• Current Scholars
• Alumni
• Dream Big
• Scholar Travels
• Scholar Art & Music
• Scholar Stories
• The Scholar Experience

April Ruiz

Biography

April Ruiz finds herself on the front lines of scientific discovery and intends to keep it that way. Having developed an interest in the human mind before entering college, she jumped right into the cognitive science program at Yale University. Merely learning about the mind, however, was not enough. She was more interested in what was yet to be discovered about its function, particularly, how the human mind has evolved. To this end, she supervises undergraduates in laboratory experiments with capuchin monkeys on "theory of mind" research. She presents the findings to large groups of scientists - and at daycare centers. "My excitement for research and my enjoyment of teaching has helped me realize," she says, "that I want to continue these exact activities as a research professor."

April's goals of attending an Ivy League school and heading from there to a prestigious research university in Scotland might once have seemed out of her reach. Her family lived with the help of government housing aid and made ends meet with food stamps and extra income from part-time jobs April and her sister held. April, though, was a stellar student and received scholarships that made enrolling in Yale possible. From there, she kept going.

"Yale was a blessing," she says now, praising not just the university's Comparative Cognition Laboratory, but also its rich mix of volunteer options. April was a member of the executive board of Yale Children's Theater and she organized programs and made presentations to kids visiting the Connecticut Children's Museum, particularly on honeybee communication. April now knows that making science exciting and accessible is a priority in her life. She hopes, she says, "to be an example for kids from backgrounds similar to mine."

Other Scholars Like April