January Graduates Launch Careers and Fulfill Dreams Ahead of May Commencement

with their classmates at commencement ceremonies in May.

"Leaving school is definitely bittersweet," said Angeles Pinas, a Rutgers-New Brunswick biology graduate who plans to become a physician assistant. "On the one hand, I'm glad I was able to finish my major, because it was a lot of hard work. On the other, I'm sad to leave my volunteer work and organizations at Rutgers."

The graduates reached this milestone through diligent efforts, both inside and outside the classroom. They've served as teaching assistants, peer counselors, mentors and organization presidents, worked for Rutgers offices, labs and health programs, completed internships at businesses off campus and been honored for excellence.

Along the way, they developed new strategies for overcoming challenges, sometimes with help from Rutgers support services, professors, mentors or experiences.

"I served in a campus position as a peer wellness coach, and I applied a lot of the techniques I learned to myself," said Maro Mikhaeil, a Rutgers-Newark graduate who works with children on the autism spectrum and sometimes experiences social anxiety. "If I'm feeling OK, then I'm able to pour from my cup, so I've nurtured my ability to give 100% to the kids I support."

Maro Mikhaeil
Rutgers-Newark School of Arts and Sciences
B.A., psychology

Nick Romanenko/Rutgers University

Maro Mikhaeil earned her B.A. in psychology early by taking extra credits each semester while also working and volunteering. Now, she's started a job and an M.S. program in behavior analysis - both full-time.

She attributes her motivation to her fascination with behavior and the brain.

"I thought, 'I want to do this, and I also want to do that, so I'll just do all of them,'" said Mikhaeil, who grew up in Belleville. "What really pushed me was passion and a strong need to help people."

At Success on the Spectrum, she teaches daily living skills to children ages 2 to 6 who have autism. Supervised by a board-certified behavior analyst, her hours will count toward her degree at the Florida Institute of Technology.

"I've seen a big difference in one client who had issues with communication, and now they're able to say how they're feeling instead of engaging in maladaptive behaviors, like tantrums," she said.

Mikhaeil developed relevant skills through many previous roles, including working with children as a registered behavior technician, serving as a peer wellness coach for the Rutgers-Newark Health Promotion Division, acting as a teaching and learning assistant for psychology classes and working as a research assistant at a campus language behavior and brain imaging lab.

She also helped peers find their way in their majors and field as president of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.

Although she sometimes experiences social anxiety, Mikhaeil said those activities taught her to persevere.

"I learned to focus on my own wellness so I could give my all to the kids I work with," she said.

She remains as busy as ever and has no intention of slowing down. Her next goal is to earn a Ph.D. in applied behavior analysis.

Angeles Pinas
Rutgers-New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers-New Brunswick Honors College

Nick Romanenko/Rutgers University

As a child in Peru, Angeles Pinas got an insider's view of the medical field when she tagged along with her mother, a hospital pharmacist, on overnight shifts.

"I saw the doctors, nurses and pharmacists working together," she said, "and it shaped the way I viewed healthcare."

Her interest remained steady at the New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School and in the biological sciences program at Rutgers-New Brunswick. She's excited to have graduated a semester early because it will give her extra time to apply to physician assistant (PA) programs due to start in fall 2027.

Pinas aspires to that career because it requires equal measures of scientific and emotional intelligence. She solidified her plan after volunteering as a Spanish/English translator at the Rutgers H.O.P.E. clinic for uninsured patients.

"The PAs who run the clinic all share the same values," she said. "They're passionate about helping patients, no matter what they look like or where they come from."

For now, Pinas will continue her part-time job as a clinical care technician in the post-coronary unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she checks patients' vital signs, draws blood, conducts EKGs, assists with hygiene and provides emotional support. She'll also continue to work part-time as a research assistant at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she's on a team studying long COVID.

Pinas will miss her Rutgers volunteer activities: mentoring first-generation Honors College students and providing the New Brunswick community with free health services, such as blood sugar and BMI checks, through the American Preventive Screening Education Association.

Still, she's proud to be a first-generation college graduate.

"It's a big milestone for my whole family," Pinas said, "and my family back in Peru is also ecstatic."

Jeffrey Tang
Rutgers-New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers-New Brunswick Honors College
B.S., computer science and math

Jeffrey Tang had planned to graduate in three years, but even after he added coursework by promoting math from a minor to a second major, he earned his diploma in under four years.

"What I found interesting about the math major was its rigor," said the Cherry Hill resident, a Phi Beta Kappa member who has taken a mix of undergraduate and graduate courses. "When writing proofs, you construct theorems stating that certain things are true, but as a math minor you don't really know why. I was curious about the why."

Tang plans to pursue advanced degrees in computer science, but first, he'll work in his field. As a full-time data engineer at pharmaceutical leader Cencora, a top-10 Fortune 500 company where he previously served as an intern, Tang will identify, plan and execute data quality solutions.

"I'm looking forward to doing grown-up work," he said. "In the past, I did development, like coding and programming, but now I will partner closely with technical teams on architectural decisions and guide stakeholders through the software development life cycle to ensure seamless system updates."

Tang believes his experience as a Rutgers learning and teaching assistant, and as an independent math and science tutor, will help.

"I learned how to concisely convey my ideas," said Tang, who was also a member of the Rutgers Cybersecurity and Quantitative Finance clubs, as well as the Yu-Gi-Oh club, which focuses on a trading-card game. "Communication is a crucial soft skill, especially if the work is technical."

Although he's now a graduate, Tang will also remain on a Rutgers team researching oblivious RAM, with the goal of preventing hackers from inferring sensitive information by observing memory access patterns on untrusted servers. "I'll continue for another semester at the very least," he said, "to see if our efforts come to fruition."

Mikell Quiroga
Rutgers Business School

Nick Romanenko/Rutgers University

In 2019, Mikell Quiroga immigrated from Colombia to New Jersey in search of opportunity, which he imagined would involve the hustle and bustle of doing business in a New York City skyscraper.

Now, Quiroga is stepping into that vision as a ratings associate for Moody's, a global financial services company whose offices tower over the city.

"Moody's provides credit ratings and analysis for companies across different industries, including data centers that support today's growing digital economy," Quiroga said. "I'm excited to be part of where the industry is headed."

After graduating from North Bergen High School and earning his associate's degree in business at Hudson County Community College, Quiroga entered Rutgers Business School as a finance major. He strategically added a second major in supply chain management so he could stay an extra semester and continue to build experience in his field - serving as an intern with Moody's, which resulted in a full-time position.

Quiroga met Moody's leaders through the Rutgers-Newark chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), where he served as treasurer. He also credits two graduate-level courses he took through the selective Rutgers Wall Street Financial Modeling Accelerator with helping him develop the technical skills needed for the job.

Quiroga accumulated additional experience and enjoyed helping students as a peer advisor in the business school's Office of Career Management and as a financial aid assistant. He also worked as an associate at a preeminent public affairs firm and previously held an operations position supporting young men post-incarceration - a role he secured through the Rutgers Scarlet Service Initiative.

Quiroga is a first-generation college graduate.

"This is something that my grandmother, who raised me, always wanted for me," he said, "and making her proud is a feeling I cannot describe."

Melissa Vilain
Rutgers University-Camden
College of Arts and Sciences

Ron Downes Jr./Rutgers University-Camden

Melissa Vilain admires her brother, so she planned to follow in his footsteps and pursue a computer science degree.

But he encouraged Vilain to follow her own passion, which is why she graduated from Rutgers-Camden with a degree in graphic design.

The Willingboro resident stayed an extra semester after switching from a BA program to the more intensive BFA. "I love graphic design," she said, "because it lets me tell stories in a way I never could through other mediums."

Vilain's artwork has brought her not only joy, but accolades. In 2025, she won AIGA Philadelphia's $2,500 Alina Wheeler Memorial Scholarship for graphic design.

"When I got the news that I won, it was April 1, so I thought it had to be a joke," Vilain said. "I'm still excited. I never really took the time to just appreciate my talents, but now I'm learning to be more proud of myself."

Vilain's art incorporates her experiences with major depressive disorder, a challenge she has faced with help from the Rutgers-Camden Student Wellness Center. Her senior thesis explored the concept of belonging - expressed, in part, through a typeface she created in homage to the beautiful hand lettering she saw on buses during a 2018 trip to Haiti, where her parents were born.

In addition to working for the Rutgers-Camden Admissions Department, Vilain used her artistic talents to complete design internships for the school's Visual, Media, and Performing Arts Department and its Print Lab. She's also worked for five years as a freelance graphic designer.

With her degree in hand, Vilain is looking for a job, ideally in her field.

"I'm trying to stay as productive and as creative as I can during the search," she said, "so I have more to show in my portfolio."