FroCos

Maxwell Yee is from the Palos Verdes Peninsula in sunny Southern California. At Yale, he is double majoring in Economics and Global Affairs; and is particularly interested in international economics and U.S.-China relations. Maxwell also studied abroad in Beijing and Taipei on the Light Fellowship. Outside of class, Maxwell competes on the men’s fencing team; however, he would be completely unhelpful in a real swordfight. You will often find him in the Benjamin Franklin dining hall, where he not only enjoys amazing meals but also hangs out with friends, procrastinates on work, and helps his girlfriend film the occasional TikTok video. Don’t be afraid to stop by and chat! In his spare time, Maxwell is an avid consumer of all things popular culture. He’ll watch anything from Netflix’s trashy reality TV to even the most cash grabby of Marvel movies. Recommendations are always welcome! Finally, Maxwell is a major foodie, and loves restaurant hunting. Basta and Great Wall are two of his personal favorites. Maxwell is incredibly excited to meet the newest class of Franklinites and cannot wait to share his senior year with them. 

Yasmeen Abed is a Political Science/Modern Middle Eastern Studies double major from Sacramento, California. She serves as the Program Development Coordinator for a local nonprofit called Elena’s Light which provides ESL and health education services to refugees. At Yale, Yasmeen is also involved in the Arab Students Association, the Sycamore Institute, and Dwight Hall. She hopes to pursue a career in refugee or immigration law but will be taking a gap year (or two) before applying to law school. You can find Yasmeen in the Beanjamin drinking an iced chai latte. Yasmeen is very excited to meet the class of 2025 and welcome them to the Franklin community!

Clare Boone is a history major from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania. She began her Yale career as a biology major, switching her focus to history after taking a gap year in 2020. During her year off, she worked on civil rights and immigration issues at the ACLU of Louisiana, and she hopes to pursue public interest work after graduation. She is a member of the 2022 Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, which covers strategic challenges of statecraft, politics, & social change. Outside of the classroom, Clare is a goalie on the women’s lacrosse team, and she is excited to support first-year student-athletes in Franklin. She has also worked in the Franklin buttery and volunteered for Y2Y, a student-run homeless shelter, during her time at Yale. She is so excited to get to know the Franklin Class of 2026!

Alexandra Contreras-Montesano is a Sociology major and an Education Studies Scholar who is mostly from Vermont, but also Oregon and Tlaxcala. She wants to be a high school English teacher in the future and loves poetry and photography. She was on Student Staff for the NACC for two years, one as House Staff, and one as a Peer Liaison. She loves being a part of the FGLI community at Yale and did First-Year Scholars at Yale and was part of A Leg Even at Yale. For fun she is part of Ballet Folklorico at Yale and calls her little sister Scarlett who she misses dearly. She really enjoyed being a Cultural Connections Counselor and looks forward to meeting and getting to know the class of 2026!

Alaman Diadhiou is a 2022-2023 Froco in Benjamin Franklin College from Los Angeles, California. Alaman majors in Comparative Literature and is a Human Rights Scholar at Yale College. On campus Alaman is a member of the Shades of Yale, plays on the club basketball team, manages the Franklin Recording Studio, guest performs with the Yale Jazz Ensemble, and plays concerts featuring his own original music. Aside from his activities on campus, Alaman is a dedicated artist often performing and creating across the disciplines of music and dance. You’ll be able to find him quite regularly in Franklin Dining hall and he is very excited to be your FROCO!

Elita Farahdel is a double major in Comparative Literature and History of Science, Medicine and Public Health, on the pre-medical track, from Los Angeles, California. During her time at Yale she spent her first year as Directed Studies student, has served as a teacher’s assistant at Calvin Hill Day Care, and a Spanish interpreter at HAVEN Free Clinic. She is currently working as a research assistant in the Crowley Lab in the Child Study Center at Yale’s School of Medicine, where she works to investigate treatment options for generalized anxiety disorder in young children. This summer Elita is studying abroad in Paris and Sweden, where she gets to learn more about two of her passions, art history and French literature! She will also be studying for the MCAT, as she hopes to one day become a pediatric surgeon. On her spare time, Elita loves to go to the beach with her friends, read a good book, or go hiking at East Rock. Elita is very excited to meet Franklin’s class of 2026 and can’t wait to share her senior year with them!

Maria Grillo is a chemistry major from Waterford, Connecticut! Nowadays, she spends her time doing chemistry research in Pat Holland’s lab, but in the past, she’s spent her time coaching high school debate, staffing the Yale Women’s Center, working at summer camps, and being a Communication and Consent Educator – much of which she worked on during her gap year in 2020. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school and pursue a research career in chemistry, and is looking forward to chatting about being in STEM at Yale with first-years. Outside of academics, she loves to cook, read, and spend time with family. She is so excited to get to know the class of 2026!”

Yaakov Huba is a political science major from Chapel Hill, NC! When not in class, you’ll likely find him singing in one of Yale’s many acapella groups, the Yale Alley Cats, competing for the vaunted Franklin teams in intramurals or watching his beloved Tar Heels on TV with friends. He is also an active part of Yale’s Jewish community and would love to help those trying to balance religion and classes. This summer Yaakov is continuing to do research for Professor Milan Svolik on democratic backsliding. He can’t wait to meet the newest Franklinites and welcome them to Yale’s best college. 

Ayla Jeddy is an avid sit-com enthusiast from New York City. She is an English major who has spent the last three years writing for The Yale Record and working at Yale’s student radio station, WYBC. She loves going for long walks around New Haven and is always excited to show you some of her favorite spots! At night you’ll find her in the buttery reaching new frontiers in the human experience of hot sauce and playing MarioKart with her friends. Ayla is delighted to be spending her senior year with the class of 2026.