In my free time at Drexel, I am a staff writer and copy editor for The Triangle, Drexel’s independent student-led newspaper. I primarily focus on identifying underrepresented Drexel organizations and programs to write about their role and importance to the Drexel student body.

Jun. 6, 2025

On Saturday, May 30, Drexel’s Asian Students Association hosted its 30th annual CelebrASIANS Live talent show in the Bossone Research Center auditorium. The show brought a full-house audience in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

“I’m proud that all these performers performed for us, and very grateful [to have their talents at] ASA,” said Kelly Do, a third-year computer science major and the president of ASA. The CelebrASIANS show featured a total of 10 acts, showcasing a mix of individual and duo performances, as well as small and large group performances. Many acts featured students experienced in playing musical instruments.

“[I played] a medley [with] Dominic Scott, arranged from ‘How To Train Your Dragon,’” said Doyeon Yoo, a third-year user experience and interaction design major. “I started [playing violin] in kindergarten, and then I stopped playing in eighth grade. I wanted an opportunity to start it up again, so I brought the idea up to Dom, and CelebrASIANS was a great reason to pick up my violin again.”

Some students also sang live songs for their acts. “We did a medley of popular songs in the past year, and we created a track and played our instruments alongside,” said Alessandra Cabrera, a fourth-year material science major and a member of the musical sister duo Mister Sister.

Cabrera’s sister Nina, a second-year English major, adds, “[We sang] ‘Cupid’ by Fifty-Fifty, ‘Good Luck Babe’ by Chappel Roan, ‘Luther’ by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, ‘One of Your Girls’ by Troye Sivan, ‘Soft Spot’ by keshi, ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER’ by Billie Eilish and ‘Die With A Smile’ by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga. I played the guitar and Alessandra played the ukulele.” She also adds that “It was very special to perform with Allie. We used to sing together a lot for theater and for church [over 20 years], but I think it’s our first time performing under that name [Mister Sister]. Because we are sisters, people say our voices sound alike when we talk, so our harmonies kind of reflect how close we are.”

In addition to the musical performances, several student duos and groups performed cover dances, with many of the group performances consisting of members from other student organizations. According to Quan Nguyen, a second-year chemistry major and the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers’ secretary, “I was actually very excited from the beginning to dance [‘What Is Love?’ by TWICE] with my E-Board members. In the beginning, we practiced once every two or three weeks. And two weeks before [the show], we started to focus and practice more intensely. This was all fun for us.”

Daniel Lee, a second-year architecture major, adds, “My act was [performing] ‘Igloo’ [by Kiss of Life] with KISME. We’re actually from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and we thought it would be a fun bit to do all together. [Rehearsing] was kind of chaotic sometimes, but we coordinated, and overall, it was just lots of fun.”

Many of the performers expressed immense pride in having the opportunity to showcase their talents in a supportive environment. “I am not a professional bass player, but since I already knew guitar beforehand, it kind of gave me the ability to be that person who can fill in,” reflected James Virtucio, a fifth-year biomedical engineering major and the bass player for Rose Velour. “Being able to play for this talent show, it kind of gave me a way to perform and play my heart out for my last term at Drexel.”

All ticket proceeds from this show will go to several AAPI charities and nonprofits in Philadelphia, at the choice of the winner in the individual/duo, small group, or big group categories. “[Since the] month of May is AAPI month, the monthly significance, especially for this talent show, is to donate to AAPI charities, and the winners get to choose them,” said Do.

Performances of CelebrASIANS provide the perfect platform for Asian American students at Drexel to express their artistic talents and reconnect with their inner selves. The ASA has gone above and beyond to highlight the power of AAPI artistic solidarity, and help express the importance of intercultural support in uncertain times.

Sep. 12, 2025

Drexel’s co-operative education program offers students experiential learning, allowing them to earn degree credits while working part-time or full-time jobs. The program is designed to mirror the real job market, enabling students to learn how to find suitable job opportunities, qualify for positions, and successfully interview with employers to secure offers, laying the groundwork for their careers. In addition to the mandatory Co-op 101 class that all freshmen must complete before participating in co-op interview rounds, Drexel’s Steinbright Career Development Center, located at 3201 Arch St., offers a wide range of services — from advising to career counseling and more — to support students with all their career-related needs.

Students can access these services by logging on to DrexelOne and opening the “Co-Op and Career Services” tab. From there, they can schedule meetings with their co-op advisor, who serves as a guide in helping students navigate the complex path to early career prosperity. Advisors are available to answer your questions about the application process and can help address any concerns you may have before or during your new position. They can also assist in reviewing your resume and help you practice interviewing with potential employers.

If you are seeking additional guidance for professional development, you can use the “Peer Mentor” link in the “Co-Op and Career Services” tab to find a peer mentor to learn from. Drexel’s peer mentors are trained to offer personalized advice on interviews and resumes. They also boast a variety of professional backgrounds and majors, so there is a good chance you can find someone you can relate to within your industry.

The co-op system is anything but simple to navigate; it can sometimes be just as complicated as the real job market. However, there are systems and services in place to help you prepare and/or overcome any challenge you may encounter when looking for your first major professional opportunity. When you start your first quarter and feel the pressure to start a resume or sign up for a LinkedIn profile, do not worry.

Drexel helps students transition smoothly into the process through its Co-op 101 class, career fairs and professional development workshops. When applications begin, students have received sufficient instruction to be well-prepared.

Apr. 21, 2023

As Drexel University continues to expand its mental health resources, students are taking the opportunity to get involved. On Tuesday, April 11, the Drexel Counseling Center officially announced its new peer counseling service, staffed by eight students trained in counseling students through their personal struggles.

These student volunteers understand firsthand how crucial mental wellness can be during college.

According to peer counselor and senior health sciences major Heather Do, “It really determines everything in your life if you don’t have good mental health, then it’s pretty hard to move on, especially for college students and their academic performance.”

Recognizing this motivated Drexel’s Counseling Center to seek counselors who can relate to students’ problems on a personal level.

In the words of Staff Psychologist of Enrollment Management and Student Success, Sarah Maver, “The goal of the peer counseling program is for students to have a space where they can access support from fellow students who really understand the stress, worries, joys, questions, and mishaps of college life.”

The service’s effectiveness depends on the peer counselors’ personal expertise in counseling a student’s unique situation.

“Peer Counselors are there to provide peer-based confidential support for navigating life transitions, decision-making processes, relationships, and other challenges of life as a student,” says Maver.

Like any therapy service, peer counselors received training to follow the regulations of consent and confidentiality. “Every time a student schedules an appointment with us, we take that as consent, and all the conversations are confidential, so we have a lot of training in confidentiality, so students are confident coming up to us,” says Do.

Becoming a peer counselor is a lengthy process. After applying, all peer counselors must receive extensive training. “After we got interviewed, we all came in on a Saturday and were there for 8 hours, where we got this big packet that had a bunch of strategies and protocols teaching us therapeutics,” says Olivia Henningsen, a peer counselor and senior psychology major.

It’s not just students seeking guidance who benefit from the service; the peer counselors do as well. Many peer counselors without psychology experience find being able to help students rewarding.

“People coming to Drexel and college in general sometimes have things they want to talk about or are having stress about, and that is a way we would like to help them out: by talking through that with them, being there for them, and supporting them mentally,” says Do.

Peer counselors who major in psychology also find great learning experiences in applying their learned skills outside the classroom. As Henningsen describes, “Since I want to go into psychology as a field, a lot of the classes haven’t really touched on more application-based procedures, so I haven’t really learned about what goes into the therapy or how to talk to people in that kind of context, so this has been really good in providing insight on what this is going to be like.”

Peer counseling is a major step in Drexel’s effort to provide new ways to meet students’ mental health needs. “We continue to try to bolster the support that students can access on campus, and we see peer counseling as a great way students can build their support system,” says Maver.

Feb. 3, 2023

On Jan. 25, the Dornsife School of Public Health held a Population Health Spotlight event in reflection of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world recovers from the biggest health crisis in a century, the importance of education around public health has become relevant now more than ever.

The event was part of a larger lecture series that Dornsife has organized to encourage conversations around the field of public health. This particular lecture was led by Laura Magaña, PhD, MS, the President & CEO of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).

The lecture took place in Nesbitt Hall and was simultaneously streamed over Zoom. It mainly provided insight into how public health can be improved if we transform the educational system to train people in a more holistic approach, ultimately working towards the goal of global sustainability.

To start, Dr. Magaña quickly got into how public health is poorly addressed in our society due to the lack of higher education for most of the public. Dr. Magaña reminded the audience that we are in a higher educational institution and defined higher education institutions (HEI) as organizations with large amounts of educational resources available to a select type of people who have the money to access it. Thus, Magaña emphasized the need for accessible education.

Aside from the importance of education, Dr. Magaña encouraged audience members to think about what stands in the way for solutions that contribute “to a fair, more human, democratic, holistic and more peaceful picture for all.”

The advocacy discussion took a turn as Dr. Magaña covered the benefits of smarter educational strategies that came about during the pandemic by talking about what a ‘beyond discipline’ collaboration could do for building community and reimagining learning.

According to Dr. Magaña, “We need to do more collectively among the programs. Not just the health programs, but the schools of engineering, business, and architecture among others in order to bring knowledge together and altogether, really think differently about how to solve the biggest challenges.”

The lecture then went back to addressing how we need to transform the education system to make way for these better teaching methods. Dr. Magaña covered ten different areas to think about when it comes to this massive change needed, starting with the area of fostering lifelong learning skills which are extremely beneficial to those willing to get educated to help others.

To close, Dr. Magaña addressed how public health can bring people together to address not just one but several systemic issues affecting the welfare of our society. These kinds of benefits could be made possible if public health educators and learners had the proper training methods to move forward.

Dr. Magaña strongly believes that public health “can be a leader in the innovation to improve the integration of essential competencies, technologies, of course and a new horde of models.”

This lecture, one of many in a series Drexel University hosts aimed at improving public health services, covered several new ideas educational institutions can implement to better train students in all fields related to these services. We can only hope that with collective efforts, methods to keep ourselves and others healthy will get better.