For most, life before university is pretty average: you go to high school and wait anxiously for summer vacation. Well, most people do.

Jez Sabaduquia has a different story. The Syracuse University junior information management and technology major graduated from an aviation high school in New York City. Sabaduquia was there for four years, where he studied the mechanical engineering of airplanes.

“A typical class would consist of a three-hour lab, classes on different parts of airplanes like hydraulics, along with physical application of what we had learned,” Sabaduquia said.

After graduating, Sabaduquia decided to study information technology at Syracuse University because he wanted to diversify his education and complement all that he had learned in high school.

Sabaduquia is a former intern at Kognito Interactive, a software company that designs mental health programs for LGBT communities, specifically on college campuses. This summer, he also interned at Penton Media, where he worked largely with migrating websites.

Now, Sabaduquia is an official campus representative for the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference, an annual conference for students who run their own nonprofit or global initiative that specifically targets education, poverty alleviation, climate change and more. One thousand students from all 50 states come together to network and work towards sustainable solutions. Sabaduquia even has a selfie with Bill Clinton.

Sabaduquia was the campus representative last year too, but this year he wants to double the number of SU students in the conference.

Sabaduquia has co-founded two non-profit organizations through the Clinton Global Initiative, as well as started a startup company. Project S.C.I., or Project Sustainability, Creativity and Innovation, is an initiative that aims to collect and recycle plastic bottles and cans on the SU campus.

“We collect as many supplies as we can, clean them up, and take them to a school for fourth graders,” Sabaduquia said. “We teach those kids how to make model airplanes because we learned how to make the model airplanes as freshmen in high school.”

Along with his team, Sabaduquia uses recycled materials on campus to educate kids.

Sabaduquia and his team are also in the process of developing an app that can scan and track all donated cans. The app will track the can, and once the can becomes an airplane, individuals will see a notification with a picture of the airplane and the kids who made it.

“People just throw away cans and bottles without really thinking about it,” Sabaduquia said. “A lot can change if people see their trash become a kind of treasure for someone else out there.”

Published on September 13, 2016 at 9:05 pm

Contact Saniya: ssmore@syr.edu