Emerging Scholars Program / ESP Events

Click here for a recording of an informational session for potential ESP applicants.

Upcoming ESP Events

Check here for upcoming ESP events and announcements!

 

2021-2022 ESP Events

Saturday, April 30th, 3pm ET – Escape the Room!

A group of math ESP students and faculty standing in front of an escape room holding signs.

Friday, April 29th, 3pm ET, Ticknor Lounge – Dean Rakesh Khurana (Danoff Dean of Harvard College)

A three quarter profile shot of a middle-aged man in a grey blazer siting in a dimly lit conference room.

For our final ESPeaker Series event of the year, we met with none other than Dean Rakesh Khurana, who shared his congratulations for completing your first year at Harvard, as well as some words of wisdom. He also addressed questions, concerns, and feedback that you had for him regarding the College and the student experience.

Friday, April 22nd, 4:30pm ET, SC 229 – ESP Mixer and Student Panel

A collage of undergraduate students.

ESP alumni from all class years and various concentrations shared their stories and advice for the current first-year students. There was also time to network with the ESP alumni. Dinner was be provided.

Panelists:

  • Perrin Price, Applied Math, Class of 2023
  • Alexandrea Harriott, Applied Math, Class of 2022
  • Mariana Juarez, Applied Math, Class of 2024
  • Julia Curran, CS, Class of 2022
  • Natalia Calvo, CS, Class of 2023
  • Alex Estevez, CS, Class of 2024
  • Chenai Mangachena, CS, Class of 2022
  • Jailene Ramos, Human Evolutionary Biology, Class of 2024
  • Taina Rico, Neuroscience, Class of 2024
  • Maria de los Santos, Neuroscience, Class of 2024
  • Paola Carrillo Gonzalez, Engineering Sciences, Class of 2022
  • Kazi Tasnim, Engineering Sciences, Class of 2022
Friday, April 15th, 4:30pm ET, SC 113 – A Conversation with Dr. Brian Persaud (Harvard Medical School)

An above the chest headshot of a smiling man in a white lab coat.

For our speaker series this week, we were joined by Dr. Brian Persaud from the Harvard Medical School. He spoke on his journey through academia and medicine, his personal experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, and his advice for future medical professionals. Dinner was be served from Suya Joint.

Brian hails from Brooklyn, NY where he learned that education was his ticket to a better life. He went on to study Mathematics at Boston University (B.U.) before going to graduate school at B.U. for Artificial Intelligence. Throughout his studies, he quickly realized his passionate was in education. He subsequently went on to work as a high school teacher, adjunct college professor and textbook editor. While teaching, he continued to search for a means to reach a larger audience, ultimately completing night courses to apply to medical school. He has since graduated from Yale’s Internal Medicine program where he worked on their largest curricular reform as their Chief Resident. He briefly taught at a medical school in Rwanda before joining Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School as an Academic Hospitalist and Instructor of Medicine. The one common denominator in his journey has been working to improve the quality of education we deliver.

Friday, April 1, 4pm ET – Premedical and Health Advising with Emiko Morimoto

A woman of East Asian descent with black hair wearing a dark top with white polka dots smiling outside.

This week, we were joined by Emiko Morimoto, the Assistant Director of Premedical and Health Careers Advising. She lead an important workshop on the steps to take in order to pursue concentrations and careers related to medicine, and addressed student questions.

Friday, March 25, 4:15pm ET, SC 109 – A Conversation with Dean Rebecca Nesson

A smiling woman with short hair, a black V-neck top, and a pendant necklace.

For this event, we were joined by Rebecca Nesson, a professor in the Computer Science department and the Associate Dean of the Harvard College Curriculum. She discussed her personal journey through Harvard and academia, as well as her advice for first-year students regarding curricular and career choices.

Friday, February 25, 4:30pm ET, OIE Conference Room – Study Abroad Presentation with Nicole Garcia

A smiling woman with pulled back dark brown hair and stud earrings wearing a dark top.

Interested in traveling the world on Harvard’s dime? Nicole Garcia, the Associate Director for the Office of International Education (OIE), spoke with us about opportunities for study abroad and internships abroad, and how to make this happen for yourselves during your time at Harvard.

Friday, February 11, 5:00pm ET, Buttrick Room – ESP Welcome Back Dinner

To welcome students back to campus for the spring semester, we hosted a dinner event for the ESP class of 2025 in the basement of Memorial Church.

Monday, December 6th, 4:00pm ET, SC 109 – Math Ma Final Exam Review Workshop + Dinner

Need some review for your first math final exam in college? Allechar and Hakim lead a group workshop where they reviewed key topics and practice exams. Students were also be able to work independently or in small groups on any problems or concepts they wanted to practice.

Friday, December 3rd, 4:30pm ET – A Conversation with Dean Alta Mauro

A smiling woman with short, black curly hair, red lipstick, dangling earrings, and wearing a dark top while standing outside.

Alta Mauro is the Associate Dean for Inclusion and Belonging at Harvard College. For our final event of the fall 2021 semester, Dean Mauro gave her advice to the ESP cohort based on her research in sociology and higher education, and personally addressed students’ questions and concerns on the Harvard College experience.

Thursday, December 2nd, 7:00pm ET – ESP Sophomore Celebration Dinner @ The Mad Monkfish

A group of students and faculty sitting on two sides of a long restaurant table.

To celebrate the transition to sophomore year and the recent concentration declaration, the ESP faculty and staff hosted a celebratory dinner for the ESP class of 2024 at the Mad Monkfish in Central Square. We also had congratulatory gifts!

Friday, November 12th, 4:30pm ET, SC 104 – ESP Sophomore Panel and Reading Period Workshop

A collage of undergraduate students.

During this event, we heard from five sophomore ESP alumni who shared their experiences and lessons from their first year at Harvard.

Panelists:

  • Jasmine Adams, Biomedical Engineering
  • Sofia Diaz-Rodriguez, Neuroscience
  • Mariana Juarez, Applied Mathematics
  • Jailene Ramos, Human Evolutionary Biology
  • Malaika Zaidi, History and Science

Also, Hakim gave an interactive presentation on the best ways to approach your first reading period and final exams at Harvard. Here are slides for our Reading Period and Final Exams Workshop.

Friday, November 5th, 4:30pm ET – Group Discussion on the Life Sciences with Dr. Andrew Berry

A smiling man with white-grey hair and a short beard wearing a dark blue top.

Professor Andrew Berry is an evolutionary biologist teaching courses in the Integrative Biology and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology departments, including LS1b. He is also an advisor for potential biology concentrators. During this event, Professor Berry shared some hilarious and insightful stories from his personal journey through academia, and answered any questions about studying the life sciences at Harvard.

Fri, October 22, 4:30pm ET – Group Discussion on Computer Science with Professor Demba Ba

A smiling man with short dark hair and a mustache stroking his chin, sitting in front of a computer monitor.

Demba Ba is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). During this interactive event, Professor Ba discussed his personal journey through academia, his insights on the CS field, and his advice for potential CS students.

Fri, October 15, 4:30pm ET – Science Research Workshop with Dr. Anna Babakhanyan

A smiling woman with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a black top.

We participated in a science research workshop with Dr. Anna Babakhanyan, an undergraduate science research advisor at Harvard with a background in biology research, including HIV, malaria, and stem cells. She spoke with us about how to discover and get involved with exciting research opportunities.

Friday, October 8, 3pm ET – STEM Workshop at the ARC with Sadé Abraham and Kate Penner

A smiling woman with black shoulder length hair wearing stud earrings, a black and white top, and a white cardigan, holding onto the back of a teal chair. A smiling woman with short dark hair wearing black framed glasses and a black top.

For this event, we took a trip to the Academic Resource Center to learn first-hand about the many resources that it offers. We also participated in a STEM workshop led by Sadé Abraham and Kate Penner. See their bios below:

Sadé Abraham serves as an Academic Coach focused on STEM. Sadé recently completed her second master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Sadé began her professional tenure at Harvard serving as the founding director of “FYRE” working with first-generation college students, those from low-to modest income backgrounds and those from high schools typically underrepresented in the Ivy League. Sadé has served as the Administrative Fellow for the Office of Diversity Education and Support and as the staff support to the College’s Race Relations Tutors & Proctor Program and as a First-Year Advisor.

Her experience ranges from founding the first residential college program in the Middle East at New York University to serving as a STEM advisor to undergraduate and graduate students at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai.

Sadé is excited to continue here at Harvard dedicating her days to the intellectual transformation of Harvard students through her work at the ARC!

Kate Penner (A.B. ’07) is an Academic Coach at the Academic Resource Center (ARC), with a special focus on STEM support. She graduated from Harvard College with a concentration in government and a secondary concentration in economics. Kate was an award-winning instructor in the math department for 10 years, teaching courses from Math M to Math 23, as well as a coordinator for the Emerging Scholars Program for the past four years. Kate was also a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), studying high school-to-college STEM transition.

Here is a summary of the major takeaways from the STEM workshop led by Sadé and Kate.

Friday, October 1, 4:30pm ET – Making Mistakes and Making Connections (feat. Hakim)

A man wearing a white hat, glasses, and a blue button-up shirt over a white t-shirt standing next to a whiteboard with a drawing of himself done in red marker.

During this social event, Hakim took students on his personal life journey through math and teaching, while sharing some valuable lessons (both mathematical and moral) along the way. There were lots of interesting stories, as well as fun and thought-provoking interactive exercises for students to do with their ESPeers!

Saturday, September 25, 6pm ET – ESP Sophomore Reunion and Dinner

A group of smiling students and faculty members sitting on both sides of a long restaurant table.

At long last, the ESP class of 2024 reunited IN PERSON for a welcome back social dinner! This event was for ESP sophomores only.

Friday, September 17, 4:30pm ET – Welcome to the Class of 2025 Cohort + Allechar’s Origin Story

In our first event of the academic year, we welcomed the newly accepted members of the Emerging Scholars Program! This was a chance to get to know the other members of the class of 2025 cohort, as well as some of the faculty and staff from the program, including Allechar Serrano Lopez, who shared her “origin story” and her journey through academia.

Introductory Slides from the Welcome Event + Allechar’s Origin Story.