FHS alum becomes ‘Torchbearer’ at UT
She settled into an evening health policy and management class, part of her pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Public Health. The room buzzed with low chatter as students shared stories from Spring Break.
Suddenly, the mood shifted. Dr. Joe Mazer, the Dean of the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee, walked in with several of Boghani’s professors and mentors following closely.
They informed the 2022 Farragut High School graduate she had been named a 2026 Torchbearer, the university’s highest undergraduate student honor.
Awarded annually to a select few seniors and recent graduates, the Torchbearer designation recognizes academic excellence and an extraordinary commitment to service and leadership.
Boghani — a December 2025 UTK graduate — accepted a hug and broke into a wide smile, donning the same color of navy she had worn at her FHS graduation four years prior.
“I had no words, but my face gave it away,” she said. “I feel very humbled, blessed and grateful that I was considered for that honor. While I applied and was nominated, I had zero expectation that I would actually receive the award. It was a moment I will never forget.”
The moment served as a fitting accolade in Boghani’s UT journey, which started with doubt as she saw friends venturing out-of-state for college.
Instead, she attended a school that is exactly 17 miles from her high school alma mater and earned a plethora of honors in the process.
“I thought that I was staying in my bubble by staying in-state,” she said. “But I did not realize that UT itself just broadened my horizons.”
At Tennessee, Boghani became a member of the Chancellor’s Honors program and was recognized as one of the top four graduates in the College of Communication and Information.
She served as a Land Ambassador for the College of Communication and Information, sharing her own passion for UT as a campus tour guide and student panelist.
Also, Boghani took on leadership roles in UT’s Ignite program — an extended orientation experience for first-year students — and organized service projects for more than 400 incoming freshmen.
Perhaps most impressively, she completed 435 hours of community service – 210 hours more than required to receive the university’s Gold Service Medallion.
“Service is such a part of who I am, and it really aligns with the ethos of the university, which makes this award even more meaningful,” Boghani said.
Altogether, those efforts extend a strong work ethic that began at FHS.
As an Admiral, Boghani grew into an award-winning student who earned recognition as part of the National Honor Society and the AP Capstone program.
“She’s a great kid,” Farragut High School principal Dr. John Bartlett said of Boghani. “Bright young lady, one of those people that — it sounds cliché — but she makes everyone better and is a good leader. So you see those things play out with her becoming a Torchbearer.”
Bartlett noted that, in Boghani’s time at Farragut, she was instrumental in the school’s peer-to-peer mental health support program.
Boghani also noted plenty of support from her teachers and friends, whom she credited as she graduated from FHS and navigated her freshman year at Tennessee.
“When I look back to high school, I think about the teachers that I had, and I haven’t forgotten their impact,” Boghani said. “Some of those teachers were really firm in their belief that I would go far. Now I look back, and it’s a full-circle moment.”
