First-Year Counselors

The First-Year Counselor Program was established in 1938 and has been ever since an intrinsic and essential component of Yale’s advising system for first-year students. The program has evolved in many ways over the years, but the general purpose of the program has remained the same: to help ease the transition of incoming first-years to the academic, social, and cultural life of Yale College. Find out more about the First-Year Counselor Program here.

Trumbull is lucky to have a team of seven great First-Year Counselors. Together they make Bingham an especially wonderful place for all first-year Trumbull students.

Trumbull First-Year Counselor Team

Jesse Chen

Jesse (he/him) is a native of Duluth, Georgia majoring in Economics and Mathematics with a certificate in Statistics and Data Science. Prior to being a Froco, Jesse worked as a Trumbull Head of College Office Aide and as a Communication and Consent Educator (CCE). You’ll typically find Jesse spending way too much time in the Trumbull dining hall, photosynthesizing on cross campus, or riding his bike around campus. He reeaaaallly enjoys riding his bike, ask him about it at your own risk. Otherwise, he spends his time singing with his acapella group the Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus and teaching financial literacy classes in the New Haven community. He is super excited to meet the Class of 2026 and welcome them to Yale’s best residential college community. Moo-rah! Email Jesse

Dwaha Daud

Dwaha (he/him) is from Nairobi, Kenya but he also considers himself Somali since his parents are. He started out at Yale certain that he would major in Econ & Math but, at the end of his first year, made the leap to Econ & Computer Science. He discovered a passion for CS and hopes to pursue it further in grad school. Over his time at Yale, Dwaha has been involved in the Yale Ballroom Dance Team, and he served as an Econ 115 peer tutor for several semesters. He can usually be found in the Starr Reading Room, which is his favourite study spot on campus. Outside of class, Dwaha enjoys soaking up the sun on Cross Campus while the weather is good and he valiantly attempts to wake up for breakfast. Late at night, if he isn’t making quesadillas in the Trumbull buttery, he’s probably eating them (his go-to is the buffalo dino with an oreo milkshake). Other fun facts: he loves reading epic fantasy novels as well as historical non-fiction books on interesting people/periods. You might occasionally catch him taking a picture for his journal. Dwaha is hyped to welcome the class of 2026 to the Trumfam!Email Dwaha

Jailon Henry

Jailon Henry is an African-American Studies major from Tallahassee, Florida. After graduating from Lincoln High School he moved to Douglasville, Georgia where his family still lives. He likes to stay active by going on hikes up East Rock and exploring New Haven’s many parks and beaches, and also likes staying competitive in Trumbull Intramural basketball and flag football. Jailon loves cooking and eating and can also be found in one of Yale’s many libraries reading a book by his favorite author Toni Morrison. He also loves painting and is currently trying to learn how to play the bass guitar. Email Jailon

Candice Mulinda

Candice (she/her) hails from Roanoke, Virginia and double majors in Religious Studies and Political Science with an Advanced Certificate in Spanish. After taking a gap semester to work during the 2020 elections, she hopes to continue working on political campaigns after she graduates. On campus, she is involved in Yale Steppin’ Out (Yale’s first, finest, and only step team), Yale Progressive Christian Students, and Yale Tour Guides. She loves dancing with friends, working out in the Trumbull gym, and traveling around to the cheapest destinations money can buy. On any given day, you can catch Candice raving about Trumbull’s clam chowder in the dining hall to anyone who will listen, looking for a new classroom to study in the Humanities Quadrangle, or exploring new parts of New Haven. She is so excited to welcome the class of 2026 to our beautiful city and campus! Email Candice

Alisia Pan

Alisia (she/her) is from Beijing/Toronto and is double majoring in Chemistry and Classical Civilizations at Yale. On campus, she spends time editing articles for Helicon: The Yale Undergraduate Journal of Classics, connecting students to resources through Women+ in Chemistry, and learning new (ancient) languages. She also enjoys baking, peer tutoring, taking photos, and finding opportunities/excuses to get bubble tea with friends. Usually she can be found in the Yale Science Building (working on biochemical assays in the lab or trying to visit the citrus garden on the roof), in WLH (procrastinating) to study, or on a beanbag in her common room. Alisia plays a lot of board games and some of her favourites are Betrayal at the House on the Hill, Wingspan, Avalon, Dixit, and Codenames. She will be at duty nights with those games and hopes to see you there! She is super excited to welcome the next class of Trumbullians, moo-rah!Email Alisia

Brandon Tong

Brandon(he/him) was born and raised in Mission Viejo, California and is majoring in Chemical Engineering with a certificate in Spanish. Outside of academics, Brandon is part of the Yale Taekwondo Club, he volunteers with YETI tutoring local high school students, he peer tutors for classes, is a media tech for Trumbull, works in a lab in the Energy Sciences Institute, and plays piano casually. Although he appears to be cooking in this picture, he’s not very good at it but loves it anyway. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with his friends and playing intramural sports. He hopes you’ll come join him in trying to win the Tyng Cup (Intramural championship) for Trumbull. You can find him in Payne Whitney Gym playing intramurals, on West Campus working in a lab, or procrastinating everywhere around campus. Some other fun facts about Brandon is he won a bet against Jeamy, made Alisia cry, coached Jesse in video games, convinced Candice he was 15, beat Jailon in capture the flag, was the target of one of Dwaha’s best jokes, and is super excited to meet the new Trumbullians! Welcome to the best residential college! Email Brandon

Jeamy Williams

Jeamy Williams (he/him) was born and raised in the rural town of Surgoinsville, Tennessee. The running joke is that most students have more students in their high school than he does in his hometown. He is studying Biomedical Engineering, with hopes of attending medical school. He currently works in Dr. Wizbia’s Orthopaedics Lab, which focuses on robotics in the Orthopaedics realm. A typical weekday for Jeamy involves forcing Brandon to get up and walk, even during the winter, to the Israeli Fitness Center to make gains. Following class, Jeamy makes his journey to Coxe Cage, where he spends most evenings running laps around the Oval Office and sometimes procrastinating by watching the sunset. Post-practice, you can find Jeamy in one of the many residential college libraries with his friends. On weekends, and most weekdays, you will find Brandon and Jeamy sitting in the same room playing games together, whether it be an online video game or a board game. Jeamy enjoys volunteering for his hometown’s YMCA after school program virtually. During his off season, he volunteers on weekends at a local health clinic. Jeamy is a pro at two truths and a lie and rarely loses. He also cannot wait to welcome in the incoming class to Yale! Email Jeamy