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Fatima Ahmadova

Fatima Ahmadova, of Johnson City, N.Y., is on a pre-med track, majoring in biochemistry and minoring in health and wellness. She is also trilingual, speaking English, Turkish and Azerbaijani.

At a young age, she experienced dealing with a family medical issue that exposed her to challenges in the healthcare system for individuals living under the poverty line — which included her own family. These obstacles led her to give back to her community.

Ahmadova’s most rewarding volunteer experience was at Guthrie Lourdes. She volunteered in various departments, including pharmacy, ambulatory surgery and the emergency department. This provided her resources to carve out her path to becoming a future physician.

After recently receiving her certification in hospice training, she transitioned to volunteering with hospice patients at the Guthrie Lourdes palliative care clinic. She brings comfort to families at Elizabeth Church Manor through conversation, music therapy, playing games, reading and exploring nature.

At ������ý, Ahmadova is treasurer of the Biochemistry Club. Her responsibilities include organizing fundraisers, managing the club’s records and handling financial matters.

Through her many volunteer efforts, both past and present, Ahmadova’s goal remains the same: to assist the underserved in our community. She finds solace in supporting those in need, and as she continues down this path, “will be satisfied with her life’s work.”

Daniel Chavarria

Daniel Chavarria, of Kirkwood, N.Y., is a senior in the School of Management where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He is a graduate of Windsor Central High School and attended SUNY Broome Community College prior to enrolling at ������ý. Chavarria moved to the ������ý area six years ago from Chihuahua, Mexico. 

At SUNY Broome, he was selected for the International Student Organization’s Executive Board, through which he planned events and programs to promote multicultural connections. As a community college student, he volunteered to coach young swimmers at his former high school.

Chavarria has quickly established himself as a student leader at ������ý, earning a coveted spot on President Harvey Stenger’s Road Map Intern Team. He and his fellow students provide insights on the ������ý’s most strategic priorities.

Jennifer DeGregorio, PhD '21

Jennifer DeGregorio earned her doctorate in English from ������ý. She received undergraduate degrees in journalism and English from the University of Maryland, and her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Hunter College, City University of New York. She has been an instructor and teaching assistant at ������ý, and has served as an adjunct lecturer at Montclair State University in New Jersey and at Hunter College.

Her dissertation at ������ý, The Jennifer Epidemic, is a collection of original poetry commenting on the difficulty of identity formation in a culture that makes many competing demands on the psyche, particularly expectations surrounding gender and neoliberal notions of happiness as a project of capitalist consumption.

As a graduate student at ������ý, her service work has focused on strengthening the bonds between the University and the local community via literary outreach. DeGregorio is assistant director of the ������ý Poetry Project, a literary service program under the ������ý Center for Writers that sends graduate creative writing students into Greater ������ý to offer free poetry workshops.

In addition, DeGregorio is co-director of the Literati Reading Series, a fall-semester series that invites three published authors to ������ý for public readings, pairing each with a graduate creative writing student. The University recognized DeGregorio for her body of work with a 2019-20 Graduate Student Excellence Award in Service/Outreach.

Daisy Dimatos

Daisy Dimatos, of ������ý, is majoring in accounting in the School of Management. She is also a member of the PwC Scholars Program that focuses on developing leaders through academic excellence, professionalism, community service/fundraising and networking opportunities.

Through the PwC Scholars Program, Dimatos volunteers at Ross Park Zoo as part of a yearly community service project. She also assisted in organizing and hosting a fundraiser to benefit Rise, which provides domestic violence services to Broome County.

She joined the Disabled Student Union and soon after was named social chair of the Executive Board. This provided her the opportunity to be interviewed on a student experience panel during ������ý’s Reframing Disability Week. The event brought together students, faculty and guests to discuss the collegiate experience for people with disabilities.

Following this involvement, Dimatos applied for the ������ý Projects for New Undergraduate Researchers program, studying disability in higher education and bringing awareness to accessibility. Her research project titled “The Impact of Mobility Disabilities on Quality of Social Interactions” is one that makes her most proud.

At ������ý, Dimatos advocated for increased funding to support students with disabilities in higher education across New York state and was recently appointed digital ambassador, a service that provides information and resources about the University to prospective students and their families.

Natalie Kachmarik ’23

Natalie Kachmarik ’23, of ������ý, graduated from Vestal High School in 2019, where she was ranked 10th in her class and earned an advanced Regents diploma with honors. At ������ý, she is majoring in physics and minoring in mathematical sciences and has made the Dean’s List every semester.

In addition to her coursework, she participates in extracurricular activities related to STEM. As a first-year student at ������ý, she joined BU Science, which presents weekly short science lessons to local elementary students. The lessons are recorded on video and played for the students in their respective classrooms. Content supplements the teachers’ lesson plans and is intended to encourage students to take advanced science courses in middle and high school.

Kachmarik was selected for Smart Energy Scholars, a professional development program for engineering and science students. Participants gain skills necessary to build careers in the smart energy field. Kachmarik and her peers hosted a panel discussion with members of the New York State Assembly on how different sets of stakeholders can collaborate on reducing climate change. She was also selected to work as a teaching assistant for an introductory physics lab. In this role, she delivers lectures, performs demonstrations and answers students’ questions as they work on lab activities.

Nykole Nevol

Nykole Nevol, of Andover, N.Y., is in ������ý's master’s degree program in biomedical anthropology. She graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and geography, and has an integrated curricular microcredential in geographic information systems.

Nevol is participating in the AmeriCorps program through the Broome County Council of Churches, working as a community engagement specialist for the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) and Greater Good Grocery store on food equity projects. Nevol’s service with the program will last for nearly one year, concluding in November. Her goal is to engage and educate community members on resources that can help them obtain fresh, affordable and nutritious food.

In 2022, Nevol was a senior staff assistant in the mechanical engineering department of the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has worked with faculty on various research projects at Geneseo and ������ý. In addition, Nevol is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Liberal Arts and Science Honor Society, Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society and the Gamma Theta Upsilon International Geography Honor Society.

Minh-Hung Nguyen

Minh-Hung Nguyen, of ������ý, is pursuing a bachelor's degree in biochemistry with a minor in education and a concentration in pre-pharmacy. He graduated from ������ý High School in 2021, earning a Regents diploma with honors. Nguyen is already achieving academic excellence at ������ý, landing on the Dean’s List in the fall of 2021 with a GPA of 3.85.

Nguyen is passionate about making an impact on the ������ý area through volunteer service. Since June 2021, he has given his time to ������ý Meals on Wheels, delivering food to local senior citizens and checking on their well-being. He has also participated in the University’s Emerging Leaders Program, and says he enjoyed learning about leadership, professionalism and connection. The program conducted a service-learning project with Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments (VINES) that included the construction of a community garden in Endicott.

Nguyen also values service on a more global scale, and is a language supervisor for TED Translator, a global community of volunteers who subtitle TED Talks, and enable the inspiring ideas in them to transcend languages and borders.

Maylin Vititow '22

Maylin Vititow '22 received the ������ý Forum Scholarship two years in a row. The lifelong ������ý resident is an aspiring surgeon majoring in biological sciences and minoring in French language. 

Vititow describes herself as committed to social justice through food. This is a passion and interest she initially developed as a student in the ������ý City School District, where food insecurity is prevalent. As a college student pursuing a pre-med track, Vititow is actively learning about the power of nutritional education as a tool for preventing chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.

Outside the classroom, she has been a volunteer chef in the University's student-run Food Co-op, which supports the region's economy by obtaining produce from local farms and bolsters student health by providing vegan lunches. She's been an advocate on the University's Student Culinary Council, working directly with dining hall management to provide students with a greater variety of healthful food options at economical prices.   

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vititow proposed a collaboration with local food organizations to provide more community gardens in areas of the City of ������ý where access to grocery stores is limited.