DANBURY, Connecticut — Western Connecticut State University has announced the names of its two 2025 Henry F. Barnard Distinguished Student Award winners, both graduating seniors who have dedicated their studies to making a positive impact on health care. Sara Azzi, of New Fairfield, and Diana Felix Rebelo, of Naugatuck, were selected from an extremely competitive field of fellow students for this prestigious Connecticut State Colleges and Universities award.
Azzi, who will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, has benefitted from countless research opportunities that she said will pave the way for a successful transition to a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology after graduation. Her area of interest is research into innovative therapies for depression or research into preventing psychosis and the underlying causes of schizophrenia, and she is actively applying to research laboratories in the Psychiatry Department at Yale University to pursue opportunities of this nature.
Rebelo will receive a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and will transition into the role of a graduate nurse in the Medical ICU at Yale New Haven Saint Raphael upon graduation. Her future plans include earning a Critical Care RN certification and eventually becoming a nurse educator to train the next generation of health care providers.
While both students have excelled academically and emerged as leaders among their peers as they pursued their health care futures, the paths they have taken to reach these goals could not be more disparate.
A First-Generation college student, Rebelo is the daughter of Portuguese immigrants who came to the United States in search of a better life. Growing up, Rebelo watched her mother work as a second-shift CNA and determined that she, too, wanted to be a caregiver. “Little did I know when I told my mother’s coworkers, ‘I want to be just like my mommy when I grow up,’ that I would follow her footsteps and go beyond,” she said. “She has always given me the comfort in my most vulnerable times, and now it is my time to return the favor to others. Every challenge I have faced shaped me into the person and future nurse I am and will be.”
Azzi, the youngest of three siblings who attended WestConn, watched her older brother and sister flourish at the university, and paid attention when her sister extolled the educational opportunities she was enjoying in the university’s Psychology Department. “I wanted a quality education at an affordable price,” she said.” I was also influenced by my sister who absolutely loved WestConn’s Psychology Department.”
Once on campus, Azzi and Rebelo each found their niche.
Azzi participated in the Rotaract Club from 2022-24 (vice president, 2023-24), was an office assistant in the university’s Alumni Relations Office (2022-23), and works as a Peer Leader in the Career Success Center (2023-25). She’s a teaching assistant for Introduction to Brain and Behavior (2023-25) and works as a research assistant in two labs: the WCSU Vision & Cognition Lab (2022-25) run by Professor of Psychology Dr. Bernie Gee, and the Neuroscience Institute at Nuvance (2024-25). She was able to present her research on spatial reasoning at the Eastern Psychological Association Conference in Philadelphia in 2024, and her study of student perspectives on online courses in New York City in 2025.
Azzi’s Psychology-related awards include Outstanding New Student in Psychology (2023), Outstanding Junior in Psychology (2024), Outstanding Senior in Psychology (2025), and the Willerman Memorial Award, which is given to an advanced Psychology major who shows promise of making significant contributions to the field of Psychology. Additional awards include induction into the National Society of Leadership and Success (2022), the John H. Hogan Endowed Scholarship (2023-24), Veronica Hagman Memorial Scholarship (2024-25), Western Research Day Provost’s Award (2024), Sigma Xi Student Research Award Nominee (2024), and the Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award (2025).
Rebelo is a Kathwari Honors student, the captain of WestConn’s Women’s Tennis Team, and has been involved with the National Student Nurses’ Association (serving as president in 2024-25). She’s a member of Minorities in Medicine (2021-25) and is a peer tutor and mentor for Nursing students (2024-25). Her numerous awards include the RN Peer Recognition Award for Accountability, Leadership, and Commitment to Nursing Care (2024); Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society (2021-25), Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing ((2023-25), a Presidential Merit Scholarship awardee (2021-25), and was named to the Little East Conference All-Academic Team (2021-25).
Off-campus, Rebelo works as a rehab aide at Beacon Brook Center for Health and Rehabilitation, and as a Patient Care Technician at the Yale New Haven Hospital Intensive Care Unit. In addition to her research assistant laboratory roles, Azzi has served as a counselor intern at Midwestern Connecticut Council on Alcoholism and as a human resources intern at Photronics, Inc.
Despite the countless hours spent on their studies, jobs and extra-curricular activities, Azzi has maintained a 3.95 GPA and Rebelo has a 3.87 GPA. Both are grateful for the challenges and opportunities they were afforded at WestConn.
“As I approach May 2025, I will be walking the stage receiving my Bachelor of Science in Nursing,” Rebelo said. “As I receive my diploma, my name in bold letters: ‘Diana Felix Rebelo’. This diploma is not only for me, but also for my parents. I represent my mom with Felix and my father with Rebelo; they, too, earned this degree as much as I did. I am beyond grateful for everyone who supported me along the journey to get here. My parents, who gave up everything they knew in hopes for something better for their family. Every time I felt like giving up, they were there pushing me, reminding me of my capabilities. There’s a saying, ‘it takes a village’ and I am beyond grateful for mine.”
Azzi said, “I am excited to further my education and make a difference in this world by contributing to ground-breaking research and helping the lives of those who suffer from mental illness. The skills and experience I’ve gathered from employment, internships, research, student clubs, and volunteer activities have certainly made me a competitive post-graduate candidate. However, I recognize that none of this would be possible without the help of WCSU and the CSCU. I will forever hold a special place in my heart for the institution that got me started on the path of success and deep character development, and I look forward to giving back to the WCSU community someday by teaching psychology and establishing a scholarship for psychology students, so that future students may get the same experiences I did.”
Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.