USF international students proudly wore the colors of their home counties’ flags later at commencement ceremonies, visibly representing the global reputation of the university. Photo by Angela Bledsoe
Campus leaders, families from around the world and scores of newly-minted USF degree holders celebrated the uniquely challenging and resilient journeys of international students during Spring 2025 commencement with the traditional sash ceremony.
With more than 1,100 international students graduating from USF this spring—including 490 bachelor’s, 610 master’s, and 33 doctoral degrees representing 82 countries—the celebration filled the Marshall Student Center ballroom not once, but twice, as families from around the world gathered to honor their achievements.
“We recognize your important contributions in the classroom, on our campuses, and we honor that with a sash in the colors of your home country flag,” said USF World Vice President Kiki Caruson. “I love seeing when I see you walk across the stage with your sash. It's a very visual reminder of your important presence on our campus.”
USF is the top destination in the state of Florida for international student enrollment, making up 10 % of the student body and drawing students from more than 140 countries. In addition to reflecting the university’s standing as a destination for international students, the sash ceremony is an occasion to celebrate the personal triumphs of those who have contributed to USF’s global profile.
Attendees also celebrated the Country Advisor-India for the University of South Florida, Aruna Dasgupta, who is stepping down from the role after 14 years of service in which she was key to building a large population of USF students from the country and a thriving community of USF alumni in India. (See: USF adviser Aruna Dasgupta bids farewell after 14 years in key India role)
The First, But Not the Last
USF Student Body President Suryakanth Prasad Gottipati’s election in 2024 made news in his home country of India. Photo by Angela Bledsoe
Among the new alumni was USF Student Body President Suryakanth Prasad Gottipati, who became the first international student elected to the role.
“This sash right here is not just a piece of cloth,” Gottipati told the crowd at one ceremony. “It tells a whole story of ourselves, the country we are from, the culture we came from, the challenges we have faced until today and the times we missed our families who were away from the home and the strength we found to keep going. It shows that we didn't give up even when things were really hard. And, yes, we all made it. We didn't just survive but we thrived.”
Gottipati was the first international student to be elected USF Student Government President, but he won’t be the last. Financial analytics graduate student Sumit Jadhav, who served as vice president in the 2024-25 academic year and is from India, and Caio Esmeraldi, who is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in psychology and is from Brazil, have been certified as the official winners of the Student Government presidential election
A Challenge of a Lifetime
USF Provost Prasant Mohapatra praised the graduating students for their resiliency,
saying the lessons learned in adapting to a new country will serve them throughout
their careers and lives. Photo by Angela BledsoeUSF Provost Prasant Mohapatra, who came the U.S. to pursue a PhD in computer engineering at Penn State University in 1990 and stayed to take on a career in academia, said current international students remind him of his own early years adapting to a new country and the challenges — and rewards — of the experience.
“Mingling with people in a new country was a unique experience and the excitement, the nerves and all the uncertainties and anxieties are part of the experience that makes you very resilient as you go on to the next phase of our career,” the Provost said. “You will be ready to address many, many such challenges in your life.
“Transitioning to a new place, adapting to different systems and navigating through
a new culture is not a small feat. It’s a feat equivalent to the academic degrees
you will be getting this week.”
Designing a New Future
Anna Buslova is headed to California to start a new career in visual communications. Photo by Vickie Chachere
Among the graduates was Anna Buslova, who was graduating with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and integrated public relations and would soon be on her way to her first job in Sacramento. Buslova served as an international student experience leader for the past two years.
Recounting the many experiences she gained both in class and as she adapted to life in the U.S. from her hometown of Novosibirsk in Russia, Buslova said she initially majored in chemistry at USF before switching to a communications-related major, something that wouldn’t have been allowed at a university in her home country. The new major allowed her to work on projects, learn by collaborating with other students and carve a new path for herself.
“I still love chemistry, but I think I made the right decision,” she said.
A Family Celebration and a Shared Goal to Save Lives
Having earned their doctorates in engineering, Sabeen Ahmed and Asim Waqas are applying their skills to developing new tools to fight cancer. Photo by Angela Bledsoe
Sabeen Ahmed and Asim Waqas are a rarity: The couple met while pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering at the National University of Sciences and Technology in their native Pakistan and years later both decided to pursue doctoral degrees at USF. The couple also have a shared ambition to play a role in fighting cancer through machine learning and data analytics.
Their programs were guided by Ghulam Rasool in the Machine Learning Program at Moffitt Cancer Center and USF faculty advisors Dr. Yasin Yilmaz (for Waqas) and Dr. Mia Naeini at the Department of Electrical Engineering (for Ahmed). “During our research, we both looked at different aspects of the disease and tried to solve those problems using Machine Learning/ Artificial Intelligence,” said Waqas, who continues to work as a post-doctoral researcher at Moffit. “… We were able to publish multiple papers in high-impact journals on some incredible findings related to our work.”
Their success in cancer research has caught the attention of the scientific world. Waqas’ PhD research was the development of cancer-agnostic AI methods to predict patient survival outcomes. Ahmed’s project was translational research to a clinical setting; she developed an AI-based biomarker to detect cachexia (a complex metabolic syndrome characterized by involuntary weight loss, muscle wasting, and weakness) in cancer patients earlier than the existing clinical practices.
Her work was selected as a highlighted talk at the prestigious American Association for Cancer Research 2025 conference in Chicago, and she was featured in multiple articles published by AACR and Moffitt. Her work also will be featured in an upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology conference. Ahmed intends to pursue an AI-related research role in the biomedical industry.
Their celebration of commencement also turned into a family affair. The couple was joined in the celebration by their mothers and their two daughters, Hajra and Khadija.
View event photos on Flickr
Click on the day below to view sash ceremony photos.