If They’d Known Then…
Remember those rising first-years of the Class of 2024, whose touching, eager, and sometimes prophetic admissions essays we shared on the cover of our Fall 2020 issue? We wondered how those historic four years turned out for them — and where they are now.
By Camila Vallejo ’19 (CLAS)
Illustrations by Katie Carey
Three shirts and two hairstyles later, I found the one.
I’d been tearing my closet apart for the last half hour trying to find the perfect outfit — a tank top and jeans. I was both sweating from moving so much in my humid Towers dorm room and beaming with excitement. Along with hundreds of other students, both new and seasoned, I was headed to SUBOG’s semester kickoff block party. My new friend I’d met in the dining hall hours prior was waiting for me outside. My mentor — who was paired with me through the Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center — would be waiting for us to share all her senior wisdom before we set off to wander around campus.
It was time for my first night out in college. Hundreds of students crowded Fairfield Way as music blared and the light summer breeze carried the smell of food. Friends screamed as they reconnected post–summer break. Timid first-years lined up for UConn freebies — plastic cups, stress balls, and retro logo T-shirts — to rep their new school. New and old Huskies were thrilled to be home.
Looking back, that night gave me a taste of what was to come in the next four years: friendships I’d cherish for the rest of my life, endless sweating as I trekked across campus, spontaneous nights that started with one plan and ended with something completely different — and an unforgettable sense of community. My introductory year was a bundle of firsts, many I never even imagined doing: first football game, first march, first Involvement Fair, first Homecoming lip sync, first Huskython, and so much more.
This was not uncommon for first-years excited to take in all the campus had to offer. But it all changed for the Class of 2024. A global pandemic and health safety restrictions would completely alter that week, that year, that college experience, for 3,825 first-year students enrolled at Storrs. With campus at only 40% capacity, Welcome Weekend events shifted online. Floor meetings turned into group chats. Hitting the dining hall the next morning to catch up after a night out turned into grab-and-go with social distancing.
Four years ago, our cover story highlighted 10 students who’d written 10 of the best admissions essays among the incoming Class of 2024 — students who at the time of writing those essays had no idea what the future would hold but were hungry to experience everything UConn had to offer. Four years on, we sought them out again. Had they physically come to campus that first year, had they graduated, what of the years in between? How had an unprecedented world event changed their expectations and their reality?
As I spoke with many of them at length, I was surprised and equally inspired. Being the first class to navigate a global pandemic and all the complexities of starting college, they had no one to guide them. But when the world as we knew it stopped, they found alternatives. Can’t go to the gym? They walked every inch of campus possible. Can’t make friends traditionally? They texted group chats and hoped someone would show up. Can’t study abroad? They took advantage of alternative breaks and research trips. While they all agreed that their first year was far from what they had seen on social media or TV, it came with invaluable lessons. While others may have felt the pressure of college the second they set foot on campus, this class eased into it at their own pace.
And when it came time to shine, they hit the ground running. They jumped on employment opportunities, academic projects, internships, and more because if they had learned one thing it was this: Live in the now because nothing in life is promised.
Cody Ottinger ’24 (ENG), Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Ottinger is drawn to the intricacies of how things exist and why. “As I climb the four steps up to my front door, I try to be observant and learn about how those stairs were assembled. Then I go inside and check the weather forecast to see when I will get to run again tomorrow and escape back into my thoughts. I want to continue learning in the hopes that one day, just maybe, I will learn something that no one has before. That future depends on the decision you make. But if the future already exists, can it still be changed?” he wrote in his admissions essay, walking the reader through his thoughts as he went for an hour-long run.
He knew the best place for him to strengthen that skill was the College of Engineering at UConn. Whether he was determining the speed at which a heat exchanger would work best or measuring the flow rate of water, he says he felt like he fit right in.
Playing endless games of President freshman year with friends —here Mario Boozang, Michael MacKinnon, Nitish Rajagopal, and Sahib Sandhu.
Community: One of his favorite things to do with his friends during his free time was travel to other universities and visit one another’s high school friends. After stopping by Quinnipiac, Binghamton, Boston, and countless others, he says he always came back to campus grateful to be a Husky.
“UConn seemed like a much closer community than a lot of places, particularly schools in big cities. Because UConn is in the middle of nowhere, everyone around you is a UConn student. I feel it makes the whole group closer together, makes it easier to talk to people.”
Serendipity: Making friends in the middle of a global pandemic wasn’t easy for the thousands of incoming first-years in the fall of 2020. But luckily that didn’t stop Ottinger. A broken steam pipe, a fire alarm at one in the morning, and an evacuation later, Ottinger had met some of his closest friends.
My UConn Movie Must Include This Scene: Passing the time with friends first year playing countless rounds of President — a card game that honors the player who gets rid of their cards the fastest. While not as exciting as other memories of UConn, it’s one he holds close to his heart because that extended downtime helped them bond in ways that might have taken years in other situations.
Only at UConn: Watching the UConn men’s basketball team at their prime was a highlight for Ottinger. So much so, he and his friends had a running superstition. When watching games, they would all meet at the same house, and they had to sit in the same seats. Ottinger says he claimed the right side of the couch, with a rather poor view of the TV now that he thinks about it. He says you could often find him in his favorite UConn sweatshirt, which sports the early-2000s Husky.
Regrets? He wishes he had gotten more involved with student organizations. While COVID-19 played a part, once restrictions were lifted, he says it got hard to balance so many things at once, and club involvement was the first thing to get cut.
Now What: Ottinger works for HyAxiom Inc., a company that makes hydrogen fuel cell power plants.
My Class in One Word or Phrase: “Experienced beyond our years.”
Taylor Pannell ’24 (CLAS), Middletown, New York
Pannell has loved sports for as long as she can remember. “I am not being dramatic when I say sports has saved my life and is part of my family,” she wrote in her admissions essay, nodding to sports for always keeping her on track.
At UConn, that love has only grown stronger. Being on the volleyball and track and field teams has taught her to stay true to herself while stepping into her power. Not only is she a dual-sport athlete, she’s also a STEM major. This has led to numerous people questioning her decisions. But she shakes it off and always remembers her favorite quote: “Why not me?”
Wisdom: Pannell doesn’t want to be put in a box. She says she’s all about not necessarily proving people wrong but instead proving herself right. That holds true for academics. Today she holds a BA in biology and will add a second degree in communications next year. After much consideration, she says she chose both degrees because they give her the freedom to take her future in whichever direction she desires. She can go into animal science, dermatology, sports journalism, photography, and so much more. But she didn’t always think this way. The key advice that helped her was when Tysen Kendig, UConn’s then VP of Communications, told her the best thing she could do in life, and to appeal to employers, was to be versatile.
Moments Missed: Not being able to meet her teammates for more than two months thanks to her building being placed in quarantine six times in a row. Sometimes students were asked to move to other dorms for two weeks at a time. Pannell has lived in nine different rooms on campus!
Moments Gained: Enjoying UConn’s natural beauty. Grabbing a mask and water bottle and aimlessly walking around campus to pass time landed her in places she would have never stopped by otherwise: a hill behind the baseball field and Mirror Lake at night, for example.
“It felt like a sense of community because it was like other people are in this too. They are going through the same thing and just want a breath of fresh air,” she says.
Playing in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in the rounds we hosted at Gampel.
I Was Inspired By: Pannell has had more teammates than she can remember, but one that stands out is Kennadie Jake-Turner ’22 (CLAS), whom Pannell looked up to as an athlete in STEM. Taking on both worlds can be hard, Pannell admits, but she saw Jake-Turner always advocate for herself and others while gracefully keeping people accountable. “Coming up in athletics is hard, and some of the people you work with are harder. Sometimes I felt defeated. But I would always think, ‘How would KJ react?’”
I Will Inspire By: Leading by example. As she steps into a position of leadership on the volleyball team, she says she hopes to inspire the same way she was once inspired: hitting the gym early and leaving late, doing well academically, thinking of those looking up to her, and always being kind.
My UConn Movie Must Include This Scene: Playing in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in 2021 — the first time UConn played in the tournament since 1994. She says participating in the invitation-only championship was a testament to her team’s hard work, and it’s one of her proudest moments. “We came in fourth in the nation. We knew what we wanted, we set our goals, and we fell short of the NCAA tournament, but we bounced back right away — and that’s always my biggest goal.”
Now What: Because of COVID-19, the NCAA granted all student-athletes an extra year to play, so Pannell will continue to play on both teams. She’s what her teammates call a “Grandma.”
I Can’t Wait For: As she takes advantage of this extra year, one must for this New Yorker is exploring more of the Nutmeg State. Despite living in Connecticut for the majority of the last four years, she feels like she has so much to see. Some spots she hopes to include: New Haven, Mystic, and Stamford.
My Class in One Word or Phrase: “Pioneers.”
Joshua Ellenberg ’24 (CLAS), Flemington, New Jersey
When Josh Ellenberg first set foot on campus, he wanted to be an astrophysicist. “I desperately want to learn more about not only the world around me but everything that surrounds it. In my opinion, our ability to imagine is driven by our desire to know more about everything,” he wrote in his admissions essay.
Today, he says that sentiment to learn and explore is still very much with him. But his outlook has changed, and it’s all thanks to UConn.
Match Made: Going into his sophomore year, Ellenberg realized studying space was no longer his calling. He googled all the majors UConn offered, and a picture of what seemed like cave paintings caught his eye. He decided to trust his gut and went down the rabbit hole of all things anthropology. He never looked back.
“I wanted to study space because it was like the last thing in the world that we don’t know much about. I wanted to be the first to figure it out. And then I started studying anthropology and it was like, ‘Wait, there’s so much that I don’t know that goes on here,’” he says, noting how anthropology pushed him to think of the world and his role in it differently. While space seemed appealing because it offered novelty, anthropology showed him that novelty was right in front of him depending on the perspective from which he looked at it.
Surprise! Being an out-of-state student, Ellenberg knew it would be hard to make friends, especially during a pandemic. But he says his motto was just to be open. He remembers his first night on campus fondly. Someone texted the hall group chat asking whether anyone wanted to meet at Mirror Lake after grabbing dinner at South — the entire dorm showed up. He never met the person who texted, but he did meet the person who would become one of his closest college friends that night.
My UConn Movie Must Include This Scene: Ellenberg says his best college moment was actually more than 9,000 miles away from Storrs. He traveled to Mauritius, an island off the coast of Madagascar, with Professor Dimitris Xygalatas. The summer program encouraged students to participate in existing research or conduct research of their own, and Ellenberg took full advantage of that. He wanted to know how the people of Mauritius saw themselves in government, especially women. As he spoke with locals, he says he learned a lot, not only about the region but about why he loved his major. The trip challenged him to think outside the box and remember that while there are differences, there are a lot more similarities among cultures around the world.
Me in Mauritius! We were celebrating the end of our fieldwork and there was a beautiful sunset. My feet are in the Indian Ocean!
Community: Ellenberg says nothing made him appreciate his college experience like being part of the encampment his last few days as an undergraduate student, standing in solidarity with Palestine. As a Jewish student and anthropology major, he felt compelled to join — to learn, to reflect, to use his voice alongside people of all different backgrounds. To him, that’s what college is all about: “You won’t really get something like that anywhere other than a college campus … The feeling of camaraderie at that encampment was something that I don’t know if I’ll ever experience again in my entire life.”
Now What: Ellenberg dreams of becoming an anthropology professor, inspired by his teachers at UConn. He’s headed to New York University this fall to get his master’s in experimental humanities.
My Class in One Word or Phrase: “Resilient.”
Horacio Honoret ’24 (CLAS)
Honoret graduated with a degree in communications and is passionate about the sports industry. During his time at UConn, he was a campus tour guide, an orientation leader, and a member of Alpha Sigma Phi.
Dennis Dowding ’24 (SFA)
Dowding graduates with a bachelor of fine arts in theater design and technology this December. At UConn, Dowding was the live production director with WHUS, the student radio station. Dowding was charged with running the Studio Session Series — UConn’s version of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts.
Samantha Ceravolo ’24 (CLAS), Syracuse, New York
Growing up, Ceravolo says her hair was a point of contention. While some complimented her natural ginger locks, others taunted her. Learning to deal with all kinds of remarks wasn’t easy on her self-confidence at first, but slowly she learned to shake it off and love her hair. “Walking the halls, hearing the same old redhead jokes, I tossed my hair proudly and walked a little taller. Bring it on! I’m stronger because of my mane. I embraced who I am and am comfortable in my own skin. The journey of accepting my appearance has taught me to resist conformity as well as to celebrate other people’s differences,” she wrote in her admissions essay.
Today, Ceravolo is what she calls a strawberry blonde. Keeping her red base intact, Ceravolo added blonde highlights during her time at UConn to achieve a look that makes her feel more comfortable than ever. She says her hair is very much a symbol of her college transformation. And she says her college experience was all about taking risks — socially, academically, and more.
Wisdom: Ceravolo’s household is all about health care — her parents and two older sisters are dentists, and another sister is a doctor. She always knew she wanted to follow in their footsteps, but she is still working on narrowing that interest. She’s shadowed six physicians but she says one of the experiences that has opened her eyes the most was working with UConn Health Leaders. The program aims to expose student volunteers to the ins and outs of the medical field at health care clinics.
Ceravolo was placed in Hartford, where she helped patients in the waiting room detail any social factors that could be having effects on their health. While there, she realized how many patients had language barriers and how important it was for her to learn how to communicate with them. Now she’s learning Spanish in hopes of helping patients feel more comfortable in medical settings.
Moments Missed: Studying abroad — she’d planned for Italy but had less on-campus time already and didn’t want to lose more.
Moments Gained: Joining Greek life at UConn was unexpected and life changing. As an out-of-state student, freshman year was even more isolating than anticipated. Making friends was daunting until she found her Gamma Phi Beta sisterhood and ice cream socials, watching “The Bachelor,” and adventures like attending a Red Sox game.
Me and my twin sister, Julia, in Phoenix for the Final Four!
Transformation: Public speaking wasn’t for her, Ceravolo says, thinking back to high school presentations. Fast-forward to her time at UConn and she loves being in front of a crowd, specifically at the Student Rec Center as a strength training and HIIT workout instructor — a job she never imagined doing or initially felt qualified for but one she admired in the end. If it taught her one thing: The opportunities are out there, you just have to go out and take ’em.
My UConn Movie Must Include This Scene: Ceravolo says seeing UConn Nation expand beyond Storrs was one of her favorite experiences to date. Along with her twin sister, Ceravolo packed her bag with as much UConn apparel as she could fit and headed to Phoenix, Arizona, to witness the men’s basketball team once again bring home the national title. She remembers walking tall as people struck up conversations with her, picked up her tab, and more — all because she sported UConn gear.
“I feel like it was what people needed to celebrate. It was worth the weight of having to go through a tough freshman year.” And she has a daily souvenir to remember the moment — she got her ears pierced for free in Arizona for the Final Four.
Now What: Ceravolo is a patient care technician at an urgent care facility in Syracuse and is applying to medical schools — UConn is in the mix.
My Class in One Word or Phrase: “Perseverance.”
Analise Sanchez
Sanchez is a learning management system administrator with the Fashion Institute of
Technology in New York. She attended UConn in 2020 for math but transferred to Binghamton University School of Management in 2022. During her time at UConn, she was involved with the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center and the Real Estate Society.
Eric Hwang ’24 (CLAS)
Eric Hwang’s degree is in political science. Today, he is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army enrolled in the Basic Officer Leader Course for Armor School at Fort Moore, Georgia. He credits UConn’s Army ROTC program for giving him valuable leadership skills, and says he hopes to go to law school someday.
Erin Carney ’24 (CLAS)
With a degree in political science and criminal justice, Carney is now a proposal strategist at Cigna Healthcare. At UConn, she was an Honors student, Undergraduate Student Government operations director, and Huskython dancer representative.
Sydney Fournier ’24 (SFA), South Windsor, Connecticut
“While I pride myself on my maturity and acceptance of others, I could learn a few things from the children I work with … I have found myself being less judgmental of those around me. I am less afraid to be curious and ask questions, even if those questions aren’t easy to address,” wrote Fournier in her admissions essay.
More than five years later, she says some of the lessons she learned from the children she worked with at her town rec center helped her navigate college more than she ever could have imagined: Don’t be afraid to try new things, be kind to everyone, and stay curious.
Only at UConn: Attending an NCAA Division I school has its perks, and for digital media and design (DMD) student Fournier, one was being able to work with some of the best teams in the nation. She says she never liked sports until her passion for media landed her at UConn Athletics. Unlike other students who joined the fandom attending games, her love blossomed behind the scenes, filming practices and live games for the Athletics video department.
The best feeling was seeing her designs on the jumbotron. Fournier joined the graphic design team, making content for basketball, hockey, and many other sports. The thrill of helping put on a show for fans was unmatched and something she’s looking for as she searches for jobs postgraduation. She says this UConn-found affinity for sports is a love she’ll carry forward.
Moments Missed: The traditional Torch Lighting Convocation Ceremony and lining up with peers on the Great Lawn to take your class picture during welcome weekend. “My [UConn alum] parents always told me that’s the first time you’re with your whole class and the last time until you graduate. We didn’t get that ‘first time’ at all.”
Moments Gained: Finding a space outside to enjoy dining hall grab-and-go with friends during her first year was something she missed once it was no longer the norm.
My UConn Movie Must Include This Scene: Flooding the streets to celebrate the men’s championship in 2023, being shoulder to shoulder with so many students: “Getting to be excited about something as a community with that many people was so cool. And I get why people are into sports. You understand the drive and the excitement to have your team win.”
Wait, What?!: Working media for athletics, Fournier says she loved knowing tidbits that others might not notice. Her favorite: All commercial breaks, for any sport, are predetermined based on how much time is left or which time-out the game is in.
Now What: Fournier’s passion lies in the art of putting on a show for the public. She’d like to put her DMD skills to use for a company like Disney, ESPN, or NBC Universal. In the meantime, she’s working at Bright Path, an early childhood education center in Tolland, Connecticut.
My Class in One Word or Phrase: “Resilient.”
At my favorite place on campus — working Camera 2 at Gampel Pavilion during a live basketball game.
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