At the base of the Washington Monument Sunday at Commencement, GW Today writers talked with members of the Class of 2025 about their time at the George Washington University. What or whom will they remember most? What memories stand out as highly impactful?
They shared stories about their friendships, Midnight Breakfast and Apple Day. Stretching intellectual muscles through editing GW Law’s flagship journal. Enjoying the annual bursts of cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. Learning not only from professors, but also from the global community that is GW undergraduate and graduate students.
The Class of 2025 numbers 8,052, with 2,762 undergraduates and 5,290 graduate students. Undergraduates included 552 double majors. The youngest graduate is 17; the oldest 76. The Class of 2025 includes seven sets of twins. The class represents 41 states and the District of Columbia and 128 countries.
Here, in their own words, are some thoughts GW graduates shared on how the university shaped them. (Comments have been edited for clarity and length.)
Daniel Binder, B.S. marketing
School of Business
“I was George, our mascot, for all four years. I have a lot of fun memories. I really loved working the first-year student orientations. Doing the picnic on the National Mall is always fun and seeing the first-years come in and experience GW for the first time. Midnight Breakfast was always my favorite event of the year and Apple Day, can’t forget Apple Day. There are so many ‘only-at-GW’ moments I’ll never forget. It was really, really special.”
Raihan Choudhury, B.A. political science
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
“I think the one person that’s meant the most to me was my first-year suite mate. He was an international student, and I got to learn a lot about coming to D.C. and about global politics from an international perspective and have a cross-cultural exchange.”
Adrian Ciscato, M.A. international affairs
Elliott School of International Affairs
“I’ll always remember the welcome reception when I first started my program two years ago. It was such a welcoming environment, and I had the opportunity to meet my cohort—the people I would be sharing class with. It was there I realized how special the Elliott School would be. It was a ‘pinch me’ moment: I’m really in D.C.! I’m really doing this!”
Thomas L. Cowan II, B.P.S. cybersecurity
College of Professional Studies
“Just the camaraderie, getting to know each other and helping each other out. I realize how much I will miss going to school with these friends I made, because they were always supportive, no matter whether in class or outside of class.”
Lauren Davidson, J.D. energy and environmental law
GW Law
“Watching somebody do a full-body worm on the dance floor at the Barristers Ball, which is like law school prom, is not something you think you are going to see when you go to law school. I won’t forget that.
“As editor of the GW Law’s flagship journal, I joined my second year in a competition to write for the law review and edit articles written by students and professors from all over the country. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of work, almost like a part-time job so every week you edit pieces, you edit pieces, and you also get to mentor students who are younger, so it’s a really big part of law school.”
John L. Fisher, M.P.S. publishing
College of Professional Studies
“I found the helpfulness and professionality of the professors to be fantastic. I really got a tremendous amount from both the classwork and the networking. A lot of the work I do now—as a professional editor of nonfiction books, a little bit of ghost writing and books for Princeton, Harvard, Oxford as well as a few of the big trade presses—has come to me through connections my professors helped me make through their networks. A phenomenally successful few years in the program.”
Melanie Flynn, M.S.H.S. regulatory affairs and clinical research leadership
School of Medicine and Health Sciences
“I’m career transitioning from being a cellular molecular biologist, so I knew nothing about this field, but GW was a wonderful experience. The program was amazing; all the instructors were incredibly knowledgeable and approachable. Even being online, I feel like I was more able to connect with my online colleagues than I was in my previous academic adventures. I feel so prepared and knowledgeable and able to blend what I’ve learned with my previous professional experience. The critical thinking, the lens on leadership, has helped me look back on 20 years of my career and recognize, ‘Oh, that’s why that person was a great leader—or not.’
“I actually chose GW because my brother-in-law is an alum, and my sister, Stacey Sterling, worked with the law school to develop the Animal Legal Education Initiative. So GW helped her realize a dream of hers before she passed away.”
Yolanda Gonzalez, M.S. tourism, hospitality and event management
School of Business
“The biggest take away is the people that I met, the students that I met. I was probably the only American in my class. There were people from all over the world. It was fantastic to be with so many international people, and the growth that’s happening in my industry, in tourism, I got to experience it. I got to do hands-on learning, experiential learning, like attending Destination Capitol Hill. All of the professors are spot on. It’s a great location to study tourism. And the people are invaluable. The people and what they contributed is the best.”
Fatou Jallow, B.S.N.
School of Nursing
“School felt like a big family. I've built new relationships with people that I feel will last forever, both with students and faculty. I felt very supported during my whole time at the school, from beginning to end. That's the reason why I volunteered to be a flag bearer today, and I volunteered to support new students—doing a student panel discussion, giving them tips and ideas. I’ve told the school that I’d like to be a mentor even after graduation because I feel really grateful. I appreciate the experience I've had at GW, and I want to give back with my time.”
Violet Josephson, B.S. cellular and molecular biology
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
“I really enjoyed walking to see the cherry blossoms with my friends. It’s really an ‘only-at-GW’ moment. It’s always super cool. And I loved being part of Alpha Chi Sigma, the chemistry fraternity, it was great. And I enjoyed just being with my friends.”
Erin Katahira, B.S. public health
Milken Institute School of Public Health
(Center, with Priya Moran (l) and Simran Bhathal (r), both B.A. in international affairs, Elliott School)
“These are two of my best friends, and we met in the fall of first year. So just being able to be with them through everything has been so impactful. I can't narrow it down to just one memory. First-year fall was really formative. We met in orientation, and it snowballed from there. It’s been kind of crazy. I’ve learned that it’s OK to be by yourself sometimes, too. Finding the right people can take patience.”
Tazzel “Taz” Kennedy, V.B.S.N.
School of Nursing
“During my Health Assessment II lecture, I came in before my professor, and it was shark week. I was like, ‘Roar, Surprise.’ We had a good laugh. The program was really fast. I’m glad I was able to push through.”
Riddhi Likhe, M.A. international affairs
Elliott School of International Affairs
“Nothing hits you as hard as orientation does, just the beginning, because that sets such a significant tone for the rest of your two years, and another major moment is in the last semester when the capstone students give their presentations. It’s a culmination of more than a year’s work, and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come as scholars and researchers.”
Isabella Mielcarek, B.S. cellular and molecular biology
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
“I think my favorite memory is walking around campus. We’re in such a great location. Walking to the Smithsonian Museums, the Tidal Basin, Georgetown for some shopping after a bad exam. There’s a lot to see and do near campus.”
Renelle Morgan, L.L.M. national security and cybersecurity law
GW Law
“I’m a prosecutor, a lawyer in Jamaica. I thought it would be in the interest of my country to see how the U.S. deals with national security and cybersecurity because you are leading in that realm, and GW’s program is listed as the best in the U.S.
“I will take away memories of all the amazing persons that I have met from all over the globe. I enjoy hearing the different perspectives. Coming from a small island, sometimes it can add meaning to what you learn. You learned one way, but now you are exposed to several different ways of thinking because there are so many people from different countries who come to GW.”
Le Nguyen, B.S. neuroscience
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
“I’ll miss my poetry professor, Chet’la Sebree. I took three of her classes, and I enjoyed them a lot. I’m a neuroscience major, but I like to write poems. My favorite poets include Ada Limón and Ocean Vuong.”
Laura Null, B.S. finance
School of Business
“All of my classes were really awesome. Professor Jin Hyung Kim, in Introduction to International Business, he is the best. Professor Rodney Lake and Professor Christine Song in Applied Financial Securities Analysis and Dr. Stephen Young in Financial Derivatives, 10 out of 10. I love that GW has a great alumni network, and I know I’ll see everyone still.”
Crystal Sampson, M.P.H. concentration in maternal and child health
Milken Institute School of Public Health
“Being a student that returned to school after 15 years, I think the most memorable experience is actually getting in! I was very proud of myself for that. I had a personal situation that inspired me to go back to school and made me want to try to make a change. So I decided to go into public health to be able to help not just one individual person, but really think about better systems that help everybody. Being a minority, I noticed that a lot of the systems are not set up to help us. So my goal is to be able to help Black and brown people and to try to equalize some of those discrepancies in our health care systems.”
Javon Scales, M.E. cloud computing
GW Engineering
(Left, with Carlos Niño, M.E. systems engineering, and Muhammad Solichin, D.Eng. engineering management)
“I've been in the tech field for a little over 20 years, and as technology changes, everything’s shifting to the cloud. So I decided to go back and get this degree, and I chose GW because of the synchronous lectures and the collaborative course format. I really wanted to be interactive with my classmates and professors. I’ll always remember the first professor I had, Mark Duke, because he set the tone and always engaged the entire class. He stretches your way of thinking, giving us different perspectives and real-world scenarios. When he’d get excited, because he’d start knocking on the desk—everybody knows when you hear the Professor Duke knock, you’d better listen up!”
Ozzy Simpson, B.S. computer science
School of Engineering and Applied Science
“The most impactful part of my time here is the friends that I made and the relationships with my professors. GW Engineering is kind of small for an engineering school, which means you can actually get to know your professors really well and become friends with them if you want. Some of the classes that I took even changed what I wanted to do. I took a computer security course my junior year that made me really interested in cyber security.”
Grace Songer, B.A. political science and political communication with a minor in art history
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
“I’m going to miss all the people. I really loved the student events. I was in student theater, and that was always really fun to be a part of! I’m going to miss all my friends.”
