First-Year Counselors

Madeline Gupta 

Head First-Year Counselor

Madeline is a Statistics and Data Science and Ethnicity Race and Migration double major. She is from Michigan but has also lived in Wyoming, Colorado, and Massachusetts. At Yale, Madeline is involved in the Native American Cultural Center, the Yale Ballet Company, Yale Danceworks, and more. Her research focuses on community technology infrastructure and ethics, most recently creating a land reclamation virtual reality video game. This fall, you can find her assistant teaching Poetry and AI (ENG 353), leading beginner ballet classes, petting as many dogs on campus as possible, and trying to fit yet another concert into her schedule.

Paige Adekplor

Paige is a Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology major on the pre-med track. She is originally from Lomé, Togo, but has lived in Tennessee most of her life. At Yale, you can typically find her in one of three places: the Reinke Lab, Steep, or with Yale’s Latin Dance Team - Sabrosura. At her lab, her research encompasses the role of gene expression in C. elegans germline development, with a focus on transcription factor regulation. This fall, you can find her knee-deep in MCAT prep, but somehow finding the time to yap with her friends at Whale Tea for hours on end.

Henry Demarest

Henry is a Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science double major originally from Tarrytown, NY (a suburb just North of New York City). He is very interested in space exploration, so a lot of his time outside of class is devoted to building rocket engines and satellites through the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association. He also does research into high performance “superalloys” through a material science lab and has completed multiple internships in the commercial space industry. Outside of engineering, you can find Henry running with the Yale Club Running team, playing Viola with the Davenport Pops Orchestra, and helping organize Morse’s quest for the Tyng Cup as an intramural secretary! He’s super excited to meet you all on campus, show you around your new home for the next 4 years, and hopefully not annoy you too much with advertisements for intramural ping pong!

Esteban Figueroa

Esteban is an Electrical Engineering major from a suburb near Dallas, Texas. He matched with Yale through the Questbridge program and is also a Gates Scholar. At Yale, Esteban is an active member of the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, a tenor saxophone player in the Yale Concert Band, and robotics mentor for FIRST at Yale. He also conducts amphibious robotics research in The Faboratory as a STARS II Fellow. When he’s not in class, you can often spot Esteban riding around campus on his longboard, doing photography, or going for a run.

Lena Jones

Lena is a Cognitive Science and History double major from Los Angeles, California. Her main interests lie at the intersection of history, psychology, and public health. Her current research is on the psychophysiology of reconciliation, or how reconciling two opposing groups may have positive health benefits. During her time at Yale, Lena has enjoyed singing with Living Water a cappella, leading worship with the Black Church at Yale, shouting at sports games, and attending many movie nights!

Rhayna Poulin

Rhayna is a Psychology major on the Neuroscience track from a small town in Maine. She currently works in the Affect Regulation and Cognition Lab and is writing her thesis which uses neuroimaging, environmental stress exposure, and neurocognitive functioning to predict patterns of substance use in adolescents; she has also conducted research at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale Child Study Center. Rhayna is also involved with theater on campus as President of the Yale Dramatic Association and as a Producer and Lighting Designer for student shows. Outside of class, the lab, and the theater you can find her reading, listening to music, going to the gym, or sampling iced chai lattes at New Haven’s many coffee shops. 

Daniel Reyes

Coming soon!

Julian Tweneboa Kodua

Julian was born and raised in Kumasi, Ghana, and he has grown to find an incredible community at Yale over the years. He is majoring in Computer Science, and pursuing a certificate in Statistics and Data Science. On campus, he is deeply involved within the African Students community and the Computer Science department. He serves as a teaching assistant for CS50 and works at the Music Library. In his free time, he enjoys playing table tennis at PWG, playing Fifa with friends, watching Premier league games on weekends, and having casual, yet wholesome, conversations on friday nights. Julian is excited to meet his frosh and introduce them to the amazing community in Morse and Yale.

Kalisa Vasquez-Minas