In This Section:
An informed enthusiasm about UConn - Hector Velez '05 (CLAS)
The two sides of Kristen - Kristen Haldeman '07 (ENG)

Velez enjoys the community atmosphere on campus

Photo: Peter Morenus

Hector Velez ’05 (CLAS) is president of the Latino Students Association, one of his many activities outside the classroom.

Hector Velez ’05 (CLAS) has an informed enthusiasm for the University of Connecticut. He loves being a tour guide at the Lodewick Visitors Center during the school year and in the summer, and he enjoys talking about UConn when he returns home to Puerto Rico.

“I love this place,” he says of UConn. And, being a seasoned spokesperson, he can tell you exactly why he and the University are a perfect fit.

When Velez was in high school, he knew he wanted to be a chemistry major, and UConn offered a small,
close-knit chemistry department with “awesome” world-class facilities. He says, “I wanted a department where students interact with their professors very closely and do research.”

Research opportunities at UConn have been extremely valuable to Velez, who is an aspiring doctor. Most recently Velez worked on an interdisciplinary project in the analytical chemistry lab. Using high-tech methods and instruments, he measured the metal content of animal tissue samples to further the research team’s understanding of how zinc and other metals are metabolized.

Velez says UConn also shares a characteristic with his home country: “People in Puerto Rico are very community oriented. And one thing I love about UConn is that it’s very community oriented.” It’s diverse as well. Says Velez, “When I saw that UConn had five different cultural centers and so many activities, that was definitely a plus.”

During his first year, Velez began working at the Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center, helping to develop community events. He also joined the Latino Students Association, which he now serves as president.

Velez says his pursuits at UConn have allowed him to combine his two life passions: science and people. He hopes a career in medicine will do the same. For the past three summers, Velez has worked with radiologists in a hospital in Puerto Rico, gaining valuable knowledge about clinical and practical aspects of medicine—a nice complement to his laboratory work at UConn. He has been accepted to medical school in Puerto Rico and will do his residency and other further training in the United States, specializing in the relatively new field of invasive radiology.

In the meantime, you’ll find Velez promoting UConn’s chapter of the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society. Their goal is to mentor new UConn students and to serve as a critical link between these students and UConn’s faculty.

— Leslie Virostek

 

Stopping goals on the field, achieving them in the classroom

Photo: Peter Morenus

Kristen Haldeman ’07 (ENG) earned a 4.0 GPA last year as a biomedical engineering major, even while playing lacrosse.

There are two unmistakable sides to Kristen Haldeman ’07 (ENG).

On the one hand, there is Kristen, the biomedical engineering major who earned a 4.0 GPA both semesters last year. An extremely organized, serious student, she likes nothing more than exercising her brain.

“I love to solve math and chemistry problems where professors give you a question and you could sit and spend
an hour working on that one problem until you finish it,” she says.

Then there is “Haldeman,” as she is known in the lacrosse program at UConn, the teammate with a great sense of humor who is the goalie that head coach Bonnie Rosen says is distinguished by her lightning-fast reflexive movement.

“I tend to over-think everything, but you don’t have time to think when you’re playing goalie,” Haldeman says, “Ninety percent of it is just reacting. And that’s what I like the most—because I can just read and react.”

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Kristen Haldeman discovered her “inner goalie” in seventh grade when she began playing lacrosse. When nobody else wanted to be the goalie, she volunteered for it and quickly learned to enjoy the position. In high school, she became a two-time Honorable Mention All-American and the Defensive MVP for the 2002 Pennsylvania state championship lacrosse team.

When she arrived at UConn, Kristen knew she would play lacrosse and that she would pursue a major in math or science, the subjects she felt most passionate about.

Discovering organic chemistry, and after taking a course that exposed her to the sub-disciplines of engineering, she found herself on the path to pursuing a degree in biomedical engineering.

“Kristen has an active dedication to learning. She’s focused on what she’s doing,” says John Enderle, Kristen’s academic advisor and director of the UConn biomedical engineering program. “She’s competing in the classroom not only with biomedical students but also with organic chemistry and electrical engineering students. She’s always been the top student in our class. She’s not only the best in the program but also among the best in the University. She’s fabulous.”

Kristen deftly balances her academic work, which includes two or three labs per semester—equivalent to as many as nine hours of extra weekly class time—with her sport, which has practices six days a week, three or four hours a day during the spring. “I thrive on a tight schedule,” she says.

And that includes international exposure. Haldeman, who was born in Nova Scotia, recently secured a spot on the Canadian national team. She is currently trying out to be one of the 16 players on Canada’s roster for the lacrosse World Cup tournament this summer.

For now, Kristen Haldeman will be maintaining her mentally and physically strenuous, yin-yang life at UConn — preventing goals on the lacrosse pitch and achieving them in the classroom.

— Leslie Virostek