Conversations with Warriors

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Hi everyone my name is Alianna, and I am a current senior here at Merrimack from Rhode Island studying psychology & sociology with a minor in religious theological studies. Outside of being one of the first year seminar coordinators, I am also involved in the executive board for admissions, residential adviser, president of psychology club, austin scholars program, etc

My name is Ally McKenna I am a senior psychology major with minors in RTS and Education. I am from CT and grew up youngest with an older sister!

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Amanda Cremone-Caira, PhD Raised in Somerville, MA B.S. in Psychology & Biology from Merrimack College Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Research Interests: Developmental, cognitive neuroscience Working mom of (soon to be) 2 kiddos!

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I am a business admin major with a double concentration in finance and management. I'm from Lawrence Ma, and I am Dominican.

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Amia Meikle, Naples, FL, I'm Puerto Rican and Jamaican also a 1st gen college student and 1st gen in general 

I am a USMC Veteran and President of Warriors for Warriors here at Merrimack.

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I am Carolina Santana. I am from Lawrence, MA. Senior at Merrimack. Psych major, Criminal Justice minor.

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Hi, my name is Cassie Corcoran and I am a senior here at Merrimack. I am currently studying sociology with a minor in business administration and religious and theological studies. I am from Bergen County New Jersey. I am involved in the sorority Theta Phi Alpha and a peer mentor for the ASCEND Program. I am also an Admissions Ambassador, Wellness Peer Educator and a member of Her Campus and the Psychology Club. I am adopted from China, specifically Taizhou, China in the Jaingzhou province.

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Catherine Chandler is the Director of Graduate Academic Success in the Graduate Center at Merrimack and has volunteered extensively with LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS organizations. She lives in Haverhill with her wife, Alexandra, and two children.

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 I am Chelsie Chirombo, I prefer being called Chella Mabunu. I’m an International student from Harare  Zimbabwe. I am a sophomore here at Merrimack and I’m a nursing student.

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I am a first generation college student. I am Hispanic, Dominican and live in Boston

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Cristina will tell people she is "from Lowell" but actually hails from Miami, FL. She joined Merrimack in the Fall of 2020 and serves as the Assistant Director for Career Advising in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, having successfully turned one of her special interests into a paying career. Before Merrimack, Cristina enjoyed a career in Human Services, supporting adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities to obtain and retain competitive employment. Cristina holds a BA in Psychology from Florida International University and an MA in Community Social Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She drinks about 4 cups of coffee a day, and her favorite dinosaur is the Brontosaurus.

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I embrace being authentically awkward so here are the highlights. I am a Puerto Rican who is trying to connect to my cultural heritage and I strive to help support people as they cultivate their potential. I am debatably a first generation college student who studied Psychology and pre-med with a focus on neuroscience and chemistry. After graduating, I taught 2nd grade for a year in Thailand before pursing a masters in Higher Education. I have been working at Merrimack as an academic advisor in the School of Education for six years.

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My name is Deanna Pomfret. I am an assistant dean and professor at Merrimack College. My role at Merrimack is to help build new masters and doctoral programs and to help our current programs continue to prepare students to be outstanding and effective health science professionals. Before becoming a professor and dean I owned my own coaching company, Athletic Pursuits LLC. We helped people from all backgrounds and experiences to achieve their fitness and wellness goals. We helped people with athletic pursuits ranging from a first triathlon, an IRONMAN, running the Boston Marathon, and really anything people could dream up! I am also a mother and mother-in-law to 4 adult children and wife and adventure partner to my husband!

Deborah Aminat Etyang - Ugandan American - I'm from Maryland - I'm at Merrimack studying public administration

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I’m Deborah Ndayisaba, a psych major with a minor in bio on the pre-med track, I’m from Providence, Rhode Island, I was born in Ivory Coast but moved here when I was 1/2 years old, my nationality is Ivorian and Burundian.

Born, raised, and educated in New England, I am a biblical scholar by training, a teacher by choice, and a wife and mother by vocation. I am faculty member in the Department of Humanities, one of the Directors of First Year Seminar, and the Director of Curriculum for the Austin Scholars Program. While my scholarly research focuses on how cultures--ancient and modern, near and far--deal with the very lived reality of death, I spend most of my days at Merrimack encouraging students to ask big questions about life, most of which do not have easy answers.

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I’m a senior from Holden MA studying elementary education as well as human development and humans services with a minor in RTS.

My name is Gabby and I am an adoptee from the Philippines. Currently based in MA via NJ, I've learned a lot about balancing cultures and navigating realities. I am a creative, and currently work in a student-facing role. The top 3 "ism"s I face are racism, ableism, and homophobia, and I want the youth nowadays to not experience the same things we did when we were growing up. I believe that everyone deserves to be safe in their body and environment.

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Hi there! My name is Grace Stein, and I’m a sophomore here at Merrimack. I am an education and Human Development/Human Services major. On campus, I’m involved in Jumpstart, SGA, Women’s Club Ice Hockey Team, and the FYS Team as a Mentor. I was born and raised in Medford, MA.

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My name is Jaeden, I am a grad student at Merrimack College. Previously, I ran for the schools Track and Field team during my undergrad, and only recently have I "retired" from running on the team. When I wasn't studying or attending practice, I like to pass the time by drawing, editing, and/ or occasionally reading a comic or two. I'm from Brooklyn, NY, and I ended up at Merrimack, because of the opportunity I got to run for the schools track team. Since then, I've been regularly trying to find my place on campus, through the club organizations and through athletics. A big part of my journey at Merrimack, mainly comes from my faith and religion that I'm still getting a hold of being consistent with, and hope to be more fluent and patient with, one day. I'm obtaining my MA in Communications, and my main career goal is to be a film director because I want to be able to tell and share stories that haven't been told before.

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My name is Jandeliz Hernandez. I am a first generation student from Lawrence, MA. I am a senior studying Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Public Relations.

I am from Reading Massachusetts. I have been working at Merrimack for 13 year and love to support students to get the most they can out of their time at college.

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I am from Peabody MA, and I am a Graduate Fellow in the Athletics Department on track to complete my Masters Degree in Communications in the summer.

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My name is Julia, I was born & raised in Wilmington, MA. I have a degree in Psychology and a Masters in School Counseling. I work in the Accessibility Services Office here at Merrimack. I'm also a musician & a creator, which is a big part of my story.

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Katherine LaFlamme is an academic librarian with a BA in Legal Studies and Political Science from UMass Lowell and an MLIS from Simmons College. Since 2015, she has been a dedicated member of the McQuade Library team at Merrimack College, where she serves as the Access Services Librarian and the liaison to the School of Education and Social Policy. Katherine is also an active member of the President's DEI Advisory Council and the Writing Intensive Committee. Known for her enthusiasm and commitment to providing high-quality resources and support, Katherine's research interests encompass information literacy, open educational resources (OERs), project-based learning, renewable assignments, and innovative teaching pedagogies. Outside her professional life, Katherine enjoys true crime, hiking, young adult fantasy, graphic novels, and punk rock. As an outspoken advocate for dismantling oppressive systems and calling out fascism, she channels her passion for activism into both her personal and professional endeavors. A devoted mother of two young daughters, Katherine strives to create a more just world for future generations.

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Laura Weiland is a student in Merrimack’s school counseling program and an academic success coach working in the Academic Success Center on the 3rd floor in McQuade Library. She provides 1:1 success coaching and enjoys helping people with time management, goal setting, organization, study skills, and more. Laura has lived, studied, and worked across 8 countries and more than twenty U.S. states. She moved to Ambato, Ecuador to attend an agricultural high school at 16, and studied abroad every other semester and all three summers and winter breaks during college. She continues to work with colleagues from all over the world through her work related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She has worked in agriculture, environment, and education in different ways for most of her career, and is now making a shift into school counseling. Laura built a tiny house on wheels in 2019 and lived in it for the last 3 years. She loves to grow food and has been working with fiber (knitting, crocheting and spinning) since she was very young.

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My name is Lauren Rocha. I am originally from Braintree, Massachusetts (about a half hour south of Boston) and now live in New Hampshire with my husband and three cats. I am an Associate Professor of Practice in Humanities. I received my Masters in English from the University of New Hampshire. My first academic horror book, The Sinful Maternal: Motherhood in Possession Films (University Press of Mississippi), is now available. I am currently working on research that involves depictions of abuse in horror films.

I am the Administrative Assistant for the Department of Humanities and the Psychology Department.

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Maddie Doherty '25 & '25, from Burlington MA. Double warrior. In undergrad I majored in Communication and media and am now getting my masters in communication with a concentration in digital media and content creation.

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I grew up in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Wakefield is a small town about 30 minutes from Merrimack. When I was only a few years old, I was diagnosed with Autism. Autism is a spectrum and wildly varies from person to person. In my case, I'm on what's called the high functioning end of the spectrum, which simply means that my brain works a bit differently when it comes to processing information. For the longest time, I thought that my diagnosis would be a hindrance. But I came to realize that it makes me who I am, and I now proud of the person that I've become. Throughout the past twenty years, I've grown a lot, and I would love to tell my story to the Merrimack community.

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My name is Melissa Spencer, from Jackson Mississippi, and the daughter of a Nigerian father and African American mother. I am the oldest of 4 and 2 depending on which side we are talking about. I serve as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. My educational background comes from attending Belhaven University, THEE Jackson State University and The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). I have been working in mental health in some capacity for almost 20 years. I have been at Merrimack since 2021 and I also work as Boston Medical Center in the Emergency Department doing psychiatric evaluations. I love the beach, horror movies, and true crime.

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Michael is an Associate Professor and Director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Merrimack College. He identifies as being an African American, gay, male who values spirituality. He is a first-generation college student who grew up in Chester, PA outside of Philadelphia. He studied engineering and psychology as an undergraduate student and counseling psychology as a graduate student during his masters and doctoral programs. He is currently serving as the Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Merrimack.

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I'm from Avon Ct. I played lacrosse my first three years at Merrimack. I'm now a fellow for the Presidential Communications department here at Merrimack.

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My name is Nate Llaga, I am a sophomore from Jacksonville FL. I was born in Weymouth MA but moved to Florida at 9 years old and my goal was always to come back. I am an Asian American more specifically Filipino.

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I was Raised in Somerville, MA B.S. in Psychology & Biology from Merrimack College Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Research Interests: Developmental, cognitive neuroscience Working mom of (soon to be) 2 kiddos!

Red, married, 5 kids. 18 year Navy Vet. I'm from Winthrop, Mass. I grew up around the ocean and have a family history of veterans

My name is Raquel Perez ’20, M’23, holds a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in management. I moved from New York when I was 18 years old to Massachusetts. I currently live in North Andover. Since I was born I could barely communicate with anyone due to a severe speech impediment. I underwent six years of intensive therapy to improve my speech and after I felt it was the right time then I decided to apply to attend Merrimack College. I personally consider myself very lucky human being because my dream came true when I started attending Merrimack College (my dream school) my second home.

My name is Spencer D’Angelo I am from Winchester Massachusetts which is a small little town just north of Boston. I went to St John’s Prep for high school and graduated in 2022. I originally started my college career at the University of New Hampshire.

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I'm an Associate professor in the Mathematics department at Merrimack. As a non-white, non-Christian, woman in STEM and an immigrant in the U.S. My journey has involved challenges and opportunities that have helped lead me to where I am today.

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I am from Watertown, MA, a junior studying HDHS and Early Ed with a minor in RTS.

I am a professor in the Compass program; from Beverly MA; worked at Merrimack since 2014 in the Communication and Media Department; started Compass last year. Also worked at different schools in the area.