Suelita Delorme '21

STORY CONTRIBUTED BY Liz Hall, BAY PATH STUDENT NEWSROOM Associate Editor

Suelita Delorme is a Neuroscience major with a concentration in Neurobiology and is excited to graduate and enter adulthood. She is multilingual, speaking three languages fluently and currently learning two more.

What is a highlight from your time at Bay Path?

I transferred to Bay Path during my senior year. I attended an adventurous week of excitement for orientation. This was where it all started. I met intelligent and inspiring young women whom I can call my best pal. The moment that we started to be open with each other came when we did the 'trust fall.' At that very moment, we felt close and welcoming among each other. I do not remember the campsite we visited, but I can still picture and feel the joy of being there. It was one of the moments I will not forget and I will always deeply cherish it.

What lessons have you learned from your time at Bay Path?

In the WELL program's WEL310 course, we had to create our resume and learn to negotiate our salaries. I will definitely be using those methods and techniques. We can empower ourselves and say: “This is my experience and level of education, I deserve to have compensation as anyone else." It was a great takeaway from the WELL program that I will not take for granted.

Were there any staff or faculty members that played an important role in your college career?

Oh, I can name a lot of faculty members that helped me. Ever since I transferred to Bay Path I was lost because I didn’t know where to start. I started off as an exploratory major because I needed to know what I needed to do until I found my passion which is neuroscience. Dr. Weins, who is also my academic advisor, was incredibly helpful to me during this time. She helped me study and change my study techniques so that I could learn the information and get better grades. Not many professors would sit down with you face-to face to help you understand your study techniques and methods to help you improve in any college course you take.

Dr. Rivera-Colón, who also taught biochemistry, was such a fun teacher to be around. Her class is challenging, and no joke, but she makes you understand those challenging classes which I appreciate. If you look at the long lectures you think you’re not going to get through it. We need to break it down and compose the parts. I formed that in my mind and it made me think “This isn’t so bad." It helped me define opportunities that are out there and are related to my experience because she knows I want to do anything neuroscience related. She was really helpful with that. She is also helping me with writing and structuring my grant proposal, to make sure I am framing it right and I am on the right path.

What made you want to get involved in the DEI subcommittee?

I was actually recruited. Elizabeth Cardona reached out to me and said “Hey, you could do this." I was hesitant because I didn’t know if it was the right area for me and if I would be able to meet the expectations, as they challenged me. I spoke in front of plenty of high ranking people at the University over Zoom meetings and I was so nervous at first. But that nervousness went away because I’m getting used to it and they put me in that leadership position. It’s like they put me in a seat and told me to take the role, and we can tell them what we need and what Bay Path needs for a change when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. I feel like such a confident, resilient, and empowered young women. Just a couple years ago, I was this shy timid girl. And look at me now! I’m talking in front of professionals and presenting work that I worked hard on and lost nights from, but it was so worth it. Because I’m getting my voice heard and it’s so important for students to get their voice heard, it was an incredible time for me when I was a part of DEI. And none of it would have happened if I didn’t go to campus activities or if I stayed in my dorm room. It was because I put myself out there that I was able to get those opportunities.

What plans do you have for after graduation?

Right now I’m going to take a break, because after what’s been going on with the pandemic we all deserve a break as graduating seniors. I’m going to take a year off to explore, and travel. If everything starts to open back up I’m going to take those opportunities and go somewhere. And then I want to get involved in my career. I’m not a “set in stone” person, I'm a more versatile person who likes to explore different opportunities in my career. When it comes to neuroscience, I’m looking for internships for exposure to my career field. I’ll land into something that I really want to do as I get older.

How long have you been a WEL100 peer mentor? Has there been a class or an individual that stuck out to you?

I have to say… it’s been a year now… time flies so fast. It was during the time when I was apart of DEI and so I had to juggle both those things.

I enjoyed all of the students. I love to see how engaging they are despite them coming in as students from the pandemic and saying this is the new normal. I’m glad how well they were able to adjust well to that. I know it’s not easy. If I was a freshman I don't know if I would be able to handle it because I would need the face-to-face personally to teach me what it’s like to have the BPU experience. Getting to see the involvement and engagement was very impactful. To all the students who tried their best even though it was so challenging I really applaud them.

Why did you decide to restart the ASL Club?

American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language for me because I have two deaf siblings. In the past, I didn't know what it meant to be deaf because I wasn't really taught about the deaf community. Growing up I thought it was just a natural language to learn, like English is a natural language for us to learn because we grew up in this culture. It was a second language that I didn’t know was a second language until I got much older.

I revived the ASL group because I think it's important for students to learn a second language. ASL is very similar to English and so it wouldn’t be hard for English speakers to learn ASL. And I think it is very crucial for that club to be incorporated into classrooms. There are plenty of students who come to me and ask if there are courses where they can learn ASL, and I wish I had the answer. Once I started this club I was so surprised by the attendance and how many people wanted to learn the language. I hope it continues on in the future and that students have that passion like I did to hold this club together and keep it alive.

This article is also featured in the April 2021 issue of the Network News Student Magazine.