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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.

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...  

Students studying a pig heart

Beyond the Books

It was a long day with an early start, but well worth the effort for 18 Western Carolina University students to see first-hand what their future careers could be, all thanks to some high-ranking WCU alumni in Cobb County, Georgia, and WCU’s Shadowing Day program.  

Hannah Styles

Communication Student Spends Summer Covering Washington Politics

Earlier this year, Hannah Styles was searching through the Center for Career and Professional Development's Job Cat website looking for summer internship possibilities. She came across a link for the National Journalism Center, which places students with various media outlets in Washington, D.C. Despite knowing she would be facing a competitive field, Styles decided to apply.  

John Morgan in the woods

Share the Stoke for Geology - How One Student Strives to Protect the World We Live In

John Morgan spends a lot of his time searching in the woods for tiny trickles of water. Why? Because John believes that the better we understand the world that we live in, the more we can do to protect it.  

WCU Student Tori Renfroe

Tumors Hamper But Don’t Stop Student from Living Her Best College Life

At age 19, Victoria (Tori) Renfroe has about 30 years left to live, according to the hourglass she’s been handed by her doctors. That’s right, to age 49. Yes, she’s hopeful for a little more time, and with regular doctors’ visits, she might get it, she said. But in the meantime, she’s got college to finish, law school to attend, human rights to protect, a puppy to raise, a relationship to revel in and, well, you get the idea.   

Kyle Monaghan

Engineering Students' Ingenuity Leads to a Trekking Pole for the Digital Age

Almost as ubiquitous as hiking boots is a hiking stick, an age-old means to steady a climb, keep one’s balance, push aside brush and ease a descent. Now, add one more function: phone charger, thanks to the ingenuity of Western Carolina University engineering student Kyle Monaghan.  

SLSLC Students

Dreams of Hosting a Latinx Student Leadership Conference Come True

This time a year ago, Ricardo Nazario-Colón, Western Carolina University’s chief diversity officer, and his graduate assistant, Kevin Trudell, took 10 WCU students to the 28th annual National Latino Collegiate Conference at the University of Albany. As they were returning to Cullowhee, traveling on I-81 south in the middle of the night, someone blurted out, “We need to have our own conference.” The van erupted into cheers. For the rest of the ride, the students began brainstorming and dishing out assignments.  

Brennan Burke

Triple Major Brennan Burke Goes Beyond the Numbers and Her Degrees

Following graduation in May and a summer internship in Charlotte, Western Carolina University senior Brennan Burke will have to decide what path to follow next. When it comes time to make that decision, Burke will have more options than most because of the fact that she is earning a triple major. Burke started as a mathematics major with a concentration in actuarial science, but along the way she added finance and accounting to the mix, giving her the trifecta. Not bad for someone who in high school thought she wanted to be a civil engineer.  

Rachel and Caleb Sullivan and their family

Food and Faith Changed Lives of WCU Siblings

Rachel Sullivan believes in the power of good food on the body and of the Holy Spirit on the soul. Without one, she would not have found the other — or her life’s calling. Sullivan is a 20-year-old Western Carolina University junior and Honors College student majoring in nutrition and dietetics, an area of study she chose after witnessing the effects of starvation on her two half siblings whose parents were dealing with substance abuse issues. Sullivan and her half siblings, now age 9 and 13, have the same birth mother.   

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