If Villanovans Ruled the World

Villanova’s reputation, besides of course for being a school with good-looking girls, is for its academic programs, sense of community, service contribution, and basketball program.

Now, I can’t speak much to the basketball program, but I do know some fine looking ladies.

I asked my six closest friends at ‘Nova to send me their resumes, which I already knew were filled with high GPAs and various extra-curricular activities, so that I could show the world how great students are at Villanova. No, the student body isn’t entirely involved as we are, but I assure you that great students like my friends are not a rarity. We are everywhere. I just don’t have access to everyones’ resumes. 🙂

After studying at Villanova the past four years, I have extreme faith in the path our world is headed. The people I know at ‘Nova are passionate about what they have studied, are eager to put their skills to work, and happen to care about the world. As the saying goes,

“It has been said that a ‘Nova student studies four days, parties for two and the last day saves the world.”

STUDY

The awards go on and on. We have multiple scholarship winners, Medallion recipients, Who’s Who of Villanova, Dean’s Lists members, honors students, and Meg is even a published author. Academics are taken seriously no matter what school you go to, and we are no exception.

We are also involved in many organizations. Besides the normal Blue Key Society, Ambassadors, Campus Activities Team (CAT), Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (HHAW), Women in Business, Club Field Hockey, Community Outreach Villanova (COV), Marketing Society, and Orientation, my friends are heavily invested in some specific programs.

The nurses (Meg, Ali & Alyssa) are all part of the Student Nursing Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) and have held positions on the executive board and attend the national conference each year. Ali has even served at the State Level.

Jenn has become most involved (okay, Jenn seems to be involved in EVERYTHING on campus) in Special Olympics. Each year she takes on more and more responsibility with Special Olympics Pennsylvania, the largest student run Special Olympics in the world, as a Soccer Chair junior year, and then Director of Support Services this past fall.

PARTY

Now I won’t go into partying details on the blog, but let’s just say we know how to have fun. Whether it’s my weekly Wednesday lunch with Jenn, laughing about the weekend’s activities, or the daily dinners with the roomies at Camp, we enjoy one another’s company and truly enjoy life. We also, I should mention, take theme party costumes very seriously.

SAVE THE WORLD

It could be the Augustinian principles that brought us all to Villanova, or the belief in solidarity we have come to value, that has brought us to participate in volunteer efforts in the US and abroad. We have made a difference as part of Habitat for Humanity in Birmingham, AL; Fort Smith, AK; Picayune, MS; Sea Island, SC; Sumter, SC; Tijuana, Mexico; and Tutwiler, MS. Members of the group have also traveled abroad to Mumbai, India; Durban, South Africa; Cambodia and Belize for health promotion and on mission trips.

The service aspect of Villanova was something that snuck up on me when I got here. Although I volunteered in high school, I never served for an organization on a long-term basis, and never built relationships with the people I was helping, or the people with whom I was serving. If you are considering Villanova, or are attending any university, I encourage you to take a week of your life to serve those who are less fortunate with others in your community.

THE FUTURE

I am very proud to inform you that all of the friends I interviewed have full-time positions after graduation in their respective desired fields. The three nurses are employed at great programs in teaching hospitals (UVA, Georgetown & Vanderbilt), Caroline is off to med-school, and Nikki is off to learn about the world of operations in a leadership development program. But most notably is the most involved of them all: Jenn is off to live the next two years in Nicaragua as a Jesuit Volunteer as the program coordinator for a physically and mentally disabled residence house.

So lets look quick at the numbers. The previous information came from seven girls at Villanova (including myself). There are 6,500 undergraduates at Villanova, so this post represents only 0.1% of the Villanova undergraduate population. I don’t mean to point out this percentage to boast our exclusiveness, but to emphasize how much Villanova students are capable of. If this is just my small circle of friends, think about what other groups of friends are doing in different fields at Villanova. Then, expand the network to college students across the US, and across the world.

Do you get where I’m going here? The possibilities are endless.