Southeast Community College
Rayonna Gearhart
Hometown: Lincoln, NE
High school: Northeast High School
Major: Cyber Security
Semester Selected: Fall 2020
What’s your dream job? FBI
What inspired you to pursue STEM? I’m a woman in the STEM field and I have been playing video games all my life.
What is the best project you’ve ever worked on or really admire in STEM? Building a computer.
Who is someone (teacher, mentor, role model) in STEM you look up to and why? Dan Nickle because he didn’t care that I was a woman and pushed me to do better.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone considering a STEM major? If you want to just do it! Don’t let anyone stop you.
How do you use STEM in your life?I use it everyday. Technology is everywhere.
Steven Harwood
Hometown: Fremont, NE
High school: Arlington High School
Major: Electromechanical
Semester Selected: Spring 2022
What’s your dream job? Working for SpaceX.
Who is someone (teacher, mentor, role model) in STEM you look up to and why? Jeff Ives, a great teacher/instructor.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone considering a STEM major? Maintain a hard work ethic!
What are you looking forward to in the STEM CONNECT program? Becoming much more knowledgeable.
What excites you about STEM? I want to study gravity and magnetism.
Elsa Johnson
Hometown: Lincoln, NE
High school: Southeast High School and Lincoln High School
Major: Physics
Semester Selected: Fall 2021
What’s your dream job? To help develop and employ cutting edge research on proposed real-world or scientific problems.
Who is someone (teacher, mentor, role model) in STEM you look up to and why? David Reynolds and Sandeep Holay.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone considering a STEM major? One piece of advice I would tell them is don’t let the anyone try to shy you away from something you’re passionate about.
What are you looking forward to in the STEM CONNECT program? I look forward to the potential research opportunities once I get educated in various science courses.
What excites you about STEM? The togetherness of the people who are involved in STEM research and academia.
What is an invention or a discovery in STEM that you think is especially cool or important? Nanotechnology fascinates me.
Nori Khalaf
Hometown: Duhok, Iraq
Semester Selected: Spring 2020
What’s your dream job? University teacher.
What is the best project you’ve ever worked on or really admire in STEM? Biology has always been a very interesting subject for me, especially Bioinformatics.
How do you use STEM in your life? STEM has helped me to save a great amount of time to be off work and focus more on the classes I am taking.
Who is someone (teacher, mentor, role model) in STEM you look up to and why? Misty Wehling, my mentor, taught me Biology I, and she is not only a teacher but also a friend to her students.
What excites you about STEM? STEM helped me to meet other scholars from both SCC and UNL and strengthen our connections by sharing seminars and food.
What are you looking forward to in the STEM CONNECT program? I am looking forward to getting a degree in Bioinformatics and hopefully continue my education in graduate school.
Nana Noundou Victoire Letissia
Hometown: Yaounde, Cameroon
High school: Pi and Ju Angelsaxone College
Semester Selected: Spring 2020
What’s your dream job? Mathematics professor or physician.
What is the best project you’ve ever worked on or really admire in STEM? The monthly follow we have with the mentors from our respective schools.
How do you use STEM in your life? STEM serves as a motivation for me to work hard in my everyday life and follow the example of the different mentors.
Who is someone (teacher, mentor, role model) in STEM you look up to and why? Dr. Sandeep Holay at SCC.
What excites you about STEM? Meeting different people with similar aspirations and ambitions and learning different things during these meetings.
What are you looking forward to in the STEM CONNECT program? I am looking forward to growing academically and having the right orientation and support to achieve my goals.
Brian Marmon
Hometown: Wymore, NE
High school: Southern High School
Semester Selected: Spring 2020
What’s your dream job? Software Development/Cyber Security.
What is the best project you’ve ever worked on or really admire in STEM? I like SPOT, a project being done by Boston Dynamics.
How do you use STEM in your life? Both the critical thinking and the ability to simplify complicated tasks to maximize my day.
Who is someone (teacher, mentor, role model) in STEM you look up to and why? I do not have a specific one as I try to take inspiration and information from many sources and try to not become biased.
What excites you about STEM? I enjoy the reasoning behind it, as well as that it builds upon itself to create a better understanding of what you already know.
What are you looking forward to in the STEM CONNECT program? So far, it has been meeting so many like-minded individuals and learning all of the different possibilities.
Logan Wessel
Hometown: Wexford, PA
High school: North Alleghendy Senior High School
Semester Selected: Spring 2020
What’s your dream job? Marine biology.
What is the best project you’ve ever worked on or really admire in STEM? Using the pGlo plasmid to make certain bacteria glow under U.V. light.
How do you use STEM in your life? Every day I utilize math and science to assist me in my studies. Otherwise, I often find myself conjuring questions to cure my curiosity of why the earth is the way it is. This pulls off of math and sciences I have studied/discovered in the past.
Who is someone (teacher, mentor, role model) in STEM you look up to and why? Misty Wehling. She has made significant discoveries with respect to biology and has made a career of assisting in finding more discoveries beneficial to the future of our planet, but also in helping students prepare themselves for their future in finding more discoveries themselves.
What excites you about STEM? Almost anything relating to science will always be exciting to me. Regardless of how specific it may be.
What are you looking forward to in the STEM CONNECT program? Meeting people with the same interests and curiosities as myself.
Additional Scholars
Frederic Herbert Bekoo minko
High School: Sangmelima Tech in Cameroon
James Berg
Previous Schools: Midland High School, Univ of South Dakota Vermillion
Anaelle Nimpa
Raoul Patrick Nya Wandji
High School: Cegt Malangue in Doueala, Litoral
Gideon Ray
High School: Lincoln Pius X
Wyatt Ray
High School: Lincoln Pius X
Susanne Rott
High School: GED
Mohammed Sbai
Shawn Shonerd
High School: Lincoln Northeast
Jared Thomas
High School: Rock Port R-Ii in Rock Port, Missouri
Matthew Thomas
High School: Lincoln High
Brittany Thompson
High School: Humphrey Junior-Senior High School, Nebraska