Students

With 80,000 streams on Spotify, music technology major Jessica Taylor is on a fast track to her goal of a successful career in the music industry. She sees her time at Mason as an opportunity to advance her skills as a singer, songwriter and producer by taking courses in music theory, keyboard and voice lessons.

After coming to the United States from El Salvador to join her mother late in 2010, she enrolled in Mason's Early Identification Program and was an academic star at Freedom High School in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Leah and Peregrine Pistone, incoming freshmen at George Mason University, are used to learning together. The siblings were homeschooled by their mother throughout their K-12 years. While they say they are grateful for the experience, they both are looking forward to engulfing themselves in a large university environment with diverse classmates.

Accounting major Isabella Bah began her Mason journey as a student in the Early Identification Program.

Mason junior Jackie Luu is named a recipient of the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year.

George Mason University’s Honors College launched a program this year to help cultivate an anti-racist community by creating a space in which students can discuss issues of racial and social justice. The program, called “Honoring Our Community,” involves encouraging honest conversations among groups of four or five students working with a facilitator. Students who volunteer for the program meet once a month during the academic year.

Kristen Alleyne and Elene Lipartiani, incoming freshmen at George Mason University, have been honored with I-Achieve scholarships for academic excellence. The awards are being given for the first time this year, as part of a grant Mason received from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation last fall.

Despite a path to George Mason University that was challenging and, in her own words, “unconventional,” incoming freshmen Juliette Reyes moved on to campus this fall.

The Parkland, Florida, native will be double majoring in government and international politics and conflict analysis and resolution, a decision based on an initial interest in politics in high school that grew into a passion.

When Taurus Patterson was looking at colleges, George Mason University struck him right away as a place that he could call a “second home.”

“I felt like I would be welcome,” said Patterson, 18. “Everyone I met was so nice, and it didn’t seem forced. When I visited the campus, people just started talking to me, and it was so natural. I already felt like I belonged.”

Patterson is a member of Mason’s Honors College, a University Scholar and a recipient of the Merten-Womble Scholarship. He says he’s looking forward to studying finance in the School of Business, and is considering a second major in public administration.

“A long time ago, I wanted to be president, and then I wanted to be a financial consultant,” Patterson said. “Really, I have a passion for both finance and politics, so I would like to be able to combine these interests.”