{"id":13392,"date":"2025-05-22T15:51:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T19:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/?p=13392"},"modified":"2025-12-11T10:59:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T15:59:19","slug":"heres-what-our-spring-2025-graduates-had-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/sans-monthly-digest\/heres-what-our-spring-2025-graduates-had-to-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s what our Spring 2025 graduates had to say:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Colin<\/figure>
\n

Colin Glushakow<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s general agriculture, animal science, pre-vet, Hebron, Maryland. Glushakow credits his success to \u201cmy support system, the friends I made and my advisor, who helped me plan my next steps.” The aspiring veterinarian will take a gap year to work at a farm in New York before applying to a school of veterinary medicine. An undergraduate internship provided Glushakow with valuable hands-on experience working on a pasture-poultry research project with Dr. Jennifer Timmons, associate professor of poultry science.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Angel<\/figure>
\n

Angel Mansfield<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s, biology, pre-med, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. \u201cUMES helped me grow and gave me the platform I needed to fulfill my dreams.\u201d Mansfield will be attending the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine for a master\u2019s in biomedical science. Mansfield received a first-place award at UMES\u2019 2025 Research Symposium.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Jonathan<\/figure>
\n

Jonathan Franklin<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s, general agriculture, agriculture studies, Ocean Pines, Maryland. Franklin has accepted a job at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. There, he will be a part of the exhibit team, working especially with tropical and carnivorous plants. Dr. Naveen Kumar Dixit, associate professor of horticulture and extension specialist, was \u201chis biggest supporter and helped instill a love for horticulture in him.\u201d He also attributes his success to his advisor, Research Assistant Professor Corrie Cotton, who helped him work out his schedule to graduate a semester early.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Lesley<\/figure>
\n

Lesley Thomas<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s, biology, pre-med, Browns Summit, North Carolina. The \u201ccommunity aspect of UMES\u201d was most beneficial to Thomas. \u201cThere are professors here that are willing to pour into us and give us opportunities to get to the next level. The mosquito project I did last year allowed me to see how research and lab protocols work.\u201d The student-athlete (basketball) plans on taking a gap year to get clinical hours and shadowing to attend medical school.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Aliza<\/figure>
\n

Aliza Weaver<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s, general agriculture, agriculture studies, Salisbury, Maryland. Complementary to her classroom studies at UMES, Weaver was \u201cgiven a lot of good opportunities for hands-on experiences through internships working in field.\u201d The first-generation college student would like to grow produce and own a greenhouse business.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Kyrisa<\/figure>
\n

Kyrisa Russell<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s biology, pre-med, Riverdale Park, Maryland. \u201cRigorous coursework helped me develop important life skills. Being part of LSAMP was also an essential part of my experience at UMES, providing me with research acumen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Cameron<\/figure>
\n

Cameron Geddie<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s, general agriculture, agriculture studies, Chestnut Hill Cove, Maryland. \u201cUMES helped me realize who I am and fueled my drive for work.\u201d The USDA 1890 Land-grant Scholar aims to work in agriculture education in state or federal government.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Cheyenne<\/figure>
\n

Cheyenne Murdaugh<\/strong>, bachelor\u2019s, environmental science, Gainesville, Virginia. \u201cUMES has connected me to a lot of opportunities, like internships and scholarships, to prepare me for my future.\u201d She looked around the commencement student staging area, \u201cand I\u2019ve met all of these wonderful people I know here.\u201d Murdaugh will return to campus to pursue a doctorate degree in marine, estuarine and environmental sciences. Ultimately, she would like to work in marine science at NOAA Fisheries.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Nola<\/figure>
\n

Nola Mountain, <\/strong>bachelor\u2019s biology, pre-med, from Surrey, British Columbia, came to UMES as a softball recruit. \u201cThere is a really good support system here \u2014 all of my friends and professors.\u201d Mountain will spend the summer studying for the MCAT to apply to medical schools in the fall. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gail Stephens, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension,<\/em> <\/em><\/a>gcstephens@umes.edu<\/em><\/a>, 410-621-3850.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by Todd Dudek, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, <\/em>tdudek@umes.edu<\/em><\/a>.   <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colin Glushakow, bachelor\u2019s general agriculture, animal science, pre-vet, Hebron, Maryland. Glushakow credits his success to \u201cmy support system, the friends I made and my advisor, who helped me plan my next steps.” The aspiring veterinarian will take a gap year to work at a farm in New York before applying to a school of veterinary…Read more Here’s what our Spring 2025 graduates had to say:<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":40,"footnotes":""},"categories":[161,40],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-13392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-june-2025","category-sans-monthly-digest"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13392"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=13392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}