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Class of 2016 valedictorian and Macaulay Honors College student Jennifer Mikhli-Forkosh comes from a long line of ½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï graduates.

“In my family, there was always this idea that one could go anywhere after graduating from here,” says Mikhli-Forkosh, who has two older siblings who attended the college and have since gone on to law and medical school. “It was always looked at as a hidden gem right in our backyard.”

With a cumulative 4.0 GPA, Forkosh has been on Dean’s List continuously since 2012. She is receiving a Bachelor of Science in psychology, and is the recipient of the 2015 CUNY Excellence in Leadership Award. That same year, she received an award from the ½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï Alumni Association. She has also received a Macaulay Honors College scholarship for academic excellence.

This past year, Mikhli-Forkosh helped to found the Women’s Initiative at ½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï and during her junior year, she was the first woman president of the Student Government in more than a decade. She has also been an editor of the student newspaper Night Call.

“My education at ½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï has prepared me for the next stage of my life,” says Mikhli-Forkosh. “The tremendous diversity exposed me to a richness of viewpoints, ideas, and culture that has greatly broadened my worldview.”

She plans to attend law school to pursue a career in litigation. After graduation, she will work as a paralegal at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which she says is a perfect synthesis of public service and legal work.

Class of 2016 salutatorian Stephanie Taormina holds a cumulative 4.0 GPA and has made the Dean’s List every semester of her attendance.

“½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï has helped to mold me into an intellectual and professional woman,” she says. “It has given me not only the foundation knowledge I need to enter into my career field, but has taught me how to adapt to a diverse environment.”

Taormina, who is receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Nutrition Science, was president of the Health and Nutrition Science club, a position in which she planned and organized many health and fitness events on campus. She has also been a member of the Civic Engagement team, helping with student orientations and elections, and other activities.

In 2013, Taormina earned recognition on the ½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï Wall of Fame. This past academic year, she received two scholarships: the Pearl Gross ’40 Scholarship in Nutrition and the Mereese Ladson Memorial Scholarship.

Taormina was accepted to a dietetic internship at New York Presbyterian Hospital, a yearlong program in which students apply theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom in a clinical setting. She will also begin the M.S. program in nutrition at ½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï. Her dream job is to work as a registered dietitian at a hospital so that she can provide nutritional care to critically ill patients.