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Graduate Spotlight

Kseniia Sulialeva, a native of Russia, in front of a dock filled with sea lions.

Graduate spotlight: Kseniia Sulialeva turns passion for art into career in graphic design

A paid internship has led to a full-time job for a Pellissippi State Community College student who will graduate Friday.  Kseniia Sulialeva, who has earned her Associate of Arts in Media Technologies/Design for Web and Print, has accepted a graphic design position at Radio Systems Corporation, 10 years after she… Read More »Graduate spotlight: Kseniia Sulialeva turns passion for art into career in graphic design

Benjamin Conner at an audio console with computers, mics, wires, etc.

Graduate spotlight: Pellissippi State sets Benji Conner on a creative path

In less than 18 months, Pellissippi State has helped Benji Conner change the trajectory of his life.  Conner enrolled in August 2022 thanks to Tennessee Reconnect, a last-dollar scholarship that covers tuition for adult learners after all state and federal financial aid has been applied.    He will graduate Friday… Read More »Graduate spotlight: Pellissippi State sets Benji Conner on a creative path

Channing Mendez in cap and gown

National competition winner finds passion for video production at Pellissippi State

Channing Mendez was working as an electrician before attending Pellissippi State, but saw his apprenticeship abruptly end during the pandemic. “I started wondering what to do with my life because I had worked all kinds of jobs and I wasn’t particularly happy with any of them,” he admits.   Channing… Read More »National competition winner finds passion for video production at Pellissippi State

Sarah Howell in cap and gown with diploma in front of piano

Howell finds her voice as Pellissippi State’s Outstanding Music Graduate

From as far back as Sarah Howell can remember, music has been a part of her life. “I think as soon as I had my first word, I was singing my first song,” she recalls. So when she started at Pellissippi State in the fall of 2020, majoring in music… Read More »Howell finds her voice as Pellissippi State’s Outstanding Music Graduate

Peyton Pettyjohn in cap and gown at Commencement

Graduate finds college ‘family’ by getting involved in student clubs

Despite starting out in the tumultuous, mid-pandemic semester of fall 2021, Pellissippi State graduate Peyton Pettyjohn made connections and wore many hats within the College, including serving as president of the Student Activities Board, vice president of the Student Government Association and as a worker in Student Engagement and Leadership. Peyton was… Read More »Graduate finds college ‘family’ by getting involved in student clubs

James Lombard III in cap and gown.

Veteran finds Pellissippi State to be a perfect fit

James Lombard III has the whole college thing figured out, but that epiphany didn’t happen instantly. He went to Eastern Michigan University right after graduating high school in Detroit, but “I didn’t know why I was there,” he explains. James tried again after he left the Navy, that time at the University of Tennessee. After a couple of years there, however, he still wasn’t sure what college really had to offer… Read More »Veteran finds Pellissippi State to be a perfect fit

Nicki Spurling at graduation

Cancer diagnosis didn’t stop Spurling from finishing her degree

Nicki Spurling transferred her job from Georgia to Tennessee to be with her husband. After a few years, however, she felt she’d been putting her education on the back burner for too long, and it was time to go back to school. “I really want to do it,” she told her husband, who… Read More »Cancer diagnosis didn’t stop Spurling from finishing her degree

Evaughn Barnett in cap and gown

Hope for a brighter future brings Barnett to Pellissippi State from Jamaica

Evaughn Barnett was going to college in his home country of Jamaica, “but the future wasn’t looking too bright,” he says. The opportunity wasn’t there like it is in the United States, Evaughn explains, so he wanted to make a move. He contacted his godfather in Knoxville for some guidance.… Read More »Hope for a brighter future brings Barnett to Pellissippi State from Jamaica

Tina King in cap and gown

King’s pursuit of management degree helps her move up the ladder at TDOT

After sending her daughter off to college in 2014, Tina King started having her own aspirations to return to school.  “Why not? I didn’t get to finish college when I first started in 1993, so I think I’ll give it a shot,” Tina recalls.  A longtime employee of the Tennessee… Read More »King’s pursuit of management degree helps her move up the ladder at TDOT