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
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.