Timothy Dwight First Year Counselors 2024 - 2025First-Year Counselors, colloquially known as “FroCos,” seek to ease the transition of incoming first-years to the academic, social, and cultural life of Yale College. FroCos are exceptional seniors to live among first-year students in TD and offer oversight, advice, and guidance. TD has 10 FroCos from diverse backgrounds and unique experiences in their time as undergraduates. They are beyond excited to be working with the newest class of first-year Red Lions. |
 |
Pranava Dhar (Head FroCo) Pranava (he/him) is from Noida, India. He is pursuing a Cognitive Science major with a language certificate in Italian. On campus, Pranava does vision science research with the Perception and Cognition Lab, but he has explored RA positions across the School of Management and Yale School of the Environment. He’s active in (and proud of!) the international community and has helped put together OIS as both a Counselor in 2022 and a Head Counselor in 2023. Additionally, he is a board member of Dwight Hall’s Yale Children’s Theater — a group which teaches local school children theater through silly plays about ice-cream melting villains and the like. Pranava has previously volunteered with New Haven Reads to assist local literacy education and Elena’s Light to support Afghan refugees in New Haven. TD has been, by far, Pranava’s favourite part of Yale — and he cannot wait to welcome the class of ’28 to the TD community and New Haven! |
 |
Julian Barrera (he/him) grew up in Miguel Aleman, Tamps., and Roma, TX. He is majoring in Environmental Studies with a certificate in Energy Studies. On campus, Julian recently founded Yalies Fronterizos, a social and cultural space for students from the US-Mexico border region. He is also involved in SUBE: the Yale Latinx Business and Leadership Association, contributes design work for Claro Que Si! Magazine, and is part of the Zero Waste Team at the Office of Sustainability, actively working to reduce waste on campus. Julian has also served as an Ambassador for the Office of Admissions and was the YCC First-Year Representative and an Outreach Aide for TD. In his free time, Julian enjoys filming outdoors, playing Fortnite and Mario Kart with his nephew and friends, journaling, running, and drinking lots of coffee. He looks forward to meeting the Class of 2028 and welcoming the new Red Lions to TD! |
 |
Arantxa (she/her) was born and raised in Clifton, New Jersey. She is an English major pursuing a Chinese language certificate. At Yale, she previously served on the English department’s student advisory board and on the Poorvu Center’s student advisory committee. Arantxa now co-chairs Contigo Perú (Yale’s only Peruvian cultural group), acts as one of two TD Head Aides, and works as a Yale-China New Haven Public Library Senior Fellow. Arantxa is also involved with Yale’s Chinese language department – serving as Yale’s Chinese Language and Career Initiative Director of Events and Speakers, volunteering at Yale’s Chinese language department events, and practicing daily conversation at the department’s weekly Mandarin language tables. Outside of her extracurricular commitments, Arantxa loves going to the New Haven Public Library, taking long walks, and cooking Peruvian food. She also enjoys trying new coffee shops and baking with her friends in the TD kitchen. She is so excited to meet TD’s class of 2028 and is thrilled to show them everything there is to love about our community! |
 |
Julia (she/her) is from Coral Springs, Florida, and is pursuing her B.S. in Cognitive Science. When not working as a Research Assistant in the LLAMB lab, you can find her sketching out potential clinical research questions at STEEP cafe! She’s striving for a career in clinical psychology and is especially passionate about behavior regulation development in neurodivergent children. She grew up playing softball competitively, so she loves participating in club softball at Yale. She enjoys walking around New Haven scoping out new farmer’s markets and thrift stores. On the weekends, she often attends drag shows and concerts at College Street Music Hall. On a sunny day, she loves laying in the hammocks of the TD courtyard with a mystery book. She and her cat, Pepper, are excited to welcome the new class of Red Lions! |
 |
Yoska Guta was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and raised in Oakland, CA, but currently resides in Harrisburg, PA. She is a Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) and Religious Studies double major on the premed track. On campus, you can find her conducting research in Professor Nachtergaele’s RNA lab, working in Marx Library, and volunteering at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH). She is also involved in the Christian community at Yale, where she serves with Christian Union Lux and writes for Logos—Yale’s undergraduate journal of Christian thought. In her free time, Yoska loves going for runs, taking photos of nature around campus, reading, and spending time with her family. She also enjoys watching movies (when she’s not sleeping through them) and hosting game nights. She is eager to meet and welcome the class of 2028 to the TD community! |
 |
Sreenivas Kuntamukkala is from Saint Johns, FL and studies History with certificates in data science and Russian. On campus, Sreenivas served as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Review of International Studies (YRIS), Yale’s premier undergraduate global affairs publication, and board member of the Yale International Relations Association. He worked as an RA at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs and is a member of the Dwight Hall Socially Responsible Investment group and TAMID at Yale. During his first-year summer, he interned through Dwight Hall at a local nonprofit called the Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven. In his sophomore summer, he studied abroad in Tbilisi, Georgia to take Russian language classes and now currently works as an intern at Barclays Investment Bank in NYC. In his free time, Sreenivas loves film, rap music, and 20th century world history. He is thrilled to meet the new incoming class of TD Red Lions! |
 |
Trinity Lee (she/her) is from Metro Detroit, Michigan studying the History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health on the pre-med track. On campus, Trinity has served as a Captain of the Yale Figure Skating Team, plays viola in the Davenport Pops Orchestra, and will serve as President of the American Medical Women’s Association. Trinity also works in the Damsky Lab at the School of Medicine, where she conducts clinical Dermatology research. She enjoys volunteering at the Yale New Haven Hospital, HAVEN Free Clinic, tutoring for Baram, and serving as a peer tutor for Physics 170. In her free time, Trinity loves going on long walks, composing music, and watching reality TV. Trinity is so excited to meet and welcome the class of 2028 to the TD community! |
 |
Georgette Uwera Nyiraneza (She/Her) is from Kigali, Rwanda, and is majoring in Global Affairs. She works as a Recording Studio Aide for TD’s Head of College Office, serves as a board member for the Yale Black Women’s Coalition, and is active in the Yale African Students Association. Georgette also sings in the Yale Undergraduate Gospel Choir and frequently performs with her TD friends at singer/songwriter showcases on campus. She has been involved with the Yale Law School’s Lowenstein International Human Rights Project as a researcher, volunteered at the Yale Prison Education Initiative, and currently works as a research assistant at the Center for Policing Equity, an NGO empowering vulnerable Black and Brown communities in the US through public safety redesign. In addition to her extracurricular commitments, Georgette is a fierce journaler and welcomes every opportunity to write letters to friends and loved ones. She also enjoys going on walks around New Haven and taking infinite photos of the stunning architecture and magical nooks of greenery. She is very excited to meet TD’s wonderful class of 2028! |
 |
Mariama (she/her) is from New York City, by way of Guinea in West Africa. She is majoring in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration and Political Science, and is passionate about serving communities of color at the intersection of policy and non-profit work. She is currently a mentor with the Urban Improvement Corps at the AFAM House, tutoring New Haven students and recently joined the Lowenstein Human Rights Project at Yale Law School, assisting the Decarceration in Connecticut Project. On campus, she is on the inaugural board of the Yale Africa Innovation Symposium, cultivating innovative solutions to pressing issues on the continent, and is the former co-president of the Yale Black Muslim Student Association. During her time at Yale, she has interned at the White House as a domestic policy intern to Vice President Harris and was also a congressional intern for Congresswoman DeLauro. Her heart lies with public service that is client-facing, leading her to work as an investigative intern at the Public Defender Service of Washington, D.C., and as a client services intern at A Wider Circle, a non-profit organization aiding low-income clients with furniture, clothing, and job finding. This summer, she aims to continue public service work in London, volunteering with a refugee non-profit organization while taking international relations courses at the London School of Economics. In her free time, you can find her dancing with DZANA, an Afro-fusion dance team, journaling, hosting movie nights with friends, knitting, reading (rarely, unless it’s romance ;)), and binge-watching sitcoms. She is so excited to meet the class of 2028 and welcome the newest Red Lions to TD! |
 |
Giri (he/him) is from Pittsburgh, PA, and is studying Global Affairs with certificates in Global Health Studies and Journalism. As a student on the pre-med track, Giri is interested in democratizing healthcare through storytelling: most recently, he’s served as a photography editor, public health reporter, and Science and Technology editor for the Yale Daily News, and he enjoys writing for publications on and off campus. Giri has also been involved in Yale’s a cappella community as a tenor and publicity manager for the Yale Spizzwinks(?), and he conducts health economics research in the Goshua Lab for Decision Sciences at the School of Medicine. A former AmeriCorps member, he volunteers at HAVEN Free Clinic as an education counselor, has taught international relations to New Haven high school students through Hemispheres, and conducts hypertension screenings at community kitchens around the city. In his free time, you can find Giri whizzing around New Haven on his bike, strumming his guitar in the TD courtyard, or binging cooking videos on YouTube. He’s also a movie night enthusiast—though he’s not averse to swapping out Netflix for a surprisingly intense game of Catan. Giri can’t wait to welcome the next generation of Red Lions to TD! |