2023 Outstanding Graduates

Growing up, Kendall Wulbrun always felt seen and safe to be herself in the classroom. Now she is interested in devoting her career in higher education and education policy to ensuring all students have the same opportunities that she has been afforded. “I want all students to have those opportunities...

Growing up in Kansas and venturing out for vacations only as far as the family car would reach, Molly Hamm-Rodríguez never dreamed she would find her calling in international education and the Dominican Republic. Now, she is graduating with her doctorate in equity, bilingualism and biliteracy from the CU Boulder...

Shay Adamo is following in the footsteps of a family full of educators and CU Boulder alumni as he looks forward to becoming a math teacher who helps his students unleash their creativity and kindness. Adamo has developed into an excellent educator through the disposition he brings to learning about...

As a first-generation college student and Somali-American Muslim woman, Maymuna Jeylani set out to find a major and career path where she could focus on anti-racist, intersectional, impactful work. Now the 2023 outstanding graduate of the Secondary Humanities Teacher Licensure Program, Jeylani plans to use her experiences as a Black...

Sarah Leonhart credits her support system for helping her pursue and persist in graduate school. Much like hucking a cliff—her true story of accidentally skiing off a cliff with friends, a move reserved for adrenaline junkies —Leonhart entered graduate school in the Learning Science and Human Development program at CU...

Amber Hall struggled to find her place at CU Boulder and her path, until she found the School of Education and the Elementary Education major. “I chose CU’s School of Education because of their principles, as they were principles that I tried to name and ground myself in for so...

Haydn Crouse had several years of experience teaching in elementary schools and a solid undergraduate underpinning, when she realized she wanted to “become a better teacher for my students.” Crouse, a kindergarten teacher in the St. Vrain School District, enrolled in the Literacy Education Master’s program a CU Boulder to...

Community is everything to Cora Emslie, the School of Education’s outstanding undergraduate student. Emslie grew up in Fort Collins, and she enrolled in CU Boulder specifically for the School of Education’s unique Leadership and Community Engagement major, one of the only degree programs of its kind nationwide that prepares ethical...

Sophie Friedman grew up a “citizen of the world,” living in places like Japan, England, and Germany with her military family, but it’s her experience as an undergraduate and graduate student at CU Boulder and in her student teaching classroom that have made the greatest impact on her next steps...

A lifelong love of learning and a desire to pursue people-centered work led Lydia Darlington to a career in higher education, and her mentors helped her pursue her master’s degree in higher education. Darlington is the Senior Executive Aide to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at CU Boulder, and...