\n<\/em><\/p>\n
New to campus last fall, the members of the Class of 2023\u2014Trinity\u2019s Bicentennial Class\u2014come to the college with diverse backgrounds and interests. Whether from down the street or the other side of the <\/a>globe, the students bring with them a desire to explore the world and expand their horizons. Here, The Trinity Reporter<\/em> catches up with six first-year students mere weeks into their first semester to learn more about them and their goals for their time at Trinity.<\/p>\n William J. Nelson Scholar Ray Alvarez-Adorno knows that goals and perspectives may change over time, so he tries to keep an open mind. \u201cI went to high school thinking I wanted to be an engineer but came out wanting to be a senator and poet,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m open to anything that\u2019s thrown my way. I feel that planning is an obstacle that people give themselves. I\u2019ll have an outline, but you need to be able to give yourself leeway to explore different things. In my time here at Trinity, I want to focus on not only getting smarter but also becoming a better person and a more accessible person to talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n After taking part in the Promoting Respect for Inclusive Diversity in Education (P.R.I.D.E.) <\/em>and first-generation pre-orientation programs, Alvarez-Adorno is jumping right into student life on Trinity\u2019s campus. \u201cI\u2019ve been to meetings for La Voz Latina and the Trinity College Men of Color Alliance, and I want to be active in the Masculinity Project and Temple of Hip Hop,\u201d he says. He enjoys playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. \u201cI\u2019d love to start a club for that, but my dream job would be to write for DC Comics. I love writing stories; I see myself naturally as a storyteller.\u201d<\/p>\n Alvarez-Adorno, whose family is Puerto Rican, says he will most likely major in political science. \u201cI want to be a senator to represent perspectives of minorities and of people who grew up poor, raised by strong women like my mom, Griselle Adorno,\u201d he says. \u201cI have also thought of becoming a middle school teacher, and I may go for a Ph.D. eventually.\u201d<\/a> Anthropology is another area he may explore. \u201cI love learning about people and looking at their culture, getting to know what the real story is,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Hometown: Mal\u00e9<\/em>, Republic of Maldives Azka Hassan is the first Trinity student ever from the Maldives, a small South Asian country located in the Indian Ocean. \u201cAs much as it feels like a burden to be the first Maldivian student at Trinity, it\u2019s such a big opportunity, and I feel honored,\u201d says Hassan. \u201cTrinity has made me feel wanted and excited to be here. I already signed up to make my own booth at the Festival of Nations. It\u2019s a lot of work representing a country by yourself, but I\u2019m up for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n The InterArts Program is the perfect first-year opportunity for Hassan, who has been interested in the arts her whole life. \u201cIn high school, I learned theory of art and art history and got to experiment with different media, like sculpture, woodcuts, printmaking, and all types of paint,\u201d she says. Hassan is interested in film classes and wants to look into double majoring in art and psychology for a possible career in art therapy, which she would pursue in the Maldives. \u201cI like the idea of going back home to use my knowledge to help people there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n To help make the transition to college, Hassan joined the Bantam Beginnings pre-orientation program \u201cHartford\u2019s Architecture, Ethnic Culture & Cuisines\u201d and took a walking tour of the city with P.R.I.D.E. \u201cWe walked 19,289 steps! I met so many amazing people, and I would love to get to know more,\u201d she says. Hassan would like to become involved with Trinity\u2019s International House and raising awareness about issues of cultural appropriation and racism. \u201cI hope to participate in as many things as I can and make as many memories as I can before I have to officially be an adult,\u201d she says. <\/a>\u201cI want to become the person that 5-year-old me would be proud of. In my future, I see a lot of growth, a lot of accomplishment, and, most importantly, a lot of hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul E. Raether Scholar and Harriet E. and David H. Bromberg \u201944 Scholar Along with a dozen other first-year students in the new Global Start program, Maggie Powers chose to begin her Trinity experience by spending the fall semester living and studying in the vibrant capital city of San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica. \u201cStudying abroad for my first semester in college sounded like an appealing challenge and an adventure,\u201d says Powers, who likes to travel and has worked on a 4-H farm. \u201cPlus, I was thrilled to learn that I would be living and studying on a farm for three weeks of the semester. Taking such a huge jump from high school to college in another country for my first semester has really pushed me toward huge personal and social growth, and being exposed to a completely different culture has opened my eyes to what goes on in the world outside of the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n Powers is interested in restorative justice and may pursue the fields of urban studies or women, gender, and sexuality. She also hopes to get involved with Trinity student groups including the Entertainment Activities Council (EAC) Barnyard and The Homelessness Project. <\/p>\n Among the reasons Powers chose Trinity were the college\u2019s movement toward a more diverse student body and its active engagement with Hartford. \u201cI\u2019d like to help create a stronger connection between our student body and the surrounding Hartford community. My time at Trinity will hopefully be filled with growth that leads me to be engaged with my education and my community and to become more of an independent thinker who challenges our social and cultural norms,\u201d Powers says. \u201cI also hope to be able to connect with Trinity alumni to see how they have taken their time at Trinity and<\/a> implemented change within their own communities to allow others to grow and have access to opportunities they might otherwise not be afforded.\u201d<\/p>\n Hometown: Lyman, Maine Even though he\u2019s now part of the third generation of Bantams in his family, Jake Armentrout said his family didn\u2019t pressure him to choose Trinity. \u201cI just kept coming back to Trinity and could really see myself here,\u201d says Armentrout, who follows his mother, Sarah Chappell Armentrout \u201992, P\u201923, and grandfather, Tom Chappell \u201966, H\u201906, P\u201989, \u201992, \u201997, \u201906, GP\u201923, to Hartford. \u201cIt\u2019s important to keep the family tradition going. Trinity wasn\u2019t pressed on me very hard; I just ended up being really interested in it. Coming here as a legacy, there\u2019s a pressure to be successful. I want to have a good academic career and not let my family down. My goals are to be true to myself and to continue the legacy in a strong way.\u201d<\/p>\n After graduating from high school in a class of about 75 students, Armentrout says that he feels comfortable in Trinity\u2019s intimate environment. \u201cI couldn\u2019t see myself in a bigger school in a massive city,\u201d he says. He may decide to major in political science or take a pre-law school route. \u201cIt\u2019d be fun to intern in Hartford someday, especially if I want to pursue law,\u201d Armentrout says. \u201cThat would be a really great opportunity to learn from someone in the city, not far from campus.\u201d So far, he is enjoying the \u201cCity as a Work of Art\u201d first-year seminar, which includes aspects of history and architecture, and plans to play club lacrosse, work for the Office of Student Activities, Involvement & Leadership, and serve as a stage technician for productions with the Theater and Dance Department.<\/p>\n To start his own Trinity career, Armentrout embarked on a hiking and camping trip on the Appalachian Trail with the Quest pre-orientation program. \u201cQuest is a great gateway,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re really close <\/a>and smelly with everybody. You get to know people really quickly and become great friends with them. Everyone should do a pre-orientation program; it\u2019s a leg up.\u201d<\/p>\n Hometown: Chicago, Illinois A Posse Scholar who started an engineering club at his high school, Ethan Yerkes is leaning toward studying mechanical engineering at Trinity. \u201cI want to design car engines,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to make sure I have a job that I enjoy, and cars are something I\u2019ve been enthusiastic about since I was a little kid.\u201d One idea Yerkes has to connect his interests, studies, and possible future career is to start an on-campus mechanic shop. \u201cEngineers can get hands-on experience on actual, operating automobiles, and students in economics and finance could be running the business end,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The first-generation college student chose Trinity in part for its Engineering Department, but he\u2019s also interested in math, biomedical science, business, finance, film, and photography. \u201cI\u2019m trying to figure out how to fit those all into my life,\u201d he says. Yerkes enrolled in the \u201cDesigning Your Future Work\u201d first-year seminar because, he says, \u201cI enjoy designing and figuring out where I\u2019m going. With a small liberal arts school, you have more control over where you want to go and creating your own future. Let\u2019s see where I can go.\u201d<\/p>\n Yerkes has a passion for learning new things; his goals for the next few years include learning to play piano and to speak Spanish and the Indian language Gujarati. In addition, he <\/em>wants to learn computer programming to take part in the annual Trinity College International Firefighting Home Robot Contest, and he plans to explore the Debate Team, ConnPIRG, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics <\/a>Engineers, and the Investment Club. \u201cAnd I will hopefully make short films for Trinity Film Festival, but we will see where my free time takes me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Hometown: The Bronx, New York \u201cWhen I visited Trinity, I felt at home,\u201d says Gift Nosakhare. \u201cI stepped on campus, and there was something about the environment and the people that made me want to come here.\u201d She applied Early Decision after a Preview Weekend visit. \u201cI had a host who was a psychology and premed major\u2014which is what I want to do, too\u2014and she talked about how amazing the STEM fields are here,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n While she plans to take courses in her favorite subjects of math, science, history, and engineering, Nosakhare feels especially drawn toward psychology and medicine. \u201cEver since I was little, I\u2019ve wanted to study medicine. I love kids, and I\u2019m looking at the pediatrician path now,\u201d she says. \u201cI took psychology in high school, and it was my favorite subject. I want to go deeper into that field to see if it\u2019s something I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n New Student Orientation was helpful for Nosakhare, who is a first-generation college student. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the tour and the games, I wouldn\u2019t have met my friends and I wouldn\u2019t know how to get around campus. It really helped me adjust,\u201d she says. \u201cI hope Trinity can break me out of being so reserved and help me be more open-minded.\u201d<\/p>\n After moving from Nigeria to the United States with her family when she was 6, Nosakhare maintains a love of traveling and looks forward to studying away. \u201cI love cultures and learning about how our culture differs from others. In the Bronx, there are so many people struggling or homeless, so I want to start a club here in Hartford where we can give back to the community,\u201d she says. As the academic year began, she planned to explore the Trinity African Students Association, Imani: Trinity\u2019s Black Student Union, the Trinity College Black Women\u2019s Organization, and club volleyball. \u201cThere are so many things I want to do,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019ll balance all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Catching up with six members of Trinity\u2019s Bicentennial Class By Andrew J. Concatelli New to campus last fall, the members of the Class of 2023\u2014Trinity\u2019s Bicentennial Class\u2014come to the college with diverse backgrounds and interests. Whether from down the street or the other side of the globe, the students bring with them a desire to … <\/p>\nRAY ALVAREZ-ADORNO<\/h4>\n
\nHometown: Newark, New Jersey
\nHigh school: Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire<\/p>\n![\"Ray](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2020\/files\/2020\/02\/Ray-AlvarezAdorno-001.jpg\")
AZKA HASSAN<\/h4>\n
\nHigh school: United World College (UWC) Mahindra College in Maharashtra, India<\/p>\n![\"Azka](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2020\/files\/2020\/02\/Azka-Hassan071.jpg\")
MAGGIE POWERS<\/h4>\n
\nHometown: West Hartford, Connecticut
\nHigh school: Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy in Hartford, Connecticut<\/p>\n![\"Maggie](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2020\/files\/2020\/02\/University24.jpg\")
JAKE ARMENTROUT<\/h4>\n
\nHigh school: Waynflete in Portland, Maine<\/p>\n![\"Jake](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2020\/files\/2020\/02\/Jake-Armentrout-021.jpg\")
ETHAN YERKES<\/h4>\n
\nHigh school: William Howard Taft High School in Chicago, Illinois<\/p>\n![\"Ethan](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2020\/files\/2020\/02\/Ethan-Yerkes-090.jpg\")
GIFT NOSAKHARE<\/h4>\n
\nHigh school: KIPP NYC College Prep High School in the Bronx, New York<\/p>\n![\"Gift](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2020\/files\/2020\/02\/Gift-Nosakhare-049.jpg\")