Witness to History

Junior Aimee Cunniff knew that she was going to attend the January 20th Inauguration of President Obama since November 4th, the night that Obama won the election. “After seeing Obama win that night, I decided I wanted to be a part of the history and excitement,” says Aimee.

“Words cannot begin to describe what it was like to be able to stand in the National Mall as President Obama was being sworn into office. There was such an exhilaration in the air,” says the Park City, Utah native. Even with the chilly temperatures, Aimee says everyone around her remained positive. “The atmosphere was very lively. Everyone was tremendously excited to be a part of this historic event.”

Aimee says she will always remember the atmosphere and people around her, meeting a man that had voted for McCain in the 2008 election but was drawn to witness the Inauguration in person. “All those surrounding me had similar stories of how the Inauguration of President Obama had touched each of their lives,” says Aimee.

Aimee is a business major who plans to pursue a career in personal or corporate finance. She is a resident assistant in Le Mans Hall, and says that when she visited campus as a prospective student she “immediately fell in love with the beauty and community” that surrounds her at Saint Mary’s. “We are truly lucky and blessed as a student body for all of the opportunities that are given to us here,” says Aimee.

Taking Care Of Business

Junior Stephanie Sult had no problem filling her days during summer vacation last year. The business administration major packed her bags and did a whirlwind European Summer Tour, traveling to Paris, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. She spent a week in each city, studying international business and European history. “This was an amazing experience and I would absolutely recommend it for other Saint Mary’s students,” says Stephanie.

When her plane landed in the States, Stephanie hit the ground running, starting a full-time internship at OfficeMax headquarters, where she worked in their Sales Effectiveness department. Stephanie, along with 30 other interns from around the country, worked on a summer long project which was presented to the CEO and other executives. “I learned so much from this internship and, as a sophomore, was lucky to have this opportunity.”

How did Saint Mary’s prepare her for such an all-encompassing summer? “I feel that Saint Mary’s really pushes its students to have an abroad experience. I felt that I wouldn’t have had the complete 'Saint Mary’s experience' if I had not gone abroad. And I am so happy I did,” says Stephanie. She credits professor Dave Stefancic with his encouragement to study abroad. “As for my internship, I feel that the business department does a great job preparing its students for real world work experience. I felt very confident going into my internship, knowing I was with other Notre Dame students and students from prestigious colleges around the country.”

Stephanie’s concentrations are in finance and marketing and she says her favorite class is "Buyer Behavior" taught by professor Joyce Hicks. “This is one of my favorite classes because it brings real-world ideas into the classroom,” says Stephanie. “Professor Hicks has made an incredible impression on me because she really cares about her students and what she teaches. She made me love my major even more.”

Stephanie's future after graduation could go either way—she’ll be testing out her business skills in the workforce or she may pursue a master’s degree in business. Regardless of what she chooses, Stephanie will be making a well-informed decision thanks to the resources at the College. “Saint Mary’s new Career Crossings center in Spes Unica Hall has many unique features and works hard to help students succeed in any career they are interested in,” says Stephanie.

Connecting at Home and Abroad

Adriana Almontes Rodríguez found something at Saint Mary’s that was missing from the other schools she attended during her life. She found diversity. “I’ve met a lot of other Latinas on campus and we’ve been able to get along really well. I’ve made a lot of really close friends,” says Adriana. She’s been able to do what she describes as little things – speaking in Spanish with her friends, going dancing, and listening to the same type of music.

Adriana, a South Bend native, found much more at Saint Mary’s, taking on leadership positions in various clubs. The impetus behind her extracurricular activities and leadership pursuits came from one of her favorite classes, "Introduction to Intercultural Studies," taught by professor Mana Derakhshani. Adriana says she went beyond “studying it and then processing it and forgetting it. I did something about it. I made the decision to join the Student Diversity Board (SDB).”

Adriana was co-chair of the Hunger Banquet, a project of SDB. The Hunger Banquet gave Saint Mary’s students the opportunity to donate money that would have gone toward a meal in the dining hall. Funds raised were donated to Hope Rescue Mission.

Adriana is also a member of La Fuerza, and Al Zahra. She also worked on the student-led, SDB-sponsored Diverse Students’ Leadership Conference, and she co-chaired the Leadership Lunches, bringing women mentors to campus.

Adriana studied abroad during her 2007 spring break, traveling to Mexico City. The trip, a business program, helped her to focus and decide on her major, business administration with a concentration in international business. “I really want to take what I’ve learned and branch out into organizations that help people, says Adriana who plans to pursue graduate school and become a certified public accountant (CPA).

Rodríguez is working toward a certificate in intercultural leadership through the Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership (CWIL). Through CWIL, Adriana traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for the international Women as Global Leaders conference this past spring. The conference, hosted by Zayed University, gave her a chance for exchanges with local students, discussing ideas and positions, and finding many things in common.

“I found a lot of similarities between their lives and our lives, and even their religion and our religion, something that I thought that a lot of people didn’t really know about,” says Adriana. “We realized that we were thinking along the same lines. It was just nice to meet somebody else from a different part of the world, who has those same ideas, and knowing that they are trying to do the same type of things on their campus as we are doing on ours.”