72 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | IN REMEMBRANCE the classroom. She has been able to connect with so many members of the Lehigh alumni network, learn about their career paths and receive lots of advice from them. Abby’s favorite thing to do in Bethlehem is to try all of the different local coffee shops! She is still on the hunt for the best mocha and croissant around campus. Mary Bartiromo is studying abroad in Florence, Italy, this semester. She has always known she wanted to study abroad and was excited about all of the opportunities and places to go through Lehigh’s many study abroad programs. As an accounting major and business information systems minor, she found a program that offered her both the academic and cultural experiences she was looking for. Mary is using her semester abroad to take advantage of the non-business school credits she needs and taking classes such as Italian language, creative writing, photojournalism, Renaissance art history and “food, wine and culture under the Tuscan sky.” Mary says that the idea of moving to a new city halfway across the world was initially scary, but the study abroad office was there to support her and answer her questions throughout the process. She loves that Florence is a smaller, walkable city and compares it to the small and home-like feeling back at Bethlehem on Lehigh’s campus. Getting to try all types of Italian food and learning their culture and language have been highlights of her experience abroad. Mary has also been taking advantage of the opportunities to travel around Europe. Her favorite places so far are Amsterdam, Barcelona and London. When she gets back to Lehigh, Mary is looking forward to resuming her campus involvement as a member of the Accounting Club, Women in Business, recruitment team at Lehigh’s College of Business Graduate Programs Office and Greek life and as treasurer of Lehigh’s Business Info Systems and Analytics Club. As always, the Class of 2024 is staying busy on campus and around the world. Abby and Mary are two exceptional students excited to share with the alumni network their experiences at Lehigh. ’25 Stephanie Kasulka, sek225@lehigh.edu Hello, alumni and readers! Coming to the close of a busy but beautiful spring semester, I am excited to be writing my first column as the correspondent for the Class of 2025. Before I get into what my peers have been up to, I want to introduce myself. I am a sophomore-year journalism major looking to minor in international relations and marketing. Julia Contino took over the student-created feminist magazine titled “In My Birthday Suit” from her fellow Kappa Delta sorority sister Liana Secondino for the magazine’s third issue. This project is a collaboration with the Center for Gender Equity that celebrates the idea of women embracing their beauty and their naked selves, showing through a variety of artistic mediums that feminism has no gender, race or limits. Julia spent months conceptualizing, designing and combining submissions from the Lehigh community into a cohesive, beautiful and impactful project. It can be found here: online. fliphtml5.com/aylgu/suyq/?1682349200#p=1 Ella Rossetti has been working to find a healthy balance between the personal and professional aspects of her life. Over January break, she traveled to California as a part of Lehigh Silicon Valley, the Baker Institute’s flagship program that allows students to meet with the founders and investors of start-ups. In addition to working toward her economics and cognitive science majors, she also joined the recruitment committee as a TRAC adviser. Ella balances the stress of her work-packed lifestyle by being equally committed to activities that bring her peace. In addition to being the president of the Community Growers Club, she takes yoga classes at Taylor Gym almost every day and is looking to get certified as an instructor this summer. Going into junior year is often the first summer when students focus on internships and begin to find themselves professionally. I am excited to see what is in store for the Class of 2025! If anyone is interested in sharing their experiences, please reach out to me at sek225@lehigh.edu. ’26 Amanda Rowan, abr226@lehigh.edu As I embark on the second semester of my first year at Lehigh, I am so happy to report that I have found not only a supportive community, but also lifelong sisters. I have met so many wonderful people and felt an instant connection to the sisterhood of Gamma Phi Beta and am so happy to be a new member. I have loved my experiences thus far and can’t wait for the memories to grow with my time here at Lehigh. I would love to hear about other people’s experiences in Greek life, so please message me if you have anything you want to add about your Greek life experience! One of my sorority sisters, Katherine Luskin, is a student nutrition ambassador for Lehigh. Katherine works alongside the school’s newly hired registered dietician, Keri Lasky. Through the program, Katherine has made chocolate-covered strawberries in Lamberton Hall, matcha energy balls in the Health and Wellness Center and popcorn desserts in Rathbone. Her passion for health and nutrition is one of my favorite things, as I get to see her in action and eat the delicious goods. Just thinking about those chocolate-covered strawberries makes me hungry. Rathbone should consider getting a chocolate fountain—just saying. In the meantime, I’ll stick to my daily Füd truck trips for a breakfast sandwich. Whatever they’re doing, keep doing it. Enough about food and Greek life at Lehigh—let’s talk about the groundbreaking student athletes we have in the Class of 2026. In the 2023 winter season, we had quite a few moments that deserve some praise and recognition. The Class of 2026 is bigger and better, with two first-year students breaking school records in just their first season at the collegiate level. Ben Kisker, a first-year swimmer, broke the school record in the 200-yard backstroke in the final round of the Patriot League Championship. Ben finished with a time of 1:47.56. He has been swimming since he was 5, and with three more years on the team, he’s preparing to take on new records. His next step is training for the 100-yard backstroke, and we can’t wait to watch him break some more records for the Class of 2026. Laura Reigle, a first-year pole vaulter, also broke two records this year. In her first collegiate meet, she set the indoor pole vault record, with a mark of 3.96 meters, and then went on to break her own record two months following. Laura is the first woman to jump 4.00 meters in school history. She holds the best mark of women pole vaulting in the Patriot League. She broke records and gender barriers, making the Mountain Hawks very proud. We can’t wait to see what’s next for her. Being a student athlete is enough work on its own, but add Greek life into the mix and they’ve got their schedules booked down solid. Despite a filled schedule with practice and classes, first-year women’s tennis players Helena Cilella
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