Aspiring Cardiac Surgeon Set to Graduate With Research Experience

DUNWOODY, Ga. — When Fariha Raisa (A.S. '25) enrolled in Georgia State University’s Perimeter College two years ago, she set out to find ways to grow as a student.

“I kept looking for opportunities,” she said. “I was always looking.”

Before long, Raisa, a biology pathway student, found multiple ways to engage academically and otherwise. Her most surprising opportunity came when she joined a research team through Perimeter’s Center for Outreach, Research and Engagement (CORE) program, which helps to improve the academic success of students through research, creative and scholarly experiences.

Led by Perimeter Assistant Professor of Life and Earth Sciences Charles Stephen, Raisa and two other students spent months searching for and studying the existence of pseudo scorpions in metro Atlanta. They published their findings and presented them at Georgia State’s Undergraduate Research Conference.

“It was a lot of work, but I really loved it,” Raisa said of the experience.

On Dec. 18, Raisa will graduate with an associate degree from Perimeter — and with the satisfaction of growing beyond what she could have imagined.

Fariha Raisa poses with Assistant Professor of Biology Paulette S. Reneau following the Student of the Semester awards ceremony in December on Perimeter's Dunwoody Campus.

In addition to research, Raisa participated in the Math and South Asian clubs, volunteered during GSU’s MLK Service Day and even helped fellow students manage their stress during a tabling event at the college’s Hope & Healing fair on the Dunwoody Campus. She also worked in the Learning and Tutoring Center and snagged the Statistics and Biology Student of the Semester awards while attending Perimeter.

Raisa, a native of Bangladesh, aspires to become a cardiac surgeon, inspired partly by her dad’s experiences as a bypass patient and her longtime fascination with the heart.

“I've always been interested in the human heart,” she said. “I always used to watch the surgery videos and everything. I really love the human heart.”

After graduation, Raisa, a newlywed, will move to New York to be with her husband and enroll in Queens College, where she’ll continue studying biology.

“It feels amazing,” Raisa said about this special time in her life.

— Story by Kysa Anderson Daniels

— Photos courtesy Janelle Mendoza-Guerra