Congratulations UNT Spring 2025 Grads!

Abby Nguyen

English

By Lisa Sciortino

Abby Nguyen’s life and education have been shaped by the experiences of her family, who immigrated to the United States decades before she was born.

“After seeing firsthand how they built a life from nothing after fleeing Vietnam following the Vietnam War, I’ve always wanted to honor their sacrifices,” says Abby, who completed her bachelor’s in three years and will graduate with a 4.0 GPA she’s maintained for the past six semesters. 

“Earning this degree isn’t just for my own personal achievement — it’s about carrying on their legacy and building a future they imagined.” 

Over the years, her family endured significant hardships, including being displaced from their New Orleans home and losing the family’s business in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. 

They relocated to Plano when Abby was a toddler and began life anew and those events had a profound impact on her, fostering a desire to give back to “the community that provided my family with a sense of home and security and belonging.”

In high school, she discovered her passion for English and writing and joined the staff of the school paper, igniting a sense of advocacy within her.

“I realized that I loved the people-oriented aspect of journalism,” she says. “I wanted to make actual, tangible change. I wanted to do more than tell their stories.”

When she first arrived at UNT, Abby struggled to find a community of her own. “I also struggled with my confidence — specifically my shyness and insecurities about whether or not I was capable of succeeding,” she says. “Over time, my professors and peers built me up, pushed me and encouraged me to believe in myself.”

A former copy editor for the North Texas Daily student newspaper at UNT, Abby credits associate professor of English Matthew Heard — whose classes she took for four consecutive semesters — for helping her find her voice as a writer.

Writing and studying English has allowed her to not only understand the stories of people in her community but also to learn to showcase their voices before her own. “To me, writing is about establishing a deep connection with others and bridging gaps between people,” she says.

Abby is president of the UNT chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, an international English honor society whose faculty advisor, professor of English Jacqueline Foertsch, has provided her tremendous support. “Seeing how much she believes in me as a student and leader has helped me believe in myself.”

During her freshman and sophomore years, Abby served in UNT’s Student Government Association on its First-Year Council and Allocations Committee.

The experience “taught me the importance of advocating for others,” she says. “Whether it was making funding decisions or interacting with students one-on-one, I saw firsthand how UNT’s resources directly impact students and how involvement can foster a sense of community across campus.”

Last summer, she witnessed state government in action as a social media intern for UNT alumna Rep. Mihaela Plesa (’06), of Texas House of Representatives District 70.

“I got to hear what people were passionate about — any issues they had, things like that. It was a very community-focused role and I really enjoyed it,” Abby says, adding that the experience helped solidify her decision to attend law school this fall and work toward a career as an attorney.

“Law school is not simply a checkbox to fill as part of my career path,” she says. “It is not only a lifelong commitment to advocate for others through the law, but also a promise to continue to grow and develop new abilities to navigate legal issues using the skills I’ve gained from my time at UNT.”

Abby says her academic success at UNT wasn’t a solo accomplishment. “It is deeply tied to my family, my community and everyone who came before me. When I think of success, it’s about making their sacrifices worth it. I want to build a future that reflects the dreams they carried across the ocean with them and honor where I came from.”

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Abigail Burt

Hospitality Management

By Cameron Heiser

For Abigail Burt, hospitality represents more than a degree and a career — it means family. Born on a farm in Lubbock as the seventh of 12 siblings, Abigail has been cooking and learning about food nearly her whole life.

“My mom says that since I could sit on the counter without falling off, I was cooking and helping her in the kitchen.”

Abigail’s love for cooking runs in the family. Her grandfather owned a catering company, and her mother owned a bakery, where Abigail worked when she was just 12 years old. She credits early lessons learned while working with her family for her interest in a formal education in food and hospitality.

Abigail’s path to UNT began when she was a violinist in just the eighth grade – she fell in love with the university when her violin instructor, the parent of a UNT student, remarked she’d be a good fit for the school’s music program.

“That’s when I started looking at UNT, not just for their music, but for all their different majors. I knew that no matter which major I picked, I would be pursing my education at UNT.”

Her love for UNT was reaffirmed the first day of freshman year when she met Luwis Mhlanga, senior lecturer of hospitality, event and tourism management. Not only was Dr. Mhlanga an accomplished faculty member — he’d also worked as a sous chef in restaurants and hotels across the United Kingdom and the U.S. before pursuing his career in academia.

“It felt like fate,” she says, “I was so worried I had picked the wrong degree, and then a chef comes in and tells me, ‘I’ve made it.’ That’s when I knew this was for me.”

Throughout her time at UNT, Abigail made it her mission to stay involved and make an impact. On most days, you could find her in Chilton Hall serving as a teaching assistant for UNT cooking classes, a position she has proudly held for three years.

“I often make jokes that I live in Chilton Hall.”

Most recently, she served as an officer in the CMHT Graduate Student Club, but her extracurricular activities at UNT have ranged from the Western Dance Club and Climbing Club to the Feminist Women’s Society and Pen & Paper, a student organization that’s part book club, part writing workshop. She encourages future UNT students to do the same.

“Jump in with both feet. If you never jump in, you’ll never know how amazing it can be.”

Abigail plans to immediately start graduate school at UNT, seeking her master’s in hospitality management, and will soon start her new job as the food and beverage coordinator for Deloitte University. Though she’s excited to start her next chapter, she acknowledges she will miss her time in Denton.

"Through UNT I found so many people, met so many friends, made so many lasting relationships.”

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Ajay Joe

B.A.A.S. in Cybersecurity, Cybercrime and General Business

By Natalie Crawford

For Ajay Joe, a strong support system was not only instrumental in his academic success, but also in shaping the person he is today.

Ajay was born in India and moved to Odessa at just two months old. His parents came to the United States with no money and no knowledge of the English language, but they were driven by a desire to create a better life for their family. Their resilience and determination became Ajay’s inspiration.

“My parents played a monumental role in shaping me to chase my dreams, career goals and aspirations,” he says.

However, Ajay’s journey took an unexpected turn when he was diagnosed with a hearing disability at five years old. The news was a heavy blow to his family, but it also became a turning point in Ajay’s life, shaping his future in ways he could not yet fathom.

“I remember going to the audiologist with my mom and dad and crying,” Ajay recalls. “It’s hard to realize that your life is forever changed, that you’re different from the rest of the crowd.”

Faced with this challenge, Ajay had to re-learn how to approach learning and studying. As he prepared for college years later, UNT’s Office of Disability Access provided him with accommodations that made it possible for him to fully engage in his classes. With a new way of learning, Ajay could contribute and succeed in an environment that supported his needs.

Ajay’s perseverance has been deeply rooted in a strong and unwavering faith that has been his guiding light in the darkest of times. He has gained immense support throughout his journey from his family, friends and church community. Their encouragement and prayers have been essential to his progress, allowing him to face challenges with strength and hope.

“I’ve learned that life’s challenges are not setbacks, but opportunities to grow,” Ajay says. “Even in moments of doubt, faith in God and the Holy Spirit’s guidance help me persevere.”

Today, Ajay is pursuing a career path in cybersecurity, combining his fascination with technology with the strengths he gained from the support of his parents, friends and teachers.

Ajay will graduate with a B.A.A.S. degree with concentrations in cybersecurity, cybercrime and general business. He plans to continue his studies with a Master of Science in cybersecurity and engineering at Southern Methodist University.

Reflecting on his journey, he’s grateful for the support from professors, friends and his church community.

“You need a great support system, whether that’s your professors or friends,” Ajay says. “Build that space for yourself. Your support system will grow when you have the motivation and positive thinking to project your unique personality.”

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Alika Crawford

Kinesiology

By Linet Cisneros 

When Alika Crawford first came to UNT from Mansfield, she had two goals: continuing her track and field career and earning her bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. What she didn’t expect to find along the way was a passion for leadership, a dedication to helping others and a new career goal of becoming a nurse.

“The past four years at UNT have honestly made me the woman I am today,” she says. “There have been so many opportunities I probably wouldn’t have had at other schools — from being an athlete, to being the president for the Black Student Athlete Community student organization, to being part of the Professional Women's Council,” she says.

Alika wasn’t certain she wanted to attend UNT, but after taking a tour, she knew it was the right place for her.

“There were other schools that were either too far or not as big as UNT that were giving me the opportunity to run track, but they just weren’t a fit for me. After we looked around the UNT campus, I enjoyed the atmosphere a lot, so that's why I picked it. I'm glad I ended up here,” she says.

Throughout her time at UNT, Alika has flourished as an athlete — she holds the school record for the 100 meters (11.46 seconds) and earned all-conference honors as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team — and she also has flourished as a person.  She says she was still finding her way as a freshman, but by her sophomore year, she started joining student organizations.

Around that same time she co-founded the Black Student Athlete Community for which she later served as president. She and a few other athletes were inspired to start the organization on campus after being invited to attend a Black Student Athlete Association summit.

“It was important for us to provide a place where Black student-athletes can share different situations they go through and have a place where they feel comfortable talking about them,” she says. “I honestly feel like taking the role of president this year and last has been really easy because of my executive board and advisors. I’ve been really passionate about the organization, so I never found it very stressful and instead thought of it as more of a happy opportunity.”

On top of her responsibilities as an athlete, student and student organization president, she still found time to volunteer with the Vocational Independence, Social and Transitional Advancement (VISTA) program, which helps young adults with disabilities learn social and job skills. She also volunteered with the Center for Women at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Denton after deciding to change her career direction, from becoming an athletic trainer to physically helping people in the healthcare field.

“I truly feel in my heart that I love helping others. I always have even from a young age. For about an hour every Friday I go and sit and hang out with the VISTA students. They're just the sweetest,” Alika says. “At the hospital, I volunteer with moms and newborn babies. My goal now is to apply to nursing school and be a registered nurse in labor and delivery.”

As she approaches the finish line of her college journey, the race to her career isongoing, but with her UNT degree in hand, she’s ready for what comes next. 

“It's not just about the education. It's literally about the experience you get with it,” Alika says. “I honestly don't feel like I would be where I am if I chose not to go to college. I definitely think UNT has really prepared me for my professional career.”

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Amaya Green

Biochemistry

By Cassie Kutev

For Amaya Green, science has always been more than formulas or lab reports. It has been a way to explore questions, pursue truth and ultimately make a meaningful impact. A first-generation college student from Fate, Texas, Amaya chose UNT because of its Tier One research opportunities and its reputation for supporting undergraduates in hands-on scientific work.

“When I saw that undergrads could do research here, I was immediately interested,” she explains. That curiosity led her to major in biochemistry, a field that allowed her to combine her love of biology and chemistry in a program that both challenged and inspired her.

As a student in the Honors College, Amaya took every opportunity to grow beyond the classroom. She is vice president of the UNT student chapter of the American Chemical Society and secretary of Hearts for the Homeless, a student organization that provides health screenings and wellness support at local shelters. “That work has kept me grounded,” she says. “It taught me to listen, to connect with people and to understand what it means to serve.”

She also was a researcher in the toxicology lab of Amie Lund, associate professor of biological sciences and director of UNT’s Advanced Environmental Research Institute, where she found a strong sense of community and collaboration. “We’ve built real relationships in that lab,” Amaya says. “We support each other, and that has made all the difference.”

Her passion for reproductive health research comes from personal experience. Amaya spent her first year of college in pain and uncertainty. “There were no answers, and I felt dismissed at the doctor’s office” she says. As a sophomore, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). That experience inspired her goal of entering UTMB’s MD-PhD Combined Degree Program, where she can become both a physician and a researcher. She hopes to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology while contributing to reproductive health research, especially in areas that remain underfunded or misunderstood. “There's not a lot of literature out there about PCOS and things like that, so I think that that has kind of motivated me to maybe hone in on that and maybe do more reproductive research and things like that in the future.”

Outside of academics, Amaya enjoys reading, watching movies (especially solo trips to the theater) and listening to music. She’s currently reading It’s Not Hysteria by Karen Tang, a book that explores reproductive health and the historical mistreatment of women’s medical concerns. Her love for musical theatre and creative expression has provided an important outlet, helping her maintain balance in a demanding academic environment.

One of her most significant challenges was navigating college as a first-generation student. “I didn’t have a clear roadmap,” she says. “But I figured it out, and now I want to help others do the same.”

That motivation led her to mentorship programs like Navigating the Nest, which helps first-year students adjust to life in the Honors College at UNT. “I think finding someone who’s been in your shoes, or even just someone a little older who’s taken the classes you’re about to take, can make all the difference.” 

As she prepares to walk the stage at graduation, Amaya is proud of what she has accomplished and excited for what lies ahead. She defines success as a life that includes meaningful work, joyful moments and time for personal growth. “I want to practice medicine, lead research and teach. But I also want to enjoy the life I build.”

With a strong foundation in science, a commitment to service and a deep belief in the value of education, Amaya is ready to begin her next chapter — and to continue making a difference wherever she goes.

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Brenda Hill

Applied Arts and Sciences

By Allicia Washington-White 

Few will understand how far Brenda Hill has come in her educational journey when she crosses the stage to receive her bachelor’s degree in May. Her path to graduation is a story rooted in perseverance, which spans states, storms and a spirit to succeed in her academic studies. 

“I’ve always been a person of pure determination,” Brenda says.

Before arriving at UNT, she worked as a certified nursing assistant on the critical care step-down unit at East Jefferson Hospital in her hometown of New Orleans. Just two months shy of earning her associate’s degree in health information management from Delgado Community College, her life was forever changed by the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Everything was lost. 

Although she stayed behind under the assumption the storm would blow over, she also ensured the safety of her three boys, aged 17 and under, by sending them to Beaumont, TX, with a relative. She lost contact with them for two days and would not be reunited with them again until nearly one week later.

“It was a tearful moment when they drove away without me,” she says of the day they said goodbye. “It still makes me emotional.”

Katrina forced her to leave their destroyed home. She packed up all she owned, which was seven work uniforms, and traveled to Beaumont to be reunited with her children. Shortly after, Brenda and her children moved from Beaumont to Plano and found temporary housing for evacuees at the Super 8 Hotel.

Brenda anticipated returning to the Crescent City, but realized she needed to start over completely and restabilize herself in Texas.

“I wanted to go back home to New Orleans, but I had lost everything, and Texas became our new home,” she says. 

The transition was difficult as her children enrolled in new schools and she had a limited support system, but Brenda was finally able to return to work in the medical field. During her first year of employment at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, she met and fell in love with her now husband, Byron.

She and Byron settled with their newly blended family in Carrollton in March 2007. With a little more support in her personal life, Brenda shifted her focus back to her education. She sought to complete her associate's degree at Dallas College Mountain View Campus, but her specific medical billing and coding program was discontinued only months later.

Rather than give up, she deferred her academic goals, continuing to work to save for her education and taking time off from school to attend her children’s extracurricular activities and focus on life in her new state. “The people, the schools and the [Plano] community showed up for us when my children were little,” Brenda says.  

Years passed and the children grew. 

Now an empty nester, Brenda decided it was time to finish her associate’s degree. She found herself at Collin College in the health community program, eager to start the Fall of 2018 semester.

Despite the turmoil of taking classes at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she finally did it. Brenda completed her associate of applied sciences in health information management and a Level 1 billing and coding certificate in 2020. “There was nothing stopping me now; I wanted to keep going,” Brenda says. 

While thinking of her next steps, she attended two UNT commencement ceremonies for her best friend and a friend’s daughter and said to herself, “This is where I’m going to get my bachelor’s degree.”

Brenda landed at UNT at Frisco and found her place in the applied arts and sciences program, perfect for students with substantive work experience. To help finance her education, she took time off between semesters and took fewer classes per semester while working full-time.

Still, she was determined.

At times, she faced imposter syndrome and feelings of uncertainty. “I wasn’t always confident, especially being older than most of my classmates. But I embraced them, and they embraced me.” Brenda credits Katie Hermes, student services coordinator at the Center for Belonging and Engagement and the First-Generation Success Center as someone who made graduating feel possible. 

Her path has never been linear, but she never lost sight of her goals. “I did not think I was going to be able to do it,” she says. “After losing everything, I still found love and reached the finish line!”

Excited to take off a year after graduation to bask in her accomplishment, Brenda plans to return to UNT for a master’s degree. Though unsure of what she will study, Brenda says she’ll continue to live by her mantra: “Aim high and reach beyond the stars!”

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Ceceille Darter

Interdisciplinary Art and Design

By Bradford Osborne

“Design is a field you need a lot of grit for,” Ceceille Darter says. “You need that experience, you need to be rejected, then praised, so you can roll with the punches.”

Ceceille has been through all of that as a student in the College of Visual Arts and Design. She’s worked as a design assistant at UNT’s CoLab on the Denton Square and has taken a variety of courses in pursuit of her goal to make art while saving the planet. 

For the last four years, Ceceille has been putting in the work as a student at the College of Visual Arts and Design and now she’s getting ready to cross the stage.

She specializes in digital art and graphic design, which she didn’t fully discover her passion for, until her freshman year at UNT when she took a class on digital tools. She was even able to 3D-print earrings at The Spark in Willis Library.

“Seeing my work physically come to life was very cool,” Ceceille says.

Freshman year was also when she met her best friend, Jenna Mance, an interior design major. Together, they are support systems for one another.

“While I have been here, I have made so many connections through art,” Ceceille says. “It's important to have a community of smart women who can be a support system together.”

As an artist, she knew minoring in marketing would add skills that would open up as many opportunities as possible when applying to positions post-graduation.

She also loved taking art history courses. The more classes she took, the more Ceceille enjoyed learning about the historical and cultural significance art holds. Eventually, she decided to add it as a second minor.

“I want to know where things come from,” she says. “What culture does this come from, what political movement does this come from?”

She credits Lecturer Tiffany R. Floyd for helping teach her the importance of art history. “Art is culture,” Ceceille says. “She is great, truly an empowering professor.”

For extra credit in a course with Iva Jestratijevic, assistant professor of merchandising and digital retailing, Ceceille designed a logo for UNT’s Zero Waste Textile Initiative, which collects textiles and redirects them from landfills through creative reuse, recycling, donation and swap events.

This professional experience helped Ceceille land the UNT CoLab internship ahead of her senior year, where she is able to see her designs come to life. 

“I love working at the CoLab,” Ceceille says. “It’s an art space full of items from artists in the community whose works are sold in their retail space along with those of other designers. We try to keep it very DFW-focused.”

While her favorite color is blue, she tends to lean toward darker themes when designing. Thus far, her most successful products are an “art-nouveau” T-shirt line featuring unique, original drawings and typography.

“I always try to integrate my personal vibe into everything that I am making,” Ceceille says. “My personal design is a little bit more edgy.”

In October, Ceceille began gaining further experience in the Denton area with Square205, a local digital marketing and creative agency, as a junior graphic designer. She works with real clients and combines her skills in both user-experience design and advertising.

She also does freelance work designing for the Denton Downtown Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting public art, music and cultural preservation.

“I love Denton,” she says. “It’s an artsy community.”

With graduation approaching, she wants to remind those doubting themselves and their future that only you can control your path in life.

“There will always be people saying you should do this or you should do that,” she says. “If I am feeling creatively fulfilled right now, then it’s what I should be doing.”

That’s her advice for everyone: “Be content with yourself — you don’t have to appease anyone but you.”

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Devin Williams

Biology and Chemistry

By Genesis Tates

Devin Williams has long known he wanted to become a doctor. Now, a senior at the University of North Texas, he is steadily building the foundation for a future in pulmonary medicine— a path clarified through lived experiences, academic rigor, and a commitment to make a meaningful impact.

At the tender age of seven, Devin understood the fragility of breath having been diagnosed with asthma during two weeks of hospitalization. This experience allowed him to understand “what patients endure when their breath is taken away,” he says.

Growing up with asthma and inspired by a desire to help others with conditions like his, he decided pulmonology was an ideal specialty and found a calling to actively pursue it, unaware that a middle school college prep program visit to UNT’s campus would breathe life into his future journey. During this campus visit, he fell in love with UNT’s welcoming atmosphere and set his sights on joining the Mean Green Family.

While in high school, Devin dove into the healthcare field while attending the Health Science Academy in Plano. His experience quickly grew into purpose while working as a certified nurse aide student. “Aiding residents gave me insight on how to love those who need it,” he says, which affirmed and strengthened his passion and desire to help people. He knows that the experience will make him a compassionate doctor.

Devin finally landed at the UNT in Fall 2021 majoring in biology, chemistry, and minoring in psychology – a blend of educational requirements and a growing interest. Devin’s drive to earn his degree was supplemented by his mother’s example — watching her return to school and complete her bachelor’s degree while he was young showed him the power of persistence and the importance of education.

A challenging general chemistry class with principal lecturer Dr. Amy Petros, deepened his interest in science and fostered a lasting mentorship.

“I really gained my love for UNT working with Dr. Petros,” Devin says. “She did a lot for me in opening opportunities and guiding me.”

During his time as an undergraduate, Devin earned the Outstanding Freshman Chemistry Award and later became a peer-led team-based learning leader, helping students in collaborative study sessions. He was also a part of the Emerald Eagle Scholars program and joined Phi Sigma Pi, a national honor fraternity where he gave back through community service.

This journey was not without setbacks — including losing his spot in the Joint Admission Medical Program after a difficult experience with the MCAT, the medical school admissions exam — he pushed forward.

“UNT gave me the support I needed to keep going,” he says.

He took part in the MIT ACCESS program, a research-focused initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for students from underrepresented backgrounds, where he explored advanced topics in chemistry. That program opened the door to a research internship at the UNT Health Science Center, where he presented findings on a breast cancer vaccine. Devin plans to apply for a position at the American Heart Association while continuing to study for the MCAT, working with Dr. Omar Valsson’s computational chemistry research group and tutoring outside of UNT.

His ultimate goal is to become a caring pulmonary doctor and help advance innovative treatments through research, combining his passion for science with a commitment to making a lasting impact in healthcare.

He lives by the words, “never giving up on arduous dreams, it is the want to see them realized that is important,’” he says.

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Dheeraj Marthand Machiraju

Data Science

By Lisa Sciortino

Not only is Dheeraj Marthand Machiraju the first in his family to attend college, he’s also the first among them to travel halfway around the world and study abroad.

It was his “hunger for more,” he says, that prompted him in 2023 to leave his hometown of Hyderabad, in Southern India, and attend UNT, where he graduates this spring with a master’s in data science after maintaining a 4.0 GPA over the past four semesters.

Along the way, he also helped UNT’s Division of Student Affairs collect, organize and validate data and run advanced statistical analyses to uncover insights designed to help its team strategize for future programming.

“I’m a very intellectually curious person. I’m curious about a lot of things — how they work, why they work,” says Dheeraj, who earned a bachelor’s in computer science and was working as a software engineer in India when he decided to further his education.

He was impressed with all that UNT’s data science program had to offer — especially in the field of natural language processing, a type of artificial intelligence in which machine learning enables computers to comprehend and communicate with human language. 

“You can literally ask a machine something in plain old language and it understands as if there’s a human present,” he explains. “It’s just this mystery that fascinates me. It’s honestly like a sci-fi movie coming to life.”

When he arrived at UNT, Dheeraj needed a campus job to support himself. In India, he’d had a “side hustle” working as an instructor teaching CrossFit-style classes. Passionate about fitness, he was hired as an instructor and weight room supervisor at the Pohl Recreation Center.

Dheeraj introduced a new class called Functional Flow — a ground-based workout that sees participants stretch, crawl and otherwise move to improve mobility, coordination and strength. It quickly became a popular addition to the rec center’s class schedule.

“Nobody had ever done it before, and they loved it,” says Dheeraj, who taught Functional Flow for a semester and was named the center’s Best Group Fitness Instructor in Spring 2024.

He noticed the rec center collected a considerable amount of data about those using the space through membership applications and card swipes. Dheeraj thought the information could be helpful to staff in scheduling classes, programs and events.

At the Pohl Rec Center, he approached Wendy Comfort, associate director of fitness and memberships, and his mentor, Assistant Director of Fitness Alexis McDonald, about using his data science background to analyze the information. His proposal then caught the attention of the Division of Student Affairs, which requested to learn more about it.In Spring 2024, Dheeraj was hired by Sheila Bustillos, director of assessment for Student Affairs, to the Student Affairs Assessment team, which examines various data — such as student retention rates and demographics. As a data scientist, he assists the division in cultivating student development and helps departments plan, collect and measure the outcomes of their programs.

Being hired onto the Assessment team was “a huge turning point in my life,” says Dheeraj, who is looking forward to a career in data science. “I never thought I would even do something close to this. This is something I dreamed of.”

For a recent project, Dheeraj and the team pulled together five years’ of student data to learn whether participation in student organizations, on-campus employment and other similar programs impact alumni’s post-graduation employment status and pay rates.

Another project he worked on incorporated natural language processing to analyze student assessments of a career-readiness class taught in the Ryan College of Business.

“I used the NLP techniques that I was aware of to do some sentiment analysis on the feedback and tell them, 'These aspects of the class are something students very much like and these are aspects students feel could be better,'” Dheeraj explains.

Much of the qualitative research Dheeraj and the Assessment team conduct relies heavily on survey responses. Rather than manually reviewing those responses, with NLP, the process is automated — reducing the time spent on analysis from days to hours.

“That was fascinating because I never even had the idea of using my natural language processing skills for surveys,” he says. “I just wanted to build projects that could help in day-to-day life.”

In his free time, Dheeraj has participated in several “hackathons.” During the intense contests — which typically are sponsored by universities, large companies and other organizations — competing teams have as little as 24 hours work on solutions to a real-world problems, build complex computer programs or solve software issues.

At HackUTD 2024 — one of the nation’s largest hackathons — Dheeraj took home the Outstanding Skilled Individual award. At last fall’s HackUNT 2024, held at Discovery Park, his team won third place in a challenge sponsored by Fidelity Investments, in which they were tasked with developing a retirement budgeting tool for teachers.  

“It was a long night. You cannot afford to sleep,” he says. “We had to take a lot of hard turns. We had to scrap everything and build it again halfway through. It was fun.”

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Ethan Phillips

Ecology for Environmental Science

By Shelby Bahnick

Ethan Phillips, a passionate environmental advocate, has dedicated his college years not only to his personal growth but also to the conservation of one of nature’s most crucial creatures — native bees.

He says he has been an “environmental buff” since he was a kid growing up in Frisco, and as he got closer to high school graduation, a mentor shared with him that UNT has a great environmental science program.

“After my Dad and I toured UNT, I didn’t really want to search for anything else,” Ethan says. “I felt like UNT is a good place for me to be and the rest is history.”

Ethan moved away from friends and family and started his college journey with high hopes and expectations for making new friends. But like many others in his class, that all changed when COVID stopped the world.

“COVID prevented me from making any solid friendships in my first year at UNT and limited my ability to create a normal social life because most, if not all, student activities had to be canceled,” Ethan recalls.

Living in a new place without a car or job, trying to learn new things every day in and outside of the virtual classroom and not having the social interaction he’d expected all presented Ethan with heavy challenges. He says he developed resilience through independence and learned to trust himself. 

“From those experiences I was able to change myself, change my mindset,” he says. “It made me a better person for myself, for others and for the environment.”

He discovered that dedicating himself to environmental conservation locally and globally would bring him satisfaction.

“There is a lot of harm being done to the environment currently,” says Ethan, who is earning a bachelor’s degree in ecology for environmental science. “I wanted to find an avenue where I could appropriately answer that crisis. I decided to use my efforts to benefit restoration and conservation. I felt like I would be happy with myself, knowing that I am trying my best to work against something that is getting perpetually worse.”

Ethan started volunteering at the Pollinative Prairie at UNT’s Discovery Park campus and working with the We Mean Green Fund Committee in 2021 to further his contribution to conservation and increase his social network.

He volunteered to help a group of entomology professors install bee boxes on the Discovery Park campus. Ethan started doing his own research into the benefits they provide for native bees, and his findings inspired him to take the project further, literally.

In fall 2022, Ethan proposed his own campus-wide bee box project to the We Mean Green Fund Committee that sought to advance education about native bees and conservation to the broader campus. After a year of research into the benefits of his proposal, it was approved and the real work began.

Ethan found locations around campus approved by UNT Facilities and, within those, chose specific sites he determined to be suitable environments for the boxes. After installation, he planted North Texas native plants like agarita, bluebonnets and pink ladies.

As Ethan traversed the campus putting out bee boxes, he thought, “Of course they're going to come.” However, he learned that it would not be that easy and that often times, especially in science, failure is inevitable. Ethan says some of the boxes failed because the Texas summer heat killed pollinator plants nearby, and others failed because there simply were no bees in that area to colonize them.

“Throughout the journey of this project, I've restructured my thinking,” he says. “Instead of accepting failure, I ask myself, ‘How can I learn from this?’ and ‘How can I make it better?’”

The lessons paid off.

“I remember the first day of data collection, where I saw bees interacting with the bee box. I was so excited,” he says. “Finally after three years of trial and error, I finally get to see it in person, right in front of me. It was one of the best experiences of my life.”

Ethan plans to continue his research after graduation through a non-profit or governmental conservation and restoration organization, and he looks forward to his continued growth in his field helping all pollinators flourish for the betterment of our planet.

Ethans advice for the best way we can help? “Pollinators are extremely important to the environment. There are close to 4,000 species of bee in North America alone, including the most recognized Western Honeybee, and they all need our help. So rip out your Bermuda grass and plant native!”

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Jaya Sravani Mandapaka

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering

 By Amanda Lyons

Jaya will tell you her personality’s done a complete 180 since she arrived at UNT.

“Before starting my Ph.D., I was completely an introvert,” she says. “In these three years, I think somehow I changed into an extrovert.”

Jaya joined UNT in 2021 after earning a master’s degree in Computer Science from Arkansas State University. She wanted to earn a Ph.D., but that university didn’t have a program in STEM. Her advisor at AState recommended she work with UNT’s Electrical Engineering professor Kamesh Namuduri.

“I had talked with him before for a project,” Jaya says. “He was researching electronics and communications, and that’s what I was interested in, so I decided to join his team.”

Her transformation began early. In her first semester, Jaya took on a teaching fellow role in Communications Systems lab, managing responsibilities with minimal supervision.

“I used to get really nervous speaking in front of people, but teaching that lab in my first year really helped me improve,” she says.

She’s not only grown personally, she’s also helping shape the future of her research field in advanced air mobility. She focuses on communications between autonomous aerial vehicles such as drones, which is a new field of study.

“When I joined, most research was on air to ground communications, but we were doing air to air communications,” Jaya says. “I skimmed through thousands of indirectly related papers and then narrowed that to about 350 to read. Just that took about a year and a half.”

Her focus on communications between drones comes from a concern over safety.

“With more companies looking at autonomous vehicles and aircraft, it’s really important to keep safety in mind. We don’t want future air taxis and ambulances to collide into each other or with birds.”

Jaya’s expertise has brought her recognition beyond UNT. In 2023, she earned the C. Michael Walton Smart Cities Fellowship award by the Center of Transportation Research at University of Texas at Austin. The fellowship included a nearly $8,000 stipend that allowed Jaya to research and present her findings on transportation challenges. She also went to six different conferences and partook in multiple competitions while at UNT.

“One of my favorites was with the Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless. We were tasked with programming a drone to find a hidden ground vehicle. We came in third place for the simulation, which we weren’t happy with, but then we got first place for the real-world testing because we were the only ones who accounted for the actual environment.”

Recently, she experienced the loss of her grandfather. “I think it was his dream for me to pursue this Ph.D. so it’s a little sad he won’t be there to see me get the degree. I dedicate this to him.”

Jaya says going through ups and downs is a part of life but to trust the process. Her advice to other students going through hardships is to reach out to their advisors and communicate with them to build a support system.

 “Dr. Namuduri was so supportive through all of it,” Jaya says. “He’s been my major advisor and well-wisher throughout the process. He guided and motivated me. It’s hard to put it into words, but he’s kind of like a father figure to me.”

For her next steps, Jaya hopes to continue her research in drone communications.

“I’ve said before ‘once a researcher, always a researcher,’” she says. “And I really want to continue that in either the industry or in academia.”

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Jennifer Estrada

Hospitality Management

By Amanda Lyons

Jennifer Estrada always knew she wanted to earn a degree.

“My mom would always tell me to get my education,” Jennifer says. “I remember telling her in my freshman year of high school, ‘I’m going to college, and I’m living there. I don’t know where and I don’t know how, but I’ll do it.’”

Jennifer, a first-generation student who went to grade school in Mexico before returning to Dallas for high school, chose the University of North Texas because of the campus culture.

“I wanted to be somewhere where I saw myself represented and could find my community,” she says. “I saw that at UNT.”

To find her community, Jennifer jumped right into campus life, deciding during orientation that she wanted to be involved in anything that interested her. To do this, she had to become a time management expert.

“Google Calendar was my best friend,” she laughs. “I color coordinated every single detail and even made reminder notes for when to go eat.”

In her freshman year, Jennifer joined the Latino Student Experience, Kappa Delta Chi, Folxlórico and the Latinx Hispanic Student Union.

“If it wasn’t for all of those people who supported me in my freshman year, I wouldn’t be here,” she says. “There’s just so much about college you don’t know as a first-gen student.”

Jennifer then took on leadership positions in many of her organizations, such as director of record for the LHSU, and she worked her way up to president of her sorority. She later joined the NT40 organization and was on the Homecoming royalty court. She also worked for the Eagle Camp team in the Orientation and Transition office and works for Housing as a facility assistant.

“I knew that I wanted to give guidance to other people. I wanted to inspire them,” she says. “And I think I did. I’ve seen my students join Greek life, work for Housing or join orientation leadership.”

Even with all her on-campus activities, Jennifer also found ways to give back to the Denton community.

“I’m just drawn to community service,” she says. “I would go to the Daily Bread and Salvation Army in Denton in the mornings or on weekends to organize the food pantries or hand out food. It’s so fulfilling to see a first-hand impact and it makes me appreciate what I have and what I have done.”

On top of her extracurriculars and service, Jennifer maintained A’s in her classes and took study abroad trips to Spain and Japan where she learned about the hospitality industry in other countries.

“I love my field because I’m a people person. I love seeing cultural differences. In Spain they have siestas in the afternoon. I was like ‘what do you mean everyone is sleeping? I’m trying to get some food!’ I just love learning new things like that.”

When asked about the hardest part of it all, Estrada says it was finding time for herself.

“Giving myself that kind of care was the hardest because I wanted to do everything. I had to learn how to say no to some things to do what was best for me.”

She isn’t slowing down, though. Jennifer plans to get her master’s in hospitality management at UNT and already has another study abroad trip planned, this time to Italy to learn about its cuisine, wine and culture.

“I honestly never planned to earn my master’s, but during a CMHT trip to Las Vegas, Dr. Kim Williams nudged me towards getting a master’s. And I do like school, and I think it will help my professional career.”

Looking back at her time at UNT, she knows the one piece of advice she’d give to an incoming student.

“Get involved. Put yourself out there,” she says. “There’s so much to do and explore, and there are options for everyone.”

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Kevin Crawford

B.A.A.S. in Public Safety

By Linet Cisneros 

Kevin Crawford is an Army veteran, a UNT police officer, a dad and — now — a college graduate. “I never saw myself being a college graduate. I was a veteran, and I had my police job. But now that graduation is a week away, I'm blown away at this accomplishment,” he says.

Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Arts and Sciences with a concentration in Public Safety, Kevin followed an unconventional path to earning his degree. Starting college in 2018 was not an easy decision for him, but his children were his main motivation.

“My kids were getting closer to college age, and I recognized that I wanted to be a good role model for them. I said, ‘OK, I'm going to take just one class. Let's see what it's like.’ One class quickly turned into two and two turned into continuing to go to school. And before I knew it, it became my normal routine,” Kevin says. “My son is a UNT student right now. It’s been kind of fun to hear him talk about his English class and I can say that I just had that class last semester. I wanted to be able to help my kids like that, which is why I started this adventure.”

Being a full-time police officer, part-time student and full-time dad required grit, perseverance and time management skills. “Last summer while going to see the Grand Canyon in Arizona, I made it a point to get up every morning before my family did to get my homework done. So when they woke up, I could be all theirs and have family time. On days when all I wanted to do was recharge, I just kept my head down and kept going,” Kevin says.

He also credits his advisor, Heather Treadway, for helping him navigate which courses to take and always supporting him in earning his degree. “Heather knew me because she used to be an intern for the UNT Survivor Advocate when I was in community engagement. So, it was kind of a comfort that she knew me, and I knew her. When I didn’t know if my personal workload or professional workload was going to let me keep up with my student workload, Heather helped me manage everything and continued to encourage me. I love UNT for that,” he says.

Kevin’s time at UNT now includes being a staff member, a student and a UNT parent. But the title he’s looking forward to adding is alumnus. “I'm so excited to finally be part of the alumni in the UNT Police Department and attend my first gathering and say I am truly Mean Green. I am UNT through and through. I've gotten a chance to take a bite of the cookie from every perspective, and I’ve enjoyed every piece,” he says. “My student experiences have helped me understand the demands of a college life. The staff side has allowed me to show more compassion and patience. And the parent side has been just fun because I get to cheer and encourage my son along the way.”

For Kevin, getting a degree from anywhere else was not an option. And he encourages others thinking about attending UNT later in their career to do so. “Just go do it. If I hadn't taken one class to see what it's like, I wouldn't be here today. UNT has been an incredibly strong, supportive university. I would 100% recommend UNT,” he says.

While Kevin has attended many commencement ceremonies as a police officer at UNT, this spring he’ll be walking across the stage as a graduate instead. “I’m really excited! I’m in charge from the police side of the event, but then I'm going to get to go back as a student and walk by all my coworkers and wave to them and just be excited that I’m on this side now.”

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Logan Gibson

Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis

By Cameron Heiser

Fifteen years ago, as Logan Gibson began another shift as an EMT with the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department in Houston, he wasn’t thinking about academia or the health care system at large. His goal was simple: “Being there for people at their worst moments.”

He never imagined this simple desire would grow into years of research and a doctorate from an institution he never dreamed of attending. As the first in his immediate family to attend college, Logan recalls his perception of higher education from a young age.

“As a kid I thought, ‘well, college is just some place that people on TV or rich people go,’” he says. “That’s a life that I’ll never really live.”

Fulfilling a promise made to his late parents as an undergrad, Logan is set to cross the graduation stage to accept his Ph.D. in behavior analysis. Through it all, his desire to help people hasn’t changed in the slightest.

Logan’s passion for health care blossomed working for private ambulance companies in the Texas Medical Center, one of the country’s largest and most renowned medical centers located in Houston, and later as a lab volunteer. Logan originally planned on advanced nursing, but motivation from a professor of exercise at the University of Houston turned his focus to research and the behavioral side of medicine.

“I got interested in motivation. Why do people go to the doctor? Why do they not go to the doctor? Why do they take their medication or why don't they? It was another professor who said, ‘You should look at behavior analysis.’”

Logan chose UNT’s behavior analysis program because it offered him the freedom to pursue the research that interested him. “Whenever I've had an idea, they've said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s led to some really cool areas.”

While most people in the field work in primary education or with individuals with developmental disabilities, Logan chose to focus on helping those who may have issues with traditional health care models and treatment methods. His research at UNT has explored topics such as getting children undergoing radiation therapy for cancer to sit still without sedation and gamifying the rehabilitation process after knee surgery.

Logan heavily credits his professors — the “Original Gangsters” of behavior analysis, as he calls them — for inspiring his research with their pioneering work.

“There’s direct lineages at UNT to the very cornerstones of this field,” he says.

One such influence is neurologist Dr. April Becker, who served as Logan’s advisor and mentor.

“She’s a brilliant scientist and has been instrumental in my professional development and methodology. She certainly had an impact on me.”

Logan also credits Dr. Shahla Alai-Rosales, one of the “original gangsters” who inspired his own holistic approach to behavior analysis, for motivating him to begin working in an autism clinic for children.

From humble beginnings to his doctorate, Logan’s time at UNT taught him about the importance of small goals, something he hopes to pass on to the next generation of Mean Green students.

“If you’ve got this goal of lifting 1,000 pounds, everyday you’re lifting a little bit more. Then one day you lift 1,000 pounds. That’s a momentary experience, but now you’ve got a completely different body capable of lifting 1,000 pounds.”

Logan’s entire journey was about transformation; from an EMT to the lab, an undergrad at the University of the Pacific to a father and husband, all the while dispatching the challenges of education.

“I can’t even count the number of meetings where I’ve had a baby in my arms. It’s been wild.”

Reflecting on what’s changed and what it means to succeed at UNT, Logan recalls the promise he made to his parents, both of whom passed away while he was an undergraduate.

“I promised my mom, ‘I’ve started this journey. I’m going to do this.’”

Her response?

“She said, ‘Of course you are.’”

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Luz De La Luz

Master’s in Health and Public Service

By Natalie Crawford

Luz De La Luz embodies UNT’s core value Show Your Fire — going beyond the ordinary and pursuing her goals with resilience, passion and purpose.

For Luz, that fire burns bright. A first-generation college student, she is building her future through determination and grit, facing challenges with a mindset shaped by self-reliance.

“I’m going to do this because I said I would,” she says.

Luz didn’t always see college in her future. It wasn’t until her junior year of high school that she began to seriously consider higher education, encouraged by her parents’ hope she would land a stable, meaningful job. She wanted a career that would allow her to have a positive impact on people and their communities. This led her to a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Texas State University, with the intent to eventually get a federal job in forensic science.

Her path wasn’t easy. With little guidance on how to navigate college life or how to secure financial aid, Luz learned to do it on her own. She worked two jobs during her freshman year and paid for school out of pocket.

“Just moving ahead is what motivated me to keep moving forward in my education. When I would see progress, it made me want to do more. I wanted a better life for myself and my family,” says Luz.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Luz began working as a 911 operator at an agency in Dallas.  She talked about graduate school, but it seemed to be out of reach. However, a coworker who knew her story encouraged her to apply to UNT for graduate school. There was a 911 operator position open, and she could take advantage of the staff Tuition Benefit Program. The choice was clear.

Now finishing her master’s, Luz is especially drawn to classes such as Legal Aspects, her only in-person course, where she’s explored the theory behind crime and victimology.

Luz’s plans for her career are shifting away from her initial goals of forensic science as she graduates with her degree. Equipped with new knowledge, she will be begin working toward becoming a police officer, parlaying her experience with answering 911 calls into responding to them in person.

Her advice for others? “Don’t be discouraged. It’s all going to be for something bigger and better for you. If you want it, just push for it.”

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Madeline Blackburn

Consumer Experience Management

By Bess Whitby

Madeline Blackburn’s achievements were met with their fair share of challenges. In October 2023, she survived a shooting at the State Fair of Texas, an experience she says required many hours of counseling to overcome. Soon after — just a few months later in January 2024 — she was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. The diagnosis called for treatment and the removal of half of her thyroid gland. In the face of overwhelming difficulty, Madeline kept moving forward.

“These two things happening back-to-back were obviously hard, especially while being in school. But I decided I was going to use them to push and motivate myself,” she says. “I hate that I went through those things, but they made me who I am.”

After earning an associate’s degree at a community college, she enrolled at UNT. “My friend was taking a tour and asked me to come along for moral support, and I just really liked the campus and the people we met. So, I decided to apply, too,” she says.

Madeline initially enrolled in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, but found herself wanting something different. The College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism was a perfect fit: Madeline set her sights on merchandising and digital retailing before deciding to major in consumer experience management.

“I have a creative mind, and when I changed majors, I knew this was what I had been looking for,” she says.

That shift in focus resulted in a new sense of purpose. With support from merchandising and digital retailing assistant professor Iva Jestratijevic, Madeline and her classmate Rosalyn Zuniga co-founded the Zero Waste Textile Initiative in 2024 to promote clothing reuse and sustainability on campus — a project that has repurposed over two tons of clothing and saved students thousands of dollars in the process. Madeline joined the CMHT Executive Student Council and became an undergraduate research fellow, winning a departmental award and presenting her findings on textile reuse and student impact at a conference.

But her work didn’t stop on campus. Madeline joined the National Retail Federation Student Association, spearheading the UNT team that earned $20,000 in scholarship funds during the final rounds of the organization’s 2025 University Challenge in New York City. She represented the university at national events and participated in educational outreach to local K-12 schools. At the 2024 Dallas Food in Fashion Show, she even designed and built sustainable runway pieces, creating accessories using kitchen materials and food items.

Madeline credits Iva Jestratijevic and Christy Crutsinger, professor of merchandising and digital retailing, with helping her succeed despite the obstacles in her way.

“Dr. Jestratijevic and Dr. Crutsinger told me they were there for me, that we’d get through it together. They were always calling to check in on me,” she says. “Everyone at CMHT is so special, and that makes me want to stick around.”

Madeline is excited to continue her research while learning more about the sustainable textile industry. This fall, she begins a UNT master’s program in merchandising and consumer analytics.

With such a passion for knowledge, it’s no surprise that Madeline’s advice to incoming freshmen is simple: stay curious.

“Ask a bunch of questions and get to know your teachers,” she says. “Speaking up and taking care of those relationships — that’s what will set you apart.”

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Margaret Anne Gunter

Music Performance

By Genesis Tates

For music performance major Margaret Anne Gunter, the University of North Texas has been more than just a place to study it’s where she honed her skills, found support and grew into the musician she is today.

Margaret Anne began playing harp at the age of 11 after years of piano lessons, . Drawn to UNT’s College of Music, she quickly found a home in the harp studio, where she studied under Professor Jaymee Haefner

“She showed me what it's like care about students as harpists and as humans,” Margaret says.

Her time at UNT has been marked by both success and self-discovery. In her sophomore year, she won the a high point that also brought unexpected pressure.

“I started struggling a lot with performance anxiety,” Margaret Anne says. “I was questioning if I even needed to keep pursuing music because if I was unable to enjoy it, I didn't know if I needed to be doing it.”

With the support of her mentors and her faith, Margaret Anne reconnected with her love for music and embraced imperfection. That mindset helped her grow as a performer and a leader. One of her most meaningful roles was serving as a College of Music ambassador, guiding prospective students with the empathy and wisdom born from her own journey.

While she’s celebrated multiple accolades — including winning the American Harp Society National Competition — Margaret Anne says her proudest UNT moments have come from the relationships and resilience she built along the way. 

Next up for Margaret Anne is a master’s degree in music performance at Florida State University, where she has earned a prestigious teaching assistantship. Her goal is to perform professionally — stay open to where music leads.

“I’m just excited to see what happens,” she says.

Margaret Anne’s advice for aspiring musicians is both practical and heartfelt: “Invest yourself in the people around you. Work hard. Take opportunities. And truly enjoy what you're getting to do.”

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Monica Appiah

Master’s in Hospitality Management

By Christiana Flores

Monica Appiah’s journey to the University of North Texas began with a love for food, nutrition and a desire to do more.

Growing up in Ghana, Monica originally dreamed of becoming a flight attendant — but that dream evolved. After excelling in high school studying home economics and nutrition, she pursued a bachelor’s degree in hospitality with a double major in human nutrition at a university in Ghana. She graduated at the top of her class and was selected to assist professors during her one-year national service, which all Ghanaian citizens that complete undergraduate are expected to complete.

“That changed everything for me,” she recalls. “I wanted to teach because I enjoy doing it and feel gratification seeing people get their answers.”

After teaching food and nutrition in a government school for two and a half years, Monica set her sights on a master’s degree. She was determined, but funding her education abroad was a challenge. UNT became the answer — she secured a graduate assistantship through the Division of Student Affairs that made her dream possible.

“I want to challenge myself, you know, knowing where I come from,” Monica says. “I don’t want to be in the same spot.”

The transition to Denton wasn’t easy. She arrived alone, without family or friends, and struggled with homesickness.  But she leaned on her strong faith, her family back in Ghana and a new community she built in Denton through church and friendships.

“Whenever I think, ‘How am I going to do this?’ I just pray about it and God makes a way,” she says.

At UNT, Monica dove into research and leadership opportunities. She served as a research fellow for the FoodWISE study — a nationwide initiative coordinated by the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative. She organized meetings and assisted with data collection. It aligned perfectly with her own thesis, which explored food service workers’ behavior towards food waste reduction and the influence of their food safety concerns on that behavior.

“There’s much more to food service than just cooking,” Monica says. “It’s about understanding how behaviors impact waste and sustainability. That’s something I’m truly happy I got to experience.”

She also thrived as a teaching assistant in an undergraduate nutrition course — a role the reignited her passion for education and mentoring.

“I want to impact students by taking what they’ve learned and encouraging them to change the world in some way.”

Monica will continue her studies this fall, pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Long-term, she plans to return to Ghana and teach, taking with her what she has learned.

“Food is very crucial,” she says. “So many are suffering from food insecurity, and yet we waste so much. People need to be educated about how to go about food and storage, and I think that’s something that’s going to change the world.”

Even through homesickness, cultural shifts and self-doubt, Monica kept going — thanks to faith, family and the community she found at UNT.

“When I don’t feel like I know what I’m doing, I call home,” she says. “They remind me how hard I fought to get here.”

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Patrick Zuege

Master’s in Business Administration

By Christiana Flores

For Patrick Zuege, mentoring is second nature — a byproduct of years spent in the military and a deep sense of responsibility that goes far beyond personal achievement.

“Most cadets have a lot of potential but don’t necessarily want to go into infantry,” he says. “But the leadership skills they can learn in that role are so valuable.”

Patrick is not a typical graduate student. He’s an active-duty soldier participating in the Army’s Green to Gold Program, a path that allows enlisted soldiers to become commissioned officers while earning a degree. His story exemplifies resilience, faith, sacrifice and service — both to his country and to his community.

His uncle served in Desert Storm and partly inspired his decision to join the military.

“It always was a question of when, not if,” Patrick says.

He attended Tarleton State University for his undergraduate degree in business, but knew funding would be a challenge. Not wanting to take on massive amounts of debt, Patrick joined the National Guard. There, he spent six years as a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) maintainer before enlisting in active duty, ultimately finding his calling in Civil Affairs.

“Civil Affairs is a unique job,” Patrick explains. “You try to capitalize on the civil domain (life that exists outside of government institutions) to accomplish military objectives. It’s going into a village that’s been liberated and helping them fix and provide services they’ll need after we’re gone.”

During his time in Civil Affairs, he had multiple deployments in the Middle East, a combat environment that, while intense, fortunately never involved direct combat for him.

Transitioning from serving on active duty to the academic environment with the UNT Army ROTC has been a big adjustment. He went from an environment with many close friends, a 24/7 commitment and constant movement to the pace of student life — with just a few hours of physical training and classes each week — it was almost disorienting.

Despite the tough transition, Patrick has made the most of his time at UNT, mentoring more than 80 cadets and helping the Department of Military Science refine its curriculum.

“I’ve had a passion to help people to be as ready as possible for whatever comes their way. My faith as a Christian has played a huge part in that,” he says.

Outside of school and military life, Patrick is a devoted husband and father of three children, ages 2, 4 and 6. His wife, a former teacher, now homeschools the children and provides the backbone of support that keeps their family grounded.

“She’s awesome,” he says. “She’s the perfect wife to be in the Army with.”

The Green to Gold program not only allows him to pursue his master’s degree without financial burden — it’s a lifeline for his family.

After completing his M.B.A. and becoming commissioned as a 2^nd lieutenant, Patrick will attend a Finance and Comptroller Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. His long-term goal is to return to Civil Affairs to be in a mission focused on helping others.

In his rare free time, Patrick plays guitar and has performed at a few local gigs alongside an ROTC colleague. Music has allowed him to have a creative outlet to balance a very structured, purpose-driven life.

Despite the constant shifts in duty stations, long absences from family, and balancing being a soldier, student, husband and parent, Patrick is focused on his mission.

“I have an obligation as a soldier in the United States Army, as a father and as a Christian to do my best and pass that on and help other people who need it.”

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Payton Whitehead

Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

By Lisa Sciortino

While searching the internet several years ago, Payton Whitehead discovered UNT.  This spring, he’ll graduate with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

“I googled 'biochemistry' and 'UNT' and the BioDiscovery Institute popped up. A lot of the things on the webpage were things I was really interested in,” recalls Payton, a native of the small town of Calvert, Oklahoma, who earned a bachelor’s in Biochemistry Technology at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

He emailed UNT College of Science Regents Professor Kent Chapman, whose research program in plant biochemistry and cell biology is internationally recognized. “I asked, 'Hey, can I join your lab?' And he was like, 'Sure. Come down and visit.'”

In 2018, when he began researching in Chapman’s lab, Payton discovered an existing project involving jojoba plants that had been sitting idle. He decided to resume work on it as his graduate research project.

Jojoba is a desert-dwelling plant with seeds that store large amounts of liquid wax esters, a type of oil commonly used in cosmetic products and industrial lubricants. Payton’s research has focused on the production of this oil in plants, which could serve as a renewable alternative to traditional petroleum-based products.

“There's a need to find alternatives,” Payton explains. “We were like, 'How can we make these waxes in a system to make it commercially viable.' We're trying to take everything that the plant has that makes this oil and put it in a more suitable oil-seed crop.”

Nevertheless, Payton says, “It’s amazing that this little, non-sentient plant can do some of the best organic chemistry that anyone could possibly do. It’s way better at being a chemist than we could ever hope to be.”

In the lab, his research has also included tobacco plants. He has sown seeds, grown plants and conducted experiments using bacterium to create liquid wax esters from various combinations of plant genes.

“Payton has been a true joy to have in the lab,” Chapman says. “He is always ready to do what it takes to test his ideas.”

Through his research, which he presented in 2024 at the International Symposium on Plant Lipids conference in Nebraska, Payton concluded that jojoba seeds are unlikely to become a large-scale alternative for petroleum products in most commercial uses as they do not produce enough oil to support such needs.

“That’s the thing with a lot of research,” he says. “You make these incremental progresses and might not ever see it come to fruition. But, you know, I’ve done my part. Maybe someone else can take it and develop it a little and it could eventually become something that’s usable. That’s nice to know.”

A single-author paper encompassing the research he conducted at UNT — which also comprised his Ph.D. dissertation — is set to be published this summer in The Plant Cell, a leading international journal for reporting new discoveries in plant science.

“I’m proud to have my work featured there and shared with others who may take it and expand upon the ideas I have in it,” he says.

Also, a recent U.S. patent application is based on research that he and Chapman conducted on subcellular machinery that elevates high-energy molecules in plant tissues.

“We essentially wanted to see if the idea that specified proteins are required for wax ester accumulation could be applied to other valuable oils,” Payton says, including those with medicinal and industrial applications, as the pair’s preliminary research suggested.

Having both a paper published and a patent application submitted are “rare” achievements on their own, Chapman says. “For a fundamental discovery to have both a substantial scientific advance and future applications is an outcome few enjoy — especially so early in one’s career.”

Payton, who plans to pursue a career as a scientist, says he hopes his research will one day prompt the production of “more renewable, bio-based products that will help to ease our society away from its reliance on petroleum-based products. This could potentially help lessen our collective carbon footprint and lead to a more ecofriendly society.”

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Qihang Lu

Master’s in Vocal Performance

By Bess Whitby

As a child, Qihang Lu listened to his grandfather play the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument dating back to the seventh century. Since a love of music runs in his family, it was no surprise that he also decided to pursue a musical career.

“My grandfather is a professor of erhu in China, so I began learning erhu when I was five years old,” he says. “But when I started university, I realized I had vocal talents as well.”

Before coming to the U.S. to study at UNT, Qihang earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Central China Normal University, one of the top three universities of its kind in the country. In addition to his academic studies, he took pedagogy and performance courses while teaching large classes of students. He also opened a music studio for students pursuing their own music degrees.

Despite his achievements, Qihang knew his educational journey wasn’t over: he wanted to pursue a field that would provide him with plenty of job opportunities. He admired the faculty in UNT’s College of Music, so he applied to the vocal performance master’s program — and was accepted.

“The faculty are so nice and helpful, and Denton is a lovely city,” he says.

Once on campus, Qihang quickly got to work. He studied and practiced as much as possible to ensure his academic success. Living and working in a different country was challenging in unexpected ways; everything from making phone calls to using the internet was a new experience. But Qihang kept moving toward his goals.

“It was a big change for me, but I knew I would be okay,” he says.

Qihang received high praise from faculty and his fellow students at his master’s vocal recital. It wasn’t just any performance: it was his first-ever full recital as a singer. Qihang doesn’t describe the experience as happy or sad. It was more of a full-circle moment in his academic journey.

“It really fulfilled and completed my voice study experience,” he says.

Now that he’s conquered his master’s degree in vocal performance, Qihang is a top applicant for doctoral programs in both the U.S. and Canada. He plans to teach vocal performance at the university level.

“It’s interesting to teach undergraduate students because they’re still young and have so many new ideas and goals,” he says.

But as Qihang prepares for his future, he says one moment in his recent past will stay with him. His master’s recital included a few songs that visibly resonated with his audience.

“I used instruments and sang Chinese folk songs, and everyone was very moved,” he says. “It was a very good moment.”

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Rachael Ebdon

Creative Writing

By Walker Smart

“I’m a big horror fan. It's like one of my defining personality traits.”

For Rachael Ebdon, graduating with a bachelor of arts in English with a focus on creative writing, her love of horror has persisted during her time at UNT. But the Carrollton native has learned a lot about herself since then.

Rachael had been homeschooled until she was in 4th grade. For someone who describes herself as neurodivergent, going to public school was a big step.

“It was a rough transition from homeschooling to public school because there were so many things that I did not know about — like grading. And going into it, I had to slowly progress in terms of social skills as well. But I am so thankful to have the opportunity to be able to graduate from high school and to enter UNT, where I have met so many wonderful professors.”

Rachael initially came to UNT because she heard it had a good library science program. But it was during a horror studies class taught by Adam Villalobos that she connected her love of horror with a newfound desire to study creative writing.

For a research paper in her honors composition class, she looked deeper at what it was she loved about the terrifying genre. “The subject I chose was about slashers. It's interesting because slashers are tied to certain moral panics at the time and how they really have surfaced during times with anxieties about technology failing or about institutions failing. The slasher can withstand bullets and guns and technology and targets young generations.”

Rachael has noticed these same anxieties in other eras and genres of fiction, including a class on Milton and another on Chaucer. “No matter the time or place, horror fiction addresses all these intersecting issues like race, gender and class.” She also enjoys looking at how these anxieties have evolved over time — and how they haven’t.  “One of my favorite quotes is ‘History never repeats, but it often rhymes.’ And you see that so much in horror.”

There’s also the issue of how she sees herself in the medium. “It has so much representation to me. I love exploring neurodivergence or other disabilities in horror and how they are portrayed. Most villains you see are disfigured, like Jason Voorhees. I also like seeing how different kinds of disability evolve in horror. And that's what I really want to do when I write. I write about disabled people for disabled people like me.”

But that’s not the only passion she discovered on campus. As part of the Honors College requirements, she took a class with Julie Leventhal about human trafficking and found a passion that engages her nurturing side. “The class kind of fundamentally changed me in terms of reconciling with what kind of personality I am. And while I want to write, I also plan to go into antitrafficking work.”

She wasn’t surprised to find a passion for helping. “I come from a huge family — like eleven of us in total. When I was growing up, I felt conflicted with my nurturing side because I didn't know how to reconcile that. But now, I really want to explore how to help other people.”

Rachael was able to explore this other side of herself while working with people she met in the Office of Disability Access, who she worked with to address concerns about how her neurodivergence might impact her academics. “I met some great folks over at the ODA. I've met so many people who have challenged me in terms of how I think. And I've met some other neurodivergent and disabled people who have helped me almost reclaim my neurodivergence. They really helped me learn that there are people who are willing to understand and to accommodate me.”

Rachael will continue to work with her professors to find a position in antitrafficking nonprofits. But that won’t stop her from writing. And she wants her fiction to represent the whole spectrum — not just the ideas we normally see about autism in fiction and on the screen.

“A lot of what we see with autism advocates is that they focus on how autism sets you apart — like autism is like a superpower — while ignoring how it can be a disability. I also want to focus on the parts that are difficult and how it can sometimes feel ostracizing. And how, despite all that, I want my characters to be who they are because ultimately, I feel like my horror stories will want a happy ending.”

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Tamia Johnson

Marketing

By Jaelyn Tucker

‘A closed mouth doesn’t get fed’ was a phrase Tamia heard her entire childhood from her mother and grandmother — fierce, hardworking women who led their household with purpose. Those words became more than just advice, but a personal mantra for Tamia Johnson, so she spoke up, showed up and pushed herself to the limit in pursuit of her academic ambitions.

Tamia often reflects on hearing this phrase as a child and what it really meant growing up in her Fort Worth home. For her, the saying instilled principles she carried through life such as taking initiative, being accountable and having the confidence to balance competing priorities – essentially, doing it all!

While attending the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, an all-girls high school in Fort Worth, she honed her leadership skills and academic drive. She graduated at the top of her class, participated in several extracurricular activities and debutante ball all while preparing for the next chapter – college. Balancing school and activities proved to be a challenging, but manageable task while in high school.

That drive carried her through her first semester at Tarrant County College, before she found her home at UNT, pursuing marketing and journalism.

Tamia’s dream of attending a large university to take advantage of endless possibilities came true almost the moment she stepped foot on campus. She immediately got involved in campus life by joining organizations that aligned with her values. She was a part of the Black Student Union’s marketing team and served as vice president of the Professional Women’s Council. In addition to her campus leadership, she concurrently balanced two part-time jobs and a full course load while maintaining a strong academic record.

Tamia indeed seized every opportunity she encountered, and it eventually led to burnout, which proved to be one of Tamia’s biggest challenges, a reality she hadn’t to face in high school. She quickly began to learn that pushing herself to the limit was more than just drive but giving your all with what you have the capacity to handle.

“My mental health had its ups and downs, I felt drained by everything, but I wasn’t going to give up on the full academic experience,” Tamia says.

Feeling the weight of burnout, Tamia remembered the phrase ‘a closed mouth doesn’t get fed,’ so Tamia turned to the TRIO program and spoke up to ask for help learning how to balance her trio – school, activities and work.  UNT’s TRIO is a collection of programs designed to foster the support and success of first-generation students in their first year at UNT.

Finding solace in the TRIO program helped her understand that it’s ok to honor your own limits. The TRIO program went beyond assisting her with coursework, she found a family, accountability partners, and a campus community she didn’t know she needed.

“The program wasn’t just a resource – it was a lifeline.” I used to believe I could do everything by saying yes to every opportunity, every role and responsibility. I was doing myself a disservice. The TRIO program taught me that rest was necessary and setting boundaries with myself are forms of self-care,” Tamia says.

As she progressed through each semester with her TRIO family be her side, she carried with her the legacy of the women who raised her and uncovered a new way to push herself – one that blends competing priorities with self-discipline and intention. This proved for her that community, self-determination and learning how to balance it all were the keys to becoming the woman she was raised to be.

As she reflects on her time at UNT and the connections she made she says, “every opportunity shaped me, I leaned into the support that surrounded me, and with that, I kept going” Tamia says.

Her journey is a testament to resilience, having a supportive community and learning new ways to approach her personal mantra.

Upon graduating from UNT, Tamia plans to begin her career in marketing and carries with her not only the lessons of her family but the growth she’s achieved through balancing ambition with self-discipline and care.

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Tiffany Ramirez

Marketing

By Shelby Bahnick

Tiffany Ramirez never imagined she’d be here — graduating from college, leading a team at the University of North Texas (UNT) Career Center and helping fellow students find their paths. Quiet, introspective and music-obsessed, Tiffany once struggled to imagine where she belonged. Now, she’s found not only her voice but a purpose: Creating welcoming spaces where others feel seen and supported.

For Tiffany, music was never just background noise — it was a driving force and key motivator.

“I was very shy as a kid,” she admits. “Music was my everything. I always needed something playing in my ear. It’s kind of like a ritual — my safe haven.”

Tiffany will graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing to pursue her passion for music on the business side, as a marketing manager for music artists.

After graduation, Tiffany will make her way to Walt Disney World in Florida, where she will participate in the Disney College Program for six months before starting her marketing career in the music industry.

The daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother, Tiffany grew up navigating two cultures. Her grandmother speaks only Spanish and her upbringing was steeped in Latina values of hard work and perseverance. Still, she often felt like she didn’t fit in, whether due to her alternative fashion sense, her introversion or her internal battle with imposter syndrome.

Now a business student, Tiffany doesn’t hide her quirks. She embraces them.

“I never wanted to fit into a box,” she says. “I didn’t want a cubicle or a uniform. I wanted to be true to myself and help others do the same.”

Her path wasn’t always smooth. Math proved to be her academic kryptonite.

“I’m not a numbers person at all. Business calculus nearly killed me,” she jokes. “But learning to ask for help, that was huge.”

“When I toured UNT with my parents, I absolutely fell in love with the culture on campus and in Denton itself – the culture is humanities focused with art, passion, music and a lot of love. I felt like the community was the perfect fit for me,” Tiffany says.

At the heart of her college experience was her work with the Career Center, especially the UCAR 2000z program, a professional development course for second-year students. Tiffany started as a peer mentor and eventually became the program’s first team lead, a role she never saw coming.

As a first-generation college student, Tiffany knows how it feels to be unsure and overwhelmed. Her success, she says, comes down to perseverance and learning to believe in herself even when self-doubt or the skepticism of others creeps in.

“The fact that the team lead opportunity was even extended to me was wild,” she says. “It just shows what can happen when you're open to things.”

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Tom Gomez

Learning Technologies

By Allicia Washington-White

Tom Gomez was the go-to tech helper in his San Antonio neighborhood growing up.

“I was always curious about how things worked,” he says. “My mom would send me to help our neighbors set up their computers or tutor their kids with online homework.”

That early interest sparked something deeper within Tom — a desire to make technology less intimidating and more accessible for everyone. Even with such passion, he decided attending college was not an immediate next step for him after high school, and he dove into full-time work to save for his education when he graduated in 2009.

Tom says that decision led to depression and anxiety, and when it drove a wedge between him and his biological family, encouragement from his chosen family of friends helped him realize that taking a break wasn’t a failure.

After Tom worked several years as an Amazon fulfillment associate, in 2017, a coworker introduced him to the Amazon Career Choice Program, which offered tuition assistance. Later that year, he began an internship at San Antonio’s Palo Alto College, focusing on IT and computer support which ignited his career in the technology industry.

He ultimately earned his associate’s degree in Spring 2022 from Palo Alto College, pondered his next steps and became intrigued by what UNT could offer him.

While wrapping up his time at Amazon, he found another internship opportunity at UNT as an IT support specialist, giving him the experience needed to step further into the industry. “I took a pay cut by leaving my full-time job for an internship, but I reminded myself that taking a step back was going to push me forward, just like my chosen family told me,” Tom says.

“I had a friend at UNT who told me about the learning technologies online program,” Tom says. The program proved ideal as he started his new journey at UNT simultaneously with an impending global pandemic.

From day one, Tom felt a shift. UNT faculty and staff welcomed him and helped him plan a clear path forward. “I didn’t just find a program here,” he says. “I connected with people who truly cared about my success.”

He credits much of his success to his learning technologies mentor, Lisa Hollinger, who encouraged him to get involved and make connections, even as an online student. Her encouragement was a game changer for him. “She pushed me to network, apply for internships and take on leadership roles,” he says. This encouragement inspired Tom to begin mentoring and coaching other students.

During his time at UNT, Tom made the Dean’s List and participated in the Learning Technologies Ambassador Program to continue mentoring others. One of his proudest moments was helping a classmate through their project management course by assisting them with speaking confidently about learning technologies.

“They passed the course and landed a job in the project management industry, and I felt like I got to be part of that win,” he recalls.

Tom also found other ways to contribute — from volunteering with student organizations like Queer Council, providing photography services to assist with LBGTQ+ voter awareness, to assisting fellow online students with their coursework.

“Involvement as an online student is possible,” he says, “and it’s powerful.”

In the Fall of 2024, he was finally ready to move beyond his internship, took a leap of faith and moved to the “Windy City.” He had long dreamed of living in Chicago and wanted to push himself outside his comfort zone.

“It wasn’t easy,” he says. “I faced housing issues and had to adjust quickly, but the support I had from friends, my chosen family and professors never faded.”

Tom now works remotely as an education support specialist at Handshake, focusing on providing support to help customers effectively use the platform. His work involves designing courses, developing content and identifying areas for improvement in the user experience. It’s a role with the perfect blend of everything he loves: technology, education and service.

For Tom, graduating from UNT isn’t just about earning his bachelor’s degree — it’s about everything that came with it: the personal growth, mentorship, community and learning to believe in himself.

“UNT gave me more than an education. It gave me people who saw something in me before I did,” he says. “You don’t have it all figured out? Just keep going.”

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Yoshiki Murakami

Business Analytics

By Walker Smart

Yoshiki Murakami was in for a lot of surprises when he came to UNT.

Whether it was changing his major or learning how to drive, he adjusted. He even founded the Japanese Student Association.

Yoshi was an international business and marketing major in Japan when he first learned about UNT through a recruitment company that told him about scholarships UNT offered. He switched to business analytics – and it was a big change that involved languages like Python, SQL and tools like Excel and Power BI.

“It was new to me, but I love learning new things."

That wasn't the only big shift he experienced.

"You know, it's a completely different world. When I got here, my English was not that good, so I definitely had to improve it. Also, the food is different — everything is different. I was excited, but I also was very nervous to get out of my comfort zone."

Yoshi knew that the best way to improve his language and get used to the culture was total immersion. “So, the first few weeks on campus, I was just talking to tons of people. I found International Affairs in Marquis Hall, and they host many events for international students to connect with each other and with domestic students. I attended events to talk to people and make friends.”

He also got a job working in International Affairs as a student assistant. On top of that, Yoshi founded the Japanese Student Association, serving as president for two years.

“It's hard for Japanese students, and international students in general who come here, to look for a job. It's hard to get used to the culture and the differences in everything. It's hard to find a connection and support, so I thought it would be great to make a place where we can share our experience and information."

The JSA hosts guest speakers who talk about how they found jobs to help the members with career development. They also work with International Affairs to share Japanese culture at various events and during the World Fair, which features students from different countries.

The biggest difference was how focused the U.S. is on autos.

"Without a car, I couldn't go anywhere. I came from a big city in Japan, and we had buses and trains everywhere. But I got a car last year and learned to drive like a Texan." Of course, he doesn't mean fast and aggressive. "Like a safe Texan."

The most stressful part of his journey at UNT was finding a job, especially since he would need a job to stay in the U.S. He applied to about 350 jobs, doing interviews while taking classes and working.

“It was hard balancing my time and capacity."

But Yoshi had help. "Dr. [Mahdi] Ahmadi, a business analytics professor, helped me a lot to find a job, to be better in the interview. And he helped a lot doing assignments. He answered any questions I asked him."

His supervisors for his student assistant position in International Affairs also helped him with his job hunt and were flexible with his schedule. It paid off. He landed a summer internship in 2024 in Los Angeles with KPMG, a global professional services firm providing audit, tax, and advisory services to businesses, governments, and organizations. "I got a full-time offer, so I will move to L.A. to start as an audit associate."

For now, he plans to prove himself to secure his position with the company and try to get CPA (Certified Public Accountant) license as soon as possible.

While he would love to travel, he's found a home in North Texas. "Hopefully I’ll come back to the Dallas area. I can see it's growing very fast. And I have some connections here — UNT alumni and some people I met outside of school."

It's been a long journey, but Yoshi is ready for the next step. "I appreciate my family and friends and my professors and supervisors -- everyone who helped me."