About Apollo
The Greek god of music, prophecy, and healing, Apollo symbolizes creativity, intellect, and inspiration. Those aligned with Apollo have a natural talent for music, poetry, oratory skills, and possess a thirst for knowledge, spreading light and wisdom wherever they go.
The creative brilliance of Team Apollo shines brightly at Camp Ω-Week. Sid is filled with music, art, and intellectual enlightenment. Their passion for artistic expression and intellectual pursuits lights up the camp, inspiring others to explore their own talents and embrace the power of creativity.
The Team
Read their bios below!
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Would you like a serious gym bro? An avid fan of philosophy? A studious student of the Chinese language? Presenting to you: Eric Youngerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. A PoliSci (Political Science) and Asian Studies major in the Class of 2026, Eric is just a Great Guy. If you want to try out a place to eat, make sure to call him up, especially if it's vibey. If you want to go to New York City, talk to this man. He might be from Austin, but his heart is with NYC. Other than being a spokesperson for skateboarding, he is the most approachable person you'll ever meet. Always the go-to guy for advice. Also, you have to ask him to show you his booming snap. You just have to. Don't talk about cardio though.
(Eric Jia, Quan Tran, Fernando Garcia, Ted Guerra, Victor Nica, Emme Khaodhiar (Sid Richardson '26))
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Did you hear that there’s a goddess among us at Camp O-Week?? That’s right—it’s your advisor, Nelly Zapata! Nelly is a caring and spontaneous junior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Business who will be sure to make your first-year experience at Rice amazing. As a native Houstonian, Nelly knows the best spots in town for late night snacks and deep conversations with a view—she’ll take you in her car (all hail the Vaddie) as long as you bump Drake and Bad Bunny on the way there! Though frequently out and about, Nelly knows how to stay in – she’s a skilled painter with plenty of masterpieces, and she’s the #1 watcher of Beauty & The Beast. Whatever adventure you embark on, Nelly will both support you and do it with you. She’s one of the funniest, coolest people we’ve ever met, and we can’t wait for you to meet her too!
(Grace Wang, Sid Richardson ‘25 & Siddhi Narayan, Sid Richardson ‘25)
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Aliya Belay is a junior Sidizen and proud Mechanical Engineering major. Besides being the actual Queen of Eritrea, she was born and raised in the DMV. Miss girl lived in Baltimore and is now stationed right out of DC (actually Laurel, MD) (global citizen???). A student leader in Eclipse, she can build rockets and launch them better than NASA. They tried to hire her, but she was too busy carrying the weight of Habesha greatness at Rice University. She is the co-director and choreographer of Habesha Dance (also explains why she basically owns green and gold). If you ever need someone to commit to a bit, she will put on a whole performance. Representative of the sweet tea fanatics club, this girl is the sweetest and the most caring. You will have the best O-Week ever with Aliya as your advisor!
(Alejandra Jimenez, Sid Richardson '25; Bryant Polanco, Sid Richardson '25; Anuska Santra, Sid Richardson '25)
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If everything everywhere all at once was a person, it’d be Beni Nguyen because in her own words, “My life is in shambles.” Beni is a Martel senior co-advisor from the streets of Austin, TX double majoring in Psychology & Cognitive Sciences and double minoring in Neuroscience and Entrepreneurship! Yeah… she’s everywhere. Neuroscientist? Business? Clinical psychology? Pre-grad? Pre-med? Pre-wed??? (iykyk) TBD! Beni will be your go-to person if you ever want to go on a spontaneous adventure! We ball & we bawl TOGETHER :D A fair warning to her O-Week kids: she WILL be blinding you with her film camera, but pain is temporary, cool film pics and vision problems are forever :) She’s on the Wellbeing Committee and an intern at the Wellbeing Center, so you know she’ll give the best advice and hugs. Her head may be in the 99.9th percentile for size, so is her heart <3
(Temi Olarinde, Martel ‘25 & Kailin Zhang, Martel ‘23)