Award Recognition
Indelible Mark
Senior Marshal
Aida is deeply committed to creating connection. This year Aida organized and revitalized COÖP, an overnight, now, no-cost, camping trip for over 300 incoming students and leaders. For many, this is their first time in such settings, but providing avenues to bypass barriers in otherwise intimidating spaces is something that Aida deeply values. As the President of the Columbia Neuroscience Society, she founded Epistemic, an educational summer series for students across NYC with opportunities cancelled during COVID, reinvigorated the annual Encephalon Conference series, and helped to found the Columbia chapter of NeurotechX. She is also the Co-Editor-In-Chief of the Columbia Science Review, a publication that infuses scientific storytelling with imaginative illustrations to create engaging and accessible science. In each of these respective spaces, Aida takes initiative to implement change as an expression of her dedication, gratitude, and commitment to supporting these communities for others to find their place in them.
Who I am today is a mosaic made up of the people I met at Columbia. They taught me what it means to live with an authenticity to myself and towards others, in an effort of truly making the best of the finite years we have. I am humbled by all there is to know and am excited to embark on that journey alongside others, so too, kindled by that fervent spirit.