With less than two weeks left for the senior class, Taft carries a wide range of post- secondary plans for their seniors. From trade school to 4 year colleges, our Eagles are all ready to leave the nest.
The class of 2025 Valedictorian Reem Elsaim will be attending Harvard as a biology major on the pre-med track. “I would have never seen this coming but the future always has something prepared for you,” expressed Elsaim on her triumph as Valedictorian.
“I’m most excited to get to meet people from all over the country, but I am also excited to dorm,” stated Elsaim. Elsaim was a part of the National Honor Society, Tutoring Center, Muslim club, and was even President of the Helping Hands club.
Over 10% of Taft students have been admitted into University of Illinois Urbana Champaign according to Counselor Melissa Gallagher. UIUC is a pride of the state, with an admit rate of 42.1%. 10% of those admits come from Taft.
This has been the highest admit rate of students admitted to UIUC from Taft. Students will be attending UIUC over many majors, including Alyssa Ledesma. Ledesma’s major is under the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences.
Ledesma plans to dorm with her fellow UIUC admit, Taft senior Alyssa Gruia-Fregoso. Gruia-Fregoso plans to major in actuarial science and minor in dance at UIUC. Both Ledesma and Gruia-Fregoso plan to dorm in the Florida Avenue Residence. “I am super excited about dorming with my friends and the new experiences at Urbana,” expressed Ledesma.
Many other students will be attending other schools besides UIUC. A high number of Taft seniors will also be attending Illinois State University for the 2025-2026 academic school year.
Alexandra Cintron is one of many ISU admits. Cintron will be studying Elementary Education at ISU. When asked about what she is most excited for, Cintron expressed, “I’m excited to dorm with my roommate Morgan! I’m always very excited to experience life independently and start my career.”
Apart from Illinois, University of Wisconsin-Madison will also be housing various Taft students, including Taft Today’s very own Editor-in-Chief, Cassie Nowik. Nowik Will be attending UW-Madison as a biology major.
Similarly, Kim Nguyen plans to attend UW-Madison as a double major focusing on finance, investment, banking, and real estate. “I am so excited about meeting new people and being more independent! I want to build more connections through joining different clubs, rushing, and building towards my future,” explained Nguyen.
This graduating class is one of the largest graduating classes in the United States in years according to “Yahoo News” and “MSN.” With such a large class, this year marks many academic successes for the class of 2025.
