Kristal Aviles

Award: Seawolf Student Leader
Proudest Moment: My proudest achievement this year was to mentor students through the Seawolf Success Program in the Multicultural Center and graduate with BA from UAA. 

Isabel Azpilcueta

Award: Mabil Duir
Proudest Moment: My proudest achievement this year was solidifying a partnership between the Daily Den and the Multicultural Center in order to reduce the number of students who are food insecure.

Clare Baldwin

Award: Leadership Honors, Seawolf Student Leader
Proudest Moment: My proudest moment this year has been working in USUAA Student Government to facilitate a coordinated student message against university consolidation, program reduction, and tuition increases.  Collaborating with the student governments at UAF and UAS, myself and members of USUAA lead the charge to ensure the student voice was heard during the tumultuous Fall 2019 semester.  Our efforts saw students placed on academic and program review boards to aid in the decision making process and culminated in an advocacy trip to Fairbanks which resulted in the Board of Regents setting aside an additional $1.5 million in funds for student aid for the next academic year.

Justin Benz

Award: Leadership Honors, Seawolf Community Service, Mabil Duir
Proudest Moment: My proudest achievement was gaining access to the University Rover Challenge with the robot "Iceberg 2.5". Traveling to Utah for the competition was a unique experience, and I felt strongly supported by UAA and ANSEP throughout the process. The teamwork required to achieve this goal was incredible, especially considering there were four unique engineering disciplines, as well as several non-engineering disciplines represented on our Robotics team. I'm very proud to have been a part of it.

Ashley Boucher

Award: Leadership Honors
Proudest Moment: My proudest achievement this year would be working on an undergraduate research project that focused on understanding the barriers to UAA student success and degree completion.

Cannen Burgess

Award: Seawolf Student Leader, Seawolf Community Service
Proudest Moment: My proudest achievement this year was that one of my stories got selected for publication in UAA Understory.

Samuel Prieto Cascajares

Award: Seawolf Student Leader
Proudest Moment: My proudest achievement this year is soon to graduate from nursing school. 

Alexis Harvey

Award: Leadership Honors
Proudest Moment: My proudest achievement actually just happened today, and it was receiving notice that I am a Fulbright scholar for the 2020-21 school year and will be heading to Spain in January to teach English!

Phillip Hill

Award: Seawolf Student Leader, Seawolf Community Service
Proudest Moment:  My proudest achievement this year that I have accomplished at UAA is by receiving the spring 2020 UAA Student Diversity Award that was granted to me from the UAA Diversity Action Council. I received this award based upon my leadership, contributions, and involvement within enhancing diversity at the University of Alaska Anchorage. I promote a welcoming and diverse environment towards other UAA students among different cultural perspectives. I am an individual of multi-different ethnic backgrounds and I offer my positive perspectives into welcoming other UAA students, while helping to enhance diversity welfare.

Alexander Jorgensen

Award: Leadership Honors, Seawolf Student Leader
Proudest Moment:  I would have to say that my favorite accomplishment this past year was working together with my colleagues in Student Government to fight against the process President Johnsen and the UA Board of Regents took to move the university towards a single accreditation. We worked hard to ensure the student voice and perspective were on the forefront. Together we successfully slowed down the process to allow for inclusivity of input and rationality to be inserted into the process. 

Gijeong Kim

Award: Seawolf Student Leader
Proudest Moment:  I would have to say that my favorite accomplishment this past year was working together with my colleagues in Student Government to fight against the process President Johnsen and the UA Board of Regents took to move the university towards a single accreditation. We worked hard to ensure the student voice and perspective were on the forefront. Together we successfully slowed down the process to allow for inclusivity of input and rationality to be inserted into the process. 

Jada Nguyen

Award: Seawolf Student Leader, Seawolf Community Service
Proudest Moment:  My proudest achievement this year is recovering from hip surgery. :)

Tammalivis Salanoa

Award: Leadership Honors
Proudest Moment:  As of the year 2020, my proudest achievement thus far has been being accepted and completing my internship at the Anchorage Museum in their Education Department. I was given the opportunity to create, and lead in art exploration activities and interactive exhibition tours with local Anchorage school groups. I've always had a passion for the arts and civic engagement. This internship gave me first-hand experience in the world of art education within our local community and I have made memories that will last a lifetime. The student's thirst for knowledge and looks of wonder is what made the most impact on me. The spark of embers of students realizing how to create and express themselves through art is a sight that can't be put into words. I encourage all those looking for there next step in education or their professional career not to be disheartened. Change is the only constant we can truly count on in life but when we unite as a community there isn't anything that we can't do.

Summer Sweet

Award: Seawolf Community Service
Proudest Moment:  My biggest achievement has been being promoted to a Health Educator Assistant in the UAA Health Promotion Team as well as volunteering frequently with my therapy dog at both UAA and Providence.

Shamai Thacker

Award: Leadership Honors
Proudest Moment:  February 2019 my world changed. I welcomed my first baby, an amazing little boy, who is the very definition of a miracle, after a pregnancy and birth riddled with complications. I became a woman wearing the hats of a mom, a graduate student, a full-time employee at UAA, and a wife. My greatest accomplishment, truly, was graduating in December 2019 with leadership honors, a Digication student scholar, a 4.0 student, and a Master's degree. I look back now with a lot of self-reflection with the simplest question. "How?!" The 2019/2020 academic year taught me resilience, strength, and determination. My proudest achievement is knowing that moving forward, I really can do anything I put my mind to.

Eva Ulukivaiola

Award: Leadership Honors
Proudest Moment:  My proudest achievement has been getting to mentor 20 high school students that are current participants in UAA TRIO Upward Bound. The reason I say this is my proudest achievement is due to the fact that we share a similar background and we can relate to each other on a level that no many can, being first-generation college students. Now, as we move into graduation season, I am getting messages from my mentees letting me know that they got accepted into their dream schools or are following a different path that makes them happy. All of which, is just super heartwarming and makes me proud to have been part of their success story. 

Yer Vang

Award: Seawolf Student Leader
Proudest Moment:  This past year has been such an experience. Throughout my college career, I've always been shy and timid. To change myself, I joined the Accounting Club and ran for a board position. I became the Director of Programs. Through this leadership position, I was able to create meaningful relationships with my peers and professionals in my field. My proudest achievement this year is having the ability to help my peers interact with professionals. As we graduate and transition into our professional careers, these relationships are so important. I'm thankful to UAA and the College of Business and Public Policy for promoting student life and the importance of building leadership qualities. 

Emily Wood

Award: Leadership Honors, Seawolf Student Leader
Proudest Moment:  I'm proud to be serving as Club Council chair this spring semester. Keeping students engaged during both a  budget crisis and global pandemic helps us all stay hopeful and focused on what we can control. It's so meaningful that I can continue being a resource for my peers!