2026 Graduate Profile: Zoe Solaris
Zoe Solaris began at North Seattle College in Fall 2023, having not arrived from a traditional path, but from a life already full of chapters: Navy veteran, community advocate, and a first-generation college student searching for a place where her curiosity and creativity could finally take root.
After serving aboard the USS Jimmy Carter, Zoe found her way to NSC with a clear sense of purpose: to build something meaningful at the intersection of design, technology, and community. What she didn't expect was how much the college would give back.
As Vice President of the Student Body at NSC, Zoe championed student voices, led bylaw reform, and helped steer grant-funded design projects that served real community needs. She mentored peers, and co-led makerspace initiatives including bringing a 3D printer to BE-STEM and the Student Media Center.
In the classroom, she thrived. Zoe graduated with the class of 2026 with an Associate in Arts degree, while simultaneously developing MLDA, a satirical browser game published on itch.io that uses humor to critique systems that exploit attention and dopamine.
She also published and authored a children's book. Jellyfish Jellyfish, I Have a Wish, launched at the Northwest African American Museum and was featured in the South Seattle Emerald. The book is a story about belonging written for every child who has ever felt like they didn't quite fit.
For Zoe, NSC was more than a stepping stone. It was a launch pad.
"I came to NSC carrying a lot... debt, doubt, and a dream I wasn't sure I deserved. This college gave me the tools, the community, and the confidence to stop asking for permission to take up space."
While at NSC, Zoe found a home in BE-STEM (formerly LSAMP), where she studied, made community, and learned from the program. She also utilized NSC’s disability services and deemed the services as a life changer. Zoe also tapped into the Student Media Center for support on class projects.
What's next? Zoe has been accepted into the highly competitive University of Washington Interaction Design program as one of 20 students. She will pursue a Bachelor of Design in Interaction Design, where she aims to design systems that radiate value outward toward the people who need them most.