Many students ask one another about summer or post-graduation plans, but may not really know how their peers feel about them. This collection of 2015 NC State graduates are only a few shells in the ocean, but they do give an idea about what some of the transitions the recent graduated class is facing and what their experiences are with them.
—–
Joseph Moo-Young, who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and textile engineering, will attend medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall.
“I’m just in a daze from everything that’s happened over the last four years,” Moo-Young said. “It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. I’m happy for everything I was able to experience here.”
Out of everything Moo-Young has ahead of him, he is excited to apply his knowledge of medicine to his future patients.
“Medicine is obviously a huge field, and it’s more than just diseases that you see in a book,” Moo-Young said. “It’s a person right in front of you. You have to see what you can do to work around all the barriers to bring them to a place of better health and improved life.”
Overall, Moo-Young said medical school is going to prepare him for his future career as a physician.
“[My hopes are] continuing to build upon all of the knowledge that I’ve gained here,” Moo-Young said, “and growing not only as a physician but also as a person who cares about other people and cares about making the world a better place.”
—–
Ashley Butler, a graduate with a degree in animal science, will attend NC State College of Veterinary Medicine in the fall.
“This was my first dream, so it’s really exciting,” Butler said. “I find it so crazy that I can remember being 10 years old and playing animal doctor with our dogs at home.”
Although Butler has come this far and is going to veterinary school, she said she realizes that the next step will not be easy.
“Vet school is going to be tough for sure,” Butler said. “I thought I studied a lot in undergrad, but you’ve got class basically from 8–5 and then putting in a lot of hours studying at the library.”
Butler’s lifelong dream of working with animals is becoming more of a reality as she enters the veterinary program at NC State.
“I really hope that I can come out and be a well-rounded veterinarian when I’m done,” Butler said, “and that I can take the knowledge I’ve spent four years cramming into my head and actually be able to go out and put it to use and help animals and help people, and do what I’ve always wanted to.”
—–
There are also several untraditional students at NC States such as Jason Dinice, a graduate with degrees in Spanish and economics, who are older than the “typically aged” college student.
“I’m relieved because I’m 28,” Dinice said. “I’ve been at this for a while. I’m probably more relieved than people graduating when they’re supposed to. I started school two years for engineering, and then I stopped and took a few years off and worked and traveled. My parents are definitely happy.”
During his senior year of college, Dinice was a full-time student and had a full-time job at a restaurant, which he said was very difficult and exhausting. He said he is going to take a break this summer.
“I’m traveling to Spain for a music festival, and then after that, I’m going do all the things I haven’t been able to do like see my friends, go to trapeze class, go on a real date and go to more fun concerts,” Dinice said.
Dinice said he will miss school and has appreciated his classes because he enjoys learning and he enjoys his majors, but said he’s ready to step out of the school zone.
—–
Gino Lerebours, a graduate with a degree in statistics, will pursue a doctorate degree in biostatistics at Harvard University.
“College gives you a place where you feel like you have a structure and that you’re working toward something,” Lerebours said. “But at the same time, it also gives you this uncharted land—this exposure to all these new and different things that can be really exciting.”
Lerebours said he will experience both of these sides at Harvard.
“I’m happy about going to an amazing school and getting a degree that can let me do pretty much anything, more or less, within the field of statistics and will prepare me to be at a level where I can actually make an impact that I think is positive,” Lerebours said.
However, Harvard will also be a growing experience for Lerebours.
“I’m someone who has been born and raised in North Carolina in the Triangle,” Lerebours said. “But this will be something completely out of my comfort zone: living in a big city, being around all these intimidating, brilliant people, and seeing what I’m capable of, to see if I’m even smart enough to pursue a Ph.D. I’ll find those things out, and it’ll be terrifying.”
