[Dartmouth students on Capital Hill steps in Washington during Civics Skills Training September 2009. Front from left to right: Alina Politzer '11, Jason Laster '11, Adam Reed '11, Justin Varilek '11, Nana Amoah '11, Elizabeth Klinger '10; Back from left to right: Kevin Mwenda '10, Senator Judd Gregg, Imani Brown '10, Shima Dowla '11, Emily Goodell '11, Hunter Cox '11]
Students who attended past CST trainings
Nana K. Amoah '11
Congressman James McGovern
Worcester, MA
Nana Amoah was born and raised in Kumasi, Ghana. Graduating middle school with distinction, he was admitted to the best high school, Mfantsipim, as a boarding student in the city of Cape Coast. In his high school he was the Vice-President of the Bible Club, the Associate Editor of the Writers and Debaters Club, a residential hall prefect/captain, an honors scholar and the co-founder of a youth movement called FIRE GENERATION. During his final year in high school he moved to Worcester, MA. He continued and finished his high school education at South High Community School where he was a member of the Senior Class Executive Board, a leader in the school’s National Honors Society and a scholar in Science and Social Science. He matriculated at Dartmouth in the fall of 2007 with an interest in pursuing an education in Biomedical Engineering. Following his passion for politics, he is pursuing a minor in Public Policy with a concentration on Health Care Policy. He spent last summer interning at M2S Inc researching new technologies for imaging. On campus, he is the President for the Dartmouth chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, serves on the Committee on Standards, writes for the International Students Association’s Newsletter and fellowships with Christian Impact, a student Christian group. This fall he is interning with Congressman James McGovern and hopes to continue his scholarship interests in Health Care Policy for developing nations.
Imani Brown '10
Preparing for Graduation and Career Placement
For the first sixteen years of her life Imani Brown grew up and went to school in Kingston, Jamaica. At age sixteen, she left home to complete high school at the Lester B. Pearson United World College in British Columbia, Canada. She came to Dartmouth in the fall of 2006 and since then has been pursuing a major in the Romance Languages, while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements for medical school. While in on campus, Imani has spent several terms volunteering as a French and Spanish tutor and working with Students Fighting Hunger to provide meals to elderly and indigents members of the Upper Valley community. During her sophomore summer, she worked as the Civics intern in the Tucker Foundation to help students find domestic and international internships. During her time at Dartmouth, she has taken the opportunity to go abroad and volunteer in Egypt, where she coordinated STAR (Student Action for Refugees) a program that teaches English to refugees living in Cairo. Imani had also done a term abroad in Paris, France to develop her French language skills. In her senior year, Imani hopes to write a thesis in the Romance Languages and do medical research. After graduation, she will go to medical school in order to prepare for a career in global health. Imani looks forward to Civics Skills Training as a way to network and develop skills for the corporate world.
Hunter Cox '11
Senate Indian Affairs Committee
Washington, Dc
Hunter Cox is from Alexandria, VA and attended Lester B. Pearson United World College in British Columbia, Canada. While there, he led a youth recreation and development program for the nearby Beecher Bay Band indigenous community. After graduation, Cox lived on La Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, Bolivia for 8 months. There he served as a volunteer teaching English and worked with the community of Ch’allapampa to create a more sustainable and effective system of tourism. At Dartmouth, Cox is pursuing majors in both Government and Spanish, and is focusing his studies on Latin American governments and indigenous groups. He is involved with the Club Ski Team, Ledyard Canoe Club, Dartmouth Free Press, Dartmouth Alcohol Peer Advisors, Occom Pond Singer and Native Americans at Dartmouth.
Shima Dowla '11
Brac University Public School of Health
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Shima Dowla was raised in Lexington, Kentucky and graduated with honors from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. She was a part of the Math, Science, and Technology Center and completed a senior research project in neuroscience, which was later published in the Journal of Neuroscience. She was involved in the varsity tennis team, and was the captain of the varsity academic team, president of Beta Club, and treasurer of her class. At Dartmouth, Dowla is a premedical student double majoring in Neuroscience and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. She plans to conduct a senior honors thesis in AMES studying the effects of HIV in tuberculosis (TB) control programs in Bangladesh and Egypt. In addition to academics, Dowla is involved in a number of activities including Vandana South Asian Dance Troupe, SHEBAlite, the Dartmouth Coalition for Global Health and is a member of Alpha Phi sorority. Her academic passion is global health and has studied the effects of HPV on Haitian women suffering from HIV. Dowla also did research at a neuroscience laboratory and volunteered in Ecuador as an English teacher. This upcoming fall, she will be using a Dickey Internship to work in Dhaka, Bangladesh studying the effects of HIV in TB patients. Dowla will be finishing her honors thesis in AMES and working with Dr. Lisa Adams on global health research in Tanzania.
Emily Goodell '11
US Embassy
Moscow, Russia
Emily Goodell hails from Lawrenceville, New Jersey. She attended Lawrence High school where she graduated valedictorian and captain of the Mock Trial Team. At Dartmouth, Emily is pursuing a Russian major with a French minor. Last fall, she interned as a document clerk for Davis, Polk and Wardwell, a New York law firm. This fall she will be interning at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, Russia. She has been involved with The Dartmouth student newspaper since freshman fall as a reporter and news editor. Emily is also a member of the Mock Trial Team and the Dartmouth Chamber Singers. She is currently serving as social chair for Amarna Undergraduate Society and loves to write, sing and read Russian literature.
Elizabeth Klinger ‘10
Great River Arts
Bellow Falls, VT
Liz is from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. She is majoring in Studio Art and Philosophy and is interested in advertising and branding for non-profits. On campus, she is the director of AREA, Dartmouth’s student-run art gallery, and the cover artist and a staff writer for the Dartmouth Free Press. After graduation, Liz hopes to pursue an advertising or art path or continue to develop professionally in both fields. She hopes to learn more about the non-profit environment and pursue this area of work, as well. She will be applying her art talent in her upcoming internship at Great River Arts.
Jason Laster ‘11
Preparing for Spring Internship TBD
Jason Laster was born and raised in Westchester, New York where he graduated Byram Hills with Honors. There, he was captain of the Debate Team, captain of the Robotics Team and an active tennis player. He matriculated at Dartmouth College in the fall of 2007 and pursued Parliamentary Debate and the Dartmouth Business Journal where he is a contributor and Layout Editor. In the spring of ’07, he founded Our Green, winner of the ’08 Big Green Business Plan Competition, a “Facebook for collegiate organizations” designed to provide a social space on college campuses for collaboration and communication. His current focus is on emerging internet platforms and services and their application to existing systems for social gain. Laster is pursuing a degree in economics modified, coupling international economics with data analysis techniques in an attempt to better understand the underlying dynamics of complex systems.
Kevin Mwenda ‘10
Preparing for Graduation and Career Placement
Kevin Mwenda is from Nairobi, Kenya where he graduated from Starehe Boys' Center and High School. Before coming to Dartmouth, Kevin attended the Lester B. Pearson United World College in Victoria, Canada, an international school that brings people, nations, and cultures together using education to promote peace and sustainability. At Dartmouth, Kevin is pursuing an Environmental Studies major coupled with an Engineering Sciences minor and courses in Advanced GIS studies. On campus, Kevin serves as the philanthropy chair for the Sigma Nu Fraternity, Delta Beta Chapter and is the president of the Roots of Rhythm Gumboot dancing troupe. He is also involved in various capacities with the International Students Association. His past internships include working for the Standard Chartered Bank in London, UK and Credit Suisse Explorer Program in New York. Kevin's current research at the DHMC entails the use of Spatial Analyses in order to discern interactions that result in high rates of complex disease. In the future, Kevin hopes to continue with graduate studies and a career in Geospatial Analysis.
Alina Politzer ‘11
Preparing for Winter Internship TBD
Alina Magalí Politzer was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina but currently resides in Miami, Florida. As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College she has enjoyed being an Apprentice Teacher, drilling her peers in introductory Spanish classes, engaging prospective students and their families as a tour guide for the admissions office, holding a part-time job in the Reserve Corridor and information desks at Baker-Berry Library and contributing to both Sin Compás, the College’s first Spanish newspaper and The Dartmouth, America’s oldest college newspaper. She co-chaired the campus’s Winter Carnival event during her first winter at Dartmouth and chairs the quarterly Art Show and yearly banquet at her sorority. On her first off term, she was granted funding from Dartmouth Partners in Community Service to return to Miami and work with an organization called The Non-Violence Project. There, Alina taught a spectrum of underprivileged fifth to ninth graders in a summer enrichment program. She also took classes in Dunedin, New Zealand during another off term. Through the Rockefeller Center’s guidance, she hopes to have a successful winter in 2010 interning in Washington, DC.
Adam Reed ‘11
Preparing for Winter Internship TBD
Adam Reed is a junior from Salt Lake City, UT. His majors are music with a focus on theory and composition, as well as government with a focus on political theory. Reed’s extracurricular activities include the Dartmouth College fencing team where his weapon is sabre, singing in the Dartmouth College Chamber Singers, and peer advising for sexual health, drug abuse, mental health, and the college disciplinary system. After his undergraduate study, Adam hopes to continue his education at law school.
Justin Varilek ‘11
Memorial International Historical-Enlightenment Human Rights and Humanitarian Society
Moscow, Russia
Justin Varilek is from Red Oak, Iowa and attended Red Oak Community High School. There, he was captain of the football team and State President of Future Business Leaders of America. At Dartmouth, Justin is a Russian Area Studies major and International Relations minor. On campus, he is involved in a wide range of activities from recruitment chair of Hill Winds Society, chairing EPAC, the campus elections committee, programming chair of Beta Alpha Omega fraternity, and serving on the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee of the Student Assembly. Upon graduation, Varilek intends on pursuing a career in international relations.
