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University of North Georgia (ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿) students are earning nearly 1,700 degrees and certificates in spring 2025, and more than half of them will take part in commencement ceremonies May 14-15 in the Convocation Center at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s Dahlonega Campus.

Aysia Bittinger is earning degrees in physics and mathematics with a minor in Chinese and will enter a physics Ph.D. program at Emory University this fall with the goal of teaching at a university one day.

The Augusta, Georgia, native won the Barry Goldwater Scholarship as a sophomore. Designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, the scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields and provided a total of $15,000 for Bittinger over two years.

Bittinger began conducting research on red dwarf stars with Dr. Gregory Feiden, associate professor of astronomy and North Georgia Astronomical Observatory director, that same year. She has parlayed her research at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ to a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at Notre Dame in 2023 and a Department of Energy Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship at Savannah River National Lab that will be this summer. The Notre Dame REU reinforced the foundation she received at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿, from reading and presentation skills to quicker experiment preparation, she said.  

"I want to give back to the state I've grown up in," Bittinger said. "I want to teach at a more undergraduate-focused university. Dr. Feiden, Dr. Dilina Perera, Dr. Mark Spraker, Dr. Ryan Thompson — all the professors who have really impacted me and been so important to me — I want to be that for someone else."

Taryn Tu, an Americus, Georgia, native, came to ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ as part of the Regents Engineering Transfer Program that allows students to earn a physics degree at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ and an engineering degree at Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern University, Kennesaw State University, University of Georgia, or Mercer University. 

An early biology course with Dr. Nancy Dalman, department head and professor of biology, "hooked me on research" and convinced Tu she wanted to pursue a degree in biology, which she will earn this month.

Along the way, Tu has conducted three years of oyster research with Dalman, including a Faculty Undergraduate Summer Engagement project, and also been mentored by other biology faculty. She earned a 10-week Fulbright Canada Mitacs Globalink research opportunity for summer 2024, where she conducted mussel and electrofishing research at the University of New Brunswick.

Tu has worked as a teaching assistant of physics for Dr. Sarah Formica. This summer, she will work at the University of Georgia's Marine Institute on Sapelo Island, Georgia. She is also applying to other internships, jobs and post-baccalaureate coursework for the next year with plans to attend graduate school in the near future.

"My mentors have really helped develop me and prepare me for what comes next. I kind of came in here just for a degree. I wasn't really coming to meet people or make connections," Tu said. "But I love the Biology Department. It's really great. All of the professors are awesome. I've made meaningful connections with mentors."

Jorge Romero, who is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, and has lived in Dahlonega, Georgia, for a decade, is earning his degree in history. He has served as head teaching assistant for the Language Lab at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s Dahlonega Campus and as an alumni student host for the Alumni Association.

Romero plans to pursue a master's degree in public administration or public policy.

As a member of the McNair Scholars Program, Romero said he was well-equipped for both research and applying to graduate schools.

"They're incredible people," Romero said. "Everything they do is because they care."

Romero presented his research "Strategic Analysis on Mexico's War Against the Cartel" at the Conference on the Americas in February at the University of Georgia and was one of four ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ student presenters at the Latin American & Latinx Studies Symposium, held at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, in April. He encourages his fellow students to make connections as they prepare for their future.

"The most important thing is to talk to your professors and classmates," Romero said.

David Olsen will graduate this month with a degree in physics and a minor in art history. That was far from the plan for the Canton, Georgia, native when he entered ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿. Back then, Olsen hated physics and took an introductory physics course his first semester simply to get it out of the way. His plan was to spend a year at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ and then take advantage of his conditional acceptance to Georgia Tech.

"Then I fell in love with physics in that first course," Olsen said. "I decided to stay here. It was the best decision of my life."

Olsen has conducted multiple years of fluid dynamics research with Dr. Patrick Bunton, department head of physics and astronomy. He has been accepted to Syracuse University's Earth sciences Ph.D. program, where he plans to study how glaciers interact with the atmosphere and oceans. This will allow him to conduct field research in Greenland and Alaska.

He credits the attentive nature of ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s faculty for encouraging him to dive deep in his studies in ways that will benefit his career.

Chloe Wilson, a Murrayville, Georgia, resident, is earning a degree in psychology. She has been an active participant in undergraduate research for two and a half years and presented a pair of projects at the Southeastern Psychology Association annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in April. Wilson will enroll in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's master's program in psychological science.

Her individual project, co-mentored by Dr. John Dewey and Dr. Jason Miller, was titled "Does Priming Social Consequences or Empathy Influence First Impressions of Non-Stereotypically Feminine Faces?"

Wilson's research has shifted her career goals from clinical psychology to social psychology, with an aim toward helping people understand their behaviors in a way that makes society more welcoming.

She also appreciates the bonds she has formed in her department and while serving as president of both the Psychology Club and ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s chapter of Psi Chi, an international psychology honor society.

"Research opened the door to meet other students and realize they're personable and I didn't need to have anxiety," Wilson said. "That really changed the trajectory for me, being social and getting out there."

Being in such a positive environment has been a game-changer for Wilson, a mother of two who is finishing her bachelor's degree 15 years after graduating from high school. She hopes her story encourages others to come back and finish a degree.

"The professors have been so supportive. Working closely with the faculty has helped me grow as a researcher and a student," Wilson said. "It has also helped me make decisions about grad school and prepare for it."

Hughes Threlkeld, a Savannah, Georgia, native, is part of a ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ men's golf program that has reached the NCAA regionals all four of his seasons and finished 2024 as the Division II national runner-up. In addition to ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s strong golf program, Threlkeld chose ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ because it's the one school where he could see himself thrive even if an injury had ended his golf career. He is earning a degree in management.

Being from a different part of the state, Threlkeld didn't realize how widely respected ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s Mike Cottrell College of Business is. His time here has shown him both the quality of the program and the power of networking in a region where so many ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ alumni live.

"A business degree from ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ can open up a lot of doors for you," he said.

After earning a degree that will benefit him throughout his career and his dream of playing college golf coming true, Threlkeld is hopeful he can follow up his graduation with a national championship.

"We want to try to put ourselves in the same position and see what we can do to get a different outcome," he said.