HOPE Program Celebrates Local High School Students

May 19, 2025
5 min read

Seventy-seven outstanding high school students were honored by Stony Brook Medicine at the 2025 Health Occupations Partnership for Excellence (HOPE) Program Moving-Up and Graduation Ceremony on May 6 in the Bauman Center. The 2025 HOPE cohort featured 35 graduating seniors and 42 juniors. Students attend HOPE from four partner school districts: Brentwood, Longwood, William Floyd and Wyandanch. 

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Graduating seniors pose with their cords and certificates at the HOPE Moving-Up and Graduation Ceremony on May 6.

Seven graduates will attend Stony Brook University this fall, pursuing majors that include biology, health sciences, chemistry and biomedical engineering; one is a Simons STEM Scholar. Others will bring their enthusiasm for the health sciences to places like Columbia, Barnard, St. John’s and Cornell, as well as the Army National Guard. 

The students were joined by their families, teachers, administrators, HOPE program facilitators and institutional leaders from Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Medicine. Judi Brown Clarke, vice president for equity and inclusion, chief health equity officer and chief diversity officer, delivered opening remarks, commending the students for their hard work, inviting them to join the health science fields and reiterating that our communities need them. Sylvia Diaz, deputy county executive for health, human services and education and Stony Brook alumna, was the keynote speaker and emphasized the importance of public health as a focus for those in health occupations. 

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Left to Right: Anna Etienne, Elizabeth Cruz and Zohia Tahir, Brentwood High School seniors, with their vision boards.

HOPE is a two-year program for high school juniors and seniors that offers insight and mentorship to students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare and medicine. Since its inception in 2005, it has launched the college careers of almost 300 students from underrepresented and underserved communities across Long Island. 

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Sylvia Diaz, Suffolk County deputy county executive for health, human services and education, shares her keynote address with those gathered for the 2025 HOPE Moving-Up and Graduation Ceremony.

The graduates shared their personal stories through vision boards and six-word memoirs. A representation of the students’ dreams, ambitions and growth, the vision boards were displayed on the stage and projected as each student received a participation award. While on stage, the seniors shared a six-word memoir, an activity inspired by the Six-Word Memoir ® Project. These reflections were a highlight of the event and contained common threads of optimism in the wake of challenge, as well as gratitude toward those who lifted them up. Some inspiring examples include:

“Fell, rose, grew, still reaching higher” — Farah Alzafarani

“Strength in struggle, purpose in service” — Nicholas Nieves

“Their broken English, my fluent future” — Joel Espinoza

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Nicholas Nieves, Longwood High School senior, shares his six-word memoir while Heather Banoub, assistant vice president for University and Medicine Community Relations, and Carl Mills, associate vice president for Government Relations, University and Medicine, look on. Members of Stony Brook Music & Medicine provide accompaniment.

The HOPE program is planned and managed by the University and Hospital Community Relations Office. For the last three years, student assistant Katie Hsu has helped to coordinate the program. Departments and groups from across Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Medicine led presentations, tours and training during the 2024-25 school year. Presenters included Senior Leadership, Admissions; Career Center; Biomedical Engineering; Alda Center for Communicating Science; Internal Medicine; Pediatrics; Psychiatry and Psychology; Renaissance School of Medicine’s Black Men in White Coats; School of Dental Medicine; School of Health Professions; School of Nursing; School of Social Welfare; Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery; Cancer Center; Radiology & Biomedical Informatics; Sports Medicine; Stony Brook Simulation Lab; Stony Brook HOME Clinic; Stony Brook Volunteer Ambulance Corps; and the University Police Department.

— Kristin Cuomo

HOPE Seniors 2024-25

Brentwood High School

Alejandra Diaz Lopez

Anna Etienne

Cynthia Ventura

Elizabeth Benitez

Elizabeth Cruz

Erika Abigail Chavez

Farah Alzafarani

Jaeda Quinones

Joel Espinoza

Lucero Martinez Colindres

Michelle Leal

Nica Fairweather

Olivia Montoya

Samuel Hasfal

Sophia Hernandez

Zohia Tahir

Zuleyka Rivera

Longwood High School

Katelynn Bair

Royce Conlon

Layla Daloia

Stephanie Galvez

Philip Kesse III

Maira Nabi

Nicholas Nieves

Kamsiyochukwu Okocha

Avi Patel

Marcy Pauleus

Cadence Pichardo

Trinity Roman

Erica Spady

Margaret Tagger

Dominique-Ashley Wills

Emily Yalcin

Wyandanch High School

Julieth Sarmiento Vasquez

Kyvena Canal

HOPE Juniors 2024-25

Brentwood High School

Aamina Raju

Aisha Mahmood

Alexander Asiamah

Alexandra Alvarado

Alexandra Ordonez

Benjamin Velis

Erika Romero

Evelyn Macas

Janely Chavez Pleites

Jasmine Contreras

Maham Farooq

Marjorie Romero

Melissa Saravia

Longwood High School

Alexis Lollo

Arleth Rivera

Aubreyanna Schwetje

Casey Muchirahondo

Catherine Baker

Colin Vassallo

Erika Lopez

Gianna Landetta

Grace Mitchell

Jaslene Perkins

Katherine Valdes Ramos

Logan Cohen

Mary Sherman

Olivia Stuto

Salma Saber

Sharika Emran

William Floyd High School 

Alison Koshita

Ciara Chicaiza

Courtney Petersen

Elif Akgun

Jaiden D’Eredita

Jibran Akaloo

Jordan Hua

Julianna Melendez

Laaibah Khan

Violet Yau

Wyandanch High School

Brennely Euceda

Keiry Argueta

Leslie Bonilla