Celebrating the Class of 2025

Lola Bakhadyrova, BS in Textile Design

Lola Bakhadyrova entered Jefferson thinking she wanted to work in health care. Frequent trips to the textile design studio giving tours as a Rambassador sent her mind elsewhere. “I thought, ‘I want to be in there,’” she recalls.

The rainbow of yarns, buzzing community and sense of home always caught Bakhadyrova’s attention. A conversation with then-program director Marcia Weiss confirmed her instincts.

“There’s so much creative energy that I never experienced before,” she says. “I felt like I was missing that part.”

Bakhadyrova changed majors and jumped into her textile work. For her capstone, she sought to incorporate print designs and more color into the monochromatic bridal world.

And over spring break, Bakhadyrova took a short course in Uzbekistan, an Asian country with a rich textile tradition. With her family from there, she had visited previously, but this trip marked the first time she could fully explore as a textile student.

“It was so interesting and satisfying to bring both parts of my world together,” says Bakhadyrova, also an orientation leader and member of Theta Phi Alpha and Phi Psi textile fraternity.

She will move to Dallas this summer for a product development internship at Loloi Rugs. “The nature of our school gave me opportunities I never knew I would have,” Bakhadyrova says.

Giselle Callejas, BS in Law & Society

For Giselle Callejas, Jefferson’s law and society program provided the clearest path to her goal: attend law school.

The program’s interdisciplinary approach, exploring sociology, criminology, psychology, ethics, economics, culture, science, history, politics and political science, resonated with her—and she excelled. Named the best law and society student for the Class of 2025, Callejas will attend Rutgers Law School in Newark this fall.

Callejas loved discussing topics surrounding the First Amendment, social justice and quality-of-life issues in her courses, where she became close with her classmates. With her capstone, she advocated for more art on Jefferson’s campus.

Commencement will take on special meaning for Callejas, a first-generation college student. “Being able to graduate when my parents couldn’t attend school means so much to me,” she says.

Michelle Arthur, Master of Science in Nursing

Since Michelle Arthur began working as a nurse, she thought about returning to school to pursue her master’s in nursing.

“After three years working on a neurological/neurosurgical unit, I felt ready to take this next step,” she says. “I’ve always loved learning, so it became an easy decision.”

Arthur started in Jefferson’s adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner track. She completed all the didactic courses and only had three semesters of clinicals remaining.

“However, after having back-to-back children causing two separate leaves of absence, I decided to finish my degree but switch to the academic nursing track,” Arthur shares. “This decision better aligned with my goals at the time and would allow me to finish my MSN and focus on my family.”

Arthur appreciates the nursing faculty for making it a smooth transition, especially Dr. Maureen Fitzgerald. “She welcomed me into the academic nursing track with open arms,” says Arthur, also thanking Dr. Anne Mitchell for playing a pivotal role as a mentor and preceptor. 

With Dr. Mitchell’s support, Arthur participated in numerous interprofessional education programs, such as Team SAFE, Health Mentors, Team Care Planning and the Interprofessional Palliative Care Program, in addition to her required teaching in lab and class. She became the first grad student to earn the Certificate of Excellence in Interprofessional Collaborative Practice.

“Seeing Dr. Mitchell’s passion for educating and how much she cares for these students has been inspiring,” Arthur says. “It’s through my clinicals and working alongside her that I can picture my future in nursing education and am genuinely excited about what the future holds.”

Tyler Bartman, BS in Marketing

For School of Business student Tyler Bartman, Commencement represents the culmination of four years of college and a time to reflect on the many steps it took to achieve this goal.

“I’m so thankful for the college experience,” he says. “It’s fulfilling in so many different ways.”

Bartman, a self-professed “huge car guy,” will start at Ford as a marketing, sales and service regional zone manager in June. He will visit dozens of dealerships each month. “I can’t wait for the journey to begin,” says Bartman, who also interned at Volvo.

The School of Business’s focus on interdisciplinary work—especially the unique DEC Core Curriculum—will serve him well in this position, he says.

“It really separates Jefferson from other universities,” Bartman says. “Team collaboration is so important in the real world. Even though I’ll be working on the sales, marketing and service side, I need general engineering knowledge of cars.”

To help get here, he says smaller classes allowed him to connect with faculty for their support and guidance. “The ability to get to know your professors on such a personal level was crucial,” Bartman says. “Everyone has been in my corner since I started.”

Harsimran Bhandal, MD/Master of Public Health

Through Jefferson, Harsimran Bhandal studied at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome for about two months. For his main project, he explored if LGBTQ patients had disproportionately higher healthcare costs compared to the Italian population in general.

“They have universal healthcare in Italy, but it doesn’t mean everything is covered. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and depression is out of pocket. Hopefully, this data will be used to influence healthcare policy,” says Bhandal, taking a perhaps surprising step to present his work. “When I found out I was going to Rome, I felt I needed to learn Italian. I picked up a textbook, found an online tutor and just dove into it. In the end, I gave the full presentation in Italian as a challenge for myself.”

For another project, Bhandal—who’s Sikh—sought ways to improve healthcare access for the approximately 200,000 Punjabi Sikhs living in Italy. He’s also working on ways Italian hospitals can better treat Sikh-identifying patients with respect.

A dual med student at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM), Bhandal recently matched at UC Davis in its combined internal medicine-psychiatry program.

“They go hand in hand when you’re trying to diagnose illness, treat people and deliver holistic care, he says. “I’m excited about using my public health degree to inform the work I will do as a physician. It gave me the tools to create projects to improve the health of my community. I can go on and on about how much I love it.”

Natalie Brown, BS in Respiratory Therapy

As Natalie Brown earned her biology degree at another school, she knew there had to be a next step in her education. What it would be remained elusive, though. 

“I didn’t have that quite figured out yet,” she says.

Then, Brown met Dr. Jerin Juby, Jefferson’s respiratory therapy chair, at a shadowing event in 2022. After he introduced her to the new entry into practice respiratory therapy program, the foggy future cleared up and she enrolled.

“I always wanted to do some type of bedside care, but I know myself well enough that nursing wasn’t a great fit for me,” Brown explains. “With respiratory, I love that I still can have an impact on patients.”

She realized she wanted to stick with pediatrics after teaching young patients how to properly use their inhalers during a career-defining rotation at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The opportunity to improve people’s lives kept her going through a sometimes-bumpy two years, says Brown, a first-generation college student.

“A lot of my family never had the chance to go to college,” she says. “Now, I come out with all this new knowledge and can help others. That’s so rewarding.”

Brown, who will work as a respiratory therapist at AtlantiCare after she passes the boards, thanks the Jefferson faculty for their continued assistance.

“Anytime I was struggling,” she says, “I always felt super comfortable going to them for support.”

Sahani de Silva, Doctor of Pharmacy

In Sahani de Silva’s undergrad years, she planned to do a pre-med track and eventually attend medical school. A pharmacology course gave her second thoughts.

“I fell in love with it,” she says. “I thought, ‘I want to impact patients and still be in health care, but maybe the medical degree route isn’t for me.’”

To be certain, de Silva worked at an in-patient pharmacy for two years. That job sealed the deal, and she enrolled at the College of Pharmacy.

“I chose Jefferson because they have a heavy clinical focus and patient-centered care,” she says. “It steered me in the right direction to achieve my goal of getting a residency and working in hospital pharmacy.”

De Silva matched at her No. 1 residency choice, the Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, Calif.—the Central Valley’s only level 1 trauma center.

From the Class of 2025, 13 pharmacy students—including de Silva—matched at residency programs and three additional students accepted fellowships. Postgraduate training isn’t required to practice as a pharmacist, but it may springboard students’ careers, giving them advanced skills in management and complicated drug therapy.

Looking back at her time at Jefferson, de Silva says she will most remember the connections made.

“We have a small class,” she says. “These are the people you will enter the workforce with and be friends and colleagues with for the rest of your life. The relationships I formed here were very important, and I’ll carry those with me.”

Sarah Fallouh, BS in Biology

Sarah Fallouh recalls many favorite Jefferson classes, but she particularly loved Dr. Anne Bowers' course on medicinal plants.

“Every year, I learned something new: how to read journal articles, write journal articles, navigate databases,” she says. “This class combined everything.”

Fallouh’s project examined herbal remedies to treat GERD symptoms, where she explored the safety and interactions and collected data.

For another top experience, Fallouh conducted research in the biochemistry course to see if attitudes and grades have changed about traditional- vs. standard-based grading. She also worked as a tutor and peer mentor.

“I learned how to teach and explain concepts and ideas concisely, breaking down larger topics,” says Fallouh, who plans to attend med school with perhaps a residency in internal or family medicine. “I want to be your go-to doctor who sees all types of patients every day.”

With graduation here, she calls this moment the “bow on top of the present,” Fallouh says. “So much work has gone in, and now, I have all these experiences, stories, projects and knowledge that I can take to the real world.”

Owen Felty, Bachelor of Architecture

As long as Owen Felty can remember, he had a fascination with drawing cities and playing with space, be it video games or Legos.

“I had all these disparate creative outlets in my life, and architecture put them together and packaged them in this beautiful experience,” says Felty, named to the Metropolis Future100 Class of 2025.

He recently accepted a full-time staff designer position at JKRP Architects, a firm he connected with at the Career Day and Design Expo on East Falls Campus earlier this year.

“I really can’t put my emotions into words how much it means to me to graduate,” he says. “It was five years of hard work, dedication and sacrifices.”

As a student, he worked as a teaching assistant for a first-year studio and ran the 3D printing lab in the SEED Center, where he taught roughly 150 new students how to use the equipment.

His senior capstone, the Sustainability-Oriented Urban Pavilion (SOUP for short), addresses the urban heat island effect in Philadelphia. With a classmate, they created a canopy structure made from UV-resistant and water-repellent fabric for landscape or hardscape. SOUP will collect rainwater and spray it underneath the canopy through a series of misters. The system can drop temperatures 20 to 30 degrees, says Felty, who earned a grant from the Eileen Martinson ’86 Fund for the Undergraduate Capstone Experience.

Shortly before graduation, he offers this advice to current and prospective students: “Don’t give up on yourself,” Felty says. “So many people at Jefferson are pushing you to succeed.”

Christyn Mitchell, Doctor of Health Science

As a Jefferson occupational therapy instructor, Christyn Mitchell loves everything about teaching and being a part of developing future clinicians. However, to remain in academia, she felt she needed to return to school for her doctoral degree.

The University’s doctor of health science program spoke to Mitchell, especially its broad reach and interdisciplinary education and practice. The curriculum comprises courses drawn from multiple colleges at Jefferson.

“That was the highlight for me,” says Mitchell, who worked as an occupational therapist for 13 years before joining Jefferson’s faculty. “Yes, I wanted to come out with a doctoral degree, but I also wanted to learn more from my peers and faculty to become a better professor for my students.”

Mitchell’s final research project centered on mentoring for racially and ethnically minoritized occupational therapy students. She wants to create a framework for Jefferson students that programs nationwide could implement.

She will continue her education at the University, working toward her PhD in Health Science—a decision she never expected to make a few short years ago.

“It’s a reminder that I can do hard things,” Mitchell says. “I’m trying to sit in the boldness of returning to school after 15 years as a single mom while working full-time. It helped me to be relatable to my current students. We went through the same things at the same time.”

Jessie Sargent, BS in Organizational Leadership

A horrific 2012 car accident left Jessie Sargent with a traumatic brain injury. During an evaluation, a doctor told her she likely wouldn’t be able to hold down a meaningful job or attend college.

Sargent will now earn her BS in organizational leadership degree with a 4.0 GPA and will continue for her MS in Organizational Leadership.

“I want to take that piece of paper to the psychologist who did my assessment and say, ‘You can never tell someone they can’t achieve something,’” she says. “I never give up. I don’t take no for an answer.”

For the past two years, Sargent has served as director of advancement programs and projects for the Office of Institutional Advancement at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital and Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation – Elkins Park. She’s also an inaugural member of the School of Business’s Women in Business Leadership Program.

“I’ve embraced my degree and grown so much personally and with my role and education,” says Sargent, describing herself as the “2.0 version” following a recent autism diagnosis and the accident that nearly killed her 13 years ago.

She’s among the first Jefferson continuing and professional studies students to participate in an internship for academic credit. Through it, Sargent will help roll out Healthcare Heroes: Behind the Scenes, an immersive development program for donors to experience Jefferson hospitals firsthand and see the impact of their donations.

“Donor dollars have helped me through my life,” she says. “I believe it’s important to give back.”

Leah Soliman, Doctorate of Occupational Therapy

Inspired by a family member’s improved quality of life after seeing an occupational therapist, Leah Soliman set off on this career path. She immediately knew Jefferson would be the place to make it happen at her initial interview with faculty. The program being an entry-level professional doctorate became a strong selling point.

“I’m so happy I chose Jefferson,” she says. “It prepared me for the real-life work of being an occupational therapist.”

As part of a semester-long project, Soliman partnered with another student to work with a nonverbal 25-year-old client who has autism. They visited weekly to assess his needs and environment and then made modifications and adaptions to help him with everyday tasks like cooking and cleaning.

For Soliman’s capstone, she created a six-week training program for direct support professionals working in a facility for adult women with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The training focused on enhancing their skills in activity selection and providing cues to increase resident engagement.

With an interest in adult and geriatric care, Soliman will start working at an assisted living facility this summer. “I’m so excited to start my career,” she says.

Photos/©Thomas Jefferson University Photography Services