Posts Tagged Class of 2018

Growing up in Los Angeles, Matthew Lyskawa ’18 saw no purpose in school. But a teacher saw a spark and lit the fire that set Lyskawa on his journey, first to community college, then Rochester, and now to begin a doctoral program in philosophy at Harvard.

For the Michigan native graduating with dual degrees from the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Eastman School of Music, Ivan Suminski found himself in an enviable dilemma.

Rochester native Cherish Blackman has always had a knack for languages. “I wanted to study languages that weren’t very close to English,” she recalls. The double major in Russian and East Asian studies is heading to China next year, but is bringing her Spanish books with her.

Rochester’s studio arts majors cap off their senior year with an art thesis exhibition that serves as the culmination of each student’s hard work and dedication as artists.

Anya Khalid came to the University without having ever coded in her life—but she was eager to get in on the ground floor of the new undergraduate major in data science. Now the Washington, D.C., resident is graduating with degree in economics as well, bound for Seattle and a job as a data analytics consultant.

From saxophonist to student government treasurer, to internships at BASF, SpaceX, and Ernst & Young, C.J. Van Huben has packed a lot into four years. “I had a feeling I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn’t want to be put in a box,” the financial economics major says. “The open curriculum was perfect for me.”

For their senior design project, a team of biomedical engineering students are working to bring screening and treatment to a remote region suffering from endemic diabetes.

For Ian Manzi, a photo of Rush Rhees Library left behind in an office at his Rwandan high school changed his life. “It looked so beautiful, a representation of college,” he says.

Erin Dong ’18 didn’t start dancing until she came to college. Now as she graduates with a double major in biology and dance, she is combining her two fields to explore how the body experiences both the emotional and physical aspects of grieving.

Awards for outstanding contributions of distinguished leaders, educators and humanitarians will be presented at the 168th Commencement ceremonies on May 18, 19, and 20, and at the Simon Business School ceremony on June 10.