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Archives: Class of 2021

September 12, 2017

Class of 2021: Finding the Right Path

As a budding scientist, Emily Gidcumb’s resume was the type employers drool over. A bachelor’s degree in physics was immediately followed by a Ph.D. in materials science, both at UNC-Chapel Hill. There’s also the two undergraduate research assistant experiences, then the four years spent as a graduate research assistant working to improve digital breast tomosynthesis,

September 5, 2017

Class of 2021: A Risk Worth Taking

It was the best assignment of Tommy Burdette’s Air Force career. He was working for the Prisoners of War/Missing in Action retrieval office doing historical research, helping to find soldiers who had been missing since World War II. He loved digging through archives, finding maps of forgotten plane wrecks, working to provide answers and closure

August 29, 2017

Class of 2021: An Uplifting Spirit  

Before you ask Sarah Moyer about her winemaking past, she has some answers. First, she says, it’s not as glamourous as it sounds. Though she was based in picturesque Napa Valley, Calif., a lot of her work included inventorying chemicals needed for harvest and checking the progress of every single fermentation. It’s a little hard

August 23, 2017

Class of 2021: A Destiny Fulfilled

Veterinary medicine is not something Shayla Jackson wanted to do. It’s something she has always said she had to do. But as vet school inched closer, she got news she never expected. During the pivotal time between the spring semester of junior year and the beginning of senior year, her father was diagnosed with colon

August 16, 2017

Class of 2021: Service and Sacrifice

The dog was mean as could be, and he was hurting. But he was a soldier with a mission, which meant that Dawn Torrisi had one, too. Torrisi first saw him when he was brought to the veterinary clinic at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., with serious medical conditions that could have

August 8, 2017

Class of 2021: Big Change, Exciting Future

On top of a mountain in Maine, far above the tree line and far away from home, Dylan Harver proposed to his girlfriend, Emma. The newly engaged couple was hiking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail three years ago, all the way down to Springer Mountain in Georgia. The proposal was just the beginning.