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SOE Student Excellence Awards

 2022 Recipients

The School of Education (SOE) is excited to announce the 2022 SOE Excellence Award Recipients. Please join us in congratulating these recipients for all of their great achievements and contributions to the SOE community.

2021 SOE Excellence Awards - Wenjin Guo

Wenjin Guo

I am extremely honored to be the Service Leadership Excellence Award recipient. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Amy Heineke, who has been so supportive through my journey at Loyola. I am also grateful to all the members of the SDC, for your acknowledgment and dedicated work. It is my privilege to have had multiple chances to receive multilayered support within the SOE. Inspired by our amazing faculty and staff members whom I have worked with, I have taken every opportunity to commit myself to the practices of the SOE’s mission and vision through my Chinese hotpot philosophy of being compatible and inclusive. Moving forward, I will continue my role of being a culturally responsive educator to promote social justice among people who are coming from ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds, through daily encounters and implacable research and teaching practices
2022 SOE Excellence Awards - Julia Mendes

Júlia Mendes

My name is Julia Mendes. I started at Loyola in 2017 in the Sociology master's program. After completing that degree, I transferred to the Higher Education PhD program. That was the best decision I ever made, academically, professionally, and personally. The School of Education and the Higher Education department have been exceptionally supportive and encouraging, ensuring a swift and successful completion of my PhD. I defended my dissertation in March 2022 and will be graduating May 2022. I could not have done this without guidance from my advisor and mentors, and am truly grateful for the recognition as a recipient of the Transformative Research Award. 

2022 SOE Excellence Awards - Han Na Lee

Han Na Lee

It is an honor to be a recipient of the 2022 Transformative Research Excellence award. I’m a third-year doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology department under the advisement of Dr. Eunju Yoon. My research and clinical interests are deeply rooted in providing culturally nuanced interventions to diverse individuals and families including immigrant populations. My commitment to social justice and multiculturalism through education, practice, and research is evident in the work that I am pursuing as a doctoral candidate. My dissertation, along with the impact I hope my research will have, has both personal and societal motivations, in particular the racial experiences of Asian Americans who have faced heightened discrimination and an increasingly pervasive anti-Asian hate climate during this pandemic. The current context of COVID-19 has led me to want to explore the role of critical consciousness on collective identity and intergroup solidarity. Receiving the Transformative Research award provides a sense of validation about the kind of research that I have pursued, while allowing me to continue seeking social justice work in the field of psychology. 

2022 SOE Excellence Awards - Anna Press 

Anna Press

Thank you to the Student Development Committee for my selection as the 2022 recipient of the Service Leadership Excellence Award. I am also very grateful for the support of my peers and professors. As an educator and policy professional, I always look for the nexus between theory and practice, so it seems natural that learning should extend beyond the classroom into meaningful action. I hope to continue contributing to the LUC community in the years to come. 

As a second-year student in the EdD in Curriculum, Culture, and Communities (3Cs), I have had the opportunity to work on research that advances transnational practices in curriculum development, supports emergent bilinguals, and sheds light on collaborations within and between school communities. Outside of my work and studies, it has been a privilege to co-found the International Graduate Student Organization (IGSO) and advocate for international graduate students through mentorship, programming, and network-building.  

 2022 Recipients

The School of Education (SOE) is excited to announce the 2022 SOE Excellence Award Recipients. Please join us in congratulating these recipients for all of their great achievements and contributions to the SOE community.

2021 SOE Excellence Awards - Wenjin Guo

Wenjin Guo

I am extremely honored to be the Service Leadership Excellence Award recipient. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Amy Heineke, who has been so supportive through my journey at Loyola. I am also grateful to all the members of the SDC, for your acknowledgment and dedicated work. It is my privilege to have had multiple chances to receive multilayered support within the SOE. Inspired by our amazing faculty and staff members whom I have worked with, I have taken every opportunity to commit myself to the practices of the SOE’s mission and vision through my Chinese hotpot philosophy of being compatible and inclusive. Moving forward, I will continue my role of being a culturally responsive educator to promote social justice among people who are coming from ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds, through daily encounters and implacable research and teaching practices
2022 SOE Excellence Awards - Julia Mendes

Júlia Mendes

My name is Julia Mendes. I started at Loyola in 2017 in the Sociology master's program. After completing that degree, I transferred to the Higher Education PhD program. That was the best decision I ever made, academically, professionally, and personally. The School of Education and the Higher Education department have been exceptionally supportive and encouraging, ensuring a swift and successful completion of my PhD. I defended my dissertation in March 2022 and will be graduating May 2022. I could not have done this without guidance from my advisor and mentors, and am truly grateful for the recognition as a recipient of the Transformative Research Award. 

2022 SOE Excellence Awards - Han Na Lee

Han Na Lee

It is an honor to be a recipient of the 2022 Transformative Research Excellence award. I’m a third-year doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology department under the advisement of Dr. Eunju Yoon. My research and clinical interests are deeply rooted in providing culturally nuanced interventions to diverse individuals and families including immigrant populations. My commitment to social justice and multiculturalism through education, practice, and research is evident in the work that I am pursuing as a doctoral candidate. My dissertation, along with the impact I hope my research will have, has both personal and societal motivations, in particular the racial experiences of Asian Americans who have faced heightened discrimination and an increasingly pervasive anti-Asian hate climate during this pandemic. The current context of COVID-19 has led me to want to explore the role of critical consciousness on collective identity and intergroup solidarity. Receiving the Transformative Research award provides a sense of validation about the kind of research that I have pursued, while allowing me to continue seeking social justice work in the field of psychology. 

2022 SOE Excellence Awards - Anna Press 

Anna Press

Thank you to the Student Development Committee for my selection as the 2022 recipient of the Service Leadership Excellence Award. I am also very grateful for the support of my peers and professors. As an educator and policy professional, I always look for the nexus between theory and practice, so it seems natural that learning should extend beyond the classroom into meaningful action. I hope to continue contributing to the LUC community in the years to come. 

As a second-year student in the EdD in Curriculum, Culture, and Communities (3Cs), I have had the opportunity to work on research that advances transnational practices in curriculum development, supports emergent bilinguals, and sheds light on collaborations within and between school communities. Outside of my work and studies, it has been a privilege to co-found the International Graduate Student Organization (IGSO) and advocate for international graduate students through mentorship, programming, and network-building.