‘Entitled to Equality’ Wins Award of Excellence in Society for News Design Competition

Enterprise reporting project “Entitled to Equality” by TheNewsHouse.com won an Award of Excellence in the Society for News Design’s (SND) Best of Digital Design Creative Competition.  

SND judges awarded honors to less than a quarter of the 4,500 entries from professional media outlets and designers around the world. Only three other outlets were honored in the News Site, Page, App category with “Entitled to Equality” — The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Telegraph. 

TheNewsHouse.com is a multimedia news site for Syracuse University to teach practical and digital skills needed for the media industry. Produced in partnership with  WAER-88.3  and  The Stand South Side newspaper,  “Entitled to Equality”  explores how the landmark civil rights legislation Title IX has impacted—and continues to impact—colleges, sports and society at large. 

More than 100 Newhouse students and faculty worked tirelessly as reporters, editors, photographers, designers, videographers, illustrators, social media coordinators and mentors to produce the 17 stories contained in the project. 

The Best of Digital Design Creative Competition honors excellence in visual storytelling, design and journalism produced in 2022. 

View the results

Newhouse School Hosts First HBCU Open House

The Newhouse School is seeking to strengthen connections with historically black colleges and universities through a new open house event for students from those institutions seeking to learn about graduate programs at the Syracuse University campus. 

The HBCU Open House event, held March 30-31, built on Newhouse’s commitment to prepare the next generation of leaders in communications fields serving an increasingly diverse nation and world, said Rockell Brown Burton, associate dean of inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility. Plans call for the open house to be held each year.  

HBCU students usually receive a strong theoretical foundation in education but sometimes lack access to resources and facilities like Newhouse, Brown Burton said. She is a two-time HBCU graduate, with a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and a master’s degree from Howard University. 

By establishing meaningful relationships with HBCUs, Brown Burton said Newhouse can expose students to the academic and research opportunities at one of the top communications schools in the country, send a message of inclusivity and understanding and showcase Newhouse’s deep network of alumni connections.  

“Diversity is more than just having people from different backgrounds,” Brown Burton said. “It’s about making sure that people from different backgrounds and levels of experience feel welcome, included and valued as human beings.”  

The first open house event drew 30 students and four faculty members from eight colleges and universities around the country to learn about graduate programs and entrepreneurship opportunities, study away and study abroad opportunities and meet faculty members who could become potential mentors. The event offered a way to build strong connections with fellow HBCU students in communications, she said.  

It can be “a little scary for a person of color or just people in general, to go from a space that they were comfortable with and that they’re used to, and step into something brand new,” said Dillard University senior Kalaya Sibley. She plans to attend Newhouse in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in public diplomacy and global communications. 

“This [event] kind of gives me that security, like I’ll be free to conquer,” she added. “Surviving not only in the program, but just in the world in general.” 

At the open house, visiting students participated in events like a panel discussion about entrepreneurship and TikTok with Sean Branagan, director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, and broadcast and digital journalism alumna Carmella Boykin ‘21. They met with advisors from the Career Development Center, learned about opportunities to study abroad and networked with other HBCU students and alums.  

Brown Burton said her goal is for the open house to lead to a partnership with HBCUs in collaborative exchange programs, travel experiences and increased engagement with Newhouse’s extensive alumni network, which “shapes and inspires the stories that new students will go on to tell.” 

Kailan Dixon, a North Carolina A&T State University senior who also attended the event, recognized similarities between the alumni networks of the institutions. 

“HBCUs have really strong alumni connections … I want to go to grad school that also has that same sort of connection,” Dixon said.  

While Sibley hasn’t started her Newhouse program yet, she’s already thinking about her future after she earns her master’s degree.  “I know Newhouse often has alumni come back and talk at panels,” she said. “I actually want to be one of those people to not only return as a successful alum to Syracuse, but also to my HBCU. … It would mean a lot.” 

‘Infodemic’ Reporting Project Investigates Impact of Scams, Disinformation

The rise of scams and disinformation and its impact on society and daily life are the focus of a comprehensive reporting project produced by Newhouse School students.

“Infodemic” includes more than 30 stories packaged with photos, videos, illustrations, audio, data visualizations and other interactive media. The wide-ranging report was released May 1 on TheNewsHouse.com, a multimedia news site for Syracuse University to teach practical and digital skills needed for the media industry, in conjunction with WAER-88.3 and The Stand South Side newspaper.

The project, which involved more than 100 student journalists, investigated the sources and effects of disinformation that have undermined trust in communities and democracy overall, and explored ways to combat disinformation. About a dozen Newhouse faculty and staff members advised the student editors and contributors who worked on stories during the 2022-23 academic year.

“The truth about so many aspects of life seems rather elusive these days,” said Jon Glass, professor of practice of magazine, news and digital journalism and executive producer of TheNewsHouse.com. “This project gave our students a chance to dive in and explore the prevalence of scams, disinformation and propaganda.”

“Infodemic” drew inspiration from work connected to a Knight Foundation grant project led by Greg Munno, an assistant professor of magazine, news and digital journalism, and Shelvia Dancy, a former Newhouse professor of practice now teaching broadcast and digital journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  

That project, “Combatting Disinformation in Communities of Color,” has been developing and testing community-based disinformation interventions on Syracuse’s South Side, according to the Knight Foundation.

 

2023 Newhouse Awards

Each spring, the Newhouse School recognizes those students whose dedication, ingenuity, academic excellence and creativity exhibit extraordinary talent and effort. Congratulations to this year’s winners!

Undergraduate Awards

Advertising Awards

Deborah Fink Green Award

• Drew Bartelstein
• Maya Tsimmer

Harry D. Meyers Memorial Prize in Advertising

• Jasper Nusbaum
• Rhea Srivastava

Most Promising Advertising Student

• Brooke Hirsch
• Philip Lockett

Newhouse Advertising Department Award for Academic Excellence

• Charlotte D’Orsi
• Kathleen Kavanagh

Newhouse Advertising Student of the Year

• Megan Adams
• Alex Schneider

Bandier Program Awards

Bandier Leadership Award

• Joyce Chen
• Elizabeth Taszarek

Bandier Innovator/Operator Award

• Sydney Panzer

Broadcast and Digital Journalism Awards

Don Edwards Broadcast Journalism Award

• Louise Rath

The Radio-TV-News Power Producer Award

• Nardeen Saleep

Magazine, News and Digital Journalism Awards

Henry J. Leader Memorial Prize in Editing

• Zoe Glasser
• Kyle Henderson

Henry J. Wolff Prize

• Jordan Greene
• Roshan Fernandez

The Samuel V. Kennedy III Award for Newspaper Editing

• Sydney Bergan
• Tolu Fajolu
• Christopher Hippensteel

William Glavin Award for Excellence in Magazine Writing

• Maggie Hicks
• Zoe Glasser

The John Mitchell Award for Sports Reporting

• Samuel Warren

All Journalism Awards

Bob Heisler Award for Excellence

• Roshan Fernandez
• Marnie Muñoz
• Maya Pow

Photography and Graphic Design Awards

Bertram J. Davis Scholar Award

• Scarlett Benson

Dr. Frank Meola Photography Prize

• Emily Steinberger

Jeff Licata Photography Award

• Joohee Na

Kodak Professional Photo Scholarship

• Emily Steinberger

Society for News Design/Marshall Matlock Designer of the Year

• Shannon Kirkpatrick

The Visual Communications Department Prize in Graphic Design

• Natalia Deng Yuan

The Visual Communications Department Prize in Immersive Media

• Matthew Brodsky

The Visual Communications Department Prize in Motion Graphics

• Elizabeth Carlson

The Visual Communications Department Prize Video Production

• Murphy McFarlane

Public Relations Awards

Julie Mendez Diversity and Inclusion Award in Public Relations

• Giana DiTolla
• Kiana Khoshnoud
• Lillian Koller

The Public Relations Department Chair Award for Leadership

• Giana DiTolla

The Public Relations Public Service Award

• Quinn Schmidt

The William P. Ehling Award

• Daniella French

Television, Radio and Film Awards

Edward L. Hersh Award

• David Barbier

Glenn Steinfast Award for Excellence in Documentary Film Production

• Alexandra Siambekos

Gordon J. Alderman Memorial Prize

• Aine Hunt
• Gretchen Harken
• Chris Nichols

Irene M. Sholkin Prize in Script Writing

• Michael Bliss
• Thomas Hober

Oscar Micheaux Filmmaking Award

• Chelsea Brown

Stan Alten Excellence in Audio Award

• Vir Batra

The Zach Trifone Love of Life and Music Award

• James Cunningham

All Undergraduate Majors

Dean’s Service Award

• David Barbier
• Adam Campos
• James Cunningham
• Giana DiTolla
• Marnie Muñoz
• Marisa Mastropieri

The Beth Mowins ’90 Award in Sports Media

• Stella Balaskas

Excellence in Web Development and Coding Award

• Catherine Haugen
• Alexandra Hodge

Mary Zoretski Award

• Christopher Hippensteel

Newhouse First-Year Achievement Award

• Sarah Torres

George Plavocos Award

• Madelyn Doolittle

David Rubin 1st Amendment Prize

• Robert Chappell
• Myra Labiche
• Dominic Naggar

Class Marshals

• Porter Holt
• Mykenna Maniece

Newhouse Scholars

• Chelsea D. Brown
• Phoebe L. Bogdanoff
• Gianna M. Corrente
• Aaron Hall
• Kyle J. Henderson
• Kiana C. Khoshnoud
• Mykenna A. Maniece  
• Maya A. Pow
• Louise C. Rath
• Jane S. Shevlin
• Alexandra K. Siambekos
• Maya Tsimmer
• Samuel A. Warren
• Martha G. Welker

Graduate Awards

Graduate School Master’s Prize

• Michael Alessie
• Shannon Burth
• Timothy Cato III
• Robert Child
• Meghan Curtis
• Tanner Garza
• Zoe Maxey
• Danyell Monk
• Tashna Nair
• Natalie Rieth
• Soo Min Seol

A. William Bluem Award

• Tashna Nair

Armando Doreste Award

• Molly Lin

Catherine L. Covert Research Award

• Ryan Wen

Charnice Milton Award for Community Journalism

• Isabel Flores

Oh, The Places You’ll Go Award

• Daisy Leepson
• Joyelle Ronan

Public Relations Certificate of Achievement

• Samuel Cestari
• Tanner Garza
• Emma Hudson
• Xin Lan
• Cynthia Zych

The Magazine, News and Digital Journalism Graduate Achievement Award

• Meghan Curtis

The William Doescher Outstanding Public Relations Master’s Degree Student

• Siyang Chen

For the Love of the Romantic Comedy: Newhouse Student Creates “Rom Con” Convention to Celebrate Genre

Joyelle Ronan loved romantic comedies so much that she wanted to find a way to create an experience with others who share her affinity for the genre.

The Newhouse graduate student came up with the idea of a romantic comedy convention, but wondered how she might be able to pull off such an event. Ronan emailed Sean Branagan, director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, for help.

The idea blossomed into Rom Con 2023. Sponsored by Orange Television Network (OTN), the convention will take place Saturday at Shemin Auditorium.  

Ronan said the convention is also the result of research she did on romantic comedies while a student at Roanoke College.

“Rom Con is celebrating and innovating the genre,” said Ronan, a student in the Goldring arts journalism and communications program and a social media producer at OTN. “All genres have a lot of tropes but when it comes to a (romantic comedy) they are seen as predictable or a cliché. But, for some reason when these tropes happen in an action movie they are seen as really cool.”

Her current favorite romantic comedy is the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You.”

“At almost 20 years old, it has aged incredibly well,” Ronan said. “It’s very cleverly based on Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ and the chemistry between Julia Stiles and Health Ledger is amazing.” She even discussed the film on a recent episode of OTN’s The Review Crew, a weekly multi-camera show dedicated to discussing television shows and new and old films. 

Ronan said she also created Rom Con with the intent to reflect on the genre while promoting the idea that everybody deserves to see themselves represented within a love story. She looked at the genre from a feminist perspective, while also presenting more diverse stories. 

“So, I think now that the genre is having this comeback, people really want to see diverse love stories that represent everyone,” she said.

Ronan appreciated Branagan’s guidance and how she was able to use the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship’s Startup Garage as a collaborative space to work on convention plans.

For Branagan, Ronan is another example of the type of entrepreneurial student with whom the center seeks to help turn innovative ideas into reality, whether it’s an event or a business. He said students seek out the center because they want to make an impact.

Branagan created the center in 2011, taking his past experiences in entrepreneurship and using them to teach and support students as they turn their business dreams into reality. He founded the marketing firm Communimigration, working with startups.

Now, his connections within the industry are helping Newhouse students. He hopes to bring more students to the center through a concentration planning to be introduced for television, radio and film majors that will focus on entrepreneurship and media innovation. 

He said the center can be an avenue to stimulate the ambition and hard work of students.

“I want to get good people who want to improve the world,” he said.

2023 Newhouse School Marshals and Scholars  

The Newhouse School is proud to recognize the following Class of 2023 students for their dedication, ingenuity, academic excellence and creativity.

Newhouse School Marshals

Mykenna A. Maniece

Porter W. Holt

Newhouse Scholars

Chelsea D. Brown

Phoebe L. Bogdanoff

Gianna M. Corrente

Aaron Hall

Kyle J. Henderson

Kiana C. Khoshnoud

Mykenna A. Maniece  

Maya A. Pow

Louise C. Rath

Jane S. Shevlin

Alexandra K. Siambekos

Maya Tsimmer

Samuel A. Warren

Martha G. Welker

Newhouse Seniors Chelsea Brown and Michaela Walsh Chosen as University Scholars

Seniors Chelsea Brown and Michaela Walsh have been named University Scholars, the highest undergraduate honor bestowed by Syracuse University.

Brown studies television, radio and film at the Newhouse School and citizenship and civic engagement at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, while Walsh studies public relations at the Newhouse School and finance at the Whitman School of Management.

They are two of the 12 University Scholars selected this year. Scholars are chosen by a University-wide committee using criteria that include coursework and academic achievement, independent research and creative work, evidence of intellectual growth and/or innovation in their disciplinary field, a personal statement and faculty letters of recommendation.

Yana Bychkova Looks Forward to Her Future

When Yana Bychkova posts on Instagram in support of Ukraine, she’s supporting those she knows personally. Originally from Russia, the public relations senior has always loved communicating with and getting to know different people. “I wish I had an opportunity to write more about the [Russian/Ukraine War],” she says. “I have so many interesting stories to tell about my personal experience with the people I know here, in Russia and in Ukraine. It would be nice to share their stories with the world and talk more about it.” 

That passion for connection drove her to work in and study communications. “With PR, it is a very unique field because it has a little bit of everything,” she remarks. “While studying PR, you also learn how to write journalistically, how to advertise, how to edit videos– a mix of everything.” 

Once admitted to Newhouse, Bychkova admits that at first, she didn’t know of the school’s prestige. “I originally wanted to study in New York City but then after I got accepted into Newhouse, I spoke to a few people who live in the US, and they told me Newhouse was a very nice school and I should really consider going there,” she says. 

Though she didn’t get to study full time in the Big Apple, this past fall Bychkova attended the Newhouse NYC off-campus program. For one semester, she strengthened her professional relationships and networking skills, proving herself to be an enthusiastic, reliable and passionate student who carved out her own opportunities. “When Yana attended an event early on in the semester, she made the most of the networking portion and approached an alum—Mike Gursha—who is the CEO and co-founder of the sports site, Rookie Road,” says Cheryl Brody Franklin, director of Newhouse NYC. “From that interaction, she pitched him ideas, and then became a writer for the site. I was proud of her for taking the tools we taught her this semester—taking advantage of every opportunity and following up—to heart.” 

While in the city, Bychkova fostered relationships with Newhouse faculty who encouraged her ambitious pursuits. When editors from large publications came to speak to the students, Joanna Nikas, deputy style editor for The Cut and adjunct professor, encouraged Bychkova to pitch a story directly to them. “They asked me to send it to their email, so I reached out to Professor Nikas to help me with editing,” Bychkova says. “We had a shared Google Doc and we did some edits before I pitched, so she really helped me out and guided me.” 

Newhouse NYC made an impact on Bychkova in the present—and for the future. She worked for the New York Post doing web advertising through Post Studios—a team of writers, designers and producers who help brands tell stories through custom digital, print, social and mobile solutions. “It was definitely very real-world experience,” she says. 

As she conquered metropolitan living and worked for a large publication, Bychkova glimpsed into what her future may look like. “I’ve always wanted to see what it’s like living in the city because I was considering going there after graduation. It’s hard to commit to a place if you don’t know what it feels like living there.”

Now back on campus in Syracuse, Bychkova is the public relations director for Baked magazine in addition to her work for sports website Rookie Road and the Newhouse Ambassador program. She navigates her academics and activities alongside the twisty legal guardrails of traveling and living internationally that create difficulty in setting future goals and committing to opportunities.

“I’m trying to connect the writing and communications part of me so I can work with people and still do writing,” she says. “I also want to somehow incorporate my psychology side, so advertising would be the best bet for me in the future. I guess I’m still a little unstable right now about this, because I feel the struggles of an international student with visas and everything.”

During her breaks, Bychkova sometimes travels back to Moscow where her family still resides. Alongside the typical stressors of travel, right now safety is a concern. “It’s very time-consuming traveling back and forth,” she says. “It’s also a little stressful because now with all the restrictions on freedom of speech, you’re always thinking ‘what if?’ Because I post on Instagram, and because I’m anti-Russia, it’s not very supportive in Russia at the moment. There’s a huge issue right now where people are not allowed to speak freely about Russia or politics right now.” 

Even with the stress of the outside world, within the Newhouse School Bychkova continually finds support through faculty. “My go-to professor is Professor Gaggin,” she says. “I took two or three classes with her for public relations, and she’s awesome. She’s very grounded and always happy to help. She’s given me lots of advice, will always reach out to me whenever something happens.” 

With that support, her ambition and penchant for seizing opportunities, Bychkova is primed for a successful future in what she hopes will be public relations or advertising, where she can establish a platform to share stories with the world.

Michael Mulford is in the business of media

“There is opportunity out there for the business side of production and programming in general. I didn’t have any of that business knowledge,” says Michael Mulford, a graduate student in the Newhouse School’s new media management program. Mulford is no stranger to Newhouse, graduating with a degree in broadcast and digital journalism in 2019.

When looking for schools, the Morris County, New Jersey native did his homework regarding the best journalism programs in the country. “I didn’t go the sports-focused route but I knew becoming a great writer would put me in a good position,” he says.

After graduating, Mulford secured a job with CBS, spending eight months in the entertainment division. He then worked with Emmy Award-winning broadcast “CBS Mornings” for two years, helping produce the documentary special “Watergate at 50: The political scandal that changed Washington” for Paramount Plus from February to June 2022.

But Mulford realized there was something missing, and knew there was more he could take advantage of for his future career. He returned to Newhouse at age 26, enrolling in the new media management program. “Everything you go into is a business in itself, journalism included,” he says. “I figured taking some business and analytics courses would help me springboard my career.”

New media management is a one-year program for students interested in the business side of media. The program teaches students how to manage media organizations and platforms by giving them business, technology and media skills in a hands-on environment.

Associate professor Adam Peruta is in his second year as the program’s director. “Our goal is to put students at the intersection of business and media technologies,” he says. “Media companies have greater problems in management than other companies.”

The program “doesn’t get the recognition that [Newhouse] programs like BDJ and TRF get, but I think there’s a lot of room for growth,” Mulford says. “I’m hoping to see the number of participants grow in the coming years, because I’d like to look back and say I was part of that.”

Before applying, he took the initiative to reach out to Peruta and express his interest in the program. “[Michael] had more to learn if he wanted to level up,” Peruta says. “He came back here to learn more about the media industry in general.” The program’s faculty work with students to set career goals and then pick the best electives to fit those goals.

The program’s hands-on environment emerges through its experiential learning. The first week of every January, Peruta takes his students to Las Vegas for CES, the “most influential tech event in the world.” This year, Mulford was one of four CES fellows in attendance, working with with Newhouse Advanced Media Professor in Residence Shelly Palmer to research the tech and media, identify trends to craft custom tours and provide insights for media managers in attendance.

Mulford was humbled and honored to be chosen as a fellow. “It was great to learn how so many companies are actually working together now instead of solo to bring the next best thing to market,” he says. “Personally, it definitely changed how I see the future of media, tech and sports.”

His ambitions are executive-level; he’s interested in business, analytics, green-lighting shows and movies and approving their funding. His immediate goal after finishing the program is to be an analyst for a sports league or a content strategist on a streaming platform. “Personally, I think there’s too many options for streaming platforms,” he says. “Hoping to figure that out.”

Mulford’s prior experience, as well as his dedicated and disciplined personality, will work to his advantage, as “the grad students that are more successful are the ones that have gone out for a couple years and worked and come back with a better baseline for setting up specific goals,” Peruta says. “Michael has taken advantage of every opportunity that has been given to him here at Newhouse.”

With one semester left in his year, Mulford is eager to launch his career armed with the education provided to him by new media management. “The skills that I leave here with are going to be pretty unique because a lot of these platforms and programs are so new,” he says. “I’m excited that I’m going to be 26, leaving here with two degrees both from this place. I’ll have a skill set that is pretty rare between my writing and production background and also my newfound business and management skills. That’ll be a nice pairing.”

Newhouse students build photography and social media portfolios covering Empire State Winter Games

If you thought you had winter bragging rights as Syracuse University students because of the snow that piles up every year, our weekend experiential learning course in Lake Placid may have you beat.

With Arctic-like temperatures and wind chills pushing 50 below zero, we had the chance to apply not only the photo, video and social media training we had learned at Newhouse to help cover the 2023 Empire State Winter Games, but some serious winter survival skills, too.

Over the span of four days in early February, the 18 of us were tasked with telling the stories of the largest Olympic-style winter sports event in the Northeast. Each of us had different roles, from photography majors who snapped thousands of images from the more than 30 events to broadcast and digital journalism (BDJ) majors producing features on a few of the Games’ 2,000 athletes.

As members of the digital team, we managed the Games’ social media accounts and kept our peers back in Syracuse up to date on the Newhouse Sports Media Center accounts. The weekend seemed like a constant juxtaposition between frigid high-adrenaline winter sports and huddling back in the warmth of the Lake Placid Beach House overlooking the solidly frozen Mirror Lake to take a look at the content we had just collected.

Bundled up in layers upon layers of clothing, we’d risk a couple of seconds to take off our gloves and snap a picture of the athletes wearing paper-thin ski suits, clearly undeterred by the dangerously cold temperatures. 

Throughout the weekend, our team of five divided and conquered, waking up each morning and choosing which events we’d cover that day. From adaptive sled hockey to the biathlon, we were exposed to sports that we had no prior knowledge of, forcing us to be quick studies  and often think on our feet.

Not only did the conditions and events test our journalistic abilities, but professors Jon Glass and Seth Gitner encouraged us to join the photo team in trying out Sony A-series cameras to photograph some content of our own. By the end of the games, we had captured game-winning goals, speed skating wipeouts and biathlon rifle shots.

Our daily goals generally included several live Twitter updates as results rolled in, and Instagram stories documenting the multiple events taking place throughout Lake Placid. We worked with ESWG operations manager Kimberly Beach to build excitement around the athlete village through Facebook and Instagram posts highlighting the attractions. 

Over the course of the four days we covered figure skating, ice hockey, adaptive sled hockey, speed skating and the biathlon, expanding both our photography and social media skill sets. 

It was an eye-opening experience for the two of us, along with the rest of our digital team. Luke Elliott wrote press releases for each event as results came in and Skylar Swart assisted with tweets, an Instagram takeover and Facebook posts. While playing to our strong suits, we both were also able to branch out and expand our journalism repertoire.

At night, our hostel’s common room turned into a makeshift newsroom as the BDJ majors transformed footage and interviews into polished stories and photographers narrowed down hundreds of photos, captioning them and uploading them to share with media outlets, athletes and their families on ESWGPhotos.com

At the end of each exhausting day, we exchanged our phones and cameras for board games and laughs with our “DigiTeam.” Our nightly routine included hours-long Trivial Pursuit battles, made even more difficult by its outdated and nearly impossible questions from 1984 (luckily we had a few professors in the room—thanks Glass and Gitner—to help us out along the way). 

By the time we piled back into our Chevy Suburban for the four-hour drive back to Syracuse, we had new friendships and unbelievable experiences under our belts. We feel grateful for the opportunity and inspired to keep embarking on new adventures as we head off into our professional careers come graduation in May.