Watchung's Rachel Leena Palekar Earns Bachelor's at Binghamton

Emily Jane Rundlet was a recipient of the Dean's Award for academic excellence during the 2012 spring term at Colgate University, where Rundlet is a member of the Class of 2014.

To be eligible for the Dean's Award, a Colgate student must achieve a 3.30 or higher average while enrolled in four courses.

Rundlet, a graduate of Watchung Hills Regional HS, is concentrating in Biochemistry at Colgate. Rundlet lives in Watchung.

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Michael Disch, of Watchung, joined the Boilermaker community by participating in the annual Boiler Gold Rush program at Purdue University's West Lafayette campus.

The mission of Boiler Gold Rush is to orient new students and their families during their transition to Purdue by creating a fun and stimulating environment, providing access to opportunities on Purdue's campus and in the Lafayette/West Lafayette community, and by offering meaningful activities and leadership opportunities to encourage student success.

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Rachel Leena Palekar, from Watchung, was recently awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Sciences from the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences at Binghamton University.

Binghamton University is one of the four university centers of the State University of New York. Known for the excellence of its students, faculty, staff and programs, Binghamton enrolls close to 15,000 students in programs leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. Its curriculum, founded in the liberal arts, has expanded to include selected professional and graduate programs.

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Genevieve Petruccelli, of Watchung, and a student at Mother of Divine Grace, recently completed the University of Dallas' two-week college preparatory program, Arete in Irving. The program introduces students to texts by ancient and modern authors on nobility and excellence. Students were taught by UD professors, participated in college-level seminars, viewed and discussed several films and publicly presented a paper to their peers.

According to Joan Arbery '02, director of the Arete in Irving program, "Arete prepares students for the critical thinking necessary at the university level, making them adept not only in their writing, but also in their ability to articulate their thoughts. Most importantly, Arete engages students in the question of the good life, asking them to take up the call to excellence."