For someone who wants to teach middle school history, Rebecca Duhamel is already on the right track. Not only will Duhamel graduate from Pellissippi State Community College on Friday with her Associate of Science in History, “she has a knack for helping her peers understand and appreciate history and its… Read More »Graduate spotlight: Rebecca Duhamel has makings of ‘a great historian’
Braeden Watkins started Pellissippi State Community College as a dual enrollment student his senior year at Bearden High School – and had such a “great experience” that he wanted to come back full time. “I really liked the environment and felt like I could fit in,” said Watkins, who graduates… Read More »Graduate spotlight: Braeden Watkins wants to treat others like professors treated him
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
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 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
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
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
Mae Manis had gone down many different paths on her way to Pellissippi State, not the least of which was as a firewalker. “I started firewalking at 15, I started teaching at 18 with my brother, and then I went to firewalking school and got licensed to teach by myself… Read More »Firewalker blazes new path at Pellissippi State
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 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
