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ATLANTA — When Georgia State University’s Panther Band took the stage at FIFA FanFest on July 15, the set list opened with a fitting anthem: "Welcome to Atlanta."
Performing in Centennial Olympic Park as part of Atlanta’s Summer of Soccer celebration, the band brought its signature sound, school spirit and high-energy performance to a crowd of soccer fans from across the city and around the world.
The set also featured Panther Band favorites including "Panther Charge," "Let’s Get It Started," "Jungle Boogie" and "Go Fight Win."
For Jasmine Muñoz (B.A. ‘25, M.A. ‘26), the performance was another opportunity to represent Georgia State in the heart of Atlanta.
Muñoz earned her master’s degree in political science with a concentration in international and comparative politics in May 2026 after completing Georgia State’s 4+1 program. Also known as a dual-degree program, the 4+1 pathway allows qualified students to begin graduate coursework while completing their bachelor’s degree, helping them move more quickly toward a master’s degree.
For Muñoz, that meant earning two Georgia State degrees while staying deeply involved in campus life. She played tenor saxophone with the Panther Band for four years, an experience she said helped define her time at the university.
Now that she has graduated, Muñoz hopes to work for a nonprofit organization in Atlanta, focusing on international causes, long-term resource development and direct service.
“I just really want to be actively, directly involved in some type of resource development project,” she said. “I want to work directly with people.”
Although graduate school demanded much of her time, Muñoz said staying involved with the Panther Band helped her maintain balance and remain connected to campus.
“The schedule gets very busy, but honestly, I think it’s really more of a mindset shift,” she said. “You have a whole lot of benefit from doing something like marching band. It’s great to use your brain in different ways. The social aspect is really good for you, and it just gave me a chance to kind of take a break and do something else.”
Other Panther Band members shared similar reflections on community and connection.
Natalie Quijada, an applied linguistics student pursuing bachelor’s and master’s degrees through the 4+1 pathway, said the Panther Band has helped her build lasting friendships while working toward her academic goals.
“It’s so easy to meet people that you would have never even met if you wouldn’t have joined marching band,” Quijada said. “Everyone is just here for each other, and this really brings everybody together.”
Nahimma Guerrier, a biology student pursuing a path toward nursing, said the size and enthusiasm of the FIFA FanFest audience inspired the band’s performance.
“I had a boost of energy, and I was like, I have to give the best performance for everybody in the crowd,” Guerrier said. “I’m hoping that they had a good time watching us.”
The band had only a short time to prepare, rehearsing the day before the performance and again before taking the stage. Still, Quijada said the group’s shared passion for music helped the performance come together.
“All of us collectively, we love playing our instruments,” she said. “It just makes it easier to feel and sound like we know what we’re doing.”
For Muñoz, that ease comes from years of practice — not only as a musician, but as a student learning how to move between undergraduate and graduate study, individual ambition and collective performance.
At FIFA FanFest, those worlds came together in one of Atlanta’s most visible public spaces. The crowd stretched across Centennial Olympic Park. Fans waved flags, moved to the music and gathered around a band whose name is tied directly to the place where Georgia State has built its identity.
By the time the Panther Band closed with “Georgia On My Mind,” Muñoz had already said what the moment meant.
“Georgia State University is at the heart of downtown Atlanta,” she said. “We have people from all over. We really represent this global, international community. We have such high energy, and this is our hometown.”
— Story by Tiffany (Orr) Harte, Communications Manager, The Graduate School