Administrative Staff

Vunsin Hiew Doubblestein

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

Degrees: 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

Clara Rodriguez 
Program Assistant
2281 Ellsworth Hall
(269) 387-4799
claracristina.rodriguezmena@wmich.edu

Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Degrees: M.A. in Communication; B.B.A.
Interests: Human behavior, research, writing, traveling, history, movies, cooking, music, books, fashion, the 60’s, antiques
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I’d like to be a peer mentor to help students reach excellence in their academic endeavors. Through productive one-on-one mentoring, individuals are able to make great progress while conquering their goals and it has the advantage of enriching my professional life, because as a mentor, I get the opportunity to learn as well.
Career Goals: To provide in-depth academic counseling, teach, and keep expanding my research investigations in the interpersonal communication field.
Advice: Love what you do. Use creativity and the things you love in life to make your personal and professional projects reachable and enjoyable. Know that there will always be something you can gain from each experience you embark on. Learn always.
Favorite Quote: ”Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.“ – Steve Jobs

Brooke Sherman 
Program Assistant
2281 Ellsworth Hall
(269) 387-4799
brooke.e51.sherman@wmich.edu

Hometown: Oswego, NY
Major: School Counseling
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: Running with my dog and working out, soccer, sushi, Buffalo Bills football, baking, being with my family, and crafting
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I want to help students gain necessary skills for their future, so they may be successful in school as well as beyond college. I hope to instill a self-motivation for students to work hard, so they are able to get the results they want.
Career Goals: Finish and graduate with my master’s degree, pursue a career as a high school counselor, and coach a girls soccer team.
Advice: Work hard, have a good attitude, be confident, and live out your dreams.
Quote: "All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work." – Calvin Coolidge

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

Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Degree: B.B.A. in Food and Consumer Package Goods Marketing (CPG) and Supply Chain Management with minors in International Business and Japanese
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

Training & Advising Committee (TAC) and Group Leaders

Christine Noack
Peer Mentor
Co-Chair, STEM Training & Advising Committee

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

Sam Vergunst 
Peer Mentor
Co-Chair, STEM Training & Advising Committee

Subjects: Chemistry, Biology, English

Hometown: Kalamazoo, MI
Major: Biomedical Sciences
Minor: Chemistry
Year in School: Junior
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.

Andreas Quainoo
Peer Mentor
Member, STEM Training & Advising Committee

Subjects: Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Introductory Engineering

Hometown: Accra, Ghana
Major: Aeronautical Engineering
Year in School: Junior
Interests: Flight, Programming, Reading, Running
Why I want to be a peer mentor: While many people may not know it, there is not one single technique to learn/study. Adapting yourself to discover and learn the best way to study is vital to college success. I would like to help others find their own unique way to study which they will be comfortable with. I also want to be a peer mentor because I can never really know whether I understand a topic/subject unless I teach it to others. “Teaching is the highest form of understanding.” – attributed to Aristotle.
Career Goals: It is my desire to see the development and availability of personal aircraft to many. I therefore intend to work in the aircraft industry to design and build the next generation of personal transports.
Advice: Success in college is not for a select few. Ambition is next to nothing without determination and hard work. Don’t throw in the towel just yet!

Jin Yu Woo 
Peer Mentor
Member, STEM Training & Advising Committee

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

Peer Mentors

Arielle Duinkerken
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Psychology, Holistic Health

Hometown: Kentwood, MI
Major: Psychology: Behavioral Science
Minor: Holistic Health
Year in School: Junior
Interests: I want to be a peer mentor so that I can help others to reach any personal and academic goals that they may have.
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 earn my Ph.D in a clinical psychology program with a behavioral approach, so that I can work with trauma victims.
Advice: Try the things that you are most afraid to do; you will be amazed at what you are capable of achieving. 
Favorite Quote: “To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde

Eliana Altaira Germosen Medrano
Peer Mentor

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

Hometown: San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Major: Aeronautical Engineering
Year in School: Senior
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

Antonio Giraldi
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Economics, Mathematics, Statistics

Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Major: Applied Economics
Year in School: Graduate
Interests: Economics, math, statistics, languages, baseball, and racing.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I know that college life can be stressful and tough. So, I would like to share my experience as a student in order to help other students overcome the different challenges they will face during this period of their life.
Career Goals: I would like to do market research and analysis and provide advice to firms and government entities back in my native country, the Dominican Republic. I would also like to teach at the college level back home.
Advice: Get to know your learning style and do what works best for you.
Favorite Quote: "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." – Albert Einstein

Dana Goetz
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Psychology, Social Studies

Hometown: Wheaton, MI
Major: Behavioral Science
Minors: Rhetoric and Writing Studies
Year in School: Junior
Interests: I love taking photos, riding my bicycle, being outside, ice-skating, shopping, hanging out with my friends, and doing arts and crafts. I also love research and learning new things.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I want to help my peers master their classes. I want to share my skills with others and see others share their skills as well.
Career Goals: I want to go to graduate school to either get a Ph.D in a clinical psychology program with a behavioral focus or get a master’s degree in a behavioral program to become a board certified behavior analyst.
Advice: Attend class, study, and try to choose classes that sound interesting. Do not listen to those who discourage you from achieving your goals; put in your all and you can do it.
Quote: “'Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!' 'Well, now that we have seen each other,' said the unicorn, 'if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you.'” –Lewis Carroll

Mirabelle Lindquist
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Psychology

Hometown: Macomb, MI
Majors: Biomedical Sciences and General Psychology
Minor: Chemistry
Year in School: Junior
Interests: Doing judo, playing the violin, traveling, shopping, hanging out with friends, and just having a good ole time.
Involvement: Lee Honors College
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I find that I take my education very seriously, putting forth only my best work. I think it would be a great opportunity for someone like me to be able to help others also see the value in education. By being able to help teach students particular subjects and concepts, I feel that I could further not only their understanding of material, but mine as well. Being a peer mentor gives me a chance to give back to my community by sharing what I know, and trying to encourage others to endeavor in their own educational and life journeys.
Career Goals: My plan is to finish my undergraduate schooling with the degrees I am pursuing and go to a renown medical school, in pursuit of becoming a successful psychiatrist.
Advice: Don't be afraid of the future, and determine your own destiny.
Quote: “Be water, my friend.” – Bruce Lee

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

Eri Ohno
Peer Mentor

Subject: Japanese

Hometown: Saitama, Japan
Major: Film, Video, and Media Studies
Minor: Art
Year in School: Junior
Interests: Music, TV, movies, sports, beaches, food, and friends.
Why I want to be a peer mentor: I have been helping students learn Japanese since I came to the U.S., and I found it very enjoyable. I also feel motivated when students are trying hard to learn something.
Career Goals: To work in the field of TV production. I want to be involved in creating great TV shows.
Advice: People make mistakes, so don't lose your motivations because of it. The important parts are what you learn from the mistake and how you use the opportunities to be better yourself next time.
Quote: "The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything." – Theodore Roosevelt

Natalia Ruiz Vargas 
Peer Mentor

Subjects: 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

Vikhil Hemant Wilson
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics (including Calculus) and Statistics

Hometown: Kerala, India
Program: Master of Business Administration in Computer Information System (Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Instrumentation)
Interests: Computer programming, basketball, soccer, tennis, and football
Why I want to be a Peer Mentor: I want to help students gain necessary skills for their future, so they may be successful in school and also in their career. Learning quantitative subjects is really interesting and I will try my best to help my students experience that by using some tips and techniques.
Career Goals: To become a business analyst after completing my MBA degree.
Quote: "First they ignore you, then they laught at you, then they fight you, then you win." – Mahatma Gandhi

Scott Zech
Peer Mentor

Subjects: Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Introductory Engineering

Hometown: Plymouth, MI
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year in School: Junior
Interests: Sports (mainly soccer), friends, video games
Why I want to be a peer mentor: To help others understand subjects that I enjoy. To become a better person and to improve myself in skills like leadership. Also to learn/understand/become familiar with subjects that I have not done in a while.
Advice: Everyone learns in a different way and speed. Always be open to new ideas/ways to solve problems, you may like someone else’s way better.