Alum
Micah Castelo
A Library for Change
Alum, NDMU Class of 2018
English, Communication Arts, Women's Studies
Micah Castelo and Lorelie Elaine Soriano submitted one of the 120 winning projects under the Davis Projects for Peace foundation. They have been awarded $10,000 each for the construction of the first official library of the Caibiran Central School in the city of Caibiran located in the eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. “From the start,” Castelo says “we knew that we wanted to work on a project in the Philippines because we are both Filipina.” Castelo didn’t have to reach very far to find motivation, “when I was still in the Philippines, my parents enrolled me in a private school because the public schools did not have enough resources to ensure each child succeeds. I see this award as a privilege that I have been granted. I want to use this privilege to help those children in need…They deserve this just as much as anyone else.”
Student
Lindsey Pytrykow
Published as an Undergraduate Student
Student, NDMU Class of 2022
English, Secondary Education Certification
"Getting a paper published in an academic journal was never something that I thought would be attainable, especially at 21 years old. However, the advice and support of NDMU's English Department allowed me to realize my writing potential, which led to this accomplishment! Despite the English Department being small, every professor has an immense number of outside connections that they are ecstatic to share with English majors." Lindsey’s paper, “Colonized Education in I, Rigoberta Menchu, An Indian Woman in Guatemala,” written in ENG223, will be published by Johns Hopkins in the Richard Macksey Journal.
Student
Rochelle Thompson
Exemplary Student Leadership
Student, NDMU Class of 2022
English, Political Science
An outstanding Notre Dame of Maryland University student leader was recognized for her community involvement with the prestigious Newman Civic Fellowship by Campus Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities working to advance the public purposes of higher education. “It is a great honor to be a part of so many communities and use my voice to promote change on a local and national level while advocating for those whose voices are silenced or ignored,” said Thompson. "My commitment to leadership is demonstrated through my acts of service, love, and compassion."
Alum
Katherine Martinez Argueta
Improved Self-Esteem
Alum, NDMU Class of 2020
English, Spanish
Before coming to Notre Dame, I knew I had potential, but I was lacking the confidence to go after what I wanted. In every course here, my instructors challenged me to get better and better. By the time I graduated, my self-esteem improved a lot, and I think that is one of the most valuable things I gained from NDMU.