Jon Joey Telebrico ’23
Hometown: Santa Clara, Calif.
Major: Philosophy and American Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies sequence
- VP of Campus Organizations, ASCMC
- Model United Nations team
- College Programming Board
- Justice Education Initiative
- Claremont Kasama 5C - Filipinx/American Student Association
- Student Manager, Gould Center for Humanistic Studies
Jon Joey Telebrico ’23 credits his academic experience at Claremont McKenna College with cementing his “love for researching new ideas and writing papers.” It has also solidified his aspirations to pursue a PhD and become a professor of philosophy or in a field related to identity such as sociology. “Professorship represents the perfect combination of research and teaching,” he said, “which I hope to do for the rest of my life.”
He cites a few CMC opportunities in particular that informed his career intentions, including his research work through the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies, where he is now a student manager; the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, and the Lowe Institute of Political Economy, where he was a research assistant for Professor Jeffrey Flory. Add to this, his work as a teaching assistant with the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, an experience he has found valuable for giving him “insight into being an academic mentor” for his peers.
Telebrico initially felt attracted to CMC because of its resources and individualized attention. “I knew there would never be a lack of opportunities to take advantage of at CMC,” he said. Two years in, he describes his experience as “intellectually rigorous and stimulating” and names Associate Professor of Religious Studies Gary Gilbert as his favorite faculty member and a mentor. “He is the epitome of a professor whose involvement in his students' lives doesn’t stop at the classroom door,” he said.
Overall, Telebrico appreciates CMC for pushing him academically and as a person, and for its “deep commitment to community” and collaborative learning environment. When he needed peer editors for philosophy essays, one of his friends was always available, and thanks to the support from his peers in the larger economics classes he was also able to form bonds with upperclassmen that he otherwise might have felt too intimidated to approach.
“Whether it's having intellectual conversations with someone over dinner at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum,” he said, “or studying with friends at Emmett Student Center — The Hub, as we like to call it — CMC is an institution where everyone works to drive growth in one another. I have never felt more at home than at CMC.”