Recipients

University of California Davis

Major:  Animal Biology

Career Goal: Veterinarian

Stephanie is the daughter of Hsiao Chi Chang, Purchasing Director at TD SYNNEX in Fremont, California. Stephanie recently graduated from Castro Valley High School with a strong 4.22 GPA, and looks forward to attending University of California Davis. During high school, Stephanie received the Senior Honors Award for having a GPA range of 3.5-4.0

and above, in addition to an English Department Award for her excellence in her English class. Stephanie dedicated her latter high school years to Multiple AP courses including AP Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, and Anatomy & Physiology.

Outside of school, Stephanie, was a tutor at Castro Valley Tutors, a program that offers free tutoring for Castro Valley Unified School district students during the pandemic. She also volunteered at City Team Oakland to serve food to the homeless, while contributing time to volunteer at Living Hope Church to serve breakfast to the homeless.

Stephanie’s love for animals led her to volunteer as a kennel assistant at Boulevard Pet Hospital from 2018-2019 before getting hired as a veterinary assistant.  “My time at the animal hospital has taught me and continues to teach me the value of teamwork as well as having confidence in myself.”  Stephanie dreams of becoming a veterinarian, and therefore she looks forward to studying Animal Biology during her college career.

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Purdue University 

Major:  Computer Science / Computer Engineering

Thomas is the son of Marcelo Adriano Kuhn, Director of Strategy and Solutions LATAM at TD SYNNEX in Miramar, Florida. Thomas graduated from Cypress Bay High School, achieving an outstanding 4.95 GPA. For college, he looks forward to attending Purdue University. During his high school career, Thomas became an AP scholar with Distinction, while being a proud member of the Cypress Bay High School Varsity Soccer Team. Outside of athletics, he dedicated time to tutoring mathematics, in addition to being a member of LUNATICS, a student club that focuses on encouraging school spirit.

Thomas was awarded as Volunteer of the Month (Logiscool Award) after volunteering as a teaching assistant at a programming/coding and robotics camp. He has applied these skills through working as a CODE Ninjas Summer Camp Instructor, where he helped kids learn to code while building their own video games. He explains, “With practice I was able to earn their respect and empathize with them, creating an environment where kids would work together and better their coding skills.  He is currently still tutoring mathematics to younger peers.

Thomas also has experience as an intern at eNUBE, where he assisted with application development with process design and coding (Golang/Sql/Html). Thomas also spent numerous hours volunteering at the YMCA of Weston’s Teen Leaders Club, and fundraising for UNICEF, where he participated in several candy and snack selling fundraisers to raise money to help international humanitarian crises.  During the Covid-19 pandemic Thomas supported Feeding South Florida, a program that helped aide hunger-relief efforts in his local community.

Clemson University

Major: Special Education

Career Goal:  Teacher

Emily is the daughter of David McCarter, Vice President of Sales at TD SYNNEX in South Carolina. As a recent graduate of Wade Hampton High School, Emily looks forward to attending Clemson University in the Fall to study Special Education.  Emily was actively involved at her high school campus, serving as Varsity Lacrosse Team Captain during her Senior Year. She was also an active member of Student Council, Varsity Golf, SAIL Swim Team, dance team, and member of Young Life. Emily excelled as a student, earning a 4.579 GPA and becoming a National High School Scholars Member, in addition to being selected to attend the “State Student Council Conference” in Charleston. She also helped have a bill signed by the Governor as part of her involvement in the “Youth In Government” group.

Emily has a deep love to give back to her community through philanthropic ventures such as fundraising drives and silent auctions.  During the Covid-19 pandemic herself and her student council team members were able to raise $252,408 for Frazee Dream Center, a charity that provides after school services to underprivileged children.  She explains, “What we do at my school, raising money for an amazing cause puts compassion into a whole new narrative.”

Outside of school, Emily was actively involved in the community, working as a church nursery volunteer.  Emily’s generous heart led her to attend a mission trip in South Dakota to help build homes for those in need.  Her love for children has allowed Emily to pursue a degree in special education.  She has dedicated a huge portion of her time volunteering for the Special Olympics and in local special needs elementary classes.  She continues to work with students as a tutor and teacher’s assistant.

Colorado School of Mines

Major: Chemistry (Environmental Chemistry Track)

Career Goal: Researcher/Professor

Kianna is the daughter of Paul Raffaeli, Manager of Product Management at TD SYNNEX in Fremont, California.  Kianna attended Prospect High School in Saratoga, California with a 4.25 GPA, and will be attending Colorado School of Mines in fall 2021. Kianna excelled at her high school, earning the Academic Top Scholar Award, and becoming an Advanced Placement (AP) Ambassador after being nominated by three teachers for the position. Kianna also earned the female student departmental awards for both the science and the math departments at her school. In addition to academics, Kianna earned several all-league awards during her four years playing Varsity Soccer, as well as the Prospect High School Panther Paws Scholar-Athlete Award, given to only two students for their excellence on the field and in the classroom.

Outside of school and sports, Kianna was an avid volunteer. At her high school, she dedicated her time to being a Link Crew leader, Advanced Placement (AP) Ambassador, College and Career Center (CCC) Ambassador, and peer tutor for math and chemistry students. As a CCC ambassador she improved college and career resources for students while also creating a new website and mentorship system.  She also spent her time volunteering at local events and organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank and MedShare, her local humanitarian aid warehouse. Additionally, Kianna started a new club, Art Reach, which combined community service and art through several projects, one being bracelets for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital patients.  Based on her dedication to community service, Kianna received a California Scholarship Federation Life Membership, and several service awards.

Additionally, her volunteer experience has allowed her to give back to her local and global community.  Building management skills at MedShare, she delegated other volunteer members in an effort to distribute supplies going to at-risk countries with weakened healthcare systems.  Through her Next Generation Nations project, Kianna created a system to mitigate water pollution.  “Eventually, I designed a system that targeted nonpoint source pollution flowing through storm drains using the chemical properties of the pollutants.” She states, “If I put in the time and effort, I can make a change.”  Her goal is to obtain a PhD in environmental chemistry to target water pollution.  And in becoming a researcher and professor, she hopes to improve her community’s environment and empower women to take leadership roles in STEM.

University of California at Santa Barbara

Major:  Sociology / English

Career Goal: Teacher

Jocelyn is the daughter of Jessica Tao, Senior Accounts Payable Analyst at TD SYNNEX in Fremont, California. Recently graduating from Foothill High School with a 4.17 GPA, Jocelyn looks forward to attending the University of California at Santa Barbara to pursue a degree in Sociology and English.  As an AP Scholar at the Distinction level and a National Merit Student in 2020, Jocelyn has shown a great deal of commitment and dedication thus far in her academic career.

Jocelyn has devoted her extracurricular time performing in the marching band, symphonic orchestra, graphic design club and the mock trial team.  Her exceptional talents in the arts is prevalent as she placed 1^st at both the California Mock Trial Courtroom Artist Competition and the Association of Northern California Chinese Schools Western Art Competition in 2019.  Jocelyn won California Regionals as a member of Winter Guard International, placed 2^nd in the state as part of We the People Competition Civics, and became a recipient of Scholastic Art and Writing – just to name a few!  She additionally received California Arts Scholar Governor’s Medallion award in 2019.

Jocelyn has proven to be a key member of her community, receiving the President’s Volunteer Service award in 2018 and 2019. During the 2020 November Presidential election she played an essential role providing assistance as a Bilingual Accessible Voting Judge.  Her generous heart led her to volunteer at Transcend Academics as a peer tutor, where she supported local students struggling through remote learning during the pandemic.

Her desire to educate was discovered at Exploring New Horizons Outdoor Education camp where she served as a High School Counselor.  “As we deciphered tree ages and sang hearty campfire songs under star-studded skies, I uncovered my passion for teaching.”  She also helped teach English as part of Connexpedition, where she worked as a Teacher at schools in rural Taiwan and dreams of becoming a teacher.  She states, “An educator’s most prized superpower is the ability to positively touch the minds and spirits of students.”

Western University

Major: Honors Business Administration

Career Goal: Business

James is the son of Michael Quinlan, Collections Analyst II at TD SYNNEX in Toronto, Canada. James graduated from Woburn Collegiate Institute with an outstanding 4.0 GPA in 2018, where he was the class valedictorian. During his senior year he became Executive Officer for Canada’s DECA association where he felt inspired, “to continually create spaces where everyone can feel welcome, where everyone is empowered to get involved.”

He is now attending Western University in London, where he is enthusiastically involved with student academic and extra-curricular activities. James has resided at the top of his class, making the Dean’s list each year.  Additionally, he earned the Western National Scholar Distinction and Presidents’ Entrance Scholarship based on his all-around excellence and outstanding academic performance combined with exemplar extra-curricular involvement and commitment to community service.

James has experience as a General Manager at Illuminate Universe, where he managed an eight-person team to produce four national high school business conferences for 400 students across 72 schools. He also volunteered his time at Korean Canadian Adoptee Association, where he helped organize social events and mentor other students and families.  He states, “I continue to support the Korean Canadian adoptee community as a role model and mentor to younger children and their families.”

James has more recently gained business experience following his Consultant internship at Deloitte within the Operations Transformation Team, where he worked on a digital transformation project for a leading Canadian insurance provider. James additionally interned as NuCure Naturals as Director of Financial Strategy and Logistics in Toronto, in addition to a Business Analyst for PoliMonitor in London.

University of California, Los Angeles

Major: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

Jeremy is the son of Steve Wei, Director of Software Engineering in Fremont. Jeremy graduated from Pioneer High School with a 4.22 GPA. Jeremy excels in his academic career, obtaining a Pioneer High School Honors Scholar award after showcasing outstanding academics in his science department. During his high school career, he was head organizer of a model UN conference.  He also obtained the Pioneer High School All-Academic Team Award after being nominated by his teachers for outstanding academic performance. He is now attending University of California, Los Angeles.

Jeremy is an all-star volunteer, earning the President’s Volunteer Service Silver Award in 2019 after dedicating over 175 volunteer hours to educational-related activities and organizations. Jeremy spent time as a Junior Auxiliary Volunteer at Good Samaritan Hospital San Jose, in addition to serving as a weekday volunteer at Sacred Heart Food Pantry.

Jeremy has also dedicated numerous hours to working as a leader and open-water lifeguard at Deer Crossing Camp, an intensive residency program to build leadership via wilderness survival, lifeguard, and psychology training. During the beginning of the pandemic Jeremy spent time in Taiwan immersing himself in a Youth Health Center which allowed him to “develop social and communication skills and foster a sense of strength to confront.”  His long-term goal is to find a career path that ignites his passion potentially as an infectious disease specialist.