Akosua Adzenyah discussed representation, setting high goals, and balancing her jobs as a dentist and New England Patriots Cheerleader at her alma mater on Saturday.

Feb 27, 2023 at 10:00 AM

Patriots.com writer

16 x 9

Whether she realized it or not growing up, representation mattered to Akosua Adzenyah when she set out to pursue a career in STEM.

As a first-generation American, an example was set by her parents, who immigrated from Ghana and worked as a civil engineer and psychiatric nurse practitioner in the United States to provide a life for her and her two younger siblings.

Fresh off her rookie season with the New England Patriots Cheerleaders, and in her third year as a dentist, Adzenyah paid it forward this week.

"It's Black History Month, and it's just so important to see people who look like you shine while doing what you want to do," she said. "Because then you feel like you can too."

After graduating from dental school at the University of Connecticut in 2020, Adzenyah was invited back to campus to speak on a panel at the 4th Annual Black Women in STEM Brunch last week.

Hosted by UConn's chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers to bring women of color together and encourage their goals, Adzenyah's story brought a lot to the event.

With her mom and dad serving as a practical model of how to take chances and make things work, and a brother and sister looking up to her, she says she was always a diligent student who naturally excelled in math and science curriculum.

In her freshman year of college at Fairfield University, she realized she wanted to be a dentist.

"I chose dentistry because I wanted a career in healthcare where I could do something different each day," Adzenyah explained. "Or rather, something different each hour of the day. I really liked that as a dentist, I'm able to see my patients at least once every six months and I can foster a meaningful relationship with them throughout the course of their lifetime. I love how I'm able to combine my love for math and science with my love for art. Not a lot of people know this, but there are many systemic diseases that actually have a direct correlation to oral health, and so by educating my patients on the importance of oral hygiene, I can help to alleviate health disparities in my surrounding communities."

She sees a lot of parallels between her two roles as a dentist and cheerleader. But with her sights set on both goals, it was one thing at a time.

"Becoming a Patriots cheerleader is something that I've always felt like I wanted to do, but it was never the right time with school," she said. "I knew I wanted to finish school before trying out because it just would have been too much to juggle for me personally.

"I feel like this is the perfect time. Not only because I'm done with all my school and I can focus on it, but everything I've learned in school and in practice can help me be the best representative of the Patriots organization."

In balancing both of Adzenyah's jobs, and last Saturday in Storrs, she hopes sharing her journey will show girls and women who look like her that you don't have to limit yourself. Also, that it will uplift other Black women looking to get into STEM careers.

"Black women, especially in STEM careers, are so underrepresented," Adzenyah said.

"I hope talking to the college students will show them that everyone has a different path, and it's not always going to be easy but you have to keep the faith, have the right people around you for motivation, and work hard."

Michael Walsh

April 6, 2022

Conard High School student Sasha Belabe holds a badge she made during the Sisters in STEM program.

WEST HARTFORD — Students at both high schools recently participated in the University of Connecticut’s Sisters in STEM conference, designed to expose more young Black and Latina girls to the field.

Jackie Corricelli, who is a Conard High School math and computer science teacher and the district’s computer science curriculum specialist, said there is a very apparent underrepresentation those girls in their programs.

Using her own experience as a woman navigating the STEM field in high school and college, Corricelli wants to build a more welcoming environment for girls in West Hartford that she didn’t quite have when she was their age.

“In general our most underrepresented population is females,” Corricelli said. “Our most underrepresented population in computer science are Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Hispanic females. Anything I can do for female empowerment and to help students feel more welcome than I did, I want to do.”

The free program, designed by UConn’s Vergnano Institute of Inclusion, provided a day of educational and hands-on exercises. Thirty total sophomores participated at both Conard and Hall High School.

Among them was Sasha Belabe, a Conard student who is eager to make a splash in STEM.

“I knew I was going to do this,” Belabe said. “Right now I’m taking geometry and I’m really engaged in that class. I like the mathematics field. I’m thinking about going into STEM.”

Belabe proudly showed off creations the group had made during the morning portion of the conference, including a bath bomb and a badge that lights up.

“At first it wasn’t lighting up,” Belabe said. “It was so rigorous. When it lit up, I lit up. I’m really excited to go show my family. I’m really excited about this.”

After their lunch break, the group was going to tackle racism and activism in the STEM field. Those discussions, Belabe said, were very meaningful.

“It is important,” Belabe said. “Girls think it might be something only guys do or a men’s thing, so they don’t want to do computer science. But if they see a panel of women and they talk about what they do in computer science, women would be more inclined to go into it.”

Corricelli said she hoped that by bringing the program to West Hartford, some students might see STEM as a viable path for them.

“We are always looking for more females to sign up. It’s a sad state of affairs,” Corricelli said. “We’ve got no shortage of problems in the country. We need more perspectives to solve those problems.”

Belabe said the problem is that field can be intimidating when you feel like an outsider. What helps, she added, was being inspired by other women who have broken through in the field.

“I feel that is scary,” Belabe said. “I feel like I won’t get as far or I won’t be as good as them. But someone has to overcome so other people can do it. There has to be the firsts, which can open the gate to a lot of other minority women joining.”

Aniyah Walker, another Conard student, said she participated in a similar STEM camp over the summer, so she was eager to join the conference.

“There aren’t a lot of minorities in STEM, but also not a lot of women in STEM,” Walker said. “I’ve always been into women empowerment and inclusion. It’s something that is slowly changing but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Alexandra Santana, also a Conard sophomore, said she’s possibly looking at taking an AP level computer science class at the school next year.

“I signed up to be a computer science ambassador here, and the reason why is because there’s not even a lot of Black women at this school, and especially in computer science,” Santana said. “I do really like computer science a lot.”

Corricelli, who has a 13-year-old daughter, said the day was all about opening doors to people that in the past have remained closed.

“We’ve got to get better,” Corricelli said. “Things are supposed to improve. Just like they did for me, things are supposed to improve for these girls. They shouldn’t have to work as hard as I did to be able to create these opportunities. It’s all about more perspectives. If you walk around with one eye closed, you’re only seeing half the world.”

Written by Michael Walsh

“It’s 2022. It’s crazy that being a woman in engineering is still such a big deal.”

It’s no surprise that Courtney Luker ’22 (ENG) enjoyed Playmobil when she was a kid. Lots of children do. But not too many mention their devotion to this iconic, people-centric, role-playing, let’s-build-something-fun collection on their college applications. She did.

A native of Glastonbury, Connecticut, Luker will graduate with a degree in biomedical engineering in May. And yes, her father is an engineer. And yes, her sister Kelly graduated from UConn with a degree in chemical engineering in 2012. Both have been good role models. But Luker’s interest in figuring out how things work by taking them apart and putting them back together again was obvious from the time she was a toddler.

She laughs when she describes one of her nascent experiments that involved making a snow sled from cardboard and duct tape she found in the family garage, and then using her creation in an attempt to slide down Buttonball Hill in her hometown. “That experiment,” she says with a sigh, “did not go particularly well.”

After two years of summer internships with medical device company Medtronic, Luker has accepted a full-time position with the company following graduation. She’ll begin a two-year rotational program in their medical surgical department in North Haven, Connecticut. That will be followed by further experience the following year in either Boston or Boulder, Colorado. An avid hiker, she says Boulder sounds enticing. Then again, she considers herself an “East Coast person,” so if Boston wins out, that’s okay, too.

Luker is part of a growing contingent of women entering the engineering profession. She says she’s proud of UConn’s commitment to eliminating gender inequality in this field, and also of the fact that women make up 31% of this year’s freshmen engineering majors — the highest percentage to date.

She’s quick to point out, however, that, “It’s 2022. It’s crazy that being a woman in engineering is still such a big deal.”

As president of the UConn chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Luker is intent on paying it forward to honor the upperclassmen who helped her get acclimated when she arrived on campus in the fall of 2018.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the women in SWE who mentored me when I was new to UConn,” she says. “I asked them all sorts of questions, from what to wear to interviews for internships to advice about courses.”

Luker talks about how it felt, in her second year, to be one of only three women in a discussion/lab section of an electrical engineering course. “To be honest, that was intimidating. But with the support and encouragement of junior and senior women, I made it through. That’s something I’ll never forget.”

Now she’s intent on mentoring other inquisitive girls and young women who are considering engineering as a career. One way she does that is through Multiply Your Options, which reaches out to 8th-grade girls in local schools, providing demonstrations and hands-on exposure to various engineering disciplines. “With more programs like this we can continue to decrease gender inequality in engineering.” Thanks to her experiences with SWE, Luker has been inspired to be what she calls “the best version of myself.” To that end, her immediate goal is to become an expert in medical product development, and ultimately share her knowledge with surgeons in hospital settings.

But, she adds with a smile, “I’ve really enjoyed the management side of being a leader — in SWE — and helping people perform their duties. I’m now actually thinking that an MBA might be in my future, too.”

BY SHEILA FORAN ’83 (BGS), ’96 PH.D.
PHOTO BY PETER MORENUS

College of Engineering Vergnano Institute for Inclusion

Patriots Cheerleader speaks at UConn’s Annual Black Women in STEM Brunch

Patriots Cheerleader speaks at UConn's Annual Black Women in STEM Brunch

Akosua Adzenyah discussed representation, setting high goals, and balancing her jobs as a dentist and New England Patriots Cheerleader at her alma mater on Saturday.

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