For Martin Gamboa ’15, Boston College has been a springboard into the field of urban education and an introduction to working and studying abroad. After spending his junior year studying and student teaching in Greece, the secondary education and history major from the Bronx is now bound for Poland on a 2015–16 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grant. While he continues to develop his craft as a teacher, Gamboa plans to research the Polish education system.
At Boston College, Gamboa explored family structures in low-income households and presented his findings at the Atlantic Coast Conference-sponsored Meeting of the Minds conference with support from the University’s Ronald McNair Research Scholarship Program, which helps prepare undergraduates from low-income or underrepresented backgrounds for research and academic careers. Now, he looks ahead to the next step on his personal and vocational paths. “The Fulbright gives me a platform to try to make the world a better place,” he told the Boston College Chronicle.
Gamboa is one of many freshly minted Lynch School graduates poised to take their on-campus teaching and leadership experiences into the wider world.
Take Alicia McKean ’15, for example, an applied psychology and human development major who minored in leadership in higher education. McKean tutored local elementary school students and presented her research on the racial achievement gap at the Meeting of the Minds conference—all while maintaining a 3.98 GPA. In four years, she also managed to walk on to the Boston College women’s rowing team, work her way onto varsity, and earn several athletic awards. She traveled to Kenya and Argentina to teach in underresourced communities and took a road trip across the U.S. to research perceptions of America’s public education system. One of only 19 students in her class to receive a four-year, full-tuition Presidential Scholarship, the Rhodes Scholar district finalist is off to the Seattle Teacher Residency Program, where she will teach full time while pursuing a master’s degree in education at the University of Washington.
Several Lynch School undergraduates were also honored this spring at the annual Boston College Student Leadership Awards ceremony.
Lisa Edouard ’16 was recognized with the Alfred Feliciano and Valerie Lewis Award—presented by the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center—for her efforts to coordinate the Undergraduate Government of Boston College’s (UGBC) racial awareness and accessibility.
Cassidy Gallegos ’16 received the Paul Chebator and Mer Zovko Award for her work as the president and founder of a Boston College chapter of To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit support organization for people struggling with addiction and mental health problems.
Joi Dallas ’17 was given the Timothy M. Padulsky Award for her mentorship and leadership as the on-campus recruiter for Breakthrough Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that encourages motivated students from low-income backgrounds to go on to college and develop careers in education.
And Brianna Hopkins ’17, an active member and leader of several student organizations while going through cancer treatments, was honored with the Jeffrey S. Keith Award, which is given to students who excel while facing physical or other significant challenges.