Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering and Sciences
Valentina Abondano Perdomo of Bogota, Columbia will be graduating with degrees in chemistry and psychology. She played volleyball for the Golden Bears while at Tech and started the chemistry club in the fall of 2020. She was highly involved on campus, participating in many volunteer and community service projects. She volunteered at the Beckley Dream Center, the Humane Society of Raleigh County and the Beckley Raleigh County Convention Center. She helped at the YMCA with coaching, mentoring and refereeing volleyball games. She was an orientation leader and supported new international students in acclimating to campus and tutoring students in math, chemistry, biology and psychology.
College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences
Mackenzie Siersma of Zeeland, Michigan will be graduating with a degree in criminal justice with minors in forensic science and psychology. She served as President and Vice President of the Criminal Justice Association and a member of the Forensic Investigation Club. Siersma also played softball for the Golden Bears. In 2022, she completed her internship with the Zeeland Police Department to develop a better understanding of law enforcement. She also assisted with many community service projects on campus, softball camps and a food pantry at North Holland Reformed Church. She also received River States Conference All-Team Second Team honors in spring 2022, River States Conference Scholar-Athlete in 2021 and 2022, and was a member of the River States Scholar-Athlete Softball Team from 2019 to 2022.
WVU School of Nursing Beckley Campus
Carley Knuckles of Beaver, West Virginia will be graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. She is the Founder and President of Active Minds, a mental health and suicide prevention organization on campus. With Active Minds, she volunteered 120 hours. She also helped found the WVU Tech Prevention and Recovery student organization. She served as the Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework Partnership for Success (C-SPF-PFS) Student Leader for WVU Tech, focusing on substance use prevention among college students. This project is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. With C-SPF-FPS, Knuckles advocated for policy change and prevention interventions in Appalachia. She led numerous talks at festivals and community and legislative events about substance abuse prevention, Narcan training and Narcan administration. She completed approximately 1,000 clinical hours in facilities in Southern West Virginia and 250 hours of community service hours.