{"670323":{"#nid":"670323","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Carolina Col\u00f3n is Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers\u2019 National STAR Role Model for 2023","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECarolina Col\u00f3n was 7 years old when she decided she was getting a Ph.D. and starting a lab filled with students with lower grade point averages but lots of untapped potential.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was an ambitious plan for a first grader, and her life journey has been more challenging than she might have imagined. But now she\u2019s laying the foundation for that childhood dream in her second year of Georgia Tech\u2019s bioengineering doctorate program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlong the way, she\u2019s making a point to help others see paths and opportunities she didn\u2019t \u2014 whether they\u2019re fellow Hispanic students interested in engineering, first-generation college students, or especially community or technical college students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer efforts to build community \u2014 as an undergraduate student at two colleges and now among her fellow grad students in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/sulchek\u0022\u003ETodd Sulchek\u003C\/a\u003E\u2019s lab \u2014 are among the many reasons the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/shpe.org\/\u0022\u003ESociety of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)\u003C\/a\u003E has recognized Col\u00f3n with its national \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/shpe.org\/engage\/awards\/star-awards\/\u0022\u003ESTAR Role Model Award\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe award is the highest honor for a SHPE graduate student member, reserved to recognize \u201cunselfish and outstanding contributions of an honoree to their SHPE student chapter and the Hispanic community while maintaining academic excellence.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECol\u00f3n said she doesn\u2019t really see herself as a role model \u2014 except, hopefully, for her 14-year-old sister. She\u2019s a gamer, so instead she drew comparisons to nonplayable characters in video games, like those who might give the player a side quest.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI will be the friend there for you to hold your hand or even help you beat people up if you need to, but I\u2019m a go-with-the-flow type of person in that regard,\u201d Col\u00f3n said. \u201cI will be there as a friend, if you want me to. I\u0027ll be there as a mentor, if you want me to. I will be the person to clear the path, if you want me to. I don\u2019t view it as the term \u2018role model.\u2019 I view it more as like somebody who\u2019s going through the same circumstances that\u2019s willing to lend a helping hand.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/10\/carolina-colon-society-hispanic-professional-engineers-national-star-role-model-2023\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead the full story on the College of Engineering website.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe bioengineering Ph.D. student hopes to make the path through college easier for other community college and first-generation students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The bioengineering Ph.D. student hopes to make the path through college easier for other community college and first-generation students."}],"uid":"27446","created_gmt":"2023-10-10 17:02:57","changed_gmt":"2023-10-10 17:05:41","author":"Joshua Stewart","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671995":{"id":"671995","type":"image","title":"Carolina Col\u00f3n Lab","body":"\u003Cp\u003EBioengineering Ph.D. student Carolina Col\u00f3n has been recognized with the national STAR Role Model Award by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. (Photo: Candler Hobbs)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1696957414","gmt_created":"2023-10-10 17:03:34","changed":"1696957414","gmt_changed":"2023-10-10 17:03:34","alt":"Carolina Col\u00f3n stands at her bench in the lab.","file":{"fid":"255170","name":"Carolina-Colon-by-Candler-Hobbs-5566-sm.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/10\/10\/Carolina-Colon-by-Candler-Hobbs-5566-sm.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/10\/10\/Carolina-Colon-by-Candler-Hobbs-5566-sm.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1071648,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/10\/10\/Carolina-Colon-by-Candler-Hobbs-5566-sm.jpg?itok=tKYAKgaX"}}},"media_ids":["671995"],"groups":[{"id":"551651","name":"Center for Engineering Education and Diversity (CEED)"},{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"},{"id":"289141","name":"Women in Engineering (WIE)"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"193157","name":"Student Honors and Achievements"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jstewart@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJoshua Stewart\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jstewart@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}