Approximately 984 students will graduate from Azusa Pacific University on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at the university’s spring commencement ceremonies. These graduates will earn a total of 984 degrees, including 414 bachelor’s, 454 master’s, and 35 doctoral degrees. Ceremonies include:
Saturday, May 4
9:30 a.m.: Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony
2:30 p.m.: Graduate Commencement Ceremony
Ceremonies take place in APU’s Felix Event Center, located on West Campus, at 701 E. Foothill Blvd., in Azusa. Each commencement ceremony will be livestreamed through apu.edu/live with closed captioning available via APU Facebook Live.
The Commencement speaker for both ceremonies is Matthew Cork, who has served as the senior pastor of Friends Church in Yorba Linda since 2000. With a BA and MA from APU, Cork has led the development of Friends Church into six campuses located in Orange and Riverside counties. Cork is also the superintendent of the Friends Southwest family of 40 churches, bringing vision and growth to the region, and has coauthored two books: Why Not Today: Trafficking, Slavery, the Global Church… and You and Broken for Good: Leading from the Strength of Your Weakness. In addition to his work in the U.S.,
Cork champions hope and freedom for the most marginalized people of India through the work of Dignity Freedom Network. Under his leadership, Friends Church has built 42 education centers in India that support approximately 10,000 students, bringing education and holistic transformation. Matthew and his wife, Mardi, met at APU in 1986 and were married in 1994. They are the proud parents of three adult children: Nolan, Sophie, and Ella.
Azusa Pacific University Provost Anita Fitzgerald Henck, PhD, named Stacy Kula, PhD, founding dean of the newly formed College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, effective July 1, 2024. Kula brings more than 25 years of education experience to the role with expertise in qualitative research methods, achievement gaps, and education of underserved and immigrant populations.
“With the responsibility to finalize the realignment of academic areas, APU selected an accomplished, wise, and caring leader to shepherd merging schools into cohesive, vibrant academic communities,” Henck said. “Through thoughtful review of comprehensive feedback, prayer, and consultation with President Adam J. Morris, Dr. Kula emerged as the finalist for the role, with tremendous support from across the university.”
As dean, Kula is responsible for the leadership, planning, direction, and management of the full range of undergraduate and graduate programs offered by the college. She will collaboratively and creatively advance scholarship, research, and integration of faith and learning. Kula’s top priorities will include recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse faculty and staff, continuing to build financially viable programs, and representing the college with internal and external stakeholders.
“I am both humbled and enthusiastic in accepting the role of dean of the newly formed College of Education and Behavioral Sciences,” Kula said. “I see tremendous possibilities for synergy across our constituent departments whose work revolves in different ways around ensuring that God’s purposes for every precious individual come to fruition, whether through research or by equipping students to live out their calling. There is so much great work already happening, and I look forward to celebrating and building on that!”
Kula began her career serving as an educator as a Spanish teacher and the co-chair of the Language Department at Monrovia High School. She later transitioned into faculty positions in the Teacher Education program at Claremont Graduate University and at Life Pacific University, where she also assumed administrative assignments. In 2016, Kula joined APU’s faculty as a qualitative methodologist in the doctoral Educational Leadership program, which expanded to include the role of faculty coordinator for the teaching emphasis in the MEd program. She was then appointed as the director for the doctoral program in Educational Leadership, and has served as department chair and a member of the School of Education leadership team since 2021. Kula also served in other roles on campus including chair of the Doctoral Studies Council, chair of the Faculty Research Council, and as the general education faculty mentor for Title V Hispanic Serving Institution Grant. Simultaneously, Kula maintained an active research agenda and was awarded with APU’s Rose Leigler Graduate Faculty Scholarship Achievement Award in 2022.
Kula holds a PhD in Education with an emphasis in Teaching, Learning, and Culture from Claremont Graduate University (CGU), a MA in Education with specializations in teaching Spanish language and literature, teaching in multilingual/multicultural settings, and language arts methods from CGU, and a BA in Linguistics and Spanish Literature from Pomona College. Kula’s areas of research include immigration experiences and factors of achievement for students from Latin American immigrant and Indochinese refugee families—groups particularly underserved by educational institutions. She received CGU’s prestigious Tae Han Kim Award for commitment to culture and humanity in research. Her dissertation, Explaining the Success of High-Achieving 2nd-Generation Latino Students at Elite Colleges and Universities, led to further research and numerous publications, including a co-edited book, High-Achieving Latino Students: Successful Pathways Toward College and Beyond, which won the 2021 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education’s Book of the Year award in the edited book category.
The College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, launching July 1, 2024, represents a merger of two current schools—the School of Education and the School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences. The college is comprised of the Department of Clinical Psychology, the Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Educational Leadership, the Department of Higher Education, the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, the Department of Psychology, the Department of School Counseling and School Psychology, the Department of Social Work, and the Division of Teacher Education. The new school brings together more than 110 faculty and staff and serves more than 2,100 students.
Azusa Pacific University 901 E. Alosta Avenue Azusa, CA 91702
Azusa Pacific University’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program was recently recognized by CaliforniaSocialWorkEDU.org as one of the “Editor’s Picks for the Best CSWE-accredited MSW Programs in California.” APU is ranked alongside top universities, such as UCLA and USC. CaliforniaSocialWorkEDU.org recommends APU’s MSW program for many reasons, including flexible options for one-year, two-year, and three-year degrees, and electives in various social work fields.
“We are honored to be recognized as one of the best CSWE accredited MSW programs in California,” said Kimberly Setterlund, MSW, LCSW, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Social Work. “As a primarily in-person program, we are firmly committed to advancing our mission inside and outside of the classroom, which is to prepare ethical, holistically trained social work practitioners. The faculty are dedicated to engaging students in deep learning, mentoring individuals for their career, and calling to advocate, serve, and be a voice for marginalized individuals and communities.”
APU’s MSW program, which is offered at the Azusa and San Bernardino campuses, is designed to prepare students for a wide range of social work opportunities, and to gain the foundational skills necessary for effective social work practice upon graduation. The program includes full-time, part-time, and advanced standing options and focuses on developing skills through innovative classroom teaching and applied learning in a dynamic, community-based field internship. APU receives accreditation from the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). In addition, the BSW and MSW programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).
CaliforniaSocialWorkEDU.org is owned and operated by Wiley University Services. Their content originates from many different education content writers. Their views and opinions are their own and for information purposes only. For more information, visit californiasocialworkedu.org.
Azusa Pacific University 901 E. Alosta Avenue Azusa, CA 91702
Azusa Pacific University and Citrus College announce a new partnership between the two institutions which will extend access to nursing education for residents of the San Gabriel Valley and greater Los Angeles area while offering a quicker and more affordable pathway for students to earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.
“We are thrilled to see these two excellent nursing programs join together with this new integrated curriculum,” said Renee Pozza, PhD, RN, CNS, FNP-BC, dean of APU’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences. “Students in this program will benefit from a collaborative program of study taught by expert faculty from both institutions. Collaborative programs, such as the partnership between Citrus and APU, enhance student access in a cost-effective and efficient pathway to complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing.”
This collaboration enables nursing students to concurrently enroll at APU and Citrus College, earning credits and clinical experience through both institutions. In just six semesters of total program study, Citrus’ Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) students will graduate from APU with their BSN. This dual preparation makes such students highly employable, given that California healthcare organizations prefer to hire BSN-prepared graduates.
“At Citrus College, we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Azusa Pacific University and give our nursing students a great opportunity to accelerate their professional career,” said Salima Allahbachayo, DNP, FNP-BC, RN, director of health sciences at Citrus College. “As a community college, we place a great deal of importance on access and affordability. Not only will our students be able to save time and money through this partnership, they will also enter the nursing workforce as BSN-prepared nurses with a deeper level of knowledge and experience. Put simply, this is a game changer.”
The accelerated program elevates the proficiency of nurses entering Southern California hospitals and clinics, moving such graduates beyond the two-year associate’s degree while increasing their skills as caregivers. In combining the low-cost, open-access program at Citrus College with APU’s nationally ranked School of Nursing, students from all educational backgrounds will enter a pathway to a high-paying, impactful career. Students will benefit from APU’s RN to BSN program, which was recently ranked #2 in California by RegisteredNursing.org. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Board of Registered Nursing’s annual surveys, APU graduates approximately 4 percent of the newly registered nurses in California, with an employment rate for all pre-licensure programs at 100 percent within a year of graduation, and 90 percent of those employed within California.
“This partnership between APU and our neighbor, Citrus College, demonstrates a shared commitment to offering innovative and accessible pathways to help students achieve academic success and meet their professional goals,” said President Adam J. Morris, PhD. “Azusa Pacific’s nationally ranked nursing program produces graduates known for their compassionate and competent care, who are leaders in their field and serve at top hospitals throughout Southern California and beyond.”
Baccalaureate-prepared nurses have been shown to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital costs. Studies have shown that nurses with bachelor’s degrees score higher on measures of quality and safety, and earn more. APU ranks in the top 14 percent of nursing programs nationwide for early and mid-career salaries, according to Payscale’s College Salary Report.
At the same time, bachelor’s degrees can present financial challenges to students and their families. This effort contributes to the Institute of Medicine’s 2020 goal of increasing baccalaureate-prepared nurses to 80 percent by 2020. The National Education Progression in Nursing Collaborative challenged nursing educators to create a seamless model that allows ADN students to complete the BSN degree within 1-2 semesters.
“On behalf of the entire campus community, I thank our neighbors at APU for making this extraordinary opportunity possible,” said Greg Schulz, EdD, superintendent/president of Citrus College. “Nursing is an incredibly rewarding profession that plays a vital role in our society. Through this partnership, we will be able to ensure that even more students are prepared to enter the field of health care.”
Students entering the Citrus/APU program will have completed prerequisite courses required for admission to the Citrus nursing program. Upon acceptance to the Citrus/APU program, the student concurrently enrolls in classes at Citrus and at APU, receiving complete student status at both institutions.
The two-year sequence covers 70 units at Citrus in courses such as pharmacology, psychology, medical-surgical, obstetrics, and pediatrics, and 50 units at APU, including pathophysiology, research and statistics, ethics and spirituality, and evidence-based practice. After the student’s fourth semester at Citrus, students earn their associate’s degree in nursing and take the state licensure exam to become a registered nurse. After taking a final course in public health at APU, they will earn their bachelor’s degree.
Azusa Pacific University, a top Christian higher education institution on the West Coast, equips students to become compassionate leaders who impact the world for Christ. With 71 bachelor’s degrees, 44 master’s degrees, 25 certificates, 8 credentials, and 9 doctoral programs, the university offers its more than 7,000 students a transformational education on campus, online, and at 7 regional locations throughout Southern California. Learn more at apu.edu.
Proudly serving the San Gabriel Valley since 1915, Citrus College educates approximately 20,000 students annually. The college offers associate degrees, associate degrees for transfer (ADTs), career/technical certificates and skill awards in more than 125 programs of study; prepares students for transfer to four-year colleges and universities; and provides workforce training. Located approximately 25 miles east of Los Angeles in Glendora, California, Citrus College is the oldest community college in Los Angeles County and fifth oldest in California. Recognized as a top community college for Hispanic students for more than a decade, Citrus College has also received numerous accolades for its commitment to the arts, student veterans, study abroad opportunities and sustainability. Its 104-acre campus serves nearly 200,000 people in Azusa, Claremont, Duarte, Glendora and Monrovia. In partnership with neighboring K-12 school districts, Citrus College’s Early College program provides students from nine local high schools the opportunity to enroll in college-level courses taught on their respective campuses. For more information, visit www.citruscollege.edu and follow the college on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Azusa Pacific University 901 E. Alosta Avenue Azusa, CA 91702
Azusa Pacific University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences received a $4,985,376 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) with David Picella, PhD, FNP, CNS, GS-C, CPG, as the principal investigator. This five-year grant focuses on interprofessional geriatric education and training of healthcare providers to care for older adults in underserved communities across San Bernardino County.
“It is a high honor for APU to receive this distinguished grant. We are building partnerships with top clinical organizations who provide geriatric clinical training and age-friendly education in areas of San Bernardino County that need it most,” Picella said. “Through these initiatives, we are equipping and empowering those at all levels of the healthcare system who have a passion to serve our aging adult populations.”
Through this grant, APU is partnering with CareConnectMD and other community organizations to create an interprofessional geriatric workforce to provide age-friendly and dementia-friendly integrated primary care to older adults in clinics, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities in medically underserved areas. CareConnectMD, is a geriatric oriented company that provides primary care to older adults in the post-acute continuum having a presence at more than 200 nursing homes in California. Together APU and CareConnectMD will leverage this partnership to create a tech-infused workforce that utilizes innovative approaches of care delivery in geriatric primary care.
APU will develop a cohort of more than 50 interprofessional trainees in a newly designed 12-week longitudinal geriatric clinical rotation. The educational program will include interdisciplinary nursing, medicine, physical therapy, psychology, social work, and theology students in a team-based approach. In addition, the grant aims to provide education to faculty, health care systems, and community organizations, ultimately improving geriatric care and increasing the dedicated workforce for older adults.
“As 1 of only 41 higher education institutions in the country, and 1 of only 2 in California, to receive this HRSA grant, APU is uniquely positioned to provide high-quality health care to the geriatric population of San Bernardino County,” said Renee Pozza, PhD, RN, CNS, FNP-BC, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. “Many regions across the county have a growing number of older adults who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) which is why this innovative and holistic geriatric training is critically important.”
The HRSA seeks to improve geriatric health outcomes and achieve health equity through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce, and innovative, high-value programs. By providing financial support to universities like APU, the HRSA is helping advance the education and careers of the future healthcare workforce to provide geriatric care to the anticipated 1.5 million individuals in California by 2040 who are 65 years of age and older with dementia.
Informed by a Christian worldview, APU’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences prepares professional nurses to work collaboratively with other health care workers at all levels and to be future leaders who will advance God’s work in health care. Through innovative programs and expert faculty, nursing and other professional students engage in challenging discussions, mentoring relationships in small classroom settings, invaluable hands-on experiences in state-of-the-art simulation labs, and a culturally diverse practice environment that includes both study abroad and global research opportunities. In its 50th year, the program provides a transformative education for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students, called to enter this helping profession.
Since the beginning of time, art has been the stimulant to draw voices together, to hear those who are rarely listened to, and to garner a space for creativity, connection, and community. In 1992, Michael Knepher ’96, an editor for the student newspaper, The Clause, at the time, recognized the need for a creative outlet for students at Azusa Pacific University. With the guidance of the newspaper’s advisor, Joseph Bentz, PhD, alongside a staff of enthusiastic students, eager to develop a place for creativity to flourish, The West Wind was born.
Ever since the first edition of APU’s literary journal, which is sponsored by the English Department, a legacy of pursuing artistic expression has expanded. Bentz, who was the journal’s advisor for more than a decade, said, “I am thrilled that The West Wind is still going all these years later, and that Dr. Michael Dean Clark, who was one of the editors in the 90s, is now the advisor. Anna Knepher, ’25, Michael Knepher’s daughter, is currently on the staff, so the tradition has truly grown through generations.”
Clark is happy to serve as the literary journal’s advisor. “The West Wind began as a zine in the height of zine culture during the early 90s. It was truly a labor of love tucked into a small but dogged corner of campus culture. The staff and budget were tiny, readership was niche, and the editor-in-chief had to search aggressively for submissions,” he said. “In the intervening years, it has become a staple of creative expression at APU and operates like the journals I submit my own work to. The entire system is much more professional and streamlined. And yet, the heart of those early editions still beats at the center of it all.”
Today, APU students of any major are eligible to submit fiction and nonfiction stories, poetry, and 2D art to The West Wind every fall and spring during the two-week submission period. While the journal covers a central theme each year, students are encouraged to send original work that speaks to them. When asked what students should keep in mind when creating and submitting to the literary journal, Dr. Clark said, “The West Wind exists for students to find their voice; to create the poem or story or art piece they can’t stop thinking about and share it with others who are looking for meaning and beauty. So be honest, look for fresh ways to express what’s motivating your ideas, and really craft your language. The pieces we publish balance those three elements.”
Former editor-in-chief, Courtney Heidorn, ’24, expressed how her position created a positive impact in her development as a leader. “Being the editor-in-chief for The West Wind for two years brought me immense personal and professional growth. I left my role feeling confident in my ability to successfully lead a creative team and produce an incredible body of work, all with the integral help of APU students,” she said.
The 2023-2024 edition of The West Wind is centered around renewal, regeneration, and transformation, as depicted by the cover’s image of bright purple daisies, and flower drawings throughout the journal’s pages. There are more than 40 pieces of students’ original work, thematically placed to offer the reader a journey through ideas central to growth. “I am a firm believer that creative writing and 2D art,and all art for that matter, are important communicators,” Heidorn said. “Without art, and the unabashed support of the students who create it, university campuses succumb to lukewarm attitudes. This creative communication is what keeps campuses like APU alive. And what a gift it was to be a part of that process.”
Students of all majors are also welcome to join the journal’s staff, which is an excellent way to strengthen leadership skills, build community, and learn about collaborating to produce a published body of work. The team is composed of head editors in charge of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and 2D art, who lead a small group of associate editors that thoughtfully choose which submissions to accept in the journal. Additional roles include: an engagement coordinator, who helps plan the fall and spring reading parties; a social media manager, who runs the social accounts; a head copyeditor, who leads a small group of associate editors to edit the accepted submissions; and a head designer, who collaborates with the editor-in-chief to bring the stylistic vision of the journal to life.
Follow @apulitmag on Instagram for the latest updates and information about where to send submissions, or email apulitmag@gmail.com with any questions.
Global Engagement trips are a source of religious inspiration and self reflection for many Azusa Pacific University students each year. The trips focus on many kinds of ministry while allowing students to discover what service means to them. This summer, the Office of Service and Discipleship partnered with an organization called Victory Africa Ministries in Uganda. The organization is dedicated to working at primary schools, encouraging activities in the church, and playing sports with children.
Seven APU students traveled to Uganda for a month to serve in children’s ministry in a classroom setting. One member of the team was senior psychology major Hector Castaneda, who said that his time in Uganda was the perfect step to further trusting in God and seeing how He can use his gifts in unknown environments.
Castaneda was instantly drawn to the Uganda trip. “Something told me to go on the trip, but I didn’t know why,” he said. “I wanted to try something new outside of my comfort zone while also serving others, so I decided to go for it.”
The team worked in a primary school consisting of elementary and middle grades. A different subject was taught in the classes each day. APU students assisted teachers in the classrooms to teach lessons in science, Swahili, and biblical studies. They also taught lessons on shapes and patterns in the younger classes and science, math, and reading in the older classes.
Outside of the classroom, APU students spent time playing with the kids and going to church with them. “While I did not expect to work with such young kids, I genuinely enjoyed my time with them,” Castaneda said. “Life is very different in Uganda, and most of the kids don’t have the same resources that we do here. I enjoyed watching how they entertained themselves and were so happy with what they had.”
For Castaneda, one of the most challenging parts of the trip was trying to push himself out of his comfort zone to best serve others and be present in the moment while not understanding exactly how God was using him in the new environment. “Something had told me to go on this trip, but I was unclear why, so in the first weeks I was just asking God why He called me to go there,” he said. “I learned that there’s a million ways to serve the Lord. I thought service was talking to people who have never heard of Jesus before, but everyone there already loved the Lord.” Castaneda realized his act of service was simply spending time with the children. They were drawn to him on the playground, always wanting to play and learn new games.
Castaneda’s perspective on service as a Christian changed drastically. “It’s not all about proselytizing,” he said. “The kids taught me a lot about happiness, making impactful memories, and enjoying the time you spend with others.” His new idea of service also calmed worries he’d been carrying since he started the interviewing process for the trip. “I’m not a perfect Christian,” he said. “I can’t recite the entire Bible. I thought that I needed to be the perfect follower to go on a Global Engagement trip, but I learned that God will meet you where you are and find ways to use your gifts.” Castaneda shared that his trust in God was strengthened by his time in Uganda through his perseverance in a foreign environment. He realized that he is mentally, physically, and spiritually stronger than he had previously believed.
One aspect of the trip that Castaneda felt added to his positive experience was the community. “Everyone there made you feel like you were part of their family and home,” he said. “Through my challenges, having the community as a family made life easier. After leaving, the pastor in charge of the organization texted me and told me that I was always welcome there.” Castaneda shared that he will bring this familial community mindset back with him to APU.
When asked if there was anything else he wanted to express about Global Engagement trips, Castaneda said that he wanted people to give it a chance even if they are experiencing their own challenges. “Get out of your comfort zone. Go out into the world to see how God will use you,” he said. “Even if you don’t believe that it’s possible or you can’t see it right away, God will use your gifts even in different parts of the world.”
Children’s ministry is a popular form of service. Azusa Pacific University’s Global Engagement trips give students the opportunity to work with children while learning about themselves, growing closer to their teammates, and strengthening their relationship with God. Six APU students spent four weeks in Honduras this summer on a Global Engagement trip. Students focused on serving impoverished children in the community through a partnership with an education and meal providing organization called Footsteps Missions, but were also surprised to find how God worked to make their team feel like a family.
One of the leaders on the trip was Kristina Yee ’24, a nursing major and psychology and nutrition double minor. Yee was a part of the Honduras Global Engagement team the previous summer and felt called to go back. “I was so moved by the purpose of the organization and have a strong desire to deepen my faith,” she said. “I continued to pray about returning Honduras this past year, and I believe the Lord called me to join the team again to grow on my personal faith journey.”
Senior social work major Nicholas Marquez ’25 decided to apply to be on the Honduras team for a chance to grow in his relationship with God and put his passion for service into practice. “I’ve been on four Global Engagement trips so far, but this trip allowed me to gain a different perspective on service as a participant rather than as a leader,” he said. Although there were financial challenges at first, Marquez was driven by the opportunity to work with kids and decided to apply. He trusted that God would provide and knew he could figure out the details later on.
APU students spent a few days planning and the next three weeks serving the children. Students worked in the organization’s Garden of Love and Hope Children Centers. The organization’s staff welcomed APU students as family and were inspirations to the team. “It was important to me to have genuine conversations with the people working in the ministry for advice,” Marquez said. “Some of the staff have been working with the organization for more than 20 years and don’t plan to change their career paths. The community was like a family, and they inspired me to look forward to my future plans in ministry.”
At the beginning of each day, APU students would read daily devotionals. “We started reading Philippians, and one of the excerpts in my Bible described the importance of finding unconventional joy in unexpected places,” Yee said. “I continually reminded myself that there was so much joy in the beautiful place I was at and that I should take in as much of it as I could.” The idea of unconventional joy is something that Yee would like to embrace in her own life and see spread at APU.
Marquez’s experience on Global Engagement trips and time in the social work program has given him opportunities to find his passion in children’s ministry. “I’ve volunteered with youth in the past, but I didn’t expect such a big difference in an environment where there was a language barrier,” Marquez said. “The children only spoke Spanish, but I found ways around the challenge. I used my actions and nonverbal communication as a way to show the children that I genuinely cared for them.”
Children went to the gardens to receive food and education. Many of the children do not have food at home, so the organization provided them meals at school. During meal times, APU students served food and talked with the kids. Marquez shared an impactful memory of his interactions with a little girl who joined the team for dinner. She noticed a little boy and his two younger siblings sitting by themselves. The girl offered to share her drink with them since they were homeless and had no food. “Afterwards, she told me she hoped they would get taken in and helped,” Marquez said. “For her to care for kids even younger than herself is amazing and something that I carry with me.”
Since making food for the children is one of the organization’s key components, APU students repainted the kitchen. The main cook wanted to brighten up the room with yellow paint, but students also included drawings related to the five bread and two fish biblical story.
Other ways students served included playing games, worshiping, tutoring, leading crafts, and preparing classroom activities. APU students also were invited to join the children’s annual camping retreat. They stayed in cabins, played games, and learned Biblical stories. Yee said that her favorite part of camp was worshiping around the campfire on the last night. “All the kids shared their gratitude for the work the staff had put into preparing the event and recalled their favorite memories and games that our team had planned.”
Having been on a previous Honduras Global Engagement trip, Yee found herself comparing the trips. “I kept reminding myself to let go of all expectations and welcome change because change can be such a beautiful thing,” she said. “Our team faced many challenges, and I struggled with the idea that I wasn’t a good enough leader. In those moments, I reminded myself that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”
An important aspect of Marquez’s time in Honduras centered around the relationships he formed with his team leaders, including Yee. “Ministry is often emotional and everyday can be challenging, but I began connecting with my leaders about how they were doing,” he said. “I recognized that we all came to serve with our own stories and pasts that help us bring our individual perspectives to the table.” Trust in team members is a key component to successful Global Engagement trips. “These conversations allowed me to be vulnerable for the first time in a long time,” Marquez said.
“I see my team as my family now, and they made all the difference in helping me to let go of any doubts I had and be fully present in the last week of the trip.”
While the team grew closer, so did Marquez’s relationship with the Lord. “I got baptized on New Year’s Eve, and it’s important to me to stay in touch with my faith, but it’s easy for everyday life to get in the way,” he said. “It was challenging to put my trust in God on the trip, but I want to help people with all that I have, and this was a great opportunity to do that. Going to Honduras was the best decision I could’ve made because I felt truly connected with God.”
Yee also felt that her goal to deepen her faith was met in Honduras. “Prior to committing to leading the team, I wasn’t sure about my post grad plans,” she said. “I prayed to be put in a position where my only option was to trust in God. Although the trip presented many challenges for our team, I recognized that God was fulfilling my request and helping me to lean on Him. As I step into post grad life and the uncertainties of the future, I know that when I trust in Him my mind will be at peace!”
Global Engagement trips are ideal for people who love to serve others, but Marquez advises APU students interested in applying to recognize that everyone serves differently. “To serve is to be called, and not everyone has the same kind of passion for service,” he said. “It’s important to stick to your why and realize that doing this work will bring you endless amounts of joy. Not everyone’s calling is the same, and it’s great to stay true to yourself while remembering that all service is about spreading the word of God.”
Yee found that her passion for nursing has influenced her call to serve others. “As I step into a profession that is centered around service, I believe that service is being the hands and feet of Jesus,” she said. “When we serve, our gratitude for our Lord grows exponentially. We are able to follow His example by helping other children of God meet their material, spiritual, and emotional needs.” No matter how or where a person serves, Yee believes that service is an important step to take on one’s faith journey. She shared that her time in Honduras enabled her to experience gratitude in a different way and altered her mindset on life. “My experiences with Global Engagement trips have been the catalyst for developing my faith,” she said.
hen you’re an undocumented student, nearly every step of your college journey is a challenge. Juggling essays, transcripts, financial aid, school tours and choosing a major, you’re also navigating immigration policies and risking exposing your citizenship status. It’s a time when students need a resource, and 10 years ago, the UW’s Leadership Without Borders program formed to fill that need.
Located in the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic and Cultural Center, Leadership Without Borders educates students on systemic barriers while providing basic resources like textbooks through the Husky Lending Library. But they also provide a simple necessity: A safe space. “When you walked into an office on campus, you never knew if you were able to feel welcome,” says Yuriana Garcia Tellez, ’18, who served for nearly three years as the Leadership Without Borders coordinator at the UW and now works in talent acquisition for Netflix. “Professors had no idea about our student experience. We were closeted. But I would talk to anybody who would listen about how we were under-resourced.”
“The toughest thing at the UW is finding a community,” says Dr. Carlos Estrada Alamo, ’11, who came to the UW as an undocumented student before Leadership Without Borders existed. He found academic support from his departmental advisors and the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity Instructional Center—part of the UW’s Educational Opportunity Program, but otherwise, resources for undocumented students were scarce.
Estrada Alamo, now an anesthesiologist at Virginia Mason hospital, remembers looking for financial aid advice and coming up empty. “Even if there was an answer about a question you had, it was often not applicable to you,” he says. “Or there’s this big asterisk about these ten extra things you had to do in order to even be considered.” He eventually found help from fellow undocumented applicants on internet forums. Fortunately, he was chosen for a Costco Diversity Scholarship. “The scholarship signified to me that I was welcome, that they wanted me there. So I attended the UW,” he says.
Hugo Garcia Villa, who runs the UW’s Leadership Without Borders program, often speaks at conferences and colleges to share his wealth of knowledge on empowering undocumented students.
Having a resource like Leadership Without Borders “is important—to find community, to be seen, to be heard, to be understood. It goes a long way,” says Hugo Garcia Villa, the program manager. “When you build community, you build networks and relationships. A lot of the time, you don’t find that in a big institution like the UW.”
Immigration status has been used as a tool for political power, resulting in systemic policy barriers, like preventing undocumented students from receiving federal aid. The Trump Administration, for example, sought to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy (DACA) despite the overall positive impact of the program on immigrants and native-born Americans, Garcia Villa says.
“There have been a lot of political efforts to dismantle and terminate DACA,” says Garcia Villa. “What kind of repercussions would that have? Think about how many DACA recipients are working in the health-care industry.” According to the American Medical Association, it’s about 30,000.
In 2003, Washington’s legislature approved HB 1079, which allows elegible undocumented students to be considered as state residents for purposes of higher education. In the wake of the legislation, UW staff and students created Leadership Without Borders to help with a range of needs and experiences including financial literacy, considering graduate school, finding scholarships and understanding landlord/tenant rights.
As someone who advocates for a better future for undocumented immigrants, Garcia Villa encourages UW departments to take the next step. “Maybe it’s changing the language on scholarship requirements,” he says. “Maybe it’s looking at your website and finding out how you can be more inclusive and intentional. Maybe it’s creating internship opportunities for students who usually don’t qualify.”
He invites those who work in higher education or community organizations to attend the program’s Undocu Ally trainings. They were first created to provide guidance to UW faculty and staff on how to be more supportive to their undocumented students.
“But the work doesn’t stop there just because you say you’re an ally,” he says. “It’s about implementation. What are you actively doing? How are you an accomplice of social justice?”
University of Washington researchers created a computational model that simulates the experience of a wide range of human cortical studies, including an extremely high-resolution implant like Blindsight.Pixabay
Elon Musk recently declared on X that Blindsight, a cortical implant to restore vision, would have low resolution at first “but may ultimately exceed normal human vision.”
That pronouncement is unrealistic at best, according to new research from the University of Washington.
Ione Fine, lead author and UW professor of psychology, said Musk’s projection for the latest Neuralink project rests on the flawed premise that implanting millions of tiny electrodes into the visual cortex, the region of the brain that processes information received from the eye, will result in high-resolution vision.
New research from the University of Washington created a computational model that simulated a wide range of human cortical studies. The image on the left was generated using 45,000 pixels. The one on the right — representative of high-resolution cortical implants like Elon Musk’s Blindsight — uses 45,000 electrodes.Ione Fine
For the study, published online July 29 in Scientific Reports, the researchers created a computational model that simulates the experience of a wide range of human cortical studies, including an extremely high-resolution implant like Blindsight. One simulation shows that a movie of a cat at a resolution of 45,000 pixels is crystal-clear, but a movie simulating the experience of a patient with 45,000 electrodes implanted in the visual cortex would perceive the cat as blurry and barely recognizable.
That’s because a single electrode doesn’t represent a pixel, Fine said, but instead stimulates, at best, a single neuron.
On a computer screen, pixels are tiny ‘dots.’ But that’s not the case in the visual cortex. Instead, each neuron tells the brain about images within a small region of space called the “receptive field,” and the receptive fields of neurons overlap. This means that a single spot of light stimulates a complex pool of neurons. Image sharpness is determined not by the size or number of individual electrodes, but the way information is represented by thousands of neurons in the brain.
“Engineers often think of electrodes as producing pixels,” Fine said, “but that is simply not how biology works. We hope that our simulations based on a simple model of the visual system can give insight into how these implants are going to perform. These simulations are very different from the intuition an engineer might have if they are thinking in terms of a pixels on a computer screen.”
The researchers’ approach was to use a wide range of animal and human data to generate computational “virtual patients” that show, for the first time, how human electrical stimulation in the visual cortex might be experienced. Even blurry vision would be a life-changing breakthrough for many people, Fine said, but these simulations — which represent the likely best-case scenario for visual implants — suggest that caution is appropriate.
While Fine said Musk is making important strides in the engineering challenge of visual implants, a big obstacle remains: Once the electrodes are implanted and stimulating single cells, you still need to recreate a neural code — a complex pattern of firing over many thousands of cells — that creates good vision.
“Even to get to typical human vision, you would not only have to align an electrode to each cell in the visual cortex, but you’d also have to stimulate it with the appropriate code,” Fine said. “That is incredibly complicated because each individual cell has its own code. You can’t stimulate 44,000 cells in a blind person and say, ‘Draw what you see when I stimulate this cell.’ It would literally take years to map out every single cell.”
So far, Fine said scientists have no idea of how to find the correct neural code in a blind individual.
“Somebody might one day have a conceptual breakthrough that gives us that Rosetta Stone,” Fine said. “It’s also possible that there can be some plasticity where people can learn to make better use of an incorrect code. But my own research and that of others shows that there’s currently no evidence that people have massive abilities to adapt to an incorrect code.”
Without that sort of development, the vision provided by Blindsight and similar projects will remain fuzzy and imperfect — no matter how sophisticated the electronic technology.
For now, the models developed in the study could be used by researchers and companies to aid in the placement of existing devices and the development of new technology, among other benefits. Entities like the Food and Drug Administration and Medicare could also gain insight into what sort of tests are important when evaluating devices. Further, the models provide realistic expectations for surgeons, patients and their families.
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