The ÐÔ°®ÌìÌà Alumni Association recognized two members of the class of 2016, Sabina Lalani and Sarah Yaccino, for their outstanding service to the University and to San Antonio.
The students received certificates and $250 at the Honor Awards Convocation in April. To receive the awards, exemplary seniors with service over an extended period of time were nominated by students, faculty, and staff. A panel of ÐÔ°®ÌìÌà alumni interviewed finalists and selected the winners.
Lalani, a neuroscience major with a pre-med track from Sugar Land, Texas, was a hospital volunteer at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio where she worked with nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and the Newborn Nursery with infants.
She also served as a program head for the ÐÔ°®ÌìÌà Volunteer Action Community (TUVAC) and the Stand Against AIDS program. In doing so she organized volunteer visits to the San Antonio AIDS Foundation as well as raised awareness about HIV and AIDS on the University campus. Lalani also served on the ÐÔ°®ÌìÌà Student Government Association planning events for students to promote diversity including Diwali and Mabuhay. She also spearheaded the spirit committee to improve student participation on campus.
Yaccino, from Helotes, Texas, worked as a teacher’s aide and student teacher in the Dual Language Summer School Enrichment program at Jim G. Martin Elementary in San Antonio, in the summer of 2014. She also attended two alternative spring break trips to Dominica, serving as a student leader in the spring of 2016.
Yaccino, a member of HOPE Hall (Homeless Outreach Pursuing Education) and of the University’s Residential life office was a peer facilitator for the program Reflections in 2013. On campus she was also a part of the ÐÔ°®ÌìÌà Chamber Choir, ÐÔ°®ÌìÌà Swing Bums, and the Mu Phi Epsilon music service fraternity. Majoring in Spanish and human communication, Yaccino plans to return to Ecuador where she studied abroad in the spring of 2015, to teach English with a grant from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
Text provided by Isaiah Mora of San Antonio, a candidate for graduation from ÐÔ°®ÌìÌà in May 2018 with a double major in communication and sociology. He is a student intern in the Office of University Marketing and Communications.
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