{"id":719,"date":"2026-04-03T16:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T20:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/?page_id=719"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T19:09:04","slug":"scholars-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/scholars-2\/","title":{"rendered":"SCHOLARS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/54530782503_e7638f8f5d_c-636x424.jpg\" alt=\"Izayah Morgan\" width=\"317\" height=\"211\" class=\"wp-image-725 alignnone\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/54530782503_e7638f8f5d_c-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/54530782503_e7638f8f5d_c-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/54530782503_e7638f8f5d_c.jpg 799w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 317px) 100vw, 317px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span><strong>Izayah Morgan<\/strong> grew up in Springfield, MA and earned a B.S. in Psychology from Framingham State University. He is pursuing a master\u2019s in school counseling at BU to fill the need for counselors that look like and have a similar background to him. \u201cGrowing up, the Black men and women who looked out for me were integral to who I turned out to be. My aim is to pay it forward to others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-18-at-3.20.59\u202fPM-627x636.png\" alt=\"Aria Kassam\" width=\"251\" height=\"255\" class=\"wp-image-731 alignnone\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-18-at-3.20.59\u202fPM-627x636.png 627w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-18-at-3.20.59\u202fPM-1009x1024.png 1009w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-18-at-3.20.59\u202fPM-768x779.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-18-at-3.20.59\u202fPM.png 1338w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 251px) 100vw, 251px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span><strong>Aria Kassam<\/strong> earned a B.S. in Psychology and Human Development and Family Sciences from Florida State University and is <\/span><span>pursuing a master&#8217;s degree in counseling at BU. <\/span><span>She has conducted and <\/span><span>participated in research on morality, childhood ecology and twin <\/span><span>studies. She also has experience working with children in a school <\/span><span>setting, focusing on socio-emotional learning and facilitating a safe, <\/span><span>supportive environment for all students. She hopes to <\/span><span>become a school counselor, working with children to focus on creating <\/span><span>positive coping mechanisms and aiding students in being successful <\/span><span>emotionally and academically.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/05\/Isabel-S.-Headshot.png\" alt=\"Isabel Strelneck\" width=\"281\" height=\"258\" class=\"wp-image-739 alignnone\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Isabel Strelneck<\/strong> is pursing an EdM in Counseling at BU with a dual emphasis in School Counseling and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Counseling. She is a recent graduate of Macalester College where she studied Psychology, Community and Global Health, Educational Studies, and History. She has explored these interests through internship and volunteer experiences in a variety of settings in the U.S. and beyond. In her future career as a school counselor, she hopes to support students emotionally, academically, and socially, while also finding ways to promote and advocate for youth mental health and well-being at a systems level.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/06\/Nick-headshot-517x636.jpeg\" alt=\"Nick Verdi\" width=\"267\" height=\"328\" class=\"wp-image-742 alignnone\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/06\/Nick-headshot-517x636.jpeg 517w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/06\/Nick-headshot-832x1024.jpeg 832w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/06\/Nick-headshot-768x945.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/files\/2026\/06\/Nick-headshot.jpeg 855w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" \/><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><span><strong>Nick Verdi<\/strong> earned a B.S. in Accounting from Boston College. He has been a camp counselor for ten years and has been working in schools for the past three years. He initially worked as a Teaching Assistant in a specialized sub-separate social-emotional program in Wayland, MA, and is now the Director of After School Programming at the Rashi School in Dedham, MA. In his free time, he likes to bake, run, and hangout with his dog, Leo. He hopes to use my master&#8217;s degree in further supporting students who need both academic and social-emotional support, both in the classroom and out of the classroom.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Izayah Morgan grew up in Springfield, MA and earned a B.S. in Psychology from Framingham State University. He is pursuing a master\u2019s in school counseling at BU to fill the need for counselors that look like and have a similar background to him. \u201cGrowing up, the Black men and women who looked out for me [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22696,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22696"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":752,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/719\/revisions\/752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/projectinstep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}