Urban Education Fellows

Aidan Gonzales is a Posse Scholar currently studying at the College of William & Mary. He is studying Elementary Education with a concentration in ESL with the hope to later apply his degree and skills to the classroom as a teacher. Outside of his academics Aidan likes to read and pass time with his friends doing fun activities around campus. He is currently part of an Intramural sports team that has participated in both Softball and Floor Hockey. Aidan also volunteers at local elementary school Matthew Whalley every Friday and enjoys helping the students thrive in the classroom.

Natalie is a sophomore studying Psychology and Government at William & Mary. She is very excited to participate in the Urban Education seminar this winter. On campus she is involved with William & Mary Pep Band as well as Merrimac Mentors, a group focused on the juvenile justice system. She is looking forward to forming close connections with her group and learning more about education systems in DC through engaged learning. After graduation she hopes to work for an education-related nonprofit while pursuing her master's in counseling.

Marisol Aquila is currently in her second year at William & Mary from Winchester, VA. She is studying Elementary Education. On campus, she is involved in the Latin American Student Union and the social sorority, Tri Delta. In her free time, she loves to dance and hang out with her friends. She is super excited to participate in the Urban Education program.

Keenan was born in Englewood, Colorado way back in 1993. At age 3 his family moved for the first time, something that would become a regular occurrence throughout his life. Keenan has lived on both coasts and many places in between, changing schools 10 times growing up, graduating high school from Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, Maine in 2012. After being discharged from the Marine Corps, Keenan returned to Colorado, working various sales jobs in Colorado Springs and spending his weekends working on his family’s ranch in eastern Colorado. In 2017 he began taking courses at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs. In early 2019 he began getting involved with local politics, running for a vacant position in the Colorado House of Representatives later that year. Before the pandemic in 2020, he ran for and was elected to delegate positions for both his congressional district and the state at-large to one of the national conventions that year. In the fall of 2021 he was accepted into the Leadership Program of the Rockies for their 2022 class. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Pikes Peak Community College and the Leadership Program of the Rockies in 2022. Keenan currently attends the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA where he is studying history. He plans to return to Colorado after graduation to serve his community in the state legislature.

Tobias is a sophomore from Madison, WI, studying government. On campus, Tobias plays music with his band and is part of many clubs. After college, Tobias hopes to work on legislation and policymaking in the federal government.

Mateo is a senior studying Government and History with an aspiration to pursue Secondary Social Studies at the W&M School of Education after graduating in May. Mateo is involved in Admissions as a Griffin Ambassador, a member of exec for Peer Advising, the outgoing DEI Advisor for Phi Sigma Pi, and is involved in campus ministry through Baptist Collegiate Ministry and Intervarsity. Finally, he works as a substitute at Chesterfield County Public Schools, where he hopes to return as a teacher after completing his Master's degree.

Elaine is a junior majoring Psychology and minoring Data Science. In her free time, she practices drums, binge listens to all genres of music (pop, video game OST, musicals, rock, hip-hop, EDM, jazz, and everything), reads, takes walks in nature or just under sunlight, solo travels to new cities and even new countries, journals her many random thoughts in Notes (which is reaching 1000 entries milestone). She is determined to push herself and makes self-breakthroughs. As an international student coming from Jinan, China, she found it hard adjusting to William & Mary in the first year or so, but managed to overcome those hardships bit by bit and saw great progress. She is good at empathizing with others and is very open-minded. Despite being quite introverted, she is always open to make new friends.