January 17, 2017

Congratulations to the eleven students selected as 2016-17 Aspire Scholars!

These students have demonstrated potential for achievement and meaningful engagement, and we are honored to help jump-start their paths to success at Drexel and beyond. 

The Pennoni Honors College is dedicated to fostering innovation, creativity, and intellectual exchange among undergraduates at Drexel University. The Aspire Scholars Program is rooted in these values. The program recognizes promising individuals with an interest in deepening their engagement and relationship on and off camps, as part of realizing future goals. Students are nominated by Drexel faculty and evaluated on basis of their intellectual curiosity and openness, engagement in areas of interest, and desire to reflect on and take steps toward realizing longer term goals. This year, we received dozens of nominees, from which 20 finalists were selected for interviews with program staff and members of the Pennoni Honors College.

The eleven students selected as Aspire Scholars are an impressive group drawn from across the university. They are future doctors, health professional, business leaders, designers, and engineers. They play at least four instruments, speak multiple languages, and serve as peer leaders and tutors at Drexel and in the broader community. The students also bring different perspectives and backgrounds to the program, and are eager to learn from one another and from faculty mentors.

2016-17 Aspire Scholars

• Akash Sinha, BS Computer Engineering '20, Honors
• Avantika Joshi, BS Finance '20, Honors
• Ayush Parikh, BS Biological Sciences ’19, Honors
• Eric Tran, BS Biomedical Engineering '20
• Erin Truesdell, BS Game Design and Production '19
• Joseph Snyder, BS International Business and Economics
• Julie Knerr, BS Health Services Administration '19, Honors
• Marina D'souza, BS Environmental Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering ‘20
• Riki McDaniel, BS Materials Science and Engineering ’20, Honors
• Sheridan Clements, BA Anthropology ’19
• Wiktoria Gocal, BS Biological Sciences '20, Honors

Read more about these students on our Scholar Profiles page.

About the Aspire Scholars Program

The Aspire Scholars Program provides a selective group of motivated Drexel undergraduates with an opportunity to clarify and advance their goals, within a small community of peers and faculty mentors.  For more information, visit drexel.edu/pennoni/scholardevelopment/aspire/Aspire Scholars