Concluding our mini-series of biographies of the participants of our Creative Digital Projects, today we have the final two groups.
This summer, our participants have come from 23 states, plus Washington, D.C. We also have four students that are working internationally, one each from the United Arab Emirates; London, England; Kyoto, Japan; and Shanghai, China. The states of California and Florida take the prize for the most students working from those locations, with seven each. Illinois comes in next with five participants, and then Washington and Texas with four participants each.
Thank you for reading about these students and look for their published articles coming in the future!
Ruby Arceo currently lives in California and completed her undergraduate degree in sociology with a minor in writing from the University of California, Merced. Her ultimate goal is to be able to provide resources and services to underserved communities. She enjoys writing, reading, and creating art in her free time.
Bayleigh Baldwin is an undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis where she studies history, Spanish, and linguistics. She is passionate about history and education and often thinks about how to improve the K-12 history curriculum. She is also an undergraduate research assistant in two labs at the UC Davis School of Education. In her free time, she listens to new music, writes poetry, and learns to draw.
Lucy Louise Dills is from Berkeley, California. She will be graduating with a B.A. in history and politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in June 2023. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, reading, and watching documentaries.
Andrea Fajardo Osejo resides in Palmdale, California, and has been living there for four years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from California State University Northridge. She is currently pursuing her M.L.I.S. at the University of Southern California. During her free time, she loves to read, spend time with her family, and take care of her house plants. She is interested in gaining experience in all areas of librarianship, specifically in the public sector.
Eun Hye Jun double majored and earned two bachelor’s degrees in education and sociology from Korea University in Seoul, Korea. She taught social studies in high school for about ten years. She earned her Master of Science in library and information science (M.S.L.S.) degree from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 2022. Eun Hye is currently participating in the research group of the library and information science department at Pennsylvania Western University and working with several professors. Her professional interests include information literacy in childhood, digital youth, and the information-seeking behavior of teens.
Megan Luebberman currently lives in Southern California and graduated in May 2023 with her B.A. in English from Vanguard University of Southern California. She aspires to be a book author and writes creatively in her free time. Megan hopes to find a position as a writer and/or editor in the near future, working with stories that inspire others.
Aronia McLean is set to graduate from the University of Washington, Seattle with a B.A. in political science this fall. She recently finished writing an undergraduate thesis on Washington state homelessness and is currently pursuing a minor in Informatics. In her downtime, she enjoys playing mobile games and having friendly political debates with her father.
Alice Nguyen is a graduate M.L.I.S. student at San José State University while working as a library specialist at the USC Gould Law School Library. Her degree focus is on information organization and digital services. In her free time, she likes to play Stardew Valley and bake scones.
Faith Torlai currently attends the University of Washington in Seattle, where she will complete her B.A. in English and global studies. She has three cats and a dog, as well as a herd of cows who love fresh apples. A self-taught polyglot, she enjoys interacting with other languages and bridging language gaps in research and education.
We are so glad to have Alyssa Key back this summer! This is her seventh remote internship with the Law Library, after serving as a remote intern in the spring and summer of 2021, a team lead with the American State Papers project in the spring of 2022, a mentor last summer, and the West Coast Team Lead on the Congressional Research Service Bill Summaries project since last fall. Alyssa is a lifelong California resident who holds an M.L.I.S. from San José State University and a B.A. in sociology from California State University, Northridge.
Fanely Caba is a New Jersey native. She is currently pursuing two bachelor’s degrees in history and Spanish from Williams College. She works as a student processing archivist at Williams College Special Collections and is interested in maximizing the accessibility of collections to the general public. In her free time, she enjoys reading and consuming foreign media.
Alice Condry-Power is a rising senior at Skidmore College where she is pursuing her B.A. in English. Recently, Alice has enjoyed studying literary modernism through the eyes of Joyce and Kafka. She has always had a passion for literature and is excited to see how she can incorporate this into her internship at the Law Library of Congress. When she isn’t in the classroom, you can find Alice reading, knitting, spending time with friends, or riding for the Skidmore equestrian team. She lives in northern New Jersey.
Ariele Dashow is a Pennsylvania native but has lived in Florida for the past seven years. She obtained a B.A. from Eckerd College, a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law, and will be beginning her M.L.I.S. program this fall at the University of South Florida. Ariele is an avid photographer and coffee drinker, has a dog and a cat, and loves everything outdoors. She enjoys reading and learning about all topics and looks forward to creating a transparent and accessible means of information as she moves into her career as a law librarian.
Gabriella Diaz is from Miami and is currently completing her B.A. at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where she is dual-majoring in politics and romance languages/cultures. She hopes to continue on to graduate school in the future but meanwhile, she continues to work on her Italian. In her free time, Gabriella enjoys reading poetry books she does not understand and tries to keep her herb garden alive.
Austin Goetz is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with an M.S. and B.S. in international relations and politics. Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, he has a fondness for tennis, gardening, and music. His passion for the legal field has led him to attend Columbia Law School in the coming fall.
Jenifer Gundry is an academic librarian and historian, interested in metadata, library technologies, and collaborative digital projects. She holds a B.A., master’s degrees in English, theology, and library and information science, and a Ph.D. in history, focusing on the history of the book. Jenifer enjoys hiking the mountains throughout beautiful New England, visiting old general stores, reading absurdist poetry, and exploring linguistic forensics.
Emma Rietz was born in the UK. Both her parents were in the U.S. military throughout her childhood which included a lot of traveling throughout the world. Today Emma is in Orlando, Florida, pursuing an undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida with a major in environmental studies as well as a minor in political science. She is also on the pre-law track and hopes to become an environmental lawyer one day.
Santiago Solano is a third-year undergraduate student at New York University in Shanghai (NYUSH), where he is double majoring in economics and political science. He has a keen interest in legal studies, with a specific focus on international litigation. Additionally, he is undertaking an exciting journey by biking across China, following the historic route of the ancient “Silk Road.”
Abigail Starcher is from New Jersey. She is currently pursuing an M.L.I.S. from the University of South Florida and holds a B.A. in history from Ave Maria University in Florida. She has worked in and managed library public services for eight years. Before working in libraries, she taught third grade on the Zuni Pueblo Reservation. Abigail’s main interests include emerging library technology, historical research, and the digitization, preservation, and transcription of historical documents. She also enjoys landscape painting and singing the major choral works of Bach, Mozart, and Brahms.
Courtney Wilson is pursuing a master of science in information degree at Florida State University. She completed her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary social sciences in the summer 2020. After earning her TEFL certification earlier the same year, Courtney worked remotely as a teacher for VIPKID, an online platform teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), before returning to her alma mater for graduate school. In addition to being a part-time graduate student, Courtney is a stay-at-home mom to her 4-year-old daughter as well as 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 turtle. Her interests include all things cooking and historical fiction.
Grace Wipfli is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University, holding a B.A. in English (concentration in rhetoric and writing) and a minor in communication studies. She is a freelance content writer with professional experience in journalism, publishing, research, and copy editing. An aspiring attorney, Grace plans to specialize in education or corporate law. In her spare time, she enjoys crocheting, playing tennis, and spending time with her family.
We are so glad to have Ryan Schleifer returning this year in his new role as a mentor! Ryan is a student at the University of Central Florida majoring in history and minoring in creative writing. Ryan spoke at the 2021 Florida Conference of Historians and is a member of the international English honor society: Sigma Tau Delta. Ryan has written in an assortment of styles including fiction, academic history, and poetry, and will be the author of an upcoming blog post on Key West slave ship seizures.
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