Student Leaders and Members

Jon Adams (’20)

Jon is a sophomore from the Mainline suburbs of Philadelphia who fields a wide variety of interests. An amateur historian, his favourite areas of interest are the Edwardian Era and the French Revolution. As well, he loves following up with geopolitics and studying languages, especially Spanish and Afrikaans. At Tufts he is an editor on the Tufts Historical Review and VOCES, secretary of Tufts History Society, and an incredibly mediocre player on the club water polo team. On campus, he can often be found reading the Economist on the Prez Lawn, trying to get the fledgling official Tufts Croquet Team off the ground, or shaking it out on stage with Tufts Dance Collective. He has a passion for learning more about whatever he can, whenever he can, and never says no to a fun fact or restaurant recommendation.

Madeleine Clarke (’20)

Madeleine is a member of the Class of 2020, and is studying Community Health, Nutrition, and Anthropology. In the future, she hopes to work in a position focused on combatting nutritional insecurity. Growing up in an Army family, she never spent more than two years in one place. Thus, she is from nowhere and everywhere, and prefers to find the comfort of home in the people around her. She always looks forward to the intellectual and introspective conversations with her fellow Synaptic Scholars. She values the unique curiosities and passions of every member, and feels incredibly grateful to share in their journeys of learning.

Anna Del Castillo (’18)

Anna Del Castillo is a member of the Class of 2018 and comes to Tufts from the warm state of Mississippi. She studies International Relations, Spanish, and Colonialism studies. Anna engages diversity as a member of the Bridge to Liberal Arts Success (BLAST) program at Tufts. She is the Vice President of the Tufts Community Union Senate, an organizer of the Tufts Indigenous Peoples Day movement, a Career Fellow for the Tufts Career Center, a Civic Dialogue Fellow, a lead ambassador for the Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere program, and a member of the Interfaith Student Council. As a Latina woman, Anna is passionate about pursuing social and economic justice and is currently interning for Centro Presente, an organization focused on immigrant rights, worker rights, and civic engagement. 

Daniel Lewis (’20)

Daniel Lewis is a freshman from Washington, DC who is currently undecided on his field of study. As part of the inaugural Tufts 1+4 Class, Daniel spent the past year living with a host family in Florianopolis, Brazil and interning at a non-profit and a tech company. He has also participated in the Seeds of Peace conflict resolution program, which brings together kids from conflict regions around the world for an intensive, 3-week summer camp. He also spent a month this past summer researching Civil-Military relations in Japan. Daniel is also a published writer, with pieces appearing in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Hill and Newsday. He loves movies of all varieties and debating any topic that begets an opinion.

Nasrin Lin (’19)

Hey! I am Nasrin Lin, a sophomore double International Relations and English major on the pre-law track. I was born and raised in Taiwan and moved to Fort Lee, NJ during freshman year of high school. As a Taiwanese American, I am proud of my cross-cultural, bilingual background because it drives me to be more conscientious of others' experiences and more grateful for my opportunities. Over the summer, I interned at the American Jewish World Service, a global nonprofit dedicated to realizing human rights and supporting grassroots activism in the developing world. My experiences at AJWS solidified my aspirations to pursue law, specifically immigration and international law, while finding consolation and inspiration in literature.

Zhamilya Nazyrbayeva (’20)

Zhamilya is a sophomore from Kazakhstan studying Civil Engineering and Linguistics. As evidenced by her academic interests, she really enjoys learning and talking about languages. She also loves discussing politics, Russian literature, and philosophy. Zhamilya is very excited about advancing women in STEM and wants to pursue a career in engineering. She enjoys being a member of Synaptic Scholars because she can meet people who are passionate about things and want to share that passion with other people. 

Ezgi Yazici (’20)

Ezgi is a member of Class of 2020 from the beautiful Istanbul, Turkey. She is pursuing a double major in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies, while also learning Arabic. Beyond that, she loves to work with children and young adults and has served as a camp counsellor for children from Turkey and Afghanistan. She occasionally dreams of working for UNICEF in the future."

Olive Zhuo (’20)

Olive is a member of the class of 2020 from Tibet who came to the U.S when she was 13. She is pursuing a major in International Relations and minor in Entrepreneurship Leadership Studies. She is passionate about human connections, learning about different cultures and traveling. She is also an avid weightlifter and Reggaeton music lover. Currently, she is on campus trying to start a chapter called TableTalk and her own startup Ammi that is aimed to connect Tufts students on personal levels.