What’s one thing you would bring to a deserted island?
“A watercolor set”
Noah Tsang
What’s one word that describes you?
“Spontaneous”
Isabel Hermann
What’s one object you can’t do your job without?
“An ergonomic mouse”
Hannah Moshtaghi
What’s one object you can’t do your job without?
“A knife”
Joshua Van Tassel
What’s one thing you would bring to a deserted island?
“My spotify library downloaded”
Kyle Flora
What’s one word that describes you?
“Energetic”
Lucy Bentsen
What’s one word that describes you?
“Weird”
Jacob Hinshaw
What’s one object you can’t do your job without?
“An iPad with an apple pencil”
Amanda Keith
What’s one thing you would bring to a deserted island?
“Someone to do jiu-jitsu with”
Kai Malek
Graduation has always been scary. While some students lean into the “Learn by Doing” philosophy and have an offer day one out-the-door, others figure things out in this less than ideal job market.
For the final Peak issue this year, the Peak team chose to hold exit interviews with nine students on the horizon of impact. Whether it’s going pro in a less-than usual sport, starting a cheesecake business or transforming the music marketing scene, nine seniors in the class of 2026 stood out as those led by influence
IN THIS ISSUE
Jacob Hinshaw is bringing North America’s biggest unicycling competition to San Luis Obispo
Most teenagers wish for a car to appear in their driveway on their 16th birthdays. For marine science senior Jacob Hinshaw, his preferred method of travel became a unicycle after he received one for his milestone birthday. It was an unexpected but life-changing gift that gave him a whole new meaning of transportation. Now, across…
Noah Tsang stumbled into acting in Paris — now he’s applying to drama school in London
Noah Tsang first got into acting after stumbling into a short series production call while he was studying abroad in Paris. Originally looking for a modeling gig, the business entrepreneurship senior fell in love with acting. While at Cal Poly, Tsang has modeled, acted and worked as a creative director on a photoshoot. Tsang modeled…
From the Bay Area to the Big Apple: Hannah Moshtaghi’s journey to Google and YouTube
Hannah Moshtaghi always assumed she would end in the Bay Area after college. After all, she grew up in the Bay and is a computer science major at Cal Poly, that pipeline is pretty popular. Moshtaghi felt everything she would ever want would be in California. However, two summers ago, when she was interning at…
One entrepreneurship class changed everything for Joshua Van Tassel and his cheesecake startup
Imagine going to the grocery store and buying a bag of cheesecake bites made with Greek yogurt. Joshua Van Tassel is an agricultural business senior making this idea come to reality. He co-founded Nibble — a business selling guilt-free cheesecake bites backed by Real California Milk. He came up with this idea with his friend…
ROTC helped Isabel Hermann discover her future in Army aviation
From a young age, journalism senior Isabel Hermann dreamed about working for the FBI. After her freshman year, Hermann decided that the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps could be a good way to bridge the gap between her academics and her lifelong desire to work in intelligence. ROTC allows students to complete military training while getting…
From storyboards to storybook worlds: Amanda Keith’s path to Disney Imagineering
If life is like a roller coaster, Amanda Keith is the one designing the park. As an art and design senior with a concentration in graphic design, Keith is interning at Disney Imagineering this summer, where she’ll be working to design the posters, handouts and illustrations that make up the storybook experience at the Disney…
Lucy Bentsen: Coastal roots lead to marine science, diving career
Lucy Bentsen, having grown up along the Washington coast, has always found comfort in the ocean. This naturally led to a developed passion for the environment and marine life. With support from her family, Bentsen took up marine diving and scuba in high school, and hasn’t looked back since. She is graduating from Cal Poly…
From Ariana Grande fan account to viral campaigns at Capitol Records: How Kyle Flora turned fandom into a music marketing career
Kyle Flora’s introduction to the music industry didn’t start in a classroom. It all began with an Ariana Grande fan account in middle school. What began as a hobby, over time, grew into something more — a fascination with fandom culture, audience behavior and the communities that form around music. Now, Flora is turning that…
Years of dedication lead Kai Malek to professional jiu-jitsu
Kai Malek has a major “love of the game” when it comes to jiu-jitsu. As he talks about the sport, Malek’s passion shines through his stories.“It’s mostly middle-aged white dads,” he jokes about the jiu-jitsu scene in San Luis Obispo — but the grin on his face makes it clear he wouldn’t want to be…