2026 Grad Flock Graduates Reflect on Their Time at the UO
Maryn Sanders
Earth Sciences
Bruce Yuan
Communication and Media Studies
Addison Sandoval
JD/MBA
Kehang Bai
Physics
Sanidhay Arora
Computer Science
Published June 1, 2026
Maryn Sanders, Earth Sciences
Graduating from the Department of Earth Sciences, Maryn Sanders' research lies at the intersection of geomorphology (the study of landscapes) and natural hazards, with an emphasis on landslide processes. She is passionate about making her findings accessible and applicable, and her work includes the creation of tools for the Oregon Department of Transportation to assess post-fire landslide hazards. Outside of her graduate work, she enjoys weightlifting, cooking, and learning silversmithing.
What advice would you give incoming graduate students?
"Try to soak up as much as you can while you’re here! The UO and Eugene have so much to offer, between UO Craft Center workshops, discounted Hult Center tickets, PE classes, free athletic event tickets — I’m so sad to be leaving all of this behind!"
What is your favorite memory from your time at UO?
"It’s so hard to choose! Some of my fondest memories while living in Eugene include evening bike rides to go jump in the Willamette River over the summer. And while at UO, I’ve been so lucky to have the opportunity to conduct field work and attend conferences from Alaska to Vienna!"
Bruce Yuan, Communication and Media Studies
After three years in Communication and Media Studies, Bruce Yuan is in the transition to a new career in higher education. His research investigates the power dynamics between media platforms and users, ranging from social media to emerging media like AI.
What is your favorite memory from your time at UO?
"My best memory at UO, besides the welcoming and inspiring moments from my peers and professors on campus, must be the after-dinner jogging near campus. Imagine on a sunny day of early April, we start at Hayward Field and head south on Agate, turn right at E 18th (or go straight and grab a raspberry cheesecake flavored cone from Prince Puckler's if you want, then head back to E 18th), then turn right at the outdoor tennis court, stop by the side door of the Rec and watch the frisbee or soccer game for a while, and then pass through the passage embroidered in the woods in front of the Rec, stop by the lawn near Gerlinger or the Knight Library for the cherry blossoms, you will feel the Quack and start getting to know why the grass is so green in Eugene, and that memory stays for life."
What advice would you give incoming graduate students?
"My advice is simple: be bold, it never hurts to ask. This is how I built my support system throughout my graduate studies. Graduate studies can be stressful, especially when you have to balance between work and life. UO is a resource-abundant place that provides you with a myriad of opportunities to help you succeed in every aspect. Go send emails to or knock on the doors of the professors whose work you admire, reach out to the on-campus services and personnels who you may need help from, and connect with your peers for support and collaboration, you will be surprised about how many names you want to add on your dedication and acknowledgement page on your thesis/dissertation when you graduate."
Addison Sandoval, JD/MBA
Addison Sandoval is a JD/MBA candidate at the School of Law and Lundquist College of Business, with specializations in criminal practice and finance and securities analysis. A first-generation graduate, he came to Oregon after earning an MFA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. His work has spanned criminal defense at Lane County Public Defender Services and consumer protection research at Oregon Consumer Justice. He believes a more just world is made one ripple at a time.
What advice would you give incoming graduate students?
"Zig when others zag. Graduate programs are full of smart people, all moving in roughly the same direction at roughly the same speed. The most interesting careers I have watched take shape at Oregon belong to the people who chose to go a different way. Deliberately. Perhaps a little stubbornly. The filmmaker who sees the story inside the case. The lawyer who asks what the numbers leave out. The first-gen kid who builds the network from scratch. They see angles no one else thinks to look for. The world is better for it.So, bring the parts of yourself that do not obviously fit. Those are the parts that matter.And find your people early. Seek out the mentors who have walked the road ahead of you. Seek out the practitioners who can tell you what the work actually looks like, once the textbook closes. Make time, too, for the campus itself. UO is an arboretum in everything but name. A slow walk among the trees has a way of clarifying what matters. The best ideas tend to arrive when you stop chasing them. Rankings do not return your calls at 2 a.m. The people, and the places, that walk these halls with you will."
What is your favorite memory from your time at UO?
"The bonds I made with my MBA cohort. The classroom was only ever half of it. The other half happened in cafes, at Renny's, over group projects that ran longer than they needed to. In study sessions that turned into real conversations. In the easy camaraderie of a small program where everyone is rooting for everyone else. My classmates came to Oregon from across the United States and from as far as Pakistan, India, China, South Korea, Thailand, and Africa. A first-generation kid from Los Angeles got to learn alongside all of them. We arrived as strangers. We graduated as friends who had built something together. That is the part of the degree no transcript records and no ranking captures. It is the part I will carry the longest."
Kehang Bai, Physics
Kehang Bai has been studying experimental particle physics at UO and is graduating with her PhD. She works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, where protons are accelerated along a 27 km ring across the border of France and Switzerland and collide with the highest energies ever achieved in terrestrial experiments. Using the data collected from the ATLAS detector, she is leading a team to find evidence for new fundamental particles that could potentially mediate interactions between the visible part of the universe and an invisible dark sector.
What advice would you give to incoming graduate students?
"During my PhD, I learned that being a good researcher requires not only depth, but also breadth. I would encourage every graduate student to always challenge themselves to explore new topics. As my advisor Professor Laura Jeanty said, the goal of a PhD is to learn and once you've become an expert, it's time to move on."
What is your favorite memory from your time at UO?
"I spent most of my PhD stationed at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland. However, I have very fond memories of UO, such as taking a Quantum Field Theory class with Professor Tim Cohen, who wrote his own textbook as he taught the class. With a couple of other students, we spent many nights and weekends reading Tim's new book draft and working on problem sets, while making tomato soup and grilled cheese together. Almost four years later, Tim's book is finally nearing completion."
Sanidhay Arora, Computer Science
Sanidhay Arora is graduating from the Computer Science program, where he has been studying blockchain security, cryptoeconomics, and decentralized finance, with a focus on secure protocol design in adversarial settings. His work combines formal modeling, threat analysis, and empirical evaluation to develop practical defenses for emerging decentralized systems.
What advice would you give to incoming graduate students?
"Connect with everyone - create your network early, be kind and humble, and always keep learning."
What is your favorite memory from your time at UO?
"Snowfall and power-outage during January 2024."
—Moeko Yamazaki, PhD '26 (History)