December 2025 Individualized Major Showcase Highlights Capstone Projects Across a Range of Career Paths

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences 

Students completing their Individualized Major programs this December and spring presented last Tuesday, sharing their capstone projects and plans for the future across a range of disciplines including health equity, Japanese language and culture, music production and entrepreneurship, and more. 

The group joined virtually due to the snow day, with five students total. Four are graduating this December, while one student is graduating this spring. 

“This is my favorite event we do all year because it is so wonderful to see all that you have accomplished,” said Liberal Studies Program Director and Professor of Philosophy Andreas Elpidorou. “This is a great way to reflect and celebrate everything that you have done.”  

Student presentations included the following: 

Jeweles Meador is a music production and music business entrepreneurship major, combining music and new media, entrepreneurship, communications and creative writing. 

“I have had a background in music all my life,” Meador said. “My dad encouraged me to play guitar and get involved in orchestra, and then it took a back seat in my life for a couple of years until COVID, and then I started experimenting with GarageBand.” 

This reignited her love for music and what she wanted to pursue in college, with a capstone project that is a collection of independently mixed and mastered original songs that she wrote and produced herself. What began as experimentation resulted in intentional expression using theory and technique.  

“This project is not ending. It’s the beginning of the artist I am becoming,” she states. 

Meador plans to create more music and expand her experience in music production, engineering, independent artistry and industry work after graduation. 

Cheyenne Hill majored in Japanese language and culture, focusing on the analyzation and translation of a bilingual children’s book, “Maisy’s Birthday” by Lucy Cousins, as her capstone.  

“The Asian Studies concentration allowed me to understand and utilize Japanese culture so I could localize effectively,” Hill said. “In translating, localizing is just as important because it allows you to translate more effectively, understanding different parts of the town or area they are in.” 

In the future, she wants to translate books in an established career.  

“I want to be a literary translator working on books and subtitles,” she said. “I will freelance and build my repertoire before finding a full-time job as a translator.”  

She's been working at the Louisville Free Public Library for 10 years, which is where she discovered her passion for this topic.  

“They needed someone to help with the Japan Club, an authentic culture club, and that is when I began to develop her passion for the subject,” Hill said. “It made me grow a love and passion for it. I learned about the language, and it grew from there.”  

She helped to create the Japan Club on campus as well.  

“I have a passion for celebrating and sharing Japanese culture,” she said. 

Saadhavi Maskey is majoring in health equity on the pre-med track, as he plans to attend medical school next year. Maskey is graduating this spring and is currently working as a technician in an emergency department at a local hospital. He described an experience of assisting a houseless man who had been freezing in the cold.  

“As we did further tests, we found that he had hypothermia, hypoglycemia and malnutrition. The doctors treated him and referred him to the Goodwill Opportunity Center. At the Goodwill Opportunity Center, we could connect him to housing, employment, and access to food,” Maskey said as he emphasized the importance of supporting the long-term health and wellbeing of people regardless of the emergency they are facing. 

With that in mind, Maskey said he wants to pursue work in medicine that allows him to develop longer term connections with patients that he serves. 

“Working in the ED was nice, but at the same time there are limitations of it. I could care for patients, but only for one to two hours, and I have no idea how they are doing now,” he said. “Going back to where my interests lie, I have always had a passion for different fields where you can have longer relationships with a patient. I am interested in providing gender affirming care – being a physician who prescribes needed medicine or being someone who provides reconstructive surgery.” 

Maskey took the MCAT last January and is interviewing with medical schools now to determine where he will land after graduation. 

Ellie English is a music business major, a program that she created through the Individualized Major program to blend her passions for creativity, communication, and the music industry.  

“For my capstone project, I designed a ‘How to Create a Music Event’ guide that walks students through planning, organizing, and executing a show,” she said. “After graduation, I plan to continue working in the music and events world, gaining experience through venues and festivals. I hope to eventually travel for work in artist relations or event production.” 

English said the Individualized Major program is important for students because it gives people the freedom to build a major the university doesn’t currently offer.  

“It lets students combine multiple interests and tailor their education to create a path that fits the industry they want to enter,” she states. 

Anabel Magers majored in International Communication, and her concentrations included Communication, Spanish, and Political Science. For her capstone project, Anabel prepared a research proposal for a research project that she would like to conduct in the (near) future. Her aim is to study how language is used across Mexican and American media outlets when reporting on migrants and the border crisis at the Southern border of The United States. 

“This is the tip of the iceberg of your work,” Elpidorou said in closing. “We are privileged and honored to join you on this journey of your work. Good luck with everything – keep us posted and have an amazing graduation for those of you graduating!”  

“Don’t give up and stay with your passion,” said Janna Tajibaeva, Individualized Major program coordinator.