YOUNG ALUMNI GIVING BACK: LEADERSHIP LECTURE SERIES
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ACH YEAR THE Judy Genshaft Honors College features guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. One special speaker series during the 2021 academic year was the Leadership Lecture Series, which featured three young Honors alumni. The series, sponsored by the College’s Student Council, included Willie McClinton ‘20, Ahmed-Zayn Mohamed ‘16, and Amber Pirson ‘20. Each Honors alum talked with current students about the opportunities they embraced while at USF, and their path to continued education and employment.
Willie McClinton
McClinton majored in Computer Science and Engineering and received both the Goldwater Scholarship and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award while at USF. He is now a PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after deferring his acceptance for a year to work for GoogleAI and teach computer literacy and coding skills at a middle school in Rhode Island with Americorps. During his leadership lecture, McClinton spoke about technology’s potential to improve social wellbeing and shared his academic and leadership journey. Mohamed received dual degrees in Biomedical Sciences and Political Science at USF and graduated in just three
Ahmed-Zayn Mohamed
years, at the age of 18, with a perfect 4.0 GPA. He then became the first-ever M.D./J.D. dual-degree candidate at the USF Morsani College of Medicine and Stetson University College of Law. He graduated first in his law school class and received the Edward D. Foreman Most Distinguished Student Award.
Mohamed now works as an attorney for Carlton Fields and is a fourth-year medical student. During his leadership lecture he discussed the application processes for medical school and law school, as well as his research experiences. Pirson graduated with dual degrees in Anthropology and International Studies. While at USF she received the Boren Scholarship, participated in a Fulbright UK Summer Institute, and was recognized as a finalist for the Truman Scholarship. With the support of the Boren Scholarship, she pursued intensive Thai language study at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. While there she also interned at Winrock International’s Asia Counter Trafficking in Persons Project (CTIP). Pirson is currently pursuing a J.D. at Cornell University Law School and her career plans include working in government to ensure protection of labor rights and prevent human trafficking. During the leadership lecture, Pirson discussed her experiences and the ways that service work can tackle global issues.
Amber Pirson
“We are so proud of these impressive young Honors alumni and grateful to the Student Council for providing our current students the opportunity to learn from them,” says Honors Dean Charles Adams. - Amy Harroun
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