Students in Focus

Making sure Colorado's Latino parents have the information they need to help their children get on the path to college is first generation student and Puksta Scholar Alondra Palomino's passion. And she's taking her educational show on the road.

Boulder resident Michelle Maloy Dillon attended CU Boulder in the mid 1980s, moving from New York to live in Baker Hall where she established lifelong friendships over pizza and textbooks. Now, 30 years later, Cooper Dillon is calling Baker Hall "home" for his first year at CU, too.

Anyone living in Boulder, in the shadow of the Flatirons, could understand the allure of taking your work into the mountains. Keane Southard (MMus'11) has a hunch that the wind blowing through the trees, the sound of critters and the very contour of the earth will set a unique scene as he writes his first symphony.

CU-Boulder students Bridger Ruyle and Zhashki (Sasha) Strong have been selected as 2016 Udall Scholars, becoming the ninth and tenth CU-Boulder students to be honored with the scholarship since its inception in 1996.

There’s something to be said for mapping out your future, particularly if you are about to become a college graduate. Colorado football player Derek McCartney has quite obviously done his homework in that regard — but depending upon the circumstances, his path will take one of two wildly divergent roads two years from now.

Pati Hernandez’s Facebook page recently sent her a reminder about where she was two years ago — in a practicum classroom as an education student. The reminder was fitting as graduation looms and considering that classroom experience solidified her aspirations of becoming a teacher.

Finishing his college experience on one of the highest possible notes — as the outstanding graduate from CU-Boulder's College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI) — Justice Burnaugh is ready for some time to catch his breath. Burnaugh says CMCI, where he majored in "news-editorial" journalism, then helped him find and hone his passion for digital journalism, especially audio production.

From the perspective of her father, who immigrated to the United States from Liberia, West Africa, education isn't a guarantee, it’s a privilege.

When Clare Wise joined the Colorado ski team as a freshman in 2012, the message from team leaders was simple and to the point: “It is made clear that when you join the CU ski team the expectation is that we have the highest team GPA and we win national championships,” Wise says with a grin. “That’s just how it is. That’s our legacy and that’s what we strive to do.”

Bridgette Zuckerman never planned to join the Army. She grew up in an Army family and graduated from high school in Colorado Springs. Her mom and dad both enlisted and, by the time Zuckerman was starting college, her sister Briana (15’IntPhys) was already a cadet in the ROTC program at CU-Boulder. But family tradition won out. Briana convinced Bridgette to give it a shot.