Meet Some Exceptional Seniors
Her life has exposed her to people of diverse cultures. Her education at Saint Mary’s has prepared her to take the next step.
For Sarita Fritzler, diversity starts at home. Born in India and adopted by Caucasian parents, Fritzler has an older sister from Nepal and a younger sister from India. She spent her childhood living abroad in India, Egypt, and Ghana. Her parents live in Indonesia and some day she wants to work close to them, pursuing her career goal: to work for an international nongovernmental organization (INGO) doing some form of humanitarian work.
Fritzler is a political science major with minors in women studies and intercultural studies. She’s a member of the inaugural class of students receiving a Certificate in Intercultural Leadership from the Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership (CWIL). She has been actively involved in student affairs, working on the student diversity board, and serving as the chief of staff on the Board of Governance. She is also an international advisory board member (one of only two students) for CWIL, as well as working as a CWIL assistant. Working with Bonnie Bazata, Associate Director of CWIL, in partnership with the Board of Governance, Fritzler initiated the Leadership Lunch series.
“I do believe that Saint Mary's has prepared me for my future career in a number of ways. Through my involvement at CWIL, I've become a much more culturally sensitive and interculturally competent person,” says Fritzler. “Through my classes, I became a more effective writer and learned how to articulate my thoughts, and through the social interactions, I feel that I became a much more open-minded person – taking in diverse perspectives for different issues. I believe I definitely grew and matured at Saint Mary's and will always value the education I received.”
“I was in fifth grade when my cousin Jen graduated from Saint Mary’s,” says Natalie Grasso. “We came to her commencement, I loved it, and I told everybody I knew I was going to Saint Mary’s.” By the time she reached high school and started to seriously consider college, Grasso had decided that she didn’t want to go to an all women’s school. And then she thought about the women in her life. “I started to realize, however, how much I admired the women I knew – my cousins, and two of my teachers – who had graduated from Saint Mary’s.” Now, Grasso is about to join their ranks.
The communication studies major enjoys the small size and Catholic identity of Saint Mary’s. Being at a liberal arts college also gave her a chance to explore her interests in art, business, communication, English, and political science, before settling on a major. “And now I know that attending an all women’s college is a privilege, more than anything else,” says Grasso.
Grasso has been active in clubs and other activities, participating on the Class of 2008 board, Student Academic Council, and the Senior Gift Campaign. She is a student ambassador and has volunteered as an intake interviewer for Indiana Legal Services, and on Barack Obama’s political campaign. Her honors and awards include being a Presidential Scholar, a member of Lambda Pi Eta (communication honor society), 2008 Student Academic Council Outstanding Member Award, and the 2008 Alumnae Association Outstanding Senior Award.
The Alumnae Association Board of Directors presents the Outstanding Senior Award to a member of the senior class who exemplifies the spirit and values of the College. She carries out the beliefs of her faith in daily living and is distinguished by scholarship, leadership, and outstanding dedication to Saint Mary’s, as demonstrated through participation in both curricular and extracurricular activities. As the valedictorian represents the mind, and the recipient of the Lumen Christi Award reflects the soul, the Outstanding Senior embodies the heart of Saint Mary’s.
Grasso was also a Study Abroad photo contest winner, with a photo captured during her Fall 2005 semester abroad in Rome, an experience she felt she was well prepared for. “It says a lot for Saint Mary’s to send students abroad as sophomores, but they’re onto something. As soon as I got to Rome, I looked around and realized my peers and I really were all poised and ready to take on Italy.”
Grasso will be working as a project assistant at Wiley Rein LLP, in Washington, D.C. In this position, she’ll do legal research and attend trial with attorneys, giving her experience toward reaching her next goal – to go to law school.
“Saint Mary’s is a place that first allows women to have big dreams, and then encourages us to achieve them, and before you know it we’re volunteering for causes, organizing events, and presenting comprehensive thesis-like projects on campus, in the community, and across the country. And that’s before we even graduate.”
To read an excerpt of Natalie Grasso's speech delivered at the Alumnae-Senior Luncheon, click here (doc)
When Erin Heck gets her degree from Saint Mary’s she’ll be back for more – this time across the street. The Saint Mary’s chemistry major is part of the engineering dual degree program between Saint Mary’s College and the University of Notre Dame, allowing her to earn two degrees in just five years. She’ll get a second degree, in engineering, from Notre Dame in 2009.
“The chemistry/chemical engineering combination is truly the best of both worlds. It has provided me with the knowledge to either be a very mathematical chemist or a very chemically oriented chemical engineer,” says Heck. “This training will give me a distinct edge in the job market, since engineers who have the technical, problem-solving, and communication skills are in high demand. I also think the liberal arts education I have received has given me the confidence to stand out.”
When it came time to decide on a college there were a number of factors Heck took into consideration. Saint Mary’s financial aid package was a major factor. There was the possibility of earning two bachelor degrees in just five years. She also appreciated the small class environment, and one-on-one attention from professors. Heck credits chemistry professor Toni Barstis as being not just a mentor, but also a friend. “She has always treated me as an adult, with respect, and she has always pushed me to my full potential.”
Heck was the recipient of the First Year Chemistry Award, a Presidential Scholarship, and the Clare Booth Luce Scholarship. She is the secretary for two organizations: the Saint Mary’s Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SMAACS) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
Heck wants to work in cancer research, which she says is one way she can make a difference in the world. “Many people in my life have been affected by cancer, including both of my parents, and I think my success at Saint Mary’s gave me the confidence to pursue this goal.”
Social work major Kim Hodges’ road to student body president began in high school. “I was very active. You name it—class president, service club president—I did everything. So it was quite natural for me to come to college and be involved,” she says.
Elected first as a member of the Board of Governance, then appointed as treasurer, Hodges increased her level of social engagement each year until she was elected student body president for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Her activities have been varied through the years. “As the vice president of the Student Diversity Board, I helped plan programming to educate the campus about diversity issues affecting the Saint Mary’s community as well as society as a whole,” Hodges says. She co-founded the Diverse Students’ Leadership Conference and has mentored young women through the Office of Multicultural Affairs, hosting high school sophomores who visit campus and spend the night as part of the My First Day in College program.
Hodges has been involved in a long list of other activities, including Campus Ministry as an ecumenical minister, Sisters of Nefertiti – president, Notre Dame’s Voices of Faith Gospel Choir as a director, and she was the first African American to play on the varsity softball team. She has been a volunteer at the Robinson Community Learning Center, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, and the South Suburban HIV/AIDS Regional Coalition. Hodges is a member of the Social Work National Honor Society, and was an honoree at the University of Notre Dame’s Multicultural Commencement Ceremony.
“I have grown as a leader insurmountably, says Hodges of what Saint Mary’s has offered her. “My confidence has been raised to an ultimate high; this school has allowed me to take ideas and turn them into realities.”
After graduation Hodges plans to attend the University of Michigan for a graduate degree in social work. “I believe that I am a change agent for social welfare,” says Hodges. Through educating, motivating, and inspiring people to embrace intercultural interaction I believe I can change the world one person at a time.”
When Alison Kessler came to Saint Mary’s she brought her game with her. The stellar Belles basketball player recently received the 2008 Marvin Wood Outstanding Senior Athlete award. She was named All-Conference MVP, Great Lakes Regional Player of the Year, D3hoops.com All-American Second Team, 2008 MIAA Player of the Year, and All-MIAA First Team All-conference, for the third year.
Kessler set records for most points scored in a season both her junior and senior year, and most three-point field goals made in a career. And if that were not enough, the hoopster excels off the court as well; she made the dean’s list her first seven semesters, and received the finance award from the business and administration department. Kessler was also a paid intern at the Notre Dame Investment Office during the last two summers, and past year.
“I wanted to go to a school with a great academic reputation and be able to play basketball somewhere close to home so my family could still come and watch games,” says Kessler. When she isn’t playing basketball and hitting the books, Kessler says she tries to catch up with friends and spend as much time outdoors as possible.
Kessler will be working for LaSalle/Bank of America in Chicago in the collateralized debt obligation development program (global securities and trust). “I think it is going to be a very interesting line of work, especially with how the market is today.”
When Kristine King studied abroad in Rome during the fall of 2005, she was often mistaken for a native. “Little old men would speak to me in Italian, take my arm, and ask me to help them cross the street,” says King. Other tourists would ask her questions in broken Italian, only to be relieved when they found she spoke English. “I think these situations say a lot about how well Professor [Peter] Checca prepared us for our study abroad experience. He taught us to embrace the culture and do our best to fit in so that we would not promote the typical ignorant American stereotype.” King says her Rome experience taught her two things – that if she could navigate a foreign country she could do just about anything, and it gave her a better sense of her “place in the world” – a world she is about to enter as she leaves Saint Mary’s.
“Saint Mary’s instills in students a sense of social responsibility and obligations. As a first generation college student, I have been blessed to receive my education at Saint Mary’s and know that when I graduate, I am to go forth and share what I have learned with others in the world,” says King. She has taken full advantage of that education, earning two degrees – a BBA in business administration, and a BA in humanistic studies. She is a member of the Finance Honor Society, a Dean’s Scholar, and she is listed in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. King has been active as a student ambassador for three years, the Blue Mantle Yearbook Editor-in-Chief, an Opus Senior apartments resident assistant, a Campus Ministry volunteer, and she helped to plan Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week this year.
In addition to graduating, King has another life-changing event occurring this summer – she’ll be moving to Madison, Wis., and getting married. She is still deciding whether to take the professional route or attend graduate school for a master’s degree in higher education administration, secure that Saint Mary's prepared her for whichever next step she chooses. “I would love to work in any offices at a college or university, including admissions, financial aid, student affairs, or residence life,” says King. “Saint Mary’s has shown me that the greatest gift anyone can receive is an education. I therefore hope to work in higher education, and help guide students through their college experience just as so many individuals have guided me.”
Adriana Lopez knows what it means to be an intercultural leader, and soon she’ll have the document to prove it. The social work major will also graduate with a Certificate in Intercultural Leadership. The e-portfolio program through the Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership (CWIL) will be the culmination of classes, work and personal experience. Lopez cites the certificate as giving her “the ability to be sensitive, the ability to work with different people [other] than your own and to acknowledge that there are differences, but those differences are what give you a commonality because we’re all different. It’s finding a way to work together.”
Lopez, who was born in the U.S., has also lived in Mexico. She returned to the U.S. seven years ago, during a time where she experienced “ a whole culture shock,” learning the language and assimilating into the culture “without losing my identity,” says Lopez.
CWIL helped Lopez with this process through their summer program, Encuentro: Encounter Yourself. The program, which Lopez attended her sophomore year of high school, works with prospective first generation college students. “I came to CWIL and that’s sort of how I became interested in Saint Mary’s. After that I became a counselor for the camp and last year I was on the planning committee for it.”
Lopez’s leadership experience includes acting as the chair of the 2008 Diverse Students' Leadership Conference. After graduation she will go to Puerto Rico for a year to work at the Puerto Rico Center for Social Concerns. Lopez will be working in Caguas, Puerto Rico with community leaders on initiatives of economic sustainability and environmental education. Afterward she plans to go to graduate school to obtain a degree in international relations, with a focus on economic development in Latin America.
"One of the things that I will miss the most about Saint Mary's is the sense of community that one is able to develop with other Saint Mary’s peers. I learned that we could all count on one another in times of happiness and despair, and without a doubt I can say that I have made life-long friends at Saint Mary’s College."
Michelle Sherman is used to the closeness of family. The Humanistic Studies (HUST) major comes from a family of seven brothers and sisters. And then she came to Saint Mary’s, where she found another family in the HUST department. “Humanistic studies majors become close – even to the point of being called “cultish” by non-HUST majors – because we see each other every day for two straight years and often discuss class material over meals together,” explains Sherman. This year HUST majors entered a team in the annual Karaoke Idol competition, and ran the “Finish on the Fifty” 5k together, among numerous activities.
“To have such a strong connection with intelligent, strong-minded, compassionate women as those in my major is one of the many treasures I will hold close to me as I go forth from Saint Mary’s,” says Sherman.
While her affection for HUST is unmistakable, Sherman says her favorite class was Book Arts taught by professor Bill Sandusky. “Truth be told, I have an unhealthy obsession with books, so I figured it would be a perfect match,” comments Sherman. Students learned how to construct books, make paper, marble paper, and bind books. “Adding artistic content to the book was a challenge at times for me, a non-art major, but I loved it just the same.”
Sherman’s academic achievements at Saint Mary’s include graduating cum laude, being on the Dean’s list, and receiving Honors distinction on her senior comprehensive. Sherman also received the Thomas More award from the HUST department, a special honor. “Recipients are nominated by other seniors, so this award meant so much to me!”
Sherman will serve a year volunteering with the Cabrini Mission Corps in New York City. “I am extremely excited to be serving as a campus minister and tutor at the all-women’s Mother Cabrini High School in Washington Heights, New York City,” says Sherman. She will be living with other volunteers in a community of Cabrini sisters in Chinatown, New York City. After her year of volunteer work, Sherman plans to apply to graduate school or the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program.
