Brandon Akuoko is graduating from Colonie High School with a GPA of 92. He played soccer for Colonie High from 9th through 12th grade. He was also a member of the school track team, running the 400 hurdles. In 2019 Brandon qualified to represent the school at the national level in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was one of the students selected by the University at Albany Multicultural High School Achievers for exemplary high school performance and leadership in both the school and the community. Brandon plans to pursue a degree in Computing Security at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Daniel Schneider is graduating from Shaker High School. During High School he was very active in the Boy Scout Troop that meets at Newtonville. Dan achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, leading the finishing of the subway passage in the church as his project. He also played on both the Football and Lacrosse teams for Shaker. Dan will be attending Kansas State University in the fall and studying Architecture.
Avril Marie Guity is graduating from the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU with a BFA and honors diploma. She has accomplished a lot in her college career but she’s most proud of performing original music in several NYU venues and a showcase in Berlin Germany, performing twice as a finalist in a campus wide talent competition, being selected to be an RA, and earning the role of NY Director at a startup concert production company named Levitate Events. As she begins life in “the real world” she is excited to release her first EP as an independent artist, begin freelancing her talents in acting, modeling, writing and creative marketing, and continue collaborating with friends and mentors she’s been fortunate to meet the past four years.
Carolyn Pellegrini is graduating from Siena College with a BA in Health Science with a minor in Biology. She was named Track Performer of the Week for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and holds the Siena College record in the Women’s 5000 meter run, first setting the record and then bettering her own mark. Carolyn currently works for the Siena College Research Institute and is pursuing a position in the health care field once NY PAUSE ends.
Caleb Smith is graduating from SUNY Oswego with a BA, magna cum laude, in Cinema and Screen Studies with a minor in Political Science. He is a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. Caleb was active in the Pride Alliance, served as president of the Film Club, and founded the Oswego International Socialist Organization on campus. He participated in numerous student film projects, traveled to London as part of a screen-writing class, and had a short film script selected for publication in the Great Lake Review. Caleb plans to continue his education by next pursuing a master's degree en route to a PhD, with the goal of teaching film at the college level.
