With Commencement upon us, we asked Northwestern students to nominate an outstanding representative of the Class of 2018. Read what each nominator wrote about his or her "senior to watch" and follow Northwestern University on Instagram to watch video clips of these grads-to-be giving advice to younger students.
Joy Holden
Joy is doing astounding things in the field of law and justice. After serving as president of Northwestern Mock Trial and vice coordinator of external relations of For Members Only this year, Joy is heading to Harvard Law School. She has an unstoppable spirit and is bound to do big things. Thanks for leading, Joy! - Nominated by Sarah Walther
Jack Claeys
Jack spent four years as a Northwestern baseball student-athlete, playing an important role as starting catcher on the team for multiple seasons and helping guide the ‘Cats to the 2017 Big Ten Tournament championship game while also exhibiting stellar determination and success in the classroom to earn a degree in Learning and Organizational Change. Claeys has secured an outstanding work position and will be able to look back on his time at Northwestern as four years when he put others ahead of himself and went above and beyond to achieve great heights in all areas of his life. - Nominated by Declan Floyd
Josh Shi
Aside from placing first in the world's most prestigious human-computer interaction conference — Josh also helped organize WildHacks, Northwestern's 36-hour hackathon. Ask him about his work in the Knight Lab or his job as editor-in-chief for the Undergraduate Research Journal. After graduation, Josh will work at Figma, a startup that specializes in collaborative design software. - Nominated by Christopher Chen
Safia Abdalla
Before and throughout her time at Northwestern, Safia has continuously shown her ability to tackle tough problems and lead others. She was a full-time student and a full-time badass, because when she wasn’t in class, she was running her own business and developing tech solutions for many of her clients, teaching and leading a large tech community (Twitter: @captainsafia), and speaking at numerous conferences throughout the country. She will only continue to do amazing things, and she will definitely be a pioneer for the future tech field. - Nominated by Bailey Pleva
Sam Letscher
Sam began as a mechanical engineering major and quickly realized the inequalities facing women in STEM. She then created her own major and founded a company, Bossy, through the Garage. Bossy connects people with women-owned businesses. She'll continue to be a trailblazer by working on her startup after graduation. - Nominated by Mollie Leavitt
Shara Feit
Shara is a brilliant playwright, actor, and singer. She is also an impressive scholar who has used undergraduate research grants to study Yiddish and gender issues. As an undergrad, her plays have appeared in the Agnes Nixon Festival, as part of a self-motivated thesis project, and even at nationally-recognized festivals like Williamstown in Massachusetts. I have no doubt that she is going to make it big in the world with her writing, which tackles difficult issues with a wit, sensitivity, and beauty that is completely unique. - Nominated by Adam Brody
Alex Herz
Alex is not only graduating in three years, but in his time at Northwestern he wrote, directed, produced, edited and then sold his first feature film, “A Normal Life,” to Indie Rights for distribution. He is one of the most hardworking, passionate and ambitious people I’ve ever met. And there’s no doubt he'll be going far in life. - Nominated by Nicole Stock