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Marlin Scholar Spotlights
A look at the activities and achievements of some of Virginia Wesleyan's current Honors and Scholars students
By Stephanie Smaglo | January 21, 2016
Photos by Janice Marshall-Pittman
Academically enriching. Intellectually stimulating. These are some of the key words used to describe the Honors and Scholars Program at Virginia Wesleyan College. Originally introduced as Wesleyan Scholars in 1985, the now expanded program provides a select group of students with a uniquely integrated curriculum consisting of individualized Honors courses and special opportunities beyond the classroom. But don't take it from us. Read about the activities and achievements of some of our current honors students featured on the Honors and Scholars webpage:
Keane Dye, Class of 2016
Hometown: Glen Allen, Virginia
Majors: Chemistry and Biology
Keane says: “The Honors and Scholars Program has allowed me to receive a true liberal arts education by encouraging me to take courses outside of my major and by permitting me to more deeply engage with the material in these courses…I feel better prepared for whatever challenges I may face in my future career post-graduation.”
Internships:
- Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges Summer Research Fellowship (2014)
- Virginia Tech REU Microbiology in the Post Genome Era (2015)
Undergraduate Research:
- Morphological Studies on Polymer Electrolyte Membranes (PEMs) Used in Fuel Cells: The Effects of Environmental Conditions on Structural Changes as Determined by FTIR Spectroscopy (Presented at ACS national conference in Boston 2015)
- A comparison of the cultivable bacteria from surface-sterilized Wolbachia-infected and Wolbachia-free Drosophila melanogaster
- The Microscopic anatomy of the ovipositor Cosmetid Harvestmen From the Genera Eupoecilaema and Paecilaema; Investigation of the YpeB Protein’s Interactions within Bacillus anthracis.
Campus Involvement:
- Cross Country/Track & Field
- Gamma Sigma Epsilon (president)
- Beta Beta Beta
- Sigma Zeta
- Chi Sigma Alpha
Riana Garcia, Class of 2016
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Majors: English (concentration in literature) and Psychology
Minors: Classics, Biology, and Chemistry
Riana says: “The variety of Honors classes that I have taken has allowed me improve and develop skills that I will continue to build on as I move forward in my education. “
Professional Experience:
- Psychology Research Assistant for Dr. Scott Hinze, VWC Assistant Professor of Psychology
Undergraduate Research:
- Influence of Wolbachia Infection on Fruit Fly Crosses (Presented at VWC's Undergraduate Research Symposium and Academic Fair)
Campus Involvement:
- Tutor: Biology, Psychology, Writing
- Peer Advisor
- Global Marlins
- Marlins Count
- Marlins Read
- Gamma Sigma Epsilon
- Chemistry Honor Society
- Omicron Delta Kappa
- Leadership Honor Society
- Sigma Tau Delta
- Secretary, English Honor Society
- President, Psi Chi (Psychology Honor Society)
- President, European Culture Club
- Classics Club
- Science Club
- Asian Culture Club
Marisa Harris, Class of 2016
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Major: Business
Marisa says: “The Honors and Scholars Program has enabled me to broaden my horizons by meeting like-minded academics and challenge my required courses to learn more than the curriculum required.”
Internships:
- Retirement Planning Services Intern, Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP
Awards:
- Geico Achievement Award 2014
- Sophomore Achievement Award, Management/Business Economics Department
Campus Involvement:
- CEO, Marlin Business Association
- President, Phi Alpha Theta
- Member, Sigma Beta Delta
- Member, Omicron Delta Kappa
- CEO, Spring 2015 Marlin Business Conference
- Tutor: Business
Thomas Simmons, Class of 2016
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Majors: Mathematics and Computer Science
Minor: Psychology
Thomas says: “Honors and Scholars coursework has provided guidance in discovering new and interesting ideas, incentive to appreciate and understand them, and ultimately an anticipation of connections in places where before I anticipated none.”
Internship:
- Summit Analytical (Winter 2013): Worked with tools such as MySQL, PHP, Javascript, and frameworks and libraries including CakePHP and JQuery; developed features for an electronic data capture software used in clinical trials data management; gained exposure to Agile project management and programming as a profession.
Undergraduate Research:
- "Quantifying Art": investigated iterating over color information in raster images as a means to quantify differences or similarities in hue, saturation, and value between paintings
- "Thoughtful": used a relational database to organize information in a hierarchical format with the intent of making a platform for easy note-keeping (and general information-organizing). The project allowed me to explore technologies such as single-page applications and REST API servers in the process
- "The New Mastermind," with Tyler Chang and Samantha Eanes: An investigation of permutations of the classic 1970s board game, Mastermind. We worked toward identifying an algorithm by which we could accurately predict the maximal number of turns to play a game of Mastermind given variations to the original game's rules. (Presented at the 2014 Joint Mathematics Meetings convention in Baltimore)
Campus Involvement:
- Coding Club
For more information, contact Director of the Honors and Scholars Program Joyce Easter at jeaster@vwu.edu or 757.455.2126.