A Young Alumna Shaped by her New College Education

Her thesis compared female characters in a 17th century German play with those found in Dostoevsky’s novel, Crime & Punishment. The Humanities student with a focus on Russian and German literature first looked at how German theatre influenced Russian literature. “Not a lot of people know there was a connection,” she says, “Then I looked at the female characters as carriers of moral value throughout both the play and the novel.  It was cool to come up with my own research project.”

Dany was born in Venezuela but grew up in Miami. Although her education was a far cry from the tech world, Dany always had a fascination with Silicon Valley and wanted to live in San Francisco.  She says she got lucky when a childhood friend recommended her for a customer support position at a small tech company, Vyond.  Now, as a project manager, her work involves information security and data privacy.

She still keeps in touch with what’s happening at New College. When she heard students were struggling financially after Hurricane Ian, she jumped to participate in the Student Emergency Fund. “I think that it’s important to give back.  We may be long gone, but the people who come after us need our support. It’s important to be involved, even if it’s not a lot of money. My favorite quote is ‘Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.’ I try to live by these words whenever I can.”

Dany finds an unusual connection to novo alums.  “Compared to others who I speak to who went to other schools, the community of New College is still really tight. There’s a natural shared connection.” 

About her time at New College?  “I learned so much about the world. Critical thinking isn’t something they really teach everywhere and New College did a really good job of that. I miss it all the time because of how much I was challenged. I look back on the years very fondly.”