The Husky Family
The UW Tacoma Class of 2019: a passionate, tenacious and diverse group of graduates that are already out in the world making an impact. We present a sampling of their stories.
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What is truly remarkable about the UW Tacoma Class of 2019 — members of whom are celebrating their graduation at Commencement on June 17, 2019 — is the multiplicity of backgrounds, life experiences and ways of being in the world that converge into one joyous group of scholars. This campus is known for its role as a catalyst of social mobility, and we salute the 1,873 newly-minted UW alumni who enter a community of 23,000 Huskies who are making a difference. We invite you to read about just a few of these remarkable people.
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Nimo Ahmed, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Nimo Ahmed, '19
Communications
A sense of purpose guides Nimo Ahmed. When times get hard, when she’s exhausted from work and bogged down with assignments Ahmed thinks of her parent’s sacrifice. “I keep going,” she said. “I know I’m fighting for something and for someone. I’m fighting for my family."
Diana Sheila Algomeda Villada, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Diana Sheila Algomeda Villada, '19
B.A. Ethnic, Gender & Labor Studies
Global Honors
2019 Commencement Speaker
Diana Sheila Algomeda Villada’s list of achievements is impressive. She worked as a Pack Advisor. She served as an elected senator in ASUWT. She worked on the "We Are First Generation" campaign and helped found the First Gen Fellows program. She's an intern at Tacoma Community House. She was a Dressel Scholar and Bamford Fellow and graduated with distinction in Global Honors.
Shooq Alhathelool, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Shooq Alhathelool, '19
B.A. Business Administration/Finance
Getting her degree in finance at UW Tacoma is, for Shooq Alhathelool, a chance to broaden her perspective and bring that understanding with her when she returns to Saudi Arabia. Alhathelool’s goal of being the Saudi Arabian Finance Minister is rooted in both her education and in her country’s evolving attitudes about women.
Tracie Barrie, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Tracie Barrie, '19
B.S. Environmental Science/Geoscience
From high school dropout to straight-A college student, Tracie Barry intends to earn a PhD in oceanography. “When you’re an older student, it’s intimidating to think about how much college costs,” Barry says. “My education isn’t for myself. I want to teach undergraduates. I want to do research. I want to help my community.”
Katalina Biondi, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Katalina Biondi, '19
B.S. Computer Science & Systems
2019 Husky 100
After finishing her Ph.D., Katalina Biondi wants to work for the Department of Defense. “My dad was in the Army and my brother is in the Air Force,” she said. “I’m interested in making machines that work with humans and I want them to be able to collaborate and understand and trust each other.”
Justin Cabanos, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Justin Cabanos, '19
B.A. Business Administration/Finance
2019 Commencement Speaker
Justin Cabanos is the third of four children in his family. “I remember my older siblings talking about college and I just couldn’t wait to get started,” he said. “I understood college to be a place where you could study what interested you.” He has been accepted into the master of finance program at Pacific Lutheran University and will start this fall.
Anastasia Cale, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Anastasia Cale, '19
M.A. Community Planning
Following completion of her master’s degree, Anastasia Cale plans to continue her work with the Tacoma Housing Authority. She’s interested in eventually working for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Then again, Cale is also interested in running for office. “I think I’d like to run for president,” she said.
Theo Calhoun, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Theo Calhoun, '19
B.A. Ethnic, Gender & Labor Studies
2019 Student Dream Award
Following graduation, Theo Calhoun looks forward to enjoying some time off to relax. Motivated by a drive to connect with community, Calhoun plans to pursue a job working with systemically non-dominant students in colleges to help promote their success. “I’m just young and excited about life,” said the winner of the 2019 MLK Unity Breakfast Student Dream Award.
Augustine Canales, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Augustine Canales, '19
B.A. Social Welfare
Augustine Canales’s journey in academia is not yet over. “I’m going to be applying to the master’s programs in GIS and social work here at UWT,” he said. “Eventually I’d like to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Welfare, and I believe that GIS would be a great benefit in my own learning and work with a dissertation.”
Maria Crisostomo, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Maria Crisostomo, '19
B.A. Politics, Philosophy & Economics
Maria Crisostomo is a part of the Indigenous P’urhepecha Community, native to Michoácan, Mexico. She was born in Quinceo, a part of Michoácan. She served as host of the first season of UW Tacoma’s podcast Paw’d Defiance. She loves to draw and paint, and her art is often inspired by her Indigenous heritage.
LeShawn Gamble, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle LeShawn Gamble, '19
B.A. Psychology
LeShawn Gamble’s desire to succeed stems from a stubbornness to make things better for himself and for his son. “I have an eight year old and he’s tenderhearted, he’s sweet,” said Gamble. “I’m trying to show him how to be someone who brings beauty into the world.”
Aaron Gerard, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Aaron Gerard, '19
B.A. Urban Studies/Community Development & Planning
In keeping with his dedication to education and adventure, Aaron Gerard will be joining the Peace Corps shortly after graduation. “I’ll be in Namibia for two years teaching English,” he said. “I haven’t been assigned to a city yet, but my hope is that I will be able to incorporate teaching about community mapping to show what a valuable tool it can be to both rural and urban areas to understand how a city functions as well as how it can improve.”
Vladislav Gud, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Vladislav Gud, '19
B.S. Electrical Engineering
To some extent, electricity is in Vlad Gud’s veins. His grandfather worked as an electrician back in the USSR (now Russia). “I like the idea that I’m continuing that tradition in some way,” said Gud. “The work I’m doing is just a step or two beyond what my grandfather was doing.”
DeAnn Iman, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle DeAnn Iman, '19
B.A. Business Administration/Accounting
Leadership seems like it would come easy to military spouse DeAnn Iman. For years she had to juggle the demands of managing a household while working and going to school all the while knowing everything could change in a moment’s notice due to her husband’s active military status. “Structure and organization are critical,” she said. “Our family runs like a well-oiled machine.”
Lu-A Kikuo, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Dilluchei "Lu-A" Kikuo, '19
B.A. Politics, Philosophy & Economics
Lu-A Kikuo feels the pull of home. Palau is a matrilineal society and Kikuo is ready to accept the responsibility of what that means. “I am the daughter in my family and I am the one who is supposed to be contributing the most to my family. This is why my education has always been the goal, regardless of the long journey it took for me to get to this moment.”
Stephen Kvamme, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Stephen Kvamme, '19
B.S. Electrical Engineering
Stephen Kvamme’s love of math is opening doors. Since January, Kvamme has been interning with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Keyport in Keyport, Washington. Recently, the NUWC offered Kvamme a full-time position as an electronics engineer. He starts his new job on June 24, roughly one week after graduation.
TeyAnjulee Leon, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle TeyAnjulee Leon, '19
M.A. Interdisciplinary Studies
Her master’s work may be done but TeyAnjulee Leon is far from finished. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. and become a college professor — after a much needed break. “My sister came to live with me during the last five months of the program and helped take care of my son,” said Leon. “He took his first steps and I wasn’t home and that bothered me. For right now I want a job that stays at work.”
Zaheed Lynch, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Zaheed Lynch, '19
B.A. Criminal Justice
Moving from science and math at his high school to justice and politics at UW Tacoma put Zaheed Lynch on a path to being an advocate for youth in the criminal justice system. Following graduation, he plans to continue his work with Community Passageways and experimenting with design in his print shop, Executive Prints.
Isabell Murray, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Isabell Murray, '19
B.A. Law & Policy
2019 UW Husky 100
Isabell Murray is a ballerina, pageant winner and advocate for formerly incarcerated individuals. The law and policy grad plans to pursue law school and a career as a criminal defense attorney. “I think they are demonized a lot,” said Murray. “It’s important to protect peoples’ constitutional right to representation.”
Christina Nelson, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Christina Nelson, '19
B.A. Writing Studies
Christina Nelson’s parents and older brother all went to college, yet she was apprehensive. “I hadn’t found that place where I felt connected but then I stumbled onto Project EMAR,” she said. “Here I was on this team with these incredible women who were doing work that gave voice to people who have traditionally been ignored.”
Armen Papyan, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Armen Papyan, '19
B.A. Politics, Philosophy & Economics
2019 ASUWT President
Armen Papyan came to UW Tacoma in the fall of 2015. He hadn’t been on campus long when he found himself without a home. The house he shared with his brother and grandparents burned down. The family escaped unharmed but struggled to find a new place to live. The experience reinforced Papyan’s growing desire to help others.
Morgan Pasquier, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Morgan Pasquier, '19
B.A. Psychology
Morgan Pasquier has been accepted into the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program at UW Tacoma. “I’m not sure what my focus will be,” they said. “However, I’m interested in community organizing and social justice work especially when it comes to queer youth.”
Christie Peralta, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Christie Peralta, '19
B.A. Business Administration/Management
If life is a puzzle, Christie Peralta is figuring out how it all fits together. She wants to help others puzzle it out. She plans to pursue a career in higher education after graduation. “Higher education is nowhere near perfect and it is my hope that I can continue to play a role in its continuous evolution.”
Ashley Richards, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Ashley Richards, '19
B.A. Sustainable Urban Development
Global Honors
2019 UW Husky 100
Ashley Richards plans to pursue graduate study in sustainable urban development at the University of Oxford. In the short term, she is looking for a GIS or urban planning position to apply what she’s learned at UW Tacoma to the real world. “I would love to be a part of an agency that works with youth through information practices and policy, similar to what Dr. Matt Kelley is doing with the Action Mapping Project.”
Misaki Seto, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Misaki Seto, '19
B.S. Biomedical Sciences
Misaki Seto made the decision to become a biologist after watching “Jurassic Park” as a child. “I saw Jurassic Park when I was really young, and loved the scene where they talk about making a dinosaur from lost genes,” she said. “Of course, I didn’t really know what they were talking about at the time but I thought if I studied biology I might be able to make dinosaurs one day too.”
Bryce Schimon, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Bryce Schimon, '19
B.S. Information Technology
If Bryce Schimon hadn't loved his Sega Genesis as a kid, maybe he wouldn't be on a path to a career in cybersecurity today. “At one point I played so much I got blisters on my fingers.” Today he fosters his passion for tech by focusing on information and security assurance.
Catarina Terrill, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Catarina Terrill, '19
B.A. History
Following graduation, Catarina Terrill will participate in the Russian Intensive Program through UW. “My dad used to work at the American Embassy in Russia and still speaks the language,” she said. This fall, Terrill is taking Associate Professor Chris Demaske’s exchange course. In the class, students from UW Tacoma work with students from Moscow State University to produce a magazine.
Long Tran, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Long Tran, '19
B.A. Communications
Global Honors
2019 UW Husky 100
Long Tran is using filmaking to talk about social justice. He recently completed “subtle asian* womxn.” The film documents the experiences of Asian Womxn around the world and how they’re represented in media. Tran starts graduate school in the fall at the UW in Seattle where he’ll work toward a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature.
Karla Vargas, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Karla Vargas, '19
B.A. Law & Policy
Karla Vargas is a Dreamer. “I can’t do most of things a U.S. citizen can; I can’t vote, I can’t fill out a FAFSA and I can’t work for the federal government.” But the uncertainty hasn’t stopped her. She just accepted a full-time job with the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
Megan Walker, '19
arrow_drop_down_circle Megan Walker, '19
B.A. Social Welfare
Navy veteran Megan Walker went from a job as an aviation electronics technician aboard an aircraft carrier to assisting with the care of people who are experiencing psychosis at the Metropolitan Development Council in Tacoma. “It’s amazing to see the turnaround from when people are first brought in to when they get stabilized.”
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"Teamwork Makes the Dream Work"
It may be over, but the 2019 UW Tacoma Commencement lives on in video, photos and stories, proving (to crib from the poet John Donne) that no one is an island.
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2019 Honorees Set a High Bar
Students and faculty individually recognized at UW Tacoma's 2019 Commencement represent accomplishments in scholarship, community engagement and contributions to the campus and university.
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