Celebrating Our Fall 2025 Graduates

When we celebrate a graduating class, we like to reach out to individual students to hear stories of their time at NC State. Often, what stands out are the little things — a favorite bench under a tree, an interaction that shifted their course, all the spontaneous hang-outs with friends.

But the common thread we heard from our fall 2025 graduates was this: seize every opportunity.

At NC State, doors are open all across campus for our students. It’s easier than you’d think to participate in undergraduate research, use a makerspace to bring an idea to life, or find your Wolfpack — a community that will be there for you long after graduation.

We spoke with six members of our graduating class to find out what they’ll be taking with them as they start their next chapters. These are their stories.

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Urwa Rashid: Trusting Herself To Excel

Major: Psychology
Hometown: Albany, New York
Favorite Spot on Campus: Next to “The Strolling Professor” statue, where she would sit after an exam to ensure a good grade. “That guy, me and him are tight,” she said.

Urwa Rashid, like many students, came to NC State with a goal: in her case, to prepare for a career in psychiatry. But at 14, Rashid was significantly younger than most of her classmates due to her involvement in accelerated learning.  

“It’s funny, as someone who many would say was ahead, I noticed my age most when I felt behind,” she said. “Someone would ask, ‘Why don’t you drive over?’ And I’d be like, ‘So, I actually can’t drive.’ I was nervous.”

Nervousness quickly grew into confidence. Rashid became an eager participant in her classes, unafraid to ask questions or stir up an enlightening classroom discussion as she pursued a major in psychology, minors in English and biological sciences, and additional pre-health courses.

She applied that same outgoingness to her extracurricular life. Rashid joined student organizations like the Muslim Student Association, ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge (eating the full dozen donuts) with her dad (who scarfed down 24), and even earned her Eagle Scout rank.

“Some of my best memories were spontaneous decisions, like hanging with a friend outside D.H. Hill on a breezy day,” she said.

Opportunities to conduct biomedical research and serve as a teaching assistant in her favorite class, Organic Chemistry, broadened Rashid’s interests in potential medical careers, including the possibility of becoming an OB/GYN. She’ll take the MCAT and apply to medical schools soon — but not before addressing other graduates as student speaker at commencement.

“Trust yourself,” she said. “If you bring the methods you already have into college with you, it can make for a sweet transition. You know yourself better than anyone else.”

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Logan Tisch: Excelling in Sports and Science

Degree program: Ph.D. in toxicology
Hometown: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Favorite spot on campus: 321 Coffee on Centennial Campus — “My lab mate and I would go there all the time and get coffee and a muffin.”

Logan Tisch knew his way around a research lab long before he arrived at NC State to pursue a Ph.D. in toxicology. Growing up, he’d regularly visit his dad’s immunology lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“If my dad had a late night at the lab, my mom would take me over there and we’d have dinner in the break room,” Tisch said. “I’d play with dry ice in the sinks to entertain myself. Being in a scientific environment my entire life definitely rubbed off on me.” 

Tisch went on to earn a bachelor’s in environmental sciences — and later a master’s in environmental toxicology — from Clemson University. But academics wasn’t the only area in which he excelled. As an undergraduate student, he played Division I football and won two national championships. 

“Juggling football and a science major was pretty extreme. It was ingrained into me that you need to be organized and pay attention to detail in order to do both,” Tisch said. “Those skills transfer to lab work. An experiment may have 200 different steps and if you get one wrong, the whole thing is ruined.”

Tisch spent the past four and a half years putting those skills to use in Professor James Bonner’s lab, where he studied how tiny, engineered particles used in consumer goods exacerbate pulmonary diseases like asthma. Now that he’s completed his Ph.D. and started a postdoctoral research position at Duke University’s Department of Anesthesiology, he has a few words of wisdom for incoming graduate students. 

“Enjoy the process,” Tisch said. “Being a graduate student is a job, but you’re also here to learn how to think. That’s what I see graduate school as — a place that trains people to think outside the box.”

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Julianna Welch: Wild About the Wolfpack

Majors: Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and Plant Biology
Hometown: Sylva, North Carolina
Favorite Spot on Campus: A bench under the beech tree near the Strolling Professor — “Even though I’m on campus, right in the heart of things, it feels like I’m in my own little world.”

Julianna Welch worked hard to maximize her time at NC State, as her already impressive résumé proves. Welch double majored in the College of Natural Resources (CNR) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, minored in applied ecology and earned a certificate in field botany. She also interned with the Indigenous Conservation Corps, joined an environmental co-ed fraternity, served as a CNR Ambassador and more.

The wide range of opportunities afforded to CNR students — especially the six-week, hands-on Summer Camp for fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology majors — is what drew Welch to NC State. Private support through the James Buzzard Leadership Development Program Fellowship helped her take advantage of them.

“I’m just so happy I came to NC State,” Welch said. “The people are so nice and so happy to be here. Even though it’s a big university, it’s like a close-knit little community, especially in CNR.”

Welch believes in the Wolfpack so much that she encouraged her sister, Rebecca, to join CNR, too. Double majoring allowed Welch to stay an extra semester and show Rebecca around campus.

After graduation, Welch plans to stay in Raleigh with Rebecca for a few months before returning to western North Carolina to do some seasonal fieldwork. Then, she wants to attend graduate school — hopefully at NC State — before ultimately working for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians Natural Resources program.

“A lot of the stuff they’re doing in Cherokee is really near and dear to my heart,” Welch said. “I’m enrolled with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, but I grew up not really knowing a lot about the culture. Interning with the Indigenous Conservation Corps over the summer, I realized that this is something I want to learn more about. Working in Cherokee will be a great way to help the community and to gain more experience.”

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Lance Williams: Reaching Out, Moving Forward

Hometown: Bunn, North Carolina
Major: Agricultural science 
Favorite spot on campus: “The second floor of Ricks Hall, that’s the department building for Agricultural and Human Sciences. They have a little coffee maker up there and all my professors are around.”

Hailing from Bunn, North Carolina, a rural town 30 miles east of Raleigh, Lance Williams was one of thousands of students impacted by 4-H Youth Development, a national program operated in the state through NC State Extension. Attending 4-H conferences introduced him to NC State’s campus. When it came time to choose a university, as a first-generation college student, NC State was the obvious — and only — choice. 

Williams’ experience in 4-H inspired him to pursue agricultural science as his major. The program’s emphasis on leadership development and sharing academic knowledge back to communities, particularly rural ones, aligned with his desire to give back.

“Meeting rural communities where they are is really important,” he said. “Extending university knowledge is one of the biggest missions of NC State as a land-grant institution.” 

Williams has found ways to be a part of that community outreach at NC State, by serving as the Franklin County Extension Advisory Leadership Council Chair and working in the 4-H State Office. He further focused on leadership and service through his role as student body treasurer and his involvement in the Park Scholarships Program. As a Park Scholar, Williams also found a community of like-minded peers and scholarship funding that empowered him to pursue every opportunity available. 

“Those experiences have taught me the core values and lessons I’ll need in my career,” he said. 

After graduation, Williams plans to step back onto the bricks of campus to complete a Master’s of Science in Agricultural Education and Human Sciences. As a forever 4-H’er, he intends to work for the cooperative extension system, in the same program that brought him where he is today.

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Alysha Jarvis: Seizing Opportunities

Major: Civil engineering
Hometown: Charleston, South Carolina
Advice for new NC State students: “Read your emails! It sounds so simple, but there are so many great opportunities to go places, experience things and make connections. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me how I knew about something and my response is, ‘Uh, there was an email.'”

As excited as she is to become the first member of her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, Alysha Jarvis won’t participate in commencement. Instead, she’s headed to the Dominican Republic to conduct water quality testing on an Alternative Service Break (ASB).

Jarvis had never traveled outside the country before becoming a Goodnight Transfer Scholar. Her time at NC State has included ASB trips to Peru (twice) and Rwanda, as well as study abroad in Ireland and Goodnight Scholars trips to Paris and London (with Washington, D.C., thrown in for good measure).

“I’ve taken advantage of every opportunity,” she said.

The 30-year-old Jarvis grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, earning an associate’s degree in arts management before entering the workforce and later moving to the North Carolina mountains. She pursued a CAD certificate at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, where an interest in architecture quickly became a more math-oriented drive toward furthering her education in civil engineering.

The opportunity to become a Goodnight Transfer Scholar not only brought her to NC State but provided her with a supportive, empowering community. As her passion for service grew, she also reconnected with a road not taken.

People had often told a younger Jarvis she should be a teacher. Faculty members including Laura Bottomley made a deep impression.

“I realized I loved interacting with students, and I want to give back that way,” Jarvis said.

She hopes to earn her professional engineering license and work in transportation planning – while perhaps teaching a night class or two at a community college. For now, she will remain here, pursuing her master’s in engineering education.

“This is the most diverse place, with all the people from all over, pursuing all kinds of interests,” Jarvis said. “It’s a really inspiring place to be.”

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Alex Paugh: Staying Curious

Major: Accelerated applied education bachelor’s/master’s program
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Advice for new NC State students: “We’re still trying to figure out who we are. Just keep an open mind and be kind, and the growing pains won’t hurt so much.”

U.S. Marine, father and, now, 2025 graduate Alex Paugh will be wearing the red cap and gown this December to celebrate completing the undergraduate portion of an accelerated applied education bachelor’s/master’s program. 

Paugh is ultimately interested in becoming a middle school teacher — partly inspired by his aunt Betty, whom he named his daughter after. (He’s holding his six-year-old daughter’s stuffed toy in his photo.)

However, as an active service member, he’s participating in the Marine Corps Staff Noncommissioned Officer Degree Completion Program and will work as a curriculum developer at the Marine Corps University for three years after graduation. An applied education degree with a concentration in learning design and technology gives him the flexibility to meet his military obligations — and pursue teaching in settings outside the traditional classroom.

Paugh didn’t always have the confidence to teach. “I was a bit more self-conscious at first,” he said. “I didn’t jump into college right away. I joined the military, and I wasn’t a straight-A student.”

But he found his inspiration while serving as a Marine Corps recruiter in Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked with guidance counselors to help high schoolers explore post-graduation options, including military service. Realizing the positive impact he could have on young people’s lives, he decided to pursue education.

Paugh’s favorite spot on campus is the Jeffrey Wright Military and Veteran Services Center, housed in Witherspoon Student Center, for its supportive community and lively discussions. It’s one of the many places on campus that cultivates his openness and curiosity.  

“[At NC State], we say Think and Do, but I really think it’s important to do the thinking thing a lot longer,” he said, “and it’s okay to be wrong, or change your perspective. I really love the idea of learning about other people’s perspectives and ideas. Stay curious.”

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