By Aliyah Alston
This summer, the UNC Greensboro First Year Experience (FYE) program nominated Bryan School of Business and Economics senior Karis Sustar (Hospitality & Tourism Management) for a prestigious national fellowship through the National Resource Center for First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. A Peer Academic Leader within the FYE program, Sustar won this very competitive fellowship, making her one of just five students nationwide to be accepted this year and the second student from UNCG to ever receive the accolade.
Sustar was invited to attend the Annual FYE Conference in New Orleans in February 2025, where she will receive recognition for her exceptional accomplishments and priceless contributions to first-year students’ success. Beyond its prestige, winning the FYE national fellowship holds a special meaning for Sustar, who faced significant challenges during her first year at UNCG.
“I had just moved to America and was balancing the transition to college life and adapting to life in a new country,” Sustar says. “On my first day, I walked onto a campus that was completely different from any school experience I had growing up.”
The FYE 101 or “First Year Experience” course, which is dedicated to providing a foundation of success for first-year students at UNCG, played a pivotal role in Sustar’s journey by providing her with the tools to succeed both as a student and as a person navigating multiple transitions. She also cites the Peer Academic Leader who supported her throughout FYE 101 as the “inspiration” behind her decision to become a Peer Academic Leader herself.
Sustar quickly advanced to the role of a First Year Assistant with encouragement from her instructors and mentors. “FYE 101 and the connections I made in that class were the launch point for most of my involvement in college. These roles allowed me to make a real impact on students navigating challenges similar to mine,” Sustar says.
As she looks forward to the Annual FYE Conference, Sustar says she’s excited about presenting with a coworker on adapting face-to-face foundation seminars to an online format. “(She) and I had the opportunity to develop an online FYE course from the ground up, and I’m eager to share what we’ve learned and to help universities support their growing online student populations,” Sustar says.
