As another semester comes to a close and time for graduation nears, one group of students stands out—this year’s outstanding graduates come from various departments, majors, interests and backgrounds but all are recognized for their hard work and pursuit of academic excellence. Two of the sixty-five outstanding graduates of 2025 are Taylor Dietz and Maddy Cyert. Both have had similar experiences at Winona State University in the sense that they have both succeeded academically, but their paths have been somewhat different.
Dietz is a double-major in ecology and environmental science from Fargo, North Dakota. “I’ve always known I’ve kind of wanted to do this because growing up I’d been very concerned about climate change, and so it was just a way for me to learn more about it and also try to give back,” she said. After graduation, she will start a graduate assistantship at Northern Arizona University working with freshwater amphipods in climate stressed ephemeral ponds.
Dietz says that she did have to make some sacrifices to maintain such high academic standing. “It’s just a lot of hours in the library, in the SLC, just making sure that I can turn in work that I feel satisfied with. But honestly, as tough as some of it was, it is what I’m passionate about, which made it a lot easier to study,” she explains. In addition to studying, Dietz was also involved in the Environmental club and the Winona State Arboretum. Her advice to her first-year self would be, “it’s okay to slow down sometimes and just take a break from things. It’s okay to say no sometimes, basically. But I’m very happy with the choices that I’ve made here, and so, I can’t say that there’s much that I would really regret.”
Cyert is an elementary education major with an early childhood emphasis who grew up in Winona. Like Dietz, her love for what she studies stems from childhood. “I used to line up my stuffed animals and teach them in my room, and I would make my dad take me to the dollar store and buy me all of the teaching stuff…it’s honestly been a dream of mine forever.”
After participating in service-learning in a classroom her senior year of high school, Cyert knew for sure she wanted to be a teacher, and from then on has worked hard at achieving that goal, even financially supporting herself through college. “There were times when I was working like 35 hours, you know, and was taking 17 credits and staying up all night long…. I’m just the type of person where I’m going to get things done regardless,” she said.
She would tell her first year self, “It’s going to be okay, keep going, it’s worth it. Because, for me, there were a lot of times when I was like, oh, I still have to do this for two more years—am I even going to make it through this class? And things like that look so big when you’re there, but now I’m here and I’m like, okay, that 100 level biology class that you got a C in doesn’t matter.”
Both Dietz and Cyert express the importance of hard work but also balance between their social and academic lives. Above all, they emphasize that college goes by fast and to take the time to soak it in and enjoy the fun things in addition to having an open mind for whatever is next to learn.
