2025-2026 Shriver LLC Student Leadership

Leadership Student Bios!

Our Returning Resident Assistant: Vunnathi Ankem

Hi everyone! My name is Vunnathi Ankem, and I’m from Montgomery County, MD. I am a senior majoring in Psychology as a Bachelor of Science. It’s an honor to serve you all as the Shriver Living Learning Community’s Residential Assistant (RA) this year. In my freshman year on the floor, I spent my Saturdays at an organization called UMB CURE through the Shriver Center where I worked with middle school scholars from the Baltimore City School system. For the last two years, I worked as a student leader at Student Ambassadors where we tour Commodore John Rodgers Elementary School students around UMBC’s campus and get them more excited about college. On the floor, I enjoy connecting with everyone through planning events like Just Dance Nights and Mafia Nights. Off the floor, I’m the President of the Honors College Council, a Sondheim Scholar and an dancer. In the academic world, I research intimate partner violence and gender based harms in the South Asian community especially in the US diaspora. And, when I’m not doing anything, I usually can be found reading, watching movies, making Maggi noodles, or going out to restaurants with friends. I look forward to meeting the new mentees for the floor and continuing the long lineage of Shriver LLC members with our new peer mentors!

Peer Mentor Jahanavi Dhavala

Hi everyone! My name is Jahanavi Dhavala and I am currently a rising sophomore majoring in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology as well as one of the Peer Mentors for the 2025-2026 academic year! I am extremely excited to welcome all of you to the Shriver Floor! I was born in a small town in India, but I was raised in Dubai, and being at UMBC and the Shriver Program has given me some amazing opportunities. In my first semester, I served at Best Buddies, a care home for women with physical and mental disabilities, where I learned the importance of compassion, patience, and building trust through service. In my second semester, I joined Creative Coders at Arbutus Middle School, where I mentored young students in the basics of programming. It was so inspiring to see their confidence grow with each session. This year, I’m thrilled to return as the Student Leader for Creative Coders, and I can’t wait to expand the program and help even more students discover a love for tech! Outside of service, I’ll be stepping into the role of Tech Lead for the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Association this year, and continuing my research at the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology. I’ve also been fortunate to explore a few other research opportunities and had the chance to present at URCAD 2025, which was a really rewarding experience. Aside from academics, I love to go shopping, watch movies with my friends as well as do a lot of skincare in my free time! Being an international student, adjusting to a new country, culture, and academic system was overwhelming at first. But the Shriver Floor quickly became more than just a place to live—it became my community. Having peers who understood what it meant to start fresh and mentors who genuinely cared made all the difference. I’m so excited to return this year as a peer mentor and offer that same sense of belonging and support to others finding their way.

Peer Mentor Yonu Akanji

Hello Everyone! My name is Yonu Akanji (she/her) and I am so excited to be one of the Peer Mentors for the 25-26 academic year. A little bit about me: I am from Anne Arundel County but I was born in Nigeria and moved to the U.S when I was eight. Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to be a psychiatrist so at UMBC I’m a Psychology and Biological Sciences major. I also plan to pursue an MD-PhD later on as I’m passionate about both research and practical/clinical applications. Another thing I’m passionate about is service. In my first semester at UMBC I volunteered with Retriever Essentials, an on-campus food pantry that works to alleviate the immediate burdens of food insecurity in the UMBC community. I continued this work in my second semester and also joined Choice College Night, a program that supports at-risk youth by giving them opportunities to participate in enrichment activities. I plan to continue and deepen my involvement in both service sites as they’re very fulfilling for me. Outside of Shriver, this upcoming school year, I’m going to be a Research Assistant for the ACED Lab where I can further my interest in cognition and psychology! I also will be holding an E-board position as the secretary for SABAS (Students of Applied Behavioral Analysis Society), the Volunteer Connections Specialist for Red Cross Club, as well as continuing my involvement with Erickson Hall Community Council. I also will be a Student Leader for the Alternative Spring Break Program for the 2026 cohort. Overall, I love to get involved with event planning and participate in extracurriculars that align with my personal and professional goals. Aside from academics, I love spending time with my friends, trying new food places, cooking/baking, crocheting, reading books or webcomics, watching kdramas, and listening to music/curating playlists. I’m always up to try new things so if you have a cool hobby, share it! I’m looking forward to getting to know all of the new people on the floor and making new friends.