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Making Their Mark:

Newest KSU alumni are ready for the world

By Kennesaw State University

May 10^th, 2022

Commencement signifies a beginning. For some members of the graduating class of 2022, it's the beginning of a new job or career; while for others, it’s one step completed on the way to a master’s or doctoral degree. For all, receiving a degree represents completing a challenge. Read to learn about a few of the new graduates who make Owl Nation proud.

Morgan Belcher - Summer Intern, Army Research Lab

Morgan Belcher, an electrical engineering major from Atlanta, has used her time in the Southern Polytechnic School of Engineering and Engineering Technology to dig deep into important research.

She has been working on a project funded by the Army Research Laboratory focusing on technology used in self-driving vehicles. Her findings will shape future research, her mentor, assistant professor of electrical engineering technology, Sylvia Bhattacharya said.

“I had the opportunity to do a lot of amazing things during my time at KSU. My favorite experience has been working in Dr. Bhattacharya's research lab where I've been able to grow my skills as an engineer and a researcher,” Belcher said. She will be an intern with the Army Research Lab this summer, before attending graduate school.

Elise Majetich - Management Training, Encore

Elise Majetich will be the first Hospitality Management major to graduate from the Coles College of Business, and said she’s always wanted a career in the hospitality industry.

A native of tourism hotspot Chattanooga, Tenn., Majetich has prepared for her dream career by completing an internship with Hilton’s Tru/Home2Suites hotels, as well as working with Low Country Catering at the Masters Tournament in March.

“It’s so exciting to be the first graduate of my program, and I feel I’ve done the best with it I could,” Majetich said.

Majetich was a member of the Thrive program, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and a KSU student ambassador. She is president of the Hospitality Leadership Club. She has accepted a job with event management company Encore, entering its management training program in June.

Trent Geisler - Faculty, U.S. Military Academy at West Point

Lt. Col. Trent Geisler earned a Ph.D. in Analytics and Data Science from Kennesaw State in just three years. He’s used to being a high achiever.

Geisler has commanded Army dive teams in Southwest Asia, taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as a data analyst within the Army Marketing and Research Group, where he helped construct and implement mathematical models and software applications to optimize operations.

Geisler sought out the doctoral program at KSU to advance his career and while completing his degree, has researched novel approaches to improve imbalanced data classification.

Outside the classroom, Geisler and his wife are raising four children, one of whom was born during his Ph.D. program, and he coaches his oldest son’s baseball team. After graduation, Geisler will return to teaching at West Point, his undergraduate alma mater.

“It’s so exciting to be the first graduate of my program, and I feel I’ve done the best with it that I was able.” – Elise Majetich

Marion Granger - Ph.D. Program, University of South Carolina

Marion Granger is graduating with a master’s degree in applied statistics and analytics after earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from KSU. The two-time Owl has been called a “true rock star” by faculty members in the School of Data Science and Analytics within the College of Computing and Software Engineering.

Granger was an undergraduate teaching and research assistant and then became a graduate research assistant in the Human Studies Lab where she has performed groundbreaking research on infant growth and outcomes.

“When I was majoring in psychology I was introduced to research and the statistics minor by Dr. Katherine White, who was a huge role model. Statistics allowed me to use and grow my skills in analytics and design, and it led me to join the Human Studies Lab, where I found my passion in epidemiology under the mentorship of Dr. Louise Lawson and Dr. Nicole Ferguson,” Granger said.

Granger was accepted into the Behavior Biomedical Interface program at the University of South Carolina where she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Epidemiology.

Will Mikel - Summer Intern, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Will Mikel’s advice to anyone starting out at KSU is get involved right from the start. As a freshman, he joined the African American Male Initiative, which set him on his path to graduate with his bachelor’s in integrated health science. “I am forever grateful for what I have gained through my involvement with this illustrious organization, from the friendships and relationships I have with these men that I consider brothers to the volunteer opportunities and workshops. I don’t know how my college journey would have turned out if I never joined this program.” Mikel said he spent a lot of time at the rec center, where he officiated intramural sports. He also found time to work with the Student Worksite Experience Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he will continue an internship this summer.

Andrea Brenner - Ph.D. Program, Arizona State University

Andrea Brenner admitted she wasn’t sure what to study in college, and at one point, she declared a business major. But everything changed when she took an environmental science elective. “I loved the idea of helping to change the world, and that class opened my eyes to those possibilities,” she said. She transferred to Kennesaw State and declared an environmental science major, taking a class from Associate Professor of Environmental Science Dan Ferreira. She did research in his lab about soil remediation after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. She then worked in the lab of Associate Professor of Chemistry Bharat Baruah and was one of 11 recipients of the Birla Carbon Scholarship.

“I contributed in two different ways to changing the environment for the better,” said Brenner, who will pursue her Ph.D. in life sciences at Arizona State University. “It is an interdisciplinary field. You cannot look at one piece of the environment without considering the whole.”

“I contributed in two different ways to changing the environment for the better.” -Andrea Brenner

Nick Genova - Web/Application Developer, Truly Integrate Computing

Nick Genova will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer game design and development and is known as a talented programmer and leader.

After completing an impressive term project in Joy Li’s “Educational and Serious Games” course, he was hired as a student assistant in the Realities Lab, where students work with the latest technology in the virtual space.

Faculty members in CCSE describe Genova as a team player who always exceeds expectations. He participated in multiple Game Jams, a Hackathon in which his team won first place, and at the STEAM 2022 showcase event during his time as an undergraduate student.

Genova has secured a full-time job offer as a junior web/application developer.

Courtney Linkous - Ph.D. Program, University of Alberta

The collaborative nature of her experience stands out for Courtney Linkous, who will earn her Master of Science in Integrative Biology. She studied the effects of urbanization on wildlife with Assistant Professor of Biology Sarah Guindre-Parker, doing research amid nesting boxes at KSU’s Field Station that filled each spring with migrating starlings, followed by lab work supported by various departments in the College of Science and Mathematics. “There are a lot of opportunities for personal growth at KSU,” she said. “The collaboration among professors has not only allowed me to engage in my research more but also to make connections with people outside of my field and area of study.” She founded the Ornithological Society at KSU, where bird experts came to campus for talks and there are organized birdwatching outings. She’ll continue to study birds at the University of Alberta in Canada, where she will research how black-capped chickadees adjust to a warming climate. She will pursue a doctorate in biological sciences with a concentration in ecology.

Kannaraj Sadula

Kannaraj Sadula returned to the classroom after nearly a decade of working as a software engineer and will graduate with highest honors and a master’s degree in information technology.

“Throughout my time as a graduate student, I ventured into many technical areas and learned skills I had not used in my previous jobs,” he said.

Over the past few years, Sadula completed the Amazon Certified Cloud Practitioner program and worked on a Capstone Program with InComm Payments, where he and a few other KSU students explored applications of computer vision and artificial intelligence to enhance the shopping experience.

After graduation, Sadula plans to rejoin the workforce as a data science professional.

“The collaboration among professors has not only allowed me to engage in my research more but also to make connections with people outside of my field and area of study.” – Courtney Linkous

Jeremiah Hayes

Jeremiah Hayes, an industrial and systems engineering major, is also a member of the KSU Journey Honors College and has proven to be a leader on and off campus.

Hayes has served as an honors ambassador, peer mentor and a student assistant throughout his KSU career. Outside the classroom, Hayes worked a co-op with Southern Company Services and was elected by his peers as president of the company’s co-op student organization.

Hayes said hands-on learning has been a highlight of his Kennesaw State career.

“Working in a senior design team with other students on optimizing processes for a local furniture and mattress store has been excellent,” he said. “I can apply knowledge from my classes into a project design that will create solutions for the business and its warehouse processes.”

Hayes plans to pursue a master’s degree in business or analytics.

Ellen Spiceland

For Ellen Spiceland retirement provided time to fulfill a lifelong interest in learning all about the world – its cities, seas, wilderness and every place in between.

“I wanted to know every place, every capital, every major export. I wanted to know all about this world,” Spiceland said. “When I retired, I thought ‘I'm tired of being geographically impaired,’ so I decided that now is the time.”

Spiceland had spent the previous 50 years working and raising a family before retiring from Georgia Power Co. in 2018. A resident of Acworth, she found that Kennesaw State’s Department of Geography and Anthropology offered a perfect path to pursue learning for its own sake through its online bachelor’s degree in geography.

This week, Spiceland will come on campus to walk in the commencement ceremony and receive her newly earned degree in person.

“I’m not missing that for the world,” she said.

Patrick Rodriguez

As Patrick Rodriguez prepares to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication, he plans to use his Kennesaw State education and experiences to help people who have served time in prison to improve their lives through education.

During his college career, Rodriguez, who has served five years in prison himself, was accepted into the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials' Institute for Leadership and was one of eight formerly incarcerated people nationally chosen to be a Justice Policy Fellow with the Education Trust. He serves as co-executive director of the Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison, and the director of advocacy for Common Good Atlanta. During his senior year at KSU, Rodriguez, co-authored and won $1 million in grant funding to expand educational opportunities for incarcerated people and support them upon release.