ADPR Graduate Student Nicholas Sarafolean Talks Research and Future
Growing up with a love for East Tennessee, Sarafolean described coming to the University of Tennessee for his graduate program after staying in his home state of Michigan for his undergraduate years as a “natural fit.”
“I’m currently in my fourth and final semester of the graduate program here,” Sarafolean said. “My next move is to Macquarie University in Sydney Australia to work with the Sydney Metro System which is really exciting.”
While Sarafolean has grown up and acquired many skills through the ADPR program, the knowledge of theory that he’s gained to help research and answer larger and more conceptual questions has been his favorite.
“By giving me solid grounding in methods and theory, ADPR has helped me immensely,” Sarafolean said. “ADPR is also really connected, so whenever I’ve needed advice or connections, its super easy to get someone to help with anything and everything.”
Sarafolean owes having opportunities to take classes outside of the College of Communication and Information to learn how other disciplines view methods as well as the wide range of different ideas across the campus to gaining the skills necessary for his PhD program.
“I just love ADPR at UT because of how much of a family it is,” Sarafolean said. “It’s a lot closer than other departments and I love being able to have a community that helps each other accomplish cool things.”