Exploring different disciplines allowed Przybocki to find the mentorship that initially drew her to Elon and the funding Przybocki received as a Leadership Fellow and Multifaith Scholar has ensured that she can explore what she is most passionate about without limits.

Przybocki believes that these research opportunities are unique to Elon. She applied to be a Multifaith Scholar as a sophomore and presented her research on Catholic nationalism and Muslim migrants in Poland at the 2023 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience.

SURE is an undergraduate research opportunity where students receive a stipend to dedicate eight weeks to full-time research projects under the guidance of a faculty mentor. The program aims to enrich student learning by fostering collaborative research experiences.

Przybocki also applied for additional research funding, receiving the Rawls Grants and the Center for Global Engagement Grant. But her multifaith research project on the 2021 humanitarian crisis at the Poland-Belarus border is the highlight of her studies at Elon.

Her research examines religion and migration, specifically Catholic nationalism and the exclusion of Muslim migrants on Poland’s eastern border. Through the funding Przybocki received, she was able to travel to Poland for five weeks and conduct 45 semi-structured interviews she had been planning to do since her first year at Elon.

She also attended the International Migration Research Network Conference in Warsaw which was a great networking experience. Her experience in Poland taught Przybocki she can do anything she sets her mind to with the right resources.

Przybocki intends to synthesize her multifaith research with the common good project required of all Leadership Fellows. The Leadership Fellowship also allowed Przybocki to engage with the It Takes a Village Project, an Elon initiatives through which Elon students tutor students in local elementary schools. This is her favorite part of the fellowship program, and part of her commitment to leaving Elon better than she found it.

Przybocki’s research would not have been possible without Elon’s student-to-faculty ratio, she notes. Przybocki was one of two students in her Arabic course. This encouraged her to become the vice president of the Arabic Language Organization on campus.

For Przybocki, who has been studying Arabic since she set foot on Elon’s campus, it was meaningful to be able to use Arabic in real-time when she studied abroad in Morocco in the fall of 2022. Morocco allowed Przybocki to explore her Middle Eastern concentration, interacting with practitioners of Islam and taking an Arabic immersion course, as well as studying human rights.

Przybocki believes in Elon’s mission statement that encourages students to achieve a greater sense of global awareness. She felt her experience in Morocco brought that to life, expanding her understanding of global consciousness.

Now a senior finishing up her double major in international and global studies and economics, Przybocki believes Elon has allowed her to become a better leader. She has applied for the Fulbright Program hoping to have the opportunity to continue her research in Poland. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school for global security and border studies. Her goal is to work for a non-governmental organization (NGO) or a global institution such as UNICEF in the future.

Przybocki thanks Elon’s donors for their loyalty and commitment to students which has allowed her to pursue research that truly excites her. The funding she received showed Przybocki the faith Elon has in its undergraduates to conduct meaningful research. This trust gives her the utmost confidence in her abilities, motivating her growth throughout her time here at Elon.

Przybocki would like to shout out to her mentors, Elon faculty members Brian Pennington and Amy Allocco, who have helped her idea come to life. She also thanks the Religious Studies Department for giving her a leg up in research exposure through the SURE program and the research instruction pod.

During his first week at Elon, Lazoff found a group of hard-working, like-minded individuals within his cohort whom he can count on for anything even now four years later. He describes the Business Fellows program as being surrounded by over 30 of your friends.

The scholarship Lazoff received is the reason he was able to go to Dubai during his sophomore Winter Term and experience a different part of the world with his Business Fellows cohort. While there, he met with faculty and professionals at the World Exposition which broadened his views on international business.

Lazoff also had the opportunity to go to New York City with the program where he was able to give his resume and cover letters out to top banking firms. He states that the Business Fellows were the first people to be sent on a trip like this because they model the academic excellence that 51±¬ÁÏÍø strives for. Lazoff highlights that he feels he would not be the same person he is today without these experiences.

Other than being a Business Fellow, Lazoff is the president of the Real Estate Club. Through this, Lazoff participates in various competitions that promote professional development for students who strive to pursue a career in the real estate industry so that they have the necessary skills to find employment in the field.

Furthermore, Lazoff would have never thought he would be Hillel co-president. When he went to Hillel freshman year, he was overwhelmed by the experience, however, looking back as a senior now he is proud of how he has transformed the organization to what it has become. Hillel is a leading organization on campus that advocates against antisemitism with over 800 students – this would not have been possible without donor funding and support that progresses the organization and its Shabbat services. Lazoff feels that a lot of students don’t recognize how important it is to be educated on different cultures and religions on campus, thus Lazoff has made it his priority to partner with other organizations so they can learn about each other’s values.

Lazoff also had the opportunity to study abroad for a second time his junior Winter Term in Japan. He chose Japan because it was somewhere he had always wanted to go and a culture he had always wanted to learn about as well as experience firsthand. He feels that he would have not gotten such a fulfilling opportunity elsewhere – going to Hiroshima will be something that he will always remember. Reflecting on the trip, Lazoff feels he was truly able to step out of his comfort zone by trying new foods and growing as a person through his newfound appreciation for Japanese culture and religion as well as the challenges he dealt with and overcame involving interpreting a language he is unfamiliar with.

Lazoff encourages the future students of Elon to try their hardest in all their classes even if they have no connection to their major or minor because they can provide a new perspective of what direction you want your future to go in. He thanks donors for allowing him to figure out who he really is. Lazoff hopes to get a job right out of college in commercial real estate. He is doing everything in his power to achieve his goals because they are the reason he has been given the opportunity to explore his interests in greater depth.