A few things that really attracted Jonah to WSU were its beautiful campus, wonderful faculty, and proximity to Stanley Park. He has attended the CURCA Celebration three times and looks forward to learning from all the fabulous student projects. He feels that CURCA provides a wonderful opportunity to improve presentation skills while building your resume. He's excited to share these wonderful experience with other students! His future goal is to be the owner and president of his own company where he can work with others and make an impact on society.

Cameron is from Franklin Massachusetts, about 15 minutes away from the border of Rhode Island. He chose Westfield State because of its size and resources to make him feel comfortable yet allow him to grow as a student and person. One of the amazing opportunities that he was presented with his first year was CURCA. After presenting at CURCA in his first semester he was instantly hooked. The helpful resources on campus and the rewarding experience of presenting at CURCA had him itching for more. As a CURCA ambassador he is excited to inspire and guide as many students as he can down a path of creativity, success, and growth.

Spencer is from East Longmeadow, MA and came to Westfield State after hearing about its amazing Education program. During his first semester he presented two different projects relating to LGBTQ+ issues at the CURCA celebration and has since become more involved in the program. As an ambassador he looks forward to developing his communication skills and gaining leadership experiences, both of which will help him reach his goal of becoming an inspiring teacher. He also hopes to use these skills to spark change in his community and to increase acceptance of LGBTQ+ and other minority populations.

Maninder, "Mani", is from Northampton, MA and is a commuter. He came to WSU because of the Urban Education Summer Bridge Program. The program gave him a sense of college life before it began. His first interaction with CURCA was presenting research for his English Comp 1 class. It felt scary at first but when he was done with his presentation it felt very rewarding. He then became hooked and presented another project at CURCA. As a CURCA ambassador, he wants to encourage more new students to get involved with research and guide them through the process. He hopes to take his CURCA project and turn it into a more ambitious research senior honors project.

Joseph is from Weston, MA and was drawn to Westfield State because it offered him the opportunity to use cutting edge resources and technology to explore the subjects and interests that mattered the most to him. CURCA has given him the chance to engage in research early on in his undergraduate career, and gain experience for both his future career and his life in general. Joseph is honored to have the chance to conduct his own research while mentoring his fellow peers and helping them through their research. In the future he hopes to continue helping people, and offering them potentially life changing advice.

Kamber is from Gilbertville Massachusetts, and came to Westfield for it's small size, relative closeness to home, and great programs. Having previously presented at the CURCA celebration twice she is honored to have the chance to intern in the program. She hopes to use this experience to build upon her writing skills and gain insight into he professional world. Furthermore she hopes to spread the word about CURCA in a fun and interesting way, so that the program can continue to help change the lives of students.

Kendall was raised by a pastor and was home schooled, during which time she pursued a number of interests. After coming to Westfield State she continued to intern for the Historical Journal of Massachusetts and produced creative work, some of which was featured in Persona. In spring of 2018 she began her internship with CURCA, organizing events and helping reach out to the students. She plans to continue this work for the remainder of her time at Westfield State so that she can help connect students with resources that help them succeed in research and creative activity.

Dr. Jarvinen came to Westfield state as the founding director of CURCA in March of 2018. While her background is in Biology, with an emphasis on organ transplant Immunology, she is dedicated to working with students from all disciplines. She promotes and provides strategic cross-disciplinary support for all students, faculty, and staff to engage in creative scholarship. Her goal is to remove barriers and empower students by facilitating and fostering collaborative engagement, professional development, and funding to support student research and creative activity in and out of the classroom.

Dr. White is an Associate Professor of Biology and joined Westfield State in 2013. She has been a part of the CURCA committee since its inception in 2016. She is passionate about engaging students in high-impact practices that help prepare them for their future and is very excited to pursue this passion as the faculty coordinator for CURCA. She looks forward to continuing to support the program, and more importantly, to helping both students and faculty engage in research and creative activity.

Mrs. Savino is an alumna of Westfield State with a BA in Art, MA.Ed in painting from the Hartford Art School, and a M.F.A. in painting from Vermont College of Norwich University (VT). She is a professional artist who has exhibited her egg tempera paintings world wide. Her work as an educator and independent art curator led her to research Renaissance methodologies, as well as other historical backgrounds of art periods, artists, and styles. This experience, as well as observing her son participate in undergraduate research at Colby College, provides valuable insight as she supports WSU students in CURCA. It is her desire to help students discover their own passions and provide tools to help them achieve their goals.