Spring marks a particularly unusual milestone for University of Texas at Dallas students: This season’s graduates will be the second group of May graduates since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Although the pandemic affected nearly every aspect of life, including the university experience, UT Dallas students have persevered and embraced opportunities to create and achieve academic success.
“Our students have always been among the best and the brightest, bringing their many talents and interests to the UT Dallas community,” said Dr. Jessica C. Murphy, dean of undergraduate education and the Mary McDermott Cook Chair for Undergraduate Education. “This remains true, even as the challenges they face increase. I am loath to say that the pandemic has brought anything good with it, but I will express just how impressed I am with our students, who have done well in rigorous coursework, put hundreds of thousands of dollars into our community through their volunteer work and found ways to connect with each other.”
Here are a few highlights from the May 2021 graduating class:
Venisha Harmon
Venisha Harmon, from Tyler, Texas, is a history major with a political science minor and is graduating with honors in May. As an Archer Fellow, she spent the spring 2021 semester in Washington, D.C.
“Working across the street from the White House has inspired me to never give up on my dream of running for president of the United States in 2040, and to see that this dream is slowly coming into fruition is rewarding,” she said.
During her final semester, Harmon interned at The White House Historical Association to facilitate the National Student Art Competition.
“My experience in D.C. has been monumental for me to gather the courage that I need to keep striving to my goal of attending law school, where I plan to use my voice to stick up for those who feel voiceless,” she said.
Harmon has served as president of the UT Dallas chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and vice president of the Black Student Alliance, as well as chapter secretary of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She is an executive committee member of the Student Ambassadors program, where she is co-chair of its recruitment and tours committee. She’s also a peer advisor for Residential Life and a family mentor in the Undergraduate Success Scholars program.
“My lifetime goal is to never allow my past to dictate my future and to never forget the investments that my hometown and the UTD community have made in me,” she said.
Elizabeth “Tess” Helfrich
Elizabeth “Tess” Helfrich, a Eugene McDermott Scholar and a Boren Scholar from Bloomington, Michigan, is a biology and history double major who hopes to one day work in emergency medicine — and she’s accumulated plenty of experience as an undergraduate.
Her array of volunteer work has included serving as a captain of the University Emergency Medical Response (UEMR) team, as a rescue diver, as a first responder with Texas Search and Rescue, and as a medic volunteer with the American Red Cross in the emergency efforts after Hurricane Laura last August.
She also spent the summer after her freshman year as an intern on the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Ebola vaccine clinical trial project in Sierra Leone.
“More than anything, I want people to know how grateful I am for all of the mentorship and opportunities I’ve received at UTD,” Helfrich said. “I have had so much support from professors who helped me find and take opportunities to further my education inside and outside of the classroom.”
Spring 2021 Commencement Coverage
Last March, the COVID-19 pandemic cut short her Boren Scholarship study-abroad experience in Amman, Jordan, where she had been studying Arabic and completing two independent studies that formed the foundation of her honors thesis on the definition of home for enslaved Americans in the 19th-century American South.
Helfrich plans to take a gap year, but she also plans to stay busy. She’s taken a position as a full-time paramedic, teaching emergency medical services education as an adjunct faculty member under UEMR, and also a part-time role as a research fellow with Divers Alert Network to continue researching diving after COVID-19.
Stephen Kamau
Healthcare studies major Stephen Kamau, from Allen, Texas, served as vice president of the African Student Union and helped plan the University’s Black History Month activities. He’s also a Student Ambassador for the UT Dallas campus.
“Being a part of the African Student Union was probably the most important part of my UTD experience,” he said. “It allowed me to identify with my cultural identity, and attending extracurriculars on campus was a great stress reliever when classes were overwhelming. I believe it was a key to me succeeding in undergrad.”
Kamau intends to take a couple of gap years before applying to medical school, but he won’t be idle during that time.
“I want to take my MCAT [Medical College Admission Test], go on a mission trip with my church, work to save up money and volunteer more in the community,” he said.
Down the road, Kamau aspires to give back to his family’s home country, Kenya.
“I want to improve the health care system over there, specifically helping with the HIV/AIDS population,” he said. “My goal is to open a needs-based clinic and improve HIV/AIDS patients’ outcomes, while also educating youths to decrease the prevalence of the disease.”