For many, college coursework is difficult enough in your first language. For Swedish-born Viktor Liljegren, who will be graduating from the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in business and management on May 19, navigating the last four years as a student-athlete has been a challenge, but he is proud of what he has been able to accomplish.

One year into her college experience at a small liberal arts school, Melissa Mann realized she wanted a different kind of business education—one that could equip her to solve challenges in a data-driven world. Mann found what she was looking for in the Lally School of Management, transferred to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and soon began drawing on her business education both on and off campus.

The day Laura Antoniello attended a campus job fair at Rensselaer Polytechnic Instititue changed everything. She was an electronic media, arts, and communication (EMAC) major and the fair was geared for engineering jobs. But Hasbro was at the event and Antoniello was really interested in working at the company, having grown up near its headquarters. The Hasbro recruiter gave her valuable pointers.

Along with the challenges of pursuing a dual degree at a technological university, Alejandra Jaime-Rodriguez joined the university’s equestrian team, and with passion and perseverance, but no prior experience, qualified for a regional competition of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

From an early age, Cate Mann envisioned a future connected to the biological sciences. But it was only at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that she found her future in bioinformatics, a blend of computer science and biology.

In the weeks before completing her master’s of architecture degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Nwaram-Billi Ugbode was preparing to present her senior thesis, a look at the staying power of the Shaker community of southern Maine.

In high school, Joseph Vengen faced adversity and suffering every day. Born completely deaf, he received his first cochlear implant as a toddler. The technology opened doors but has limitations in noisy environments.

Zachary Pearson is highly motivated to use architecture and lighting to tell a story or immerse viewers in a fantasy world. His fascination with lighting began at age 6, when he saw a Christmas display at Disney World.

For all his successes at Rensselaer—a double major in biochemistry and biophysics, with minors in chemistry and psychology thrown in, Dean’s List every semester, a Rensselaer Medal, and several successful game designs, all packed into three years—Cole Funk is especially gratified by one particular accomplishment: Helping other students.

For Jazmyn Borman, choosing a college was easy. One tour of Rensselaer and its nationally ranked Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Program, and “I knew I wanted to be part of that community.”