The Honors College is a community of students and alumni that have a variety of shared experiences. Our recent advertisement in the Adventist Review highlighted four such students. Read more about them below.
Hi I’m Erin Greenlaw and I am the Honors College Student President. I am a senior, a Health Science major, and an Honors Interdisciplinary minor. I am from California and on the softball team, as well as FYE student leader captain. I joined the Honors College my freshman year because of all the unique opportunities that it presents. At first I was skeptical about joining because I didn’t know much about it, but I am so glad I did because I was able to have amazing experiences that I would have otherwise missed out on. The Honors College is an amazing community of diverse students from all over the country and the world and we develop incredible friendships through our classes and activities. I think the most important area where the Honors College has helped me is in developing leadership skills. I have been involved with so many groups on campus, each one giving me opportunities to plan events, lead teams of students, raise money, and many other important skills.
In my free time I like to hike, crochet, and play with my turtle, Toby.
Hello! My name is Sonny A. Moretta, and I graduated from Washington Adventist University Honors College in 2020. I grew up in Dayton, Ohio, attended Spring Valley Academy for K-12, and was a member of the Kettering SDA church for nineteen years. At WAU, I majored in Political Studies and minored in International Relations. During my undergraduate career, I performed and toured with the New England Youth Ensemble and Columbia Concert Winds, serving as principal Trumpet for three years. I also had the privilege of being a part of the school’s Mock Trial team for four years, including captaining the team my senior year. During my Junior year, I was a part of the inaugural Model United Nations conference at the university and served as the Secretary-General of the event. This was a considerable achievement resulting from dedicated work and meticulous planning on behalf of the whole planning committee.
Currently, I’m in my second year at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. Once I graduate, I aspire to work in Public Interest law either for the Federal Government or an NGO in the Washington-Baltimore area.
Hello, my name is Anu Deepika Sunkara. I am currently a post-Baccalaureate fellow at the National Institutes of Health. More specifically I work in the women’s malignancy’s branch under the National Cancer Institute. I completed my undergraduate studies at the Washington Adventist University Honors College majoring in Biology, Biochemistry, and Interdisciplinary studies. During my undergraduate studies, I was able to grow both professionally, and academically. The Honors College provided me with a safe place to grow professionally as a leader, particularly during my Senior year when I served as the Honors College Student President. My time as president helped me gain skills and values that I use in my day-to-day life. During the course of my undergraduate studies, I developed critical thinking and problem- solving skills by conducting instructional laboratory activities as a teaching assistant in both Biology and Chemistry undergraduate courses. Following my passion for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, I completed a summer internship project titled “Evaluation of ERGi-USU-6 for Enhanced Selective Inhibition of ERG Positive Cancer Cell Growth” in the summer of 2018 at Center for Prostate Disease Research Center, Walter Reed Military Medical Center, under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Xavier. Outcomes of my summer internship project was presented as a poster presentation to the scientific community at summer student symposium at the Uniformed Service University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. Furthermore, I have the privilege of being a coauthor for a publication titled “New Selective Inhibitors of ERG Positive Prostate Cancer: ERGi- USU- 6 Salt Derivatives” which has been submitted and published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. As I prepare to pursue a career in Medicine, I am very much interested in gaining knowledge and experience in biomedical research in the field of oncology, and psychology. My interest in psychology has led me to pursue a master’s in counseling psychology. These courses have taught me to see the integration of the relationship between the mind and the body. In addition, these classes have helped me gain communication skills necessary for physicians to communicate with a variety of people. To further my interest in the field of biomedical research, I have obtained a position as a post-Baccalaureate fellow at the National Institutes of Health. I have been awarded the Cancer Research Training Award under the National Cancer Institute for the year 2021- 2022. My experiences at the NIH are teaching me the value of clinical research and its integration with Medicine. The WAU Honors College, with it’s location so near some of the most important research organizations in the world, helped me achieve all of these things and I am sure I wouldn’t be where I am without the Honors College and Washington Adventist University.
Hi, my name is Jelani Jackson. While at Washington Adventist University, I majored in both Religion and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. I have met some of my best friends from the Honors College community who are like brothers to me. I was able to grow both intellectually and socially during my time within the College. The Honors College allowed me to study abroad in the United Kingdom for a semester. I had the privilege of serving as the President of the Honors College during my senior year. Since graduating, I have attended the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University and am currently attending Loma Linda University, where I am pursuing my Master’s degree.