Founders:
Carly Mercer: Carly graduated from Purdue in 2015 and was a member of the Women’s Swimming and Dive team. She is one of the co-founders of Boiler-Maker-Wish and has continuously worked to make the organization the best it can be. She graduated with a degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences and is interning at Roche Diagnostics. Carly is also training for the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials. She said her favorite memory is “working with my fellow Boiler-Maker-Wish members during a wish. My most memorable wish was when we worked with the Women's Basketball team and the Polar Plunge to bring in two great girls who were so full of life and fun. The smile that they gave not just us, but the basketball team as well, was such a rewarding experience!”
Ashley Burkhardt: Ashley graduated from Purdue in 2015 and was a member of the Women’s Softball. She majored in Applied Exercise and Health with a concentration in Sports Performance, and minored in Organizational Leadership & Supervision. She is currently playing professional softball for the Dallas Charge in Texas.
Autumn (Beachy) Haynes: Autumn graduated from Purdue in 2014 with a major in Neurobiology and Physiology and was a member of the Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field team. She is currently living in Athens, Ohio and is going to school at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. One of Autumn’s favorite memories of Boiler-Maker-Wish is riding with a couple kids on the Boilermaker Special into the football stadium on game day. She said, “the boys absolutely loved it and were making train noises the whole time!”
Julia Comodeca: Julia graduated in 2014 and was a member of the Women’s Swim and Dive team. She majored in Civil Engineering and is currently living in Kansas City working as a Civil Engineer for Burns & McDonnell. Julia’s says that her favorite memory of Boiler-Maker-Wish “was our very first wish granted. The boy's wish was to play basketball with DJ Byrd and not only was he able to do that, but he got a chance to see behind the scenes at Mackey Arena and play with DJ on Purdue's home court. I feel like that was the moment when all the planning and brainstorming came together and we realized Boiler-Maker-Wish could really do
some big things!”
Lindsey Rains
Courtney Moses
Charles Torwudzo
Current Members:
Joey Cifelli: Joey is a junior on the Men's Swim and Dive team. He is majoring in Mass Communications and hopes to coach diving in the future.
Lexi Dorn: Originally from San Diego, California, Lexi is a sophomore on the Women's Volleyball team. She is majoring in Industrial Management with a concentration in STEM and she is a member of Delta Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity and Phi Beta Chi which are two amazing organizations that work with local businesses.
Ashley Evans: Ashley is a senior on the Women's Volleyball team and is Vice-President of Purdue SAAC. She is majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Spanish and has aspirations to play professional volleyball after graduation. Ashley has interests in attending graduate school with a further focus in biomechanics, and eventually working in the biomedical industry.
Joey Gardner: Joey is a junior on the Men's Swim and Dive team, and is on the executive board for Purdue SAAC. His major is Speech Language and Hearing Sciences with minors in Human Development and Linguistics. He plans to attend grad school to become a speech-language pathologist after graduation.
Maya Hughes: Maya is a senior on the Women's Softball team. She is majoring in Human Services and minoring in Psychology. Following graduation, she is looking to work community engagement with inner city populations.
Nora Kiesler: Nora is a junior on the Women's Basketball team who is studying Business Management and Marketing. After graduation, she plans on attending graduate school to earn a Master's Degree in Finance.
Bijay Stephens: Bijay is a sophomore hurdler on the Men's Track and Field team. He is majoring in Mass Communications and hopes to one day become a coach, as well as a Sports Analyst.
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