The Decree
since 1960 “of, by, andfor the Wesleyan community. ”
May 31, 2019
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
Venezuelan Grad Discusses Tennis
Title, New Job, Life Back Home
It’s been a busy past month for
Stephany Barbera.
A native of Barquisimento, Venezuela,
she was co-captain on a tennis team that
dominated the USA South Conference and
earned a berth in the NCAA Division III
regional tournament. She hosted her family
at her May 4th graduation. Now the business
and marketing major looks forward to mov
ing to Miami. where her first job awaits her.
The Decree interviewed Barbera
following the NCAA regionals.
Q. What led you to Wesleyan in the
first place?
A. As a tennis player, I made a video of
me playing and posted it on YouTube with
my contact information in order to be recruit
ed by coaches from different colleges and
universities in the U.S. What made me come
to Wesleyan was the tennis program and the
scholarship that the college offered me.
Q. What did you learn about yourself
over the past four years?
A. I learned that I’m able to achieve anything
I want as long as I work toward my dreams.
When I first came here, my English was very
limited, but with a lot of practice, I learned
the language and graduated with honors.
Q. What was special about the 2019
women’s tennis team?
A. I loved the diversity of the team since
all the players were internationals. It was
so special to see how all team members
brought something different that, all
together, helped us to accomplish our goals.
This year, we defeated a nationally ranked
team (College of New Jersey, at 26th) for
the first time in the program's history.
Q. What, for you, was the most mem
orable moment about the past season?
A. It was definitely winning the confer
ence. but also the amazing trip we had in
Florida for spring break, when we were able
to play really good DI and DII schools.
Q. What was the most memorable
moment from your time at Wesleyan?
Honors Students Conduct Research on Array of Subjects
Taylor-Crocker Program
At Highest Enrollment
Dr. Fred Sanborn was impressed by
presentations made by seniors in the
Taylor-Crocker Honors Program dur
ing the past academic year.
“The projects ran a huge gamut of
topics, from the creation of a business app
to original cancer research,” said Dr. San
born, the assistant director of the program.
"I was impressed by the projects this
year. The final presentations were a good
indication of the time and effort put in by
the students and their faculty directors.”
Fifteen seniors completed an in-depth
project during tire year. Directed by a facul
ty mentor, the projects span two semesters,
with the students often doing preliminary
research during the preceding summer. Dr.
Sanborn was acting director during spring
semester, while Dr. Bill Yankosky took
time for a research sabbatical.
Last year Wesleyan's honors program
grew to 65 members, the most ever.
"As a whole, the honors students are
very impressive,” Dr. Sanborn said. “It’s
remarkable the effort they put into their
work as well the leadership positions they
tend to take on campus and beyond. What
impresses me most is that the honors stu
dents just care a lot-about their education,
about Wesleyan, about their communities,
and about the world. They’re willing to
take action to improve their world, which
makes me hopeful about the future."
Last month. The Decree interviewed six
of the honors students, five of whom plan
to attend graduate school next year, while
the sixth is launching his own business.
Beverly Anaele
Q. Describe your project.
A. My research was focused on under
standing how mosquitoes respond to a
natural plant extract from the American beau
tyberry. This is a plant endemic to the south-
eastern parts of the U.S. and it has chemicals
in it that repel lots of insects like ticks, red fire
ants, and mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are vectors
A. It’s hard to choose only one. Besides
winning the conference with the team, I
would say it was being inducted to the Na
tional Society of Leadership and Success,
and of course, graduation.
Q. You’re the only graduating senior and
there is only one junior on the team. Make a
prediction: How will the Bishops do next year?
A. I believe the team will do great next
year. They have very strong players and
I'm positive that they can go even further.
Q. I’d like to turn to what’s been happening
in Venezuela. Describe your family’s daily life.
A. There’s no secret that the situation in
Venezuela is difficult right now. All my fam
ily lives there. My parents own a business and
my brother's in his junior year of high school.
Among the challenges faced on a daily basis
are finding food in supermarkets, waiting
hours in line to put gas in the cars, and expe
riencing shortages of power (electricity). It
was fortunate that they were able to come for
graduation and they're still here with me.
Q. While a Wesleyan student, how and
how often did you keep in touch with them.
How often were you able to visit home?
A. We did video calls at least once a week, but
we texted each other back and forth every day. I
tried to go home every Christmas break, because
I stayed in the States every summer to work.
Q. How do you follow news events
there in Venezuela?
A. I search newspapers or social media
on line. In Venezuela, mass media and
communications are mostly controlled by
the government, so we don’t really have
that much access to news on TV.
Q. What do you hope happens in your country?
A. I really hope we can get rid of the cur
rent government soon and start to build a new
country. There have been lots of innocent
people who have died. In hospitals, children
die every day because there are not enough
medical supplies. Our economy is very un
stable. with inflation as high as anywhere on
Earth. There are a lot of changes to be made,
for tons of diseases like malaria and Zika, so
it’s important we understand how to stop this
transmission. I worked with Dr. (Erica) Kosal
to determine what concentrations of this plant
extract would repel mosquitoes the most. We
looked at their behavioral differences, includ
ing their feeding patterns. We also learned how
to maintain mosquito populations in the lab,
which was a pretty cool challenge on its own.
Q. What was most challenging about
the project?
A. It was definitely keeping the mosquitoes
alive! There was a protocol online that we fol
lowed. but most lab protocols have to be modi
fied for the institution where you're working.
It was sort of like a puzzle, each piece coming
together to create a finalized list of methods
that may not appear very extensive but took
much research and brainstorming to develop.
Q. What did you learn about yourself?
A. It taught me how much of a deter
mined individual I am as well as how much I
value collaboration. There were many times
when I would need to stay in the lab for sev
eral hours preparing experimental trials, and
I'm proud that I was able to work as hard as
I did. I also could not have finalized my proj
ect without valuable help from my director.
Dr. Kosal, and several other faculty members
and students. This project showed me that
“teamwork really does make the dream
work” (not to be philosophical, but it’s true),
and that lifelong friends can be made through
sharing your passions with each other.
Q. Be more specific about your director's role.
A. Dr. Kosal played a huge role in this
project. She started working on this thesis
with me during the end of my sophomore
year, taking time out of her day to brainstorm
ideas with me, analyze results, and gather my
data. It was because of a trip I took with her
Conservation Biology class that I learned the
American beautyberry existed. We both sort
of looked at each other when we found out
that it has repellency factors and I could see
the same spark of excitement in her eyes that
I knew were reflected in mine. She helped me
organize my thoughts for the project's objec
tives and my written/oral report, connected me
but we need
to get rid of the
dictatorship
we live under
right now.
Q. What is
that you want
Stephany Barbera si
photo
Americans to know about Venezuela?
A. I would love for Americans to know
what actually happens in other countries,
especially Venezuela. I’d like for them to fol
low the news and to look for ways in which
they can help the people there by making
donations or providing other types of aid.
Americans don’t know how fortunate they
are compared to other countries in the world.
Q. Talk about the difficulties in living
overseas during turbulent times back home.
A. It’s very difficult to leave home in
order to pursue your dreams. But it’s even
harder when you know everything that is
happening in your country, especially with
your family and friends still there. Constantly
I feel hopeless and desperate because there’s
nothing much I can do from here besides
letting people know about what’s going on
there. Sometimes I try to stay positive and it
makes me feel better speaking to my family
and knowing they're okay regardless of the
circumstances. It hasn’t been easy being tar
away from home during difficult times, but
knowing that I'm doing my best here (which
makes my family very proud) comforts me.
Q. Finish by telling us what’s next for you.
A. Right now, I’ll be moving to Miami.
I’ll be working at Marcus Evans Company,
which is an international business consulting
company with multiple offices all over the
world. I’ll be there as a sales and development
executive. I start in lune. I'm very excited for
this new opportunity, which I believe will help
me to grow in the business world. I decided
to move to Horida because I have family and
friends there , it is easier for my parents to fly
there from home, and I’d love to live by the
beach (I don’t like winter, so it’ll be great!).
with conferences, and even contacted a nearby
university to help me get even more input from
a professor working on mosquitoes. Dr. Kosal
was one of the biggest motivators I had in this
thesis. She’s someone I can call a close friend.
Q. What are your plans for next year
and the future?
A. I plan to attend Thomas Jefferson
University to obtain my Master's in Public
Health degree. I hope to use this to con
tinue researching infectious diseases like
malaria and to start a nonprofit and/or go
into medicine for underserved areas.
Jessica Brabble
Q. Describe your project.
A. My honors thesis is a student role-play
ing game based on the "Reacting to the Past”
pedagogy. Tris pedagogy puts students into an
important historical moment and assigns them
historical roles to play. In my case, I based my
game upon the 1898-1899 Senate debate about
whether to ratify the Treaty of Paris after the
Spanish-American War. This was a divisive
topic in 1898-1899 because it meant deciding
whether America would become an imperial
power and take over the Philippine Islands.
Q. What was most challenging about
the project?
A. For me, the most challenging part was
staying on task. For this project, I had to cre
ate a game book, role sheets for 17 characters,
an introductory paper, and some other key
elements. In total, it ended up being over
250 pages of content. It was certainly a lot to
keep in mind, and I had to remain disciplined
enough to make sure that I had as many ele
ments as possible ready by the beginning of
March so that I could then play test my game.
Q. What did you learn about yourself?
A. I did this project while working two
jobs, doing my senior seminar for history,
applying for graduate school, and balancing
all of my other classes. Because of that. I’ve
learned that as long as I have a planner, I can
manage my time pretty well.
Q. What role did your director play?
A. Dr. (Jonathan) Sarris was extremely
helpful throughout this process. He’s the
one that introduced me (and my classmates)
ASPIRE Student Endured Cancer,
Hurricane to Earn College Degree
Cecilia Patino overcame two cancer
diagnoses, a hurricane, and family hard
ship to earn a college degree through
the Wilmington ASPIRE program.
On May 4, she was one of more than 100
new grads to walk across the stage at the
Rocky Mount Event Center. Her parents
were among family members in attendance,
while others watched the proceedings over an
online video link from Cordoba, Argentina.
"As I was waiting for my name to be
called, I couldn't help but feel over
whelmed and so blessed to be standing
there.” she said. “It all felt like a puzzle
finally coming together."
A few years after she was found to have
ovarian cancer, Patino was diagnosed with
breast cancer at age 24. She underwent
two lumpectomies within a year, interrupt
ing her studies at a community college.
“At the time I felt as if the world was
crumbling on top of me," she recalled. “I
remembered the many times during cancer
Cecilia Patino
to the concept of Reacting to the Past, so
he helped me find a lot of the sources that
I needed to get this project started. He was
also great at answering my off-the-wall,
late night emails. I owe him and my other
committee members. Dr. (Chad) Ross and
Dr. (Molly) Wyatt, a lot for not only helping
me with the project, but with guiding me
through the graduate school process as well.
Q. What are your plans for next year
and the future?
A. In the fall, I will be attending Virginia
Tech in pursuit of an MA in history with a
public history certificate. While there, I plan
to continue working on the Reacting to tire
Past game that I have created with the hopes
of making it a more polished game that can be
played at other colleges. In the future, I hope
to gain my PhD. in history and work either in
higher education or in the public history field.
See HONORS pg 2
ssica Brabble
presidents  up
At the May 4 commencement, Beverly Anaele (right) received
the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award and Jessica Brabble
earned the President's Cup.
treatments when I felt horrible. I cried myself
to sleep many nights, trying to figure out if it
all would be worth it, or if I would die in the
process. I clenched to my faith, I knew God
had a plan for me, and I decided I would
fight, every day, no matter how hard.”
Then, after she recovered her health,
Patino experienced two new setbacks. Her
mother was diagnosed with cancer, and
her father underwent brain surgery and
long convalescence. She took time to care
for them. “This break lasted a lot longer
than expected," she said. "I was unable to
commit to my education when both of my
parents were battling for their life.”
Year's after finishing her associate's degree
and taking courses at a different four-year
school, she enrolled last fall at the Wesleyan
Wilmington campus. The ASPIRE pro
gram attracted her because of the acceler
ated classes and a schedule that allowed her
to continue working. “I was happy to see
that I could still finish my degree even after
taking so much time off.” she said.
Soon after beginning her courses,
Wilmington was hit by Hurricane Florence.
“We were without power for over
two weeks,” she said. "It was uncom
fortable, but I was happy I was safe.”
Though her apartment building sustained
less damage than others in her neighbor
hood, there was a serious mold condition
that forced Patino and her husband. Elias,
to vacate. They lived for two months at
her family’s house and then found a new
apartment, whose management, she said,
was considerate of her situation. Besides
forcing her from her apartment, the hur
ricane caused severe damage to a local hotel
where she was a manager.
After a period of joblessness. Patino se
cured employment as an office assistant at
a massage and acupuncture center in Wilm
ington. Among other duties, she schedules
appointments and does filing and data entry,
she said. “I’m thankful I was able to get a
full-time job and resume my life.”
Able to return to the classroom, Patino
was appreciative of the personal touch she
experienced from the Wesleyan staff— she
singled out her adviser Fabiola Kinney—
and professors. “At a previous school,
the professors cared about my success,
but they weren’t always as dedicated."
she said. "The Wesleyan professors were
understanding and tried to work with me
as much as possible. I always felt my
professors were with me every step of the
way, offering help and advice not only for
my academic goals, but personal goals as
well. I felt I had a strong support system,
outside of my family, which is rare to find
in a school. It was comforting."
Patino graduated with degrees in psy
chology and organizational administration.
"My journey has had a few roadblocks
on the way, but it all felt worth it when
I heard my name at our graduation, fol
lowed by magna cum laude." she said.
"I'm now healthy, cancer free, and excited
to see what God has in store for me."
Photo courtesy of J. Brabble