Athletics

Outstanding Graduating Student: Zoe Hannah Vozick

rstaffo2 — Fri, 17 May 2024 17:15:50 +0000

Outstanding Graduating Student: Zoe Hannah Vozick rstaffo2 Fri, 05/17/2024 - 13:15

Each semester, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences recognizes some of their most outstanding graduating students. Honors College Spring 2024 graduate Zoe Hannah Vozick was nominated by the School of Integrative Studies for her academic achievements and contributions.

What was the most impactful class you took at George Mason?

The most impactful course that I took at George Mason was HNRS 360, Grand Challenges. In this course we connected with faculty experts from across the university to consider the greatest grand challenges that the world is currently facing. I thoroughly enjoyed this course because I was able to connect with numerous people in the Mason community all dedicated to make the world a more just and sustainable place for everyone. The course most impactful in my major was EVPP 480, Sustainability in Action. I enjoyed the experiential learning piece that this course focused on as we worked in interdisciplinary teams to identify and work to solve a sustainability-related problem on the GMU campus and Northern Virginia at Large. My group refounded the GMU chapter of the Food Recovery Network, which addresses the parallel issue of extensive food waste and food insecurity by packaging excess food from the GMU dining halls and donating it to local community partners who feed community members most in need. The Integrative Studies course that was most impactful was INTS 304, Social Movements and Community Activism. Once again, I enjoyed this course for the experiential learning focus as we formed groups to simulate developing and managing a movement. My group created a social movement called ReFOCUS the EcoWar which stands for the Revolution of Fashion and Consumerism Until Slowed. We addressed the fast fashion industry to better protect the environment through staging a protest wave, boycotts, and picketing events, as well as producing a randomized online Likert scale survey to then present to legislators.

What activities were you involved in during your time at Mason that impacted you?

I am a member of GMU's NCAA Division 1 softball team. I am the Co-Founder and President of the Food Recovery Network at George Mason University, which establishes a formal collaborative program that recycles GMU’s food waste from SODEXO-approved restaurants, catering events, and food service venues via donations back to students and community members to minimize food waste and fight food insecurity. I am a member of GMU's Honors College. I am a member of GMU's Crux Rock Climbing Club. In the summer of 2023, I participated in GMU's study abroad program in Granada Spain where I studied Spanish and culture through an immersion program. This program consisted of courses taught by the Centro de Lenguas Modernas, homestays, guided field trips and walking tours, and additional assignments from George Mason University. For class credit I interned as the Communication Assistant for Women for Conservation, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable livelihoods, nature conservation, and women's empowerment in Colombia. I marketed programs run by Women for Conservation including fauna protection, family planning, environmental education, and sustainable livelihoods through social media accounts including Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, I expanded Women for Conservation’s media presence through effective hashtags and other marketing techniques, as well as wrote various organizational materials including news articles, a Wikipedia page, a donor report, and a needs section for a grant. Furthermore, I designed videos for website and social media publication including Spanish to English translation and the placing of subtitles on videos. Lastly, I created infographics and visual aids to enhance written materials.

What is your most memorable “Mason moment?”

My two most memorable moments at Mason have been officially restarting GMU's chapter of the Food Recovery Network and winning the A10 Softball Championship in 2023. Both of these memories invoke such pride within me because they are a culmination of all of my hard work in and out of the classroom. The former represents my passion for helping others and striving to create an equitable world where no one has to suffer from food insecurity, while the latter represents my tenacity and commitment to being a contributing member of a team, which helped to bring home this first ever award to Mason.

As you are reflecting on your time at Mason, what is one piece of advice you would give a student who is just starting off on their Mason journey?

I would encourage students to engage in as many opportunities and clubs as possible. Once they find their passion, I would urge them to engage with faculty experts on this issue to find and create solutions to this cause on the campus of GMU.

What is your next step after graduation? What are your future plans?

My main goals in life are to live in my van and pet a bear! Once I graduate, I will be going to Switzerland for four months to continue my softball career, while getting to engage with and learn from new cultures in Europe. Once my time in Switzerland ends, I will be returning to Colorado to work as an intern with the Range Department at the Bureau of Land Management in Silt, Colorado.

Topics

Athletics

environmental and sustainability studies

Honors College

Honors College Profile: Mechanical Engineering student Dhiambi Otete

Nathan Kahl — Thu, 11 May 2023 15:31:35 +0000

Honors College Profile: Mechanical Engineering student Dhiambi Otete Nathan Kahl Thu, 05/11/2023 - 11:31

In This Story

Leigh McCue-Weil

George Hazelrigg

Dhiambi Otete was drawn to the George Mason University Honors College as a STEM major with an interest in multidisciplinary topics with cultural and global implications. She was awarded the University Scholar designation and given the opportunity to be on Mason’s D1 Track and Field program, making Mason the perfect place for her.

About the Honors College, she says, “I liked the ‘spice,’ if you will, of Honors College classes. My classes ranged from a Global Hunger and Food Insecurity class to Business Models and Entrepreneurship. The possibilities were endless! It’s very important to engage different parts of your brain for true learning. “

Otete said engineering was perfect for her. “It stimulates my desire to create and design in an innovative way. Engineers are constantly thinking of new ways to solve problems. In addition, I enjoy how you can discover your niche inside the expansive world of engineering with its many fields and concentrations. I have a deep passion and curiosity for learning how things work, and the ability to solve these challenges concretely greatly interested me.”

One of her highlights was the capstone project, where her team built an unmanned surface vessel that can travel autonomously via GPS navigation to a near-coastal point of interest, transition into a vertical self-stabilized buoy, and then return back to its point of origin. She also has enjoyed her diversity and inclusion in engineering class. “I’ve had a lot of great discussions with peers, spoke at a global webinar, and wrote a research paper!”

She greatly appreciates her time at Mason. “My experience at Mason has been great thanks to the people I got to know. First, my track and field friends are great. We see each other at practice every day, have gotten to travel via plane to different states for meets, and been on long bus rides with each other, so as you can imagine we have some strong bonds!”

On her major, mechanical engineering, “It’s a small major, so I’ve gotten to know my engineering classmates! It’s been really inspiring to hear their stories of how they got into engineering, learn from them, and bond as friends. My scholarship cohort has been there for the past four years with me, and it’s been awesome having those people as an anchor since my freshman year. My research professor, Dr. Hazelrigg, has inspired me to continue asking questions. My professor and faculty advisor, Dr. McCue, has become a mentor for me. She is very passionate about learning and she makes me feel like I can succeed in my endeavors. I am in awe of her intellect and kindness, and I don’t think I would have gotten that at another university.”

After graduation Otete is going to be a ship and design engineer. “I cannot wait to make ships! It is honestly the coolest job ever, and I love that I will be constantly stimulated in that environment,” she said.

Topics

Honors College

mechanical engineering

Athletics

Graduation

Triple jumper Dhiambi Otete shares how she balanced athletics and academics on the road to citizenship.

alin23 — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 17:28:10 +0000

Triple jumper Dhiambi Otete shares how she balanced athletics and academics on the road to citizenship. alin23 Mon, 02/17/2020 - 12:28

Freshman Dhiambi Otete at the 2020 Patriot Games on January 25th, 2020.

Triple jumper Dhiambi Otete is a full believer in the power of participation — both on Mason’s NCAA Division I Track & Field team as well as in her new role: U.S. citizen.

“I really wanted to vote in the next election, so that was a key point in waking up every day and studying [for the test] — because if I could vote in next year’s election then I would be doing my civic responsibilities.”

In November 2019, she went through an extensive process involving tests and an interview to become a naturalized citizen. As she was completing the application, Otete had to balance a busy practice schedule and her first year of Honors College and computer science coursework. Her commitments require an unwavering mindset about what she wanted to achieve.

“The hardest thing about being an athlete is probably waking up at 7 A.M. to go to practice in the morning,” she remarks with some humor; triple jump is a technique-heavy event.

An athlete since age fourteen, it has taken Otete years of hard work and the right attitude to become a skilled jumper and sprinter. In 2017, she was honored with the Outdoor Most Improved Player award and the Indoor Team award. In addition, she was selected for the First Team All-District and the First Team All-Region awards, leading her to become an All-State record holder for Thomas A. Edison High School.

“[W]ithout my coach — his name was Coach C. — I wouldn’t be here today, because he really helped me a lot with the college process and picking out schools with the best D1 sports teams, and I really thank him for that.”

Since coming to Mason, her passion for track and field has only grown. To get through hard practices — and long days of study — Otete emphasizes the importance of positive affirmations.

“…the thing that makes me get up and go is how much I love running for track and field and how much I love the people there and all of the coaches. That always helps me get up and get over how early [I wake up for practice], because all of the staff here are really amazing.”

She also relies on her teammates to stay motivated, “I thought it was going to be hard to make friends on the track team — but I was wrong,” she says.

Otete will be competing most weekends of the spring season and hopes to keep working toward her goal of making it to the NCAA Atlantic 10 Conference Championships during her time at Mason. In the interim, you may find her casting a ballot in the general election on November 3rd, 2020.