible to ignore. There was something about that year that was so stark in contrast to my sophomore year it was hard to remember all the bad times.

All I knew was that I was finally achieving the goals I had set for myself in the pool and in the classroom, and was finally around genuine people.

While the exponential growth of my junior year seemed hard to beat, finally going from negative to positive slope on the J Curve, senior year has easily topped it in every way. I am so grateful to have my friends in my life and to have such a supportive boyfriend with me every step of the way. I’ve stood up for myself and for others and called out BS when needed, and have helped others do the same. All those bad experiences — from having packages stolen my sophomore year to awful living conditions — have helped me become a better

mentor as a resident assistant (RA) and earned me the honor of being RA of the Year. Who knew that going through bad experiences would make me such a qualified individual to help others avoid similar mishaps? And maybe it could all be chalked up to reaching 21 and also discovering Artichoke’s Pizza this past year, but I can finally say I’ve found the life there is to be enjoyed in Hoboken. It’s with the people, the food, the experiences, and the growth and independence that comes from living so far from home, even with the challenges.

I wouldn’t be here without the help of so many people, especially the support of my parents and my brother, who are in the stands for graduation. For them, for Tommy, and for his family, and all the friends I’ve made who I’ll be visiting across the globe, these years have been “J”ust great, and I know the best is yet to come.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLOGGER.GOOGLEUSERCONTENT.COM

9

Wednesday, May 22

Senior Essays

BY KEVIN CASTNER JR. Journalistic writing has always beHey everybody, in what will be my sixth time writing for The Stute over my illustrious career (3 of which being The Stupe), I would like to share with you all my submission for Commencement speaker. While I did not receive the honor of speaking, I still feel it encapsulates my time at Stevens well. One perk of its original essay format is that it will speak to you, my dear reader.

That, and it is not terribly long or belaboring on any point. Please enjoy a slightly modified version of my speech: If I had to boil down everything I have gained from Stevens into 3 key qualities, in order of ascending importance, my answer would probably be passion, charity, and intention. Coming to Stevens, I was expecting to find a bunch of nerds, and I was right,

but not in the way I expected.

What I found were poets, painters, performers, photographers, musicians, athletes, leaders—the list goes on. Common amongst all of us is an exceptional drive and love for our craft. Whether you’re a sports nerd, a theater nerd, or a nerd nerd, your passion inspires others. You lot have certainly inspired me, and you’re sure to do the same as you go forward, wherever you flock I think I am speaking for all of us when I say I would not be here today without the help of my friends and peers. There has never been a time when I have asked a fellow Duck for help and been denied. Heck, sometimes I am offered help without even asking.

Be it help studying for an exam, a walk back home late at night (or rather early in the morning), or a shoulder to cry on after a bad day, I have seen and experienced an abundance of goodwill unlike

anything I have known before at Stevens. That dependability, reciprocated, lightens your load and the burdens of all those around you. Extend that same care to all birds, regardless of feather.

What you all have gotten out of Stevens and will get out of life ahead is a function of what you put in. The most important thing I have learned here is to live with intention. I have had my fair share of wins at Stevens, but I have also taken some FAT L’s. Growth only happens when you reflect upon these outcomes and intentionally inform your future actions with that feedback. Feel the sting of failure. Savor the sweetness of success. Strive not for perfection but for satisfaction in all you do.

For it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish; and only YOU pick the finish line. Thank you all and Go Ducks!

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEVIN CASTNER JR.

Waddle On, Fellow Ducks

FIRST DAY FRESHMAN YEAR

Wrapping up my writing career

BY ZOE HACK A little while ago (about 4 years), I spent my first year as a Stevens student. It was a lot different from any other first-year college experience, mainly due to the large restrictions placed (the main one being that only first-year students were permitted on campus, and even that was optional). Despite living on campus for a year (live laugh love Jonas Hall), I felt like I had failed to make connections with my peers, campus itself, and any possible aspect of student life.

Don’t get me wrong, I was still able to (try to) make the most of my time, and made some meaningful connections with friends that first year, but going into my second year, I really wanted to make a complete 180 in terms of my involvement on campus.

It wasn’t necessarily that I was not trying to get involved

my first year, it was just that I had no idea how to and didn’t have much interest in virtual events/meeting people via zoom, so I just ended up not being involved in anything. While I attribute much of my current involvements to my time as a peer leader for the past three years, my involvement in The Stute actually has a story of its own.

Growing up, I had always hated “literacy” or any form of academic reading and writing.

Looking back, I don’t think I disliked it so much but more so was frustrated that it didn’t come as easy to me as math did so it was not as easy for me to excel. It took until my junior year of high school to actually become confident in my skills and take ownership of my own unique style of writing because this was the first time that I was actually encouraged to do so rather than writing in a specif-

ic way. My last two years of high school I was really able to find my voice as a writer and not only use it to express myself in my college essay, but also impart it into my academic literary analyses as well. At Stevens, I enjoyed my CAL 103 and 105 classes, and was really proud of all of the work I had done for them, and I knew that I was going to miss writing after my first year. The summer between my first and second year, I saw on Instagram that The Stute was accepting applications for Opinion Columnists for the upcoming year.

I don’t think it is something in the past I could see myself doing, but wanting to become more involved and wanted an outlet to still use my voice as a writer. I brainstormed some things that I was passionate about writing and speaking about (as well as a way to be able to be funny) and proposed my column Lifestyle

HACKs (get it, because my last name is Hack).

The ideation of my column really just came from the fact that people always tell me that I give really good advice and that I am great at organizing things.

Which like yeah, I do give great advice, but do I follow it? no not one bit: I have great ideas but no ability to follow through (spoiler alert after 3 years this has been diagnosed as ADHD, which I know must come as a shocker to some readers who have been telling me this since they have started reading my articles). Lifestyle HACKs has been a place where I pretend to have it all together, but me and you both know that I really don’t, but we just don’t talk about that part. I love being able to help people (even if it is literally just a stupid tip that I came up with) and really appreciate all of the feedback that I get for my silly

little articles.

But honestly none of my Stute journey would have been possible if it wasn’t from all of the support that I always receive from my friends and family, my editors (I am so sorry that I submit every article exactly at the time of the deadline (this essay is no exception to that)), and past and present eboards who put so so much work into producing the work of art that the Stute is. Even though I just write a few hundred words every other week, I am forever grateful for the opportunities and support I have been given at The Stute.

I leave you with this: if there is something that you are even remotely interested in or vaguely considering, in any form, just go for it. A one-off of putting yourself out there can have the potential to change your life for the better.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZOE HACK

If you could go back and do it all over again, would you do anything differently?

This question tends to come up a lot at the end of college; I’ve even been asking myself if there’s anything I should have done differently, and the answer is always the same: absolutely not! College has had its ups and downs but I’ve never regretted my time at Stevens. I decided to go here at 16 years old during a civil engineering pre-college program the summer before my senior year of high school. The decision was entirely practical. I wanted to be an engineer, I wanted to be near a city, and I wanted to stay in-state, so Stevens was the logical choice.

Every time I’ve had to explain why I would make this choice over again, I’ve pointed back to the original reasoning I had nearly five years ago. And while I definitely still stand by my 16-year-

old logic, it’s not the entire story.

Even after I made my choice, I still had my doubts about Stevens.

I waited on scholarships, toured and applied to other schools, and obsessed over the statistics and career outcomes. A lot of the reasons that Stevens was my “dream school” didn’t even end up being true. My freshman year was eaten by COVID, completely altering my experience. I only considered schools with co-op programs because I was sure that was what I wanted, but I didn’t even apply to be a co-op student once I got here. I was also “early accepted” into the AMP program, which I thought was a big deal, but I’m not getting my masters at Stevens. I was even wrong about my core requirement of being near a city. I absolutely hate the city!

Still, with everything I got wrong, I made the right choice.

I was asked this year what my favorite memory at Stevens has been, and I struggled to answer.

There isn’t just one moment that comes to mind but a whole flood.

I’ve had four years of favorite moments. I’ve met hundreds of people and learned so much. I didn’t know before college that your face could hurt from smiling too much, and now it happens on a weekly basis. I can’t say that everything has been perfect or that I’ve been perfect (or that my grades have been perfect), but it’s all been good, and I really like the person that I’ve become here.

Half of it is me, how hard I’ve worked and how much I’ve proven to myself. Stevens has given me chances to challenge myself and opportunities to grow. I probably could have found those things anywhere though. The other half of it is the people I’ve met. This

school attracts very specific kinds of people (kids who cared about ROI statistics in high school).

We’re nerdy, determined, and would rather take macroeconomics than philosophy 101 (at least the STEM majors). Other schools might have the same opportu-

nities and resources as Stevens, and I would probably have been happy anywhere, but if I didn’t come to Stevens, I never would have met the people who are now a permanent part of my life. So yeah, I wouldn’t change that for the world.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CLAIRE HANNAN

BY CLAIRE HANNAN

10

Wednesday, May 22

Campus Pulse

Jack Brummer ‘24 “Live, laugh, lobotomy.”

Joseph Grosso ‘24

“I went home a lot so I would say stay at college more weekends and spend more time with the friends I made and deepen those connections.”

Victoria Beke ‘24 Everything will work out.

ROVING REPORTER

SENIOR EDITION

By Rafael Lee Li and Mia Petrolino Jetavion Tinik ‘24

“Do not murder Christopher Opsal who will be in UCC North room 718 at 9:23pm on 10/19/22.”

Z Casten ‘24 “Skipping classes is a gateway drug.”

“What would you tell your freshman year self?”

Cate Maloney ‘24

“Chill out. Nothing is that deep and most people at this school are losers and show offs so don’t be intimidated by them!!!”

Lennox Kolics ‘24

“Don’t be afraid of using the resources that your program gives you.”

Samuel Berman ‘24 “Invest in Nvidia.”

Jack Scherban Crossword by Jack Scherban

Blue jay

Sudoku Difficulty: Hard