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Decide to Succeed: Stories

Your defining choice is one that you make every day. It's the choice to work harder than the person next to you, to fight for an ambition that seems impossible, to chase after a goal with persistent determination. Choosing a university is more than just a beautiful location or a degree program, it's about finding a supportive community that recognizes your potential and a program that will help you achieve your future.

Cassidy Burns

Freshman Cassidy Burns wins National Student Production Award

It was Halloween weekend and Western Carolina University freshman Cassidy Burns was visiting a friend at Clemson University when she got a phone call from her mother. Burns and her friend were in Starbucks when her phone rang. Her mom told her to check out Twitter where the Foundation of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was live-streaming its 4th Annual National Student Production Awards.   

Garrett Ozar

Entrepreneurship Alumnus Makes Most of Confidence Starting a Business and Facing the Shark Tank

Garrett Ozar, a 2009 graduate with a degree in entrepreneurship, took managerial skills and confidence gained from the Innovation Leadership and Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business, to start a success story. He is the co-founder of Eterneva, an Austin, Texas, based company started in 2017 that takes ashes from cremated remains, isolates the carbon and, with heat and pressure, creates diamonds as an everlasting keepsake.   

Forensic Science Students

The Nobel Mission - Forensic Anthropology Students Search for Lost WWII Airman

A mission to locate remains of a missing American airman from World War II in Germany was a homecoming, of a sort, for a Western Carolina University student. Anna Maier, a senior majoring in forensic anthropology, is a native of Germany and was part of a research team made up of WCU forensic anthropology faculty and students who, through a U.S. Department of Defense grant, spent three weeks this summer participating in a forensic archaeological search and excavation.  

WCU Student Brittney Windham

Brittany Windham finds her place in the Black Student Union

In seeking a university to attend, Brittney Windham hoped to find a school that had a Black Student Union she could join. During the spring semester of her freshman year, Windham joined Western Carolina University’s Black Student Union. Shortly thereafter, she entered the Miss Black Student Union pageant – and won.   

Joseph Guseman

Student Sees Parallels in Wilderness Experiences and Project Management

At age 23, Joseph Guseman is a bit of a paradox: old soul wonder kid. He graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in parks and recreation management in December 2017, a semester early (of course). He’ll finish his master’s degree in project management through WCU’s College of Business in December, all the while working fulltime for WCU’s Facilities Management. He took the job for a few reasons: it would pay for his graduate degree...  

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