Cohort 4: 2022-23
Allison Ammarell
Allison Ammarell grew up in Leesport, Pennsylvania and attended Schuylkill Valley High School. She participated in field hockey, swimming, lacrosse, chorus, National Honors Society, Leo club, and was a manager for the high school football team. She is attending Penn State Berks for Electro-Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Entrepreneurship. Allison plans on volunteering at a local small business called The Golf Garage for her volunteer component of the Cohen-Hammel Fellowship.
Amy Jeanette Najarro Bojorquez
Amy Jeanette Najarro Bojorquez was born and raised in Peru. She is fluent in Spanish and English. Amy lives with her family, including three younger siblings, in Connecticut and graduated from Greenwich High School. She is in the second year as a Biochemistry major and is very interested in understanding the molecular basis of health and diseases. Her goal after graduation is to go to medical school or graduate school to pursue a career in medical research. Her career choice is motivated by a desire to help those in need and fight health inequalities in her community.
Madi Haraschak
Madi Haraschak grew up in Sinking Spring, PA and graduated from Wilson High School. In school, she participated in softball and currently coaches a 12u team for the Wilson Youth Softball Program. She is working towards a degree in Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology and completed her first internship as a Controls Intern at East Penn Manufacturing this past summer (2022). She wants to use her degree to better the world in any way she can.
Quang Vinh Lu
Quang Vinh Lu graduated from Wilson High School and is currently studying Biology at Penn State Berks. Experiences during his education gave Vinh the opportunity to speak to handicapped peers and learned how many obstacles they face in daily activities. He came to realize that he wants to help individuals who struggle with their disabilities due to accidents or natural causes. Vinh’s career goal is to attend medical school to become a reconstructive surgeon. He hopes to perform reconstructive surgeries to give the patients more mobility, functionality, and confidence. Vinh plans on raising awareness of equalities for people with disabilities in the community.
Victoria Vozharenko
Victoria Vozharenko grew up in Odessa, Ukraine. She graduated from Garden Spot High School in New Holland, Pennsylvania. At Penn State, she double majored in Accounting and Economics. In her freshman year of college, she enrolled in an honors program and became a member of the Honors Club. She has also received a position as Social Media Manager at the Student Government Association and is part of the Lion Ambassador. This year, she plans to attend Schreyer Honors College and volunteer as a tutor in the Math 10 class, as well as continue to participate in other activities at Penn State.
Cohort 3: 2021-22
Mathew Blake
Mathew Blake graduated from Chesapeake Math & IT Academy High School in Laurel, MD. In high school, Matthew was the Vice President of the Music Production Club and a school band member. Additionally, Matthew was a dual-enrollment student, obtaining an Associate’s degree in information technology upon graduating from high school. Matthew enrolled in the Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations degree program at Penn State Berks, where for the past 2 years he has gained the skills necessary to become a competent malware analyst. During his freshman year, Matthew volunteered at the Penn State Berks greenhouse where he assisted in creating more effective habitats for the local bee population.
Hayden Perone
Hayden Perone graduated from Phoenixville Area High School in Phoenixville, PA. In high school, Hayden participated in student government, habitat for humanity, Chester County Futures, and two varsity sport teams. At Penn State Berks, she is majoring in biology with a concentration in genetics. She is also completing a minor in chemistry. After graduation, Hayden’s goal is to work in a lab involving DNA sequencing to help further the creation of medicine. For the service component of her Cohen-Hammel Fellowship, Hayden plans to volunteer at her high school with the Destinations with Directions program, which provides low-income students the opportunity to explore secondary education options. She also plans to mentor students within the high school.
Alina Rodriguez
Alina Rodriguez graduated from Wilson High School, where she ran cross country, was on the swimming and water polo teams, and participated in FBLA. At Penn State Berks, Alina is an Information Technology major, with a minor in Mathematics. She led a team in the startup competition the Nittany AI Challenge and has also taken leadership roles in several of the clubs on campus in an attempt to revive those which died out during COVID. Alina is the president of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation club, and the vice president of the Technology Club. She volunteers at her local church currently, but also plans to lead groups of students from her clubs to volunteer. Alina was also a recipient of as 2022 Penn State Erickson Discovery Grant, which funded a summer research project that involved analysis of disaster resilience indicators and the creation of tools which aid in disaster relief decision making for third-world countries.
Cohort 2: 2020-21
Madison Fredericksen
Madison Fredericksen is from Boyertown, Pennsylvania and graduated from Boyertown High School in 2020. In high school, she participated in lacrosse and frequently volunteered in special education classes. At Penn State Berks, Madison is majoring in Rehabilitation and Human Services and minoring in Psychology. Madison’s professional goals include helping high-risk groups, such as adolescents and minority groups, with mental health issues and spreading awareness to destigmatize mental health treatment. As part of her service to the community Madison has volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club of Reading, Country Meadows Retirement Community, and Helping Harvest. She hopes to continue volunteering at these organizations as well as begin volunteering at Safe Berks, an organization that provides support for survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
Matthew Kauffman
Matthew Kauffman grew up in Wyomissing, PA, and is a graduate of the Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School. While a student in high school, Matthew participated extensively in his student council, serving as the Vice President his senior year, and in his Mini-THON, serving as one of four co-chairs. Currently, Matthew has integrated himself into several extracurricular activities including playing active roles in Lion Ambassadors serving as Director of Membership, serving as co-chair of Donor & Alumni Relationships of Berks Benefitting THON, and Welcome Weekend Lead Team Assistant Lead Morale Captain. He also serves as a tutor and TA for both chemistry and organic chemistry and as mentor for Dr Karlinsey’s first-year seminar class mentor. During his senior year, he plans to conduct research on the removal of a glucose transporter within the neurons with the overall goal of characterizing the role of the GLUT-1 transporter. After graduating, he plans to earn a Master’s in Education to become a high school biology or chemistry teacher.
Alyssa Matteoli
Alyssa Matteoli graduated from Oley Valley High School in 2020. While in high school, she started volunteering as a service dog puppy raiser for Susquehanna Service Dogs. She is now a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major at Penn State Berks and continues to work with service dogs in training. Her long-term goal is to attend medical school and work as a Family Medicine physician in a medically underserved community similar to where she grew up. She hopes to continue her community service throughout her career as a physician.
Austin Witinski
Austin Witinski graduated from Schuylkill Valley High School in 2020. In his senior year, he was the president of the robotics team and the captain of the tennis team. At Penn State Berks, he is a fourth year Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology major. He currently serves as president of the Penn State Berks American Society of Mechanical Engineers club, an organization giving students opportunities to get hands-on experience with engineering projects of their choosing. He continues to volunteer for his second year with a program called FIERCE, which works to give local middle school students experience in problem solving through STEM activities. During his senior year, he plans to complete and test Penn State Berks’s manta ray robot. After graduation, Austin seeks to work in engineering design and CAD, specifically within the field of robotics.
Cohort 1: 2019-20
Amy Lista
Amy Lista graduated from Wilson High School, in West Lawn, PA. At Wilson she was very involved in the ROTC program, where she learned valuable lessons about ethics and what it means to be a leader. At Penn State Berks Amy is majoring in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Science. Her long-term goal is to obtain her Master’s degree in Occupation Therapy, and ultimately open her own private practice to establish care and therapy to those who need it in the comfort of their very own home. In her first year as a Cohen-Hammel Fellow Amy completed volunteer work at the Reading Rehabilitation Hospital as an activity planner.
Sabrina Matteoli
Sabrina Matteoli graduated from Oley Valley High School in 2019, where she spent the majority of her time focused on academics and supporting the community. In addition, she coached youth cheerleading for six years and managed her school’s cheerleading squad. In Fall 2019, Sabrina began her college career at Penn State Berks as a member of the first cohort of Cohen-Hammel Fellows. Sabrina is majoring in Information Technology: Application Development with a minor in Security and Risk Analysis. During her first year as a fellow, Sabrina volunteer at her high school, assisting students in the computer science classroom and working in the engineering and design course assisting students with the capstone projects. During her second year in the program, Sabrina worked with her local church to complete many in-house projects as well as helped serve at Hope Rescue Mission on different occasions. In Sabrina’s third year, she went back to the old cheerleading organization and assisted with practices throughout the season. Sabrina also worked closely with her church to complete additional service opportunities. Over the Summer 2022, Sabrina completed her internship with FirstEnergy Corp where she continues to work through the fall semester. Sabrina will be graduating in December, 2022.
Kelly Whalen
Kelly Whalen graduated from Penn State Berks in 2022 with a degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. Kelly has wanted to become a teacher since she was in kindergarten. She has a deep passion for children and helping people, especially those living in poverty. As an educator her most important goal is to reach every student and show them that they are capable and valued. Kelly also hopes to have a positive impact on the education system where she sees a need for change because not all children are provided equal access to quality education. Kelly conducted research on school inequalities and school funding, and as part of her Cohen-Hammel Fellowship raised awareness about this issue.