Palavi Vaidya is a 2013 initiate of the Georgia Institute of Technology Alpha Eta Circle. She was her circle’s president during her senior year. In June 2016, she was awarded the Gen, Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year Award. This is her first year on the National Student Advisory board for the 2016-2018 term, and she will also be serving on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Palavi earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech in 2016. She now is attending University of Toledo College of Medicine as a first year medical student. She is involved with the American Medical Association and volunteers for the local free clinic. She also finds time to scribe in the emergency department at the medical center. She has also volunteered her time at a child psychiatric ward to learn more about child advocacy. In her free time, she tries to read to Kindergarten students in the local area as well as provide tours to prospective medical students on their interview days.

With her biomedical engineering degree, Palavi worked at Amway Global for their research and development department. She was with their advanced technology group exploring noninvasive measurement options for vascular health. She has also worked as a teacher’s assistant for some of her biomedical engineering classes at Georgia Tech. And one of her favorite jobs while at Georgia Tech was working in the housing department as a resident advisor. In this role, she planned community development activities and build trust with each of her residents.

Palavi loves to dance and has learned classical Indian as well as Bollywood Fusion dance for 14 years. She also really enjoys traveling and going on mission trips. Her last trip was to Guatemala to volunteer on a coffee farmland.  With close relation with her mentor who always stressed significance over success, Palavi has followed her passion for people. She volunteered for National Parkinson’s Foundation especially putting on Moving Day (a 5K walk) raising over $140,000 and organizing this event for over 700 attendees and volunteers.

Through her senior design class, Palavi has also been able to design and engineered a seating solution for children with Cerebral Palsy in low resource settings. Palavi enjoys giving back to the community, which is a main reason why she wants to pursue a career in medicine constantly learning how she can help make the community better.

Bryce Gordon is a 2015 initiate of the Concordia University Irvine Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa. He is an active member of the CUI Circle, attended the 2016 Biennial Convention and Leadership Conference, and was appointed to the Student Advisory Board in 2016.

At Concordia University Irvine, Bryce is currently employed in the Undergraduate Admissions Department as an Eagles Ambassador. His main focus is to be tour guide on campus, introducing prospective students to CUI facilities and explaining the vast array of educational opportunities that would are available to enrolled students. Another part of his position entails working at the Welcome Center’s front desk. In this role, Bryce welcomes all kinds of visitors to the university and assists them with scheduling for tours and admissions counselor meetings, answering general questions about the university, or assisting in finding any staff or faculty member in any department on campus.

At other times of the year, Bryce is a seasonal employee of Underhill International Corporation (UIC). UIC is an irrigation company manufacturing, selling, and distributing state of the art irrigation equipment and supplies all over the world. His responsibilities include building our custom industrial hoses, palletizing inventory, and shipping out orders to end-users and distributors.

Outside of Omicron Delta Kappa, Bryce am involved in helping out with the yearly Kaiser Permanente 5k and Fun Run in Irvine, Calif. He volunteer with the CUI Men’s Volleyball team by helping with registration, sign-in, posting of results, and awarding of medals. As an athletic training major, Bryce also volunteers with athlete fall and spring physicals in order to help expedite the process and get athletes in and cleared to compete as soon as possible.

While living in Shanghai, China, Bryce volunteered with Habitat for Humanity building homes in rural villages in Yunnan Province. He also taught English as a Second Language to students at the local elementary schools near the villages. He also served as the Vice President of the Concordia International School Shanghai Athletic Council.

Ashlynn Rickord is a 2013 initiate of the Carthage College Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa. She currently serves on the Student Advisory Board for the organization.

At present, Ashlynn is a Master of Theological Studies candidate at Harvard Divinity School concentrating in the area of religion and science. She specifically studies the connection between religion and the institutionalization of the mentally ill and developmentally disabled throughout United States history. Ashlynn is currently the records management intern at the National Park Service in Boston.

Ashlynn earned her bachelor’s degree in history and religion from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisc. and has career aspirations in the field of public history. She has previously worked in the National Hellenic Museum, Staubitz Archives, and Kenosha Public Museum. Most recently, she has also worked with the Waltham Historical Commission in Waltham, Mass. completing historic research on the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, the first institution in the Western Hemisphere for the treatment of the developmentally disabled.

Ashlynn also volunteers outside of Omicron Delta Kappa as a member of the Boston Preservation Alliance Young Advisors Board, a Membership Programming Specialist for her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, an advisor to the chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta at University of Massachusetts-Boston, and is the Treasurer of the Harvard Divinity School Student Association.

Professionally, Ashlynn is a member of Alpha Chi, Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Lambda Delta, the Boston Preservation Alliance, National Residence Hall Honorary, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Phi Alpha Theta, and Theta Alpha Kappa.