Students from the Academic Community of Excellence sophomore cohort
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Director's Message
I am pleased to share the fall 2022 edition of the Academic Community of Excellence newsletter! As always, we amplify graduate and professional education through our alumni and students’ achievements and program activities. For example, pictured above is our sophomore cohort: Like our juniors and seniors, they are preparing for master's degree and doctoral studies through experiential opportunities, conferences, ACE courses, and more.
In this edition we spotlight premedical student Ivana Small and prelaw student Megan Mingo’s shadowing and internship experiences. We highlight our students’ participation in the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education and the UC Davis Pre-health Conference. Last, we feature ACE alum and master’s degree graduate Rahim Nathoo, who was a member of our program’s inaugural cohort in 2004. I trust that you will be encouraged by our student and alumni activities.
Steven Neal
Director, Academic Community of Excellence
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| Scholars Participate in Government and Premed Summer Experiences
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Aspiring attorney general Megan Mingo interned with the Women in Government Foundation as a part of the Fund for American Studies, which connects students to internships in Washington, D.C. and helps to facilitate those experiences. Megan attended meetings with staff and external constituents, where she learned how to conduct meetings and interface with people in a professional setting.
Megan said there were “very simple things that I think I didn’t really expect ended up going a long way especially now since I’m serving as president of our BSU. I think that even without me noticing a lot of the things I saw [my supervisor] do, I try to emulate and model just because I think she provided a really good example of how you should conduct yourself and how to lead a team.” Megan also applied what she learned from ACE about informational interviews when interfacing with attorneys and others. She knew what questions to ask and how to ask them. Megan stated that she gained much from her internship, including greater independence and a more extensive network. Megan also said, “I think [the internship] definitely just can help to prepare me for the future role that I would have as an attorney general.” Megan is eyeing several law schools, including USC, Howard, UCLA, and Duke.
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|  | From left, Aaron Elson, program administrator; ACE senior, Ivana Small; and Dr. Jason Cohen, medical advisor
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| Aspiring pediatrician, Ivana Small, was accepted to the Pre-Med Student Volunteer Program with Cedars Sinai. Ivana learned about the program through ACE. Per its website, under the leadership of Dr. Jason Cohen, the program’s goal is to provide opportunities for premed students from educationally or economically under-resourced communities who have not previously shadowed health care providers. During the summer, Ivana shadowed a physician in the pediatric ICU and general pediatrics. She recalled that among the most significant benefits of the experience was seeing how vital communication is “whether that’s just me communicating with my mentors [or] also seeing how they communicate … daily with nurses or pharmacists or social workers.”
Ivana also felt that the experience reaffirmed her decision to become a pediatrician. She noted “that I’m [not only] capable of doing what I set my mind to” but also, “I think I wouldn’t have … pictured myself doing this freshman year.” After LMU Ivana will apply to medical school while taking a gap year. Among other medical programs, she has her sights set on UCLA, USC, and Kaiser Permanente.
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| Students Attend Graduate and Professional School Prep Conferences
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Students and ACE director, Steven Neal at the UC Davis Pre-Health Conference
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On Oct.15, ACE scholars attended the UC Davis Pre-Health Conference. The conference introduced future practitioners to health care careers, pre-health professional programs and admission requirements. As its website states, “[the conference] provides a unique opportunity for direct contact with deans of admission, admission officers, financial aid officers, faculty, and staff from a wide variety of health professional programs and other organizations.” ACE scholar, Taleen Madikians remarked, “A big takeaway from the UC Davis Pre-health Conference was the new knowledge I gained about M.D./Ph.D. programs. After a workshop at the conference, I am now considering an M.D./Ph.D. program as a post-grad path.”
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Students and ACE director, Steven Neal at the California
Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education
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On Nov. 5, ACE and First To Go scholars attended the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education at the Long Beach Convention Center. The forum informs traditionally underrepresented students about graduate opportunities at the master's degree and doctorate levels. ACE and FTG students attended a keynote session and graduate admission workshops and spoke to graduate recruiters. Bryan Ardon Contreras stated, “The conference was excellent in presenting the information necessary to apply for graduate school. I am grateful ACE presented us this opportunity because it expanded our view [of] what is necessary to succeed in graduate school.”
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| ACE Alum and Emergency Response Manager Serving at Southern California Edison
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Alum Rahim Nathoo ’07 graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in business law. He was a member of the ACE inaugural cohort of 2004. He chose LMU because it offered a business law concentration and the opportunity to pursue his calling. In 2016, Rahim earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership. Today, Rahim works as an emergency response manager in the business resiliency department at Southern California Edison. He leads a team that manages and responds to any event within the company and in the community. Now, 15 years after graduating from LMU, we caught up with Rahim to reflect on his LMU and ACE experiences.
What were your extracurricular involvements?
My most impactful time in extracurricular activities at LMU was twofold: one, it was having the opportunity to be involved in the inauguration of the ACE program that offered us, minorities, opportunities, and exposure that we would not have had otherwise; two, I was involved in being part of LMU service organizations. I was in one called Sursum Corda and … had the honor of serving on its e-board as the member relations vice president.
How did you learn about ACE and why did you decide to join? Any special memories?
ACE was new during my time at LMU. It was the first year it was offered to students, so to be part of the inauguration of ACE and to help form and shape it was, at the time I didn’t know what exactly I would be involved in, but I just knew from the vision [the ACE director and coordinator] presented to us and the opportunities made it such that we could be part of writing history to jumpstart opportunities for minorities that we would not have had otherwise. I vaguely remember meeting with our start class, a lot of us were young and ambitious, and hearing their backgrounds stories about looking for opportunities to grow and learn, and to set ourselves up for success post-LMU.
In general, what were your most impactful experiences at LMU?
One of my most memorable or impactful experiences at LMU was meeting with professors during office hours not just to discuss academics or that class but to learn from their expertise and general experience in life…. [Because of] office hours and some following work after that, I was [given] the opportunity to present at a conference.... and it was … published in a study; so, that was one of my many impactful experiences at LMU. Another impactful experience at LMU was going on the senior tour. Approaching the final days of graduation and reflecting on my time there on campus, academic connections, personal connections, friend connections, friends, colleagues, classmates, was a memorable experience for me because I had to take a step back. I was like, wow! These are my final days here as an undergraduate student, and the world is my canvas to continue to apply everything I’ve learned here at LMU to make the world a better place.
What made you choose your current field of work?
I never thought at LMU I would end up working in the electric utility industry but I’ve learned a lot and developed quite a bit during my time here. In February 2018, I was asked to represent Southern California Edison on its incident management team to go to Puerto Rico for about a month to help with power restoration from the devastation of Hurricane Maria. I know my calling, but I would also say [that] sometimes your calling calls you to be in a certain role or position at a certain time…. Looking at the diversity and the emergency management community within our business resiliency department, I’m one of the few minorities on the leadership team.
Do you have any additional career goals?
I would love to become a professor someday…. I would also like to work for Aga Khan Development Network institutions to give back to communities around the world.
What advice do you have for ACE students?
Take full benefit of the opportunities that you have here today. The ACE program is more than a gift that you have that will springboard you for success in the future, so don’t take it lightly. Bank on all the opportunities at arm’s length distance, because never again will you be around such easily accessible pursuit of knowledge.
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