With another successful commencement behind us, recent High Point University graduates are preparing to commence prestigious career paths around the world at Fortune 500 companies, international service programs, public school systems, top-tier law, medical and graduate school programs, and many other esteemed organizations thanks to their journey at HPU. Here’s a glimpse of one extraordinary senior from the Class of 2016:
Name: Lindsay Katz
Hometown: Montgomery Village, Maryland
Major: Katz graduated with a B.A. in Criminal Justice, with minors in Psychology and Communication, on May 7.
Post-graduation plans: Katz accepted a position as a Community Engagement Coordinator with Gift of Life, a registry for bone marrow donors, in Washington, D.C. The organization exists to increase the number of participants on the bone marrow registry and facilitate bone marrow transplants for cancer patients. In her position, Katz will help with community drives and fundraisers in the D.C. area; work with and mentor college campus ambassadors for Gift of Life; and travel to hospitals that are collection sites for bone marrow donors. While she was a student, Katz was a Gift of Life ambassador for HPU.
How HPU helped you get there: “I joined Gift of Life my second semester of my senior year. I wanted to find a meaningful way to spend my time, so I started running bone marrow drives on campus in order to add more people to the registry. The amount of support I got from the HPU staff and students was incredible. Robin Hughes volunteered to be our staff advisor and helped with a ton of drives. The Greek community was especially supportive by allowing me to come explain my mission during chapter meetings and by swabbing huge amounts of people. Because of my success as a student ambassador, I was offered a job to help mentor new ambassadors.
I also met with Career and Professional Development in the beginning of the year to help me with my resume. They also helped with my job applications.”
Most impactful mentor at HPU: “Dr. Heather Ahn-Redding was a mentor to me. In a field dominated by men, she stood out as an amazing role model. Her style of teaching was easy to understand but her tests were always challenging. From the day I picked my major, I was ecstatic to have her as my advisor.“
Most impactful moment at HPU: “I’ve loved HPU since the moment I got there. It’s hard to choose one moment to describe how this place has changed my life. I think that holding drives, looking around and seeing all the support from my community was the most amazing feeling.“
Advice for underclassmen: “Take advantage of all opportunities presented to you. Sometimes life takes you in a different direction than you had planned. My advice is to go with it and see where it leads you. We’re young and we have so much time to be professionals and work office jobs. Take a chance! If you do, you might find something that you’re incredibly passionate about like I did.“