2026 UCHI Student Ambassadors
PJ BEKKALI
Pronouns: he/they
Major: English (pre-law), with Minors in Religion and Political Science
PJ is a junior at UConn. He intends to pursue a career in law and uses his writing to share his opinions and emotions. He has published a couple of articles in the Daily Campus, and a few of his poems in various publications. He has also performed some of these poems live. He recently joined the student organization Page to Stage and acted in his first production as Benvolio from Romeo & Juliet. When not writing, you can find him reading or listening to one of his 150 (and counting!) playlists.
TOMAS HINCKLEY
Pronouns: he/him
Major: Political Science and Sociology
Tomas is a third year at the University of Connecticut pursuing a double major in Political Science and Sociology. He can often be found drafting his latest weekly column for The Daily Campus, UConn's student newspaper, or doing anything but studying for the LSAT. As a writer and community organizer, Tomas hopes to challenge the status quo and look towards our collective liberation. But life isn't just work, and so he also spends time doing Muay Thai or playing jazz piano with his band.
SUGITA MAHENDARKAR
Pronouns: she/her
Major: Physiology and Neurobiology, with a Minor in Healthcare Management and Insurance Studies
Sugita is an undergraduate student at the University of Connecticut pursuing a B.S. in Physiology and Neurobiology. With a background in health education, service, and clinical work, she looks for ways to integrate education, empathy, and advocacy in all she does. On campus, she mentors freshmen through the AMP program, presents weekly on wellbeing and health as a Sexpert, serves as a research assistant in the Kinsey Lab, and spends time in the Green Garden—a community garden founded through her Innovate Wellness Challenge involvement. As she works towards a future in healthcare, Sugita can often be found doodling (constantly), reading graphic novels, and scouring Spotify for new music.
JENNA ULIZIO
Pronouns: they/them
Major: English and History, minor in Digital Public History
Jenna is from Durham, Connecticut, where they take care of a growing number of plants, frequently daydream, and haunt their local library. They have published short stories, audio fiction, and poetry, and they plan on pursuing a career in Library Science. They currently work at the university's Writing Center as well as the library's Digital Photography Lab. They've also interned at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and the William Benton Museum of Art. In their spare time, they can be found doing tech for Page to Stage Productions (where they occasionally end up on stage, too).
REBECCA “REBE” WAHL
Pronouns: she/her
Major: Marketing (B-School) and Communications
Rebe Wahl is a current sophomore at the University of Connecticut double-majoring in Marketing and Communications. As an attention-deprived triplet, her first love is talking to anyone and everyone. Fueled by Cumberland Farms XL iced coffees and heaps of buttered toast, Rebe is a ball of energy who loves to share her enthusiasm through teaching, especially in unique settings as a student teacher in CT state prisons and an English tutor for Spanish-speaking adults! While Rebe is still wildly confused about her future (a subject of frequent panic), she knows that her destiny must involve LOTS of talking and creative collaboration on a global scale, preferably in a city known for their fabulous bread products. Rebe will know that she’s made it when she’s invited as a guest speaker on Theo Von’s podcast, This Past Weekend.
NICOLE “STORM” YOUNG
Pronouns: sher/her
Major: Psychology & Chinese w/ minor in English (pre-med & pre-law)
Nicole “Storm” Young is a Louisiana-born writer with a soft spot for big feelings, messy truths, and the music of everyday life. STEM major by day and poet by night, her work often explores identity, memory, and the human heart with a voice shaped by the South. When she is not making potions in a chemistry lab or writing, you'll most likely find her in Kconn, UConn's K-pop club on campus, dancing to Korean songs or curled up on her couch with her two cats, Coco and Loki, watching a new show. She’s always in passport mode, with her recent travels taking her out of the country to Italy and Taiwan, her next taking her to Greece and Guatemala. Nicole is aspiring to attend Medical and Law school with hopes of being a Obstetrician-Gynecologist, with a focus on the Obstetrician side of things, a Medical Malpractice lawyer or Criminal Justice lawyer. She has options! Nicole dedicates everything that she does to her great-grandmother and her mother and to the most important person of all to her... the little girl inside her.
2025 UCHI Student Ambassadors
DAVID CABECEIRAS
Pronouns: he/they
Major: English (Creative Writing)
David Cabeceiras is a former undergraduate student at the University of Connecticut with a degree in English, specializing in creative writing. Before graduating last fall, he spent time as a captain of the Uconn Boxing Team, and the head of the Reckless Gents Comedy Troupe on campus. He helped to create the only student directed, written, and produced recurring comedy show on campus, Storrs Late Night. After graduating, he has found a new passion in pursuit of legal education, hoping to act as an advocate for others in need, hoping to bring up others around him and empower them to do the same. While not engaging in tomfoolery, or taking practice LSAT's, David finds joy in playing Table Top games, arguing with friends about the validity of red velvet as a flavor, and reading comic books.
Watch David’s story, “Punching Up”
HANNAH DANG
Pronouns: she/her
Major: English
Hannah is a Vietnamese American writer and student at the University of Connecticut (UConn) majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing and writing and composition studies. Poet at heart, Hannah’s enamor for all things writing has blossomed ever since she was a kid, and now, she is studying to pursue her dream of a career in publishing and releasing books of her own one day. Academic endeavors and career prospects aside, Hannah is a mentor at UConn’s Asian/Asian American Mentoring Program, an undergraduate tutor at UConn's Writing Center, a member of UConn's Long River Review, and frequents general body meetings held by UConn's Vietnamese Student Association. Since she was a first-year student, she has also worked as a blog moderator for the Disability & Access Collective Blog. If she is not burying her nose in a novel, Hannah loves to binge anime and manga, consume healthy doses of rock and heavy metal music, and snuggle with her pet bunnies.
Watch Hannah’s story, “Full Load”
AISHA HASHIMI
Pronouns: she/her
Major: Allied Health Sciences (Health Sciences), with a minor in Molecular and Cell Biology
Aisha Hashimi is a first-generation Afghan American and an undergraduate student at the University of Connecticut majoring in Allied Health Sciences. She spends most of her time volunteering by helping Afghan refugees and tutoring younger children. She is also an International Baccalaureate (IB) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. scholar. In the future, Aisha hopes to attend medical school to become a dermatologist, with the goal of making a positive impact through medicine by representing diversity and creating inclusive environments where individuals feel empowered and valued, rather than marginalized.
Watch Aisha’s story, “A Little Ginger”
NATASHA KHETAN
Pronouns: she/her
Major: Allied Health Sciences and Disability Studies (Individualized Major)
Natasha is an undergraduate student at the University of Connecticut pursuing a dual degree: a B.S. in Allied Health Sciences and a B.A. in Disability Studies, the latter being an individualized major. She is passionate about pursuing a career in medicine, inspired by her personal experiences as a patient with a chronic health condition and reaffirmed through various clinical experiences. Natasha is actively involved on campus as a peer leader for the Public Health Learning Community, a Student Program Director for Community Outreach Alternative Breaks, a student worker on the Center for Students with Disabilities Tech Team, and a student researcher in the Feng Lab. Through her education and future career, Natasha aspires to help create a more inclusive and equitable healthcare system where every individual receives the respect, care, and support they deserve. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, playing her flute, and she’s a huge MMA fan!
Watch Natasha’s story, “Houston, We Need a Doctor”
MARTINE AUGUST REMI
Pronouns: they/he/she
Major: Digital Media & Design (Digital Film/Video Production), with a Minor in Dramatic Arts
Martine is a junior at UConn in the DMD program. They work as an AV technician for the Student Union and as a staff member at the Rainbow Center on campus. They have an interest in anything arts related, having participated in theatre productions for 10 years and enjoy hobbies such as crochet, listening to music, and reading.
Watch Martine’s story, “Quiet on Set”
MYLES TATE-ALSGAARD
Pronouns: he/him
Major: General Studies
Myles Tate-Alsgaard is an undergraduate student at The University of Connecticut pursuing a B.A. in general studies. Myles is working towards a career in film and stage writing with his primary focus being fantasy. He has often made a point of including the natural world in his writing and has previously majored in natural resources before transferring. He greatly enjoys animals and has worked with a myriad of species in the past ranging from rare donkeys to wallabies. He hopes that through the medium of film he will be able to reach more people about the plight of our natural world and create lasting media that people will enjoy and cherish. When not working on school Myles enjoys hiking, playing dungeons and dragons, and playing with his cat Nines.
Watch Myles’ story, “Some Kind of Blue”
Story Slam Coaches
JONATHAN M. ADLER
A Professor of Psychology, Jonathan’s work as a scholar, artist, and practitioner focuses on the relationship between narrative identity development and psychological well-being.
GILLIAN EPSTEIN
Dr. Epstein’s work focuses on empowering others to examin, craft, and communicate compelling stories about who they are and what they care about.
