Administrative Staff

Vunsin Hiew Doubblestein

Director
2285 Ellsworth Hall
(269) 387-3316
vunsin.h.doubblestein@wmich.edu

Degree: Ph.D. in Educational Leadership (in progress) - Program Concentration: Higher Education Leadership; M.A. in Counselor Education from WMU (2006) - Program Concentration: Student Affairs in Higher Education - Administration of College Student Affairs; B.A. in Communication (Cum Laude) from WMU (2000) - Major: Broadcast and Cable Production, Minor: Philosophy
Involvement: Advisor of Asian Pacific Islander Network (APIN) and Golden Key International Honor Society - WMU Chapter, Member of ERAC/CE (Eliminating Racism And Claiming/Celebrating Equality) Regional Anti-Racism Team, Chinese Association of Greater Kalamazoo, American College Personnel Association (ACPA), Michigan College Personnel Association (MCPA), National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), Northern Michigan Tae Park Tae Kwon Do, etc.
Favorite Quote: "You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note. " – Doug Floyd

Shalinee Koonjal
Senior Student Program Assistant
2281 Ellsworth Hall
(269) 387-4799
shalinee.m.koonjal @wmich.edu

Hometown: Vacoas, Mauritius
Major: Aeronautical Engineering
Year in School: Senior
Involvement: Secretary of Tau Beta Pi (engineering honor society)
Interests: Reading, cooking, and watching TV.
Career Goals: To obtain a Master's degree after obtaining my undergraduate degree and work for an European company as an aeronautical engineer.
Advice: The best advice will be to attend classes regularly and do the homework. Do not hesitate to ask for help from the professors at any time and as many times as you need. Do not hesitate to ask for help from your classmates as they will be willing to help at any time. Never hesitate to ask for help. If there is a will, there is a way.

Jolene Khor
Student Program Assistant
2281 Ellsworth Hall
(269) 387-4799
jolene.w.khor@wmich.edu

Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Major: Journalism
Minors: Textile and Apparel, English
Year in school: Senior
Involvement: Lee Honors College, Golden Key International Honor Society
Interests: My personal bible is Harper's Bazaar. I live, sleep, and breathe fashion publications. I am active on several fashion blogs including my own, keep myself updated on popular culture events, and re-watch my favorite movies over and over again when time permits.
Career goals: To be a real life version of Carrie Bradshaw. I want to write about as well as experience fashion and its intricate relationship with the world.
Advice: Don't be afraid of making mistakes because it's when you do that you learn life's harsh lessons.
Quote: “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” – E.E. Cummings.

Denisse Mayers
Budget Analyst
2281 Ellsworth Hall
(269) 387-4799
denisse.d.mayersespinal@wmich.edu

Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Major: Food and Consumer Package Goods Marketing (CPG) and Supply Chain Management
Minors: International Business, Japanese
Year in school: Senior
Interests: Japanese, Asian dramas, books, music, volunteer, sleep, games, travel, God, and so on…
Career Goals: I plan on finishing my bachelor’s degree in Marketing and pursue a master’s degree in advertisement and promotion. I hope I will get a chance to teach marketing in Japanese.
Advice: Easy come, easy go. What you plant today, you’ll harvest tomorrow.
Favorite Quote: “Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and never succeed." – Proverbs 12:24

Yabing Liu
Graduate Student Intern
2281 Ellsworth Hall
(269) 387-4799
yabing.liu@wmich.edu

Hometown: Nanchang, China
Degree: B.A. in Musicology; M.A. in Educational Leadership (in progress)
Year in School: Second-year Graduate
Involvement: American College Personnel Association (ACPA), Michigan College Personnel Association (MCPA)
Interests: Reading, watching movies, swimming, sleeping, and traveling.
Career Goals: To obtain a full-time position in student affairs especially focusing on international students or multicultural affairs.
Advice: It is never too late to learn something.
Favorite Quote: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." – William Butler Yeats

Training & Advising Committee and Group Leaders

Wei Jian Chiu
Peer Mentor
Co-Chair, STEM Training & Advising Committee
Natural Sciences Co-Group Leader
wei.j.chiu@wmich.edu

Subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, ECE

Hometown: Johor, Malaysia
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Elecical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude
Involvement:Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, Lee Honors College
Interests: Basketball, Biking, Computing
Why I want to be a peer mentor: It's a two way street - I will be able to help students with what I know while revising it for my own good.
Career Goals: To become an electrical engineer.
Advice: It's not hard to be successful academically. Keep it to the
basics, pay attention in class, take good notes, revise them on a daily basis, and don't be afraid to ask for help. Say no to procrastination!

Welby Seely
Peer Mentor
Co-Chair, STEM Training & Advising Committee
Formal Sciences and Professional Studies Co-Group Leader
welby.j.seely@wmich.edu

Subjects: Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Japanese, ECE

Hometown: Adrian , MI
Major: Computer Engineering
Minors: Computer Science, Japanese
Year in School: Senior
Interests: Programming, Japanese, Video Games, Jogging
Why I want to be a peer mentor: College can be a scary place! It can be a big shock coming in from high school and realizing that college is a completely different ball game! I know what it's like to struggle with a class, and I would like to use my knowledge and empathy to help others. And finally, I want to be a peer mentor for a slightly less selfless, but very significant reason: to master the material myself. To quote French essayist Joseph Joubert, “To teach is to learn twice.”    
Career Goals: I intend to understand and change the world through the intermediary of computers. Using computers, I wish to help humanity grow by promoting knowledge and expanding its purview of the universe.
Advice: We all screw up, and more often than you might think. But remember, that making mistakes is a key part of the learning process. Could a completely untrained person step up to a grand piano and play Beethoven's Fifth flawlessly? Indeed, think of the countless incorrectly hit keys as one learns the piano. In making mistakes, we understand how not to do something, which is paramount in understanding how to do something. Just because you've messed up a math problem doesn't mean you're bad at math. Math professors themselves have probably screwed up such problems more times than they would like to admit! Similarly, just because you're struggling with a class doesn't mean that you are bad at it. Your mistakes do not define who you are - how you handle them does. Learn from them, and grow into who and what you want to be.

Joash Atkinson
Peer Mentor
Member, STEM Training & Advising Committee
Applied Sciences Co-Group Leader

Subjects: Aviation, Mathematics, Geography, Introductory Physics

Hometown: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Major: Aviation Flight Science
Year in School: Senior
Interests: Airplanes and flying, music (non-mainstream!), playing drums and guitar, basketball, and travelling the world!  
Why I want to be a peer mentor: Knowledge is of little use if it is kept to oneself. As a peer mentor, I will be able to share my knowledge with my peers and will undoubtedly learn new things in the process.
Career Goals: To become a commercial pilot in a reputable airline.
Advice: Attitude determines altitude. Whether it is to do with academics, sports, or anything life throws at you, make sure you first get your attitude right. It will change the way you view the trials that come your way, the way you deal with these trials, and it will keep you standing, regardless of what the outcome is.  

Martijn Heijboer
Peer Mentor
Member, STEM Training & Advising Committee
Humanities & Social Sciences Group Leader

Subjects: Business, Communications, German

Hometown: Tholen, The Netherlands
Major: Master of Business Administration - General Business
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: Classical music, playing piano, being together with friends, fitness, traveling
Why I want to be a peer mentor: Motivation from other people can be an important and sometimes even a necessary push toward self-achievement of an individual. This is something I have experienced personally and therefore I would like to stimulate others to pursue their personal goals.
Career Goals: I intend to obtain an MBA and pursue a career in international business/marketing.
Advice: While pursuing your goals always keep in mind: if it is to be, it is up to me!

Katrina Snyder 
Peer Mentor
Member, STEM Training & Advising Committee
Natural Sciences Co-Group Leader

Subject: Mathematics, ECE, Chemistry, Physics

Hometown: Monroe, MI
Major: Electrical Engineering and Dance
Minor: Mathematics
Year in School: Senior
Involvement: Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, Lee Honors College
Interests: Dance, reading, skiing, traveling
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I have often been asked by my peers to help with homework, projects, etc. I enjoy helping others understand things, especially when I get to see a "light bulb" moment – when the person all of a sudden has everything click into place through the way I've explained it.
Career Goals: Hoping to be able to do something that utilizes my degree in dance while also being able to have a job in engineering. I have done a lot in nuclear power and may pursue that in the future as well.
Advice: Live to work, or work to live. Take your pick. You only live once, so choose wisely.

Jason Woo
Peer Mentor
Member, STEM Training & Advising Committee
Applied Sciences Co-Group Leader

Subjects: Mathematics, Introductory Physics, Introductory Economics, Introductory Psychology, Geography, Aviation

Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Aviation Flight Science, Summa Cum Laude
Involvement: Phi Kappa Phi
Interests: Flying! Movies and books that teach, motivate and inspire, as well as sports particularly running, table tennis, swimming, and soccer.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: Education is very important to me and being a peer mentor will enable me to play a part in someone else's education other than my own.   
Career Goals: To continue molding pilots of the future and fly jets for a living one day.
Advice: We control our fate, fate doesn't control us. Things don't happen by chance, they happen because of you. Your fate depends on what you do and only you can make things happen, for you are the master of your fate. Your soul takes you wherever you want it to go in life. The ride may be bumpy at times but to err is human and the more you trust in your soul the more content you will be, for you are the captain of your soul.
Quote: You guessed it! "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul," from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley.

Peer Mentors/Tutors

Lucia Alvarez Soto
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics, Physics, and Spanish

Hometown: San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Major: Civil Engineering
Year in School: Junior
Interests: I like to go to the beach, hang out with my friends, listen to music, go shopping, watch TV series (Dr. House, Gossip Girl, and Lost), and spend time with my family.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: Because I think being a peer mentor is an excellent way to help others to improve themselves.
Career Goals: After receiving my bachelor's degree in civil engineering, I would like to pursue a master's degree in construction management. Also, I would like to work for a multinational construction company or have a small construction company of my own.
Advice: Study, have fun, but do not waste your time! Try to be better and better in everything you do in life.
Favorite Quote: “Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.” – Paulo Coelho

Naomi Barajas
Peer Mentor

Subject: Psychology, Business, Basic Mathematics, Spanish, Writing

Hometown: South Haven, MI
Major: Psychology
Minor: Business
Year in School: Junior
Interests: I enjoy swimming and running. I love traveling, watching independent and foreign films, going to the actual movie theater with friends and family, learning a different language, and once every full moon, criticizing reality TV shows while slightly enjoying the drama.
Involvment: Lee Honor College, TRiO SSP, Latino Student Alliance, M.A.C.A. (Mexican American Community Association)
Why I want to be a peer mentor: As a peer mentor, I plan to facilitate learning a concept or subject to increase the enjoyment of learning, which hopefully results in the desire to pursue further education. Without knowledge, there cannot be innovation, which is exactly what we need.
Career Goals: After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in psychology, I plan get a master’s in organizational behavior management so that I may improve performance and wellbeing of workers in the workforce.
Advice: Success does not depend on titles. Forget the pressure to acquire as many titles as you can. A degree is worthless if you haven’t learned as much as you are capable of and not to mention a waste of your time and money. What one should do is true and simple: Strive to be best person you can be for yourself. Competition can be a distraction. Focus on fulfilling your purpose by setting goals for yourself and working step by step to accomplish them. Also, don’t be discouraged if some steps are harder to accomplish than others. There isn’t a time limit for any goal but the sooner you do achieve that goal, you will wonder why you hadn’t done it earlier.
Favorite Quotes: “Being still and doing nothing are two very different things.” – Mr. Han (The Karate Kid 2010)

Luke Burgdorf
Peer Mentor

Subject: Psychology, History, English, Art

Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Major: Psychology
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: I enjoy painting, running, and cooking.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I like being able to share my talents with others. I hope other people will then share their talents with me.
Career Goals: To become a therapist.
Advice: Take small steps. Do not become overwhelmed, and do as much as you can do really well.

Eliana Altaira Germosen Medrano
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Introductory Chemistry, ECE, Spanish

Hometown: San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Major: Aeronautical Engineering
Year in School: Junior
Interests: I like to watch movies with my friends, read, volunteer, go to the gym, listen to music, travel, NASA, watch the TV show Phineas and Ferb and Kid vs. Kat (my favorite cartoons) - I like to watch Disney Channel.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: Being a peer mentor for me is something that I have been doing since I was in high school. I used to always help my friends with classes and exams. For me, I feel happy when I can help others, especially in subjects that I am good at. I think that life is about giving and receiving, and if I can transmit my knowledge to others, I would receive the happiness to see others becoming successful in life.
Career Goals: I want to finish my bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering and then I want to pursue my master’s degree in Propulsion Systems. Also, I want to get a job in a good aerospace company like NASA.
Advice: Take advantage of your time. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. If you do that you would achieve everything. You only live once.
Favorite Quote: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

Janice Jabson-Añonuevo Hiner
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics, Statistics

Hometown: Davao City, Phillipines
Major: Statistics
Year in School: Graduate
Involvement: Pi Mu Epsilon-Michigan, Phi Kappa Phi, American Statistical Association
Interests: I enjoy listening to music, singing, reading, and watching some TV programs.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I want to help students develop the right habits of learning, especially in Math!
Career Goals: To obtain a Master's degree in Applied Statistics and to be a statistician or statistical trainer/writer for SAS.
Advice: When faced with an obstacle, be challenged; don't turn away. If others overcome it, why can't you?

Hikaru Kondo
Peer Mentor

Subject: Japanese

Hometown: Kanagawa, Japan
Major: Practice of Teaching
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: I enjoy being with my friends, traveling to different places, and eating delicious food from all around the world.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: Because I want to support students and increase our knowledge together.
Career Goals: I want to teach Japanese somewhere to students who are interested in my language and culture. 
Advice: It might be hard, but keep being positive. It's not wrong, it's just different. Enjoy your life. Be happy.

Claudy Mejia
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics, Computer Science, ECE, Spanish

Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year in School: Junior
Interests: I like to play basketball, swimming. I also like to spend time with my friends. I enjoy watching anime and reading manga and I love documentaries.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I enjoy helping other people understand things that are difficult or new for them. I also like to meet people from different countries. For me, this is the best way to share my knowledge and meet a variety of people with different backgrounds.
Career Goals: Become an innovative electrical engineer, someone who’s able to work with people, design and create useful tools for people, and solve problems. I enjoy working in teams while we create new things, achieve our goals, and turn our ideas into reality. After I have gained experience within my field, I would like to start a software company and become a creative leader in the technology market.
Advice: Avoid procrastination. When any assignment is begun, it's half done. Any small step toward completion is an accomplishment.
Quote: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert Einstein

Linda Mule
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics

Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya
Major: Civil Engineering
Minor: Mathematics
Year in School: Junior
Interests: I love music, especially reggae and trance. Read a lot of fiction novels; love John Grisham, Lee Child, and Stephanie Meyer.  I also love travelling, movies, dancing, and hopefully add skiing – trying it for the first time this winter.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I think it’s a good opportunity to learn as well as help someone else do the same.  It’s a good way to get to meet many different people from different cultures in a productive way.
Career Goals: I would love to complete my civil engineering degree and go back home and help develop our infrastructure as that is one area of our development that is growing at a fast rate and is in need of good engineers as it still has a long way to go.
Advice: I actually read this on one of the quotations posted next to the new Sangren Hall and I remember thinking to myself how true it is.  The quote is by Helen Keller: “The highest rule of education is tolerance.”  Although this could be interpreted in different contexts, to get through school, trying over and over again is part of the process.  I think it’s all about persistence and taking different approaches to solving a problem when you realize that one way is not working.
Quote: “Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

Michelle Muszynski
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Biology, Mathematics, Psychology, English

Hometown: Homer Glen, IL
Major: Occupational Therapy
Year in School: Sophomore
Interests: I love to hang out with my friends, listen to music, volunteer, snowboard, ski, and travel.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I would like to help other students increase their knowledge of a certain subject in way that will help them prosper throughout their entire life.
Career Goals: I would love to continue into the medical field and eventually continue onto medical school. My end goal would to become a certified hand surgeon.
Advice: Do not procrastinate and use your time wisely. Always have confidence and never get discouraged over a problem; anything is possible if one applies oneself.
Quote: “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Christine Noack
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Biology, Spanish, Chemistry, Introductory Physics, Introductory Mathematics

Hometown: Gobles, MI
Major: Spanish (Bachelor's degree in Biology and Spanish)
Year in School: Graduate
Involvement: Phi Beta Kappa, Golden Key International Honour Society
Interests: Movies, Spanish culture, Japanese cuisine and culture, trying new foods, books that make me think, continually learning
Why I want to be a peer mentor: It allows me to share what I've learned with other people, help them learn something new, and at the end of the day, that smile of understanding when a difficult concept clicks. Education is vital to sustaining society and peer mentoring is a great way for me to help be a part of that while I work toward being a professor myself.
Career Goals: Finish a Ph.D in Spanish and be able to teach students in the future along with continuing to create knowledge through research.
Advice: Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. If you want it bad enough, there is always a way to make it happen, even if it takes creating your own path.
Quote: “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

Elba Marcell Rivera Rodríguez
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Accounting, Business, Manufacturing Process, Organizational Psychology, Sociology, History, Writing, and Spanish

Hometown: Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Major: International Development Administration (Bachelor's degree in Accounting)
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: Books, music, dancing, writing poetry, movies (especially independent films), learning about diverse cultures around the world, conversations about culture, philosophy, politics, literature, research, camping, traveling, and other interesting topics.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: As peer mentor I can help others to improve their skills and discover new ones. Moreover, I love to work with people, because when you interact with others, you evolve as a human being. Helping students to achieve their academic goals is one of my most important targets not only as a peer mentor, but also as a professional. Sharing with the students the things that I already know helps me to learn new things from them. It is one of the things I like most about tutoring: when you teach, you learn twice.
Career Goals: To become a prominent international development researcher. 
Advice: I strongly believe that true success depends on how well you put your heart and actions together because nobody can make a dream real if the ideas are separated from passion. Therefore, if you want to reach your dreams, you should have discipline and responsibility, trust yourself and your own skills, work hard, and be patien. No matter how long you have to wait to make your dreams happen, never surrender.
Favorite Quote: “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke

Logan Rowe 
Peer Mentor

Subject: Biology

Hometown: Lawrence, MI
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Year in School: Senior
Interests: Camping, backpacking, exploring, nature, traveling, rock climbing, and evolution.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I want to help people understand the complexity of the natural world around us.I hope I will help other students reach their academic goals, and most importantly, have fun while doing it!
Career Goals: I plan on going to graduate school and getting my Ph.D in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. My ultimate goal is to become a professor working on the conservation of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Advice: Try to be interested in whatever it is you are studying. Take it one step at a time and avoid procrastination.
Favorite Quote : "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." – John Muir

Natalia Ruiz Vargas 
Peer Mentor

Subject: Biology, Chemistry

Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Major: Biological Sciences
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: Music, dancing, movies, and traveling
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I have two main reasons for being a peer mentor: 1. The best way to learn is teaching. 2. Education is the best available tool to make sure human beings walk in the right direction, and being part of that process is amazing.
Career Goals: I want to be scientist, explore nature, and discover life. I also want to help my country and region make the right decisions regarding the use of our natural resources so a better future can be ensured.
Advice: Success and failure are choices that no one can make for us. Plan properly, work hard, and seek advice and you won't have any regrets.
Quote: "At the end, we are what we do to change what we are." – Eduardo Galeano

Cristian J. Veloz 
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics, ECE

Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: I like to go out with my friends, watch TV, listen to music, play guitar, and travel.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I like to help others and the best way that I can express this attribute is by sharing all the knowledge that I acquired throughout my college career, as an undergraduate and graduate student, with other students. The satisfaction that I feel when I can help someone by using books or my knowledge and in that way eliminate doubts and calm them down is just priceless!
Career Goals: I want to finish my master's degree and return to my country to share my knowledge in the society.
Favorite Quote : “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” – Henry Ford

Sam Vergunst 
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Chemistry, Biology, English

Hometown: Kalamazoo, MI
Major: Biomedical Sciences
Minor: Chemistry
Year in School: Sophomore
Interests: Music, playing organ and piano, friends
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I think talents are meant to be shared, and peer mentoring is an excellent way to do this.
Career Goals: Finish undergraduate school and go to medical school.
Advice : Never give up. Just set reasonal goals and try your hardest to achieve them, and you will.

Nick Wolters
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry

Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI
Major: Chemical Engineering
Minors: Chemistry and Mathematics
Year in School: Junior
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I enjoy helping people learn new subjects and get asked to help friends/classmates often.
Career Goals: To become a successful Chemical Engineer in the fields of nutrition or alternative fuels.
Advice : Try and keep a positive outlook on problems, don't get discouraged.

Jin Yu Woo 
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Chemistry, Mathematics

Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Major: Chemical Engineering
Year in School: Junior
Interests: Fitness, Running, Swimming, Movies, Traveling
Why I want to be a peer mentor: To apply what I know and learn more via teaching. As I believe, you teach best what you most need to learn.
Advice: We govern and traverse our own paths while teachers merely show the way along.
Quote: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford