Along with being a New Media Intern in the Enrollment Division, I also spend four hours a week in the Development Phone Center in the Eck Center, located right across the way from the Hammes Bookstore.
Every Wednesday and Sunday evening, I clock in for two hours and sit in front of a computer screen where yellow profiles of alumni flash across the monitor.
Every alumni has a story, and every call brings something new.
My job is to call alumni, parents, and friends of the University and ultimately ask them for contributions to the Notre Dame Fund. As I am a junior, I am starting to realize that my time at the University, while it has gone by in a surreal blur, is just passing the halfway point.
It is still surreal to me that I am at this juncture, as it seems that it was just yesterday that I moved into my freshman dorm room and embarked on this exciting chapter of my life.
Why do I bring this up you may ask? Well, I am realizing while sitting in my cubicle just how lucky I am to be a part of the Notre Dame Family and to have the opportunity to talk to alumni about the thing we love most - Notre Dame.
As you embark on the college application process, it is important to not only find a school that is a good fit for you, but also gets you talking about your passions, your aspirations, and your goals. Notre Dame is that school that allowed me to step outside of my shell from high school and truly become the person that I am proud to be today.
I am realizing that, as I am on my last two years as a student, I am soon going to be part of that group of alumni that truly misses their time at Notre Dame. So, I really try to live each day on this campus to the fullest. I can hear in the voices of alumni that I call just how much they miss being a student; they never fail to give me a laugh as well as a few words of wisdom.
I go to work to talk to that ’61 grad who lived in Dillon and was an Aerospace Engineer. I go to work to talk to a parent whose child was a Sociology major. I go to work to gush about how much I love my classes with a fellow Mendoza College of Business alum. I go to work to talk about why I love Notre Dame and to help give back to a school that has made such a positive impact in the lives of thousands over many generations.
It is these few fleeting moments on the phone with alums that really help solidify why I am here. I am here to become a thinker, a leader, someone who wants to make a difference and is proud to be from a school that has changed the lives of so many.
I am looking forward to getting that first call after I graduate when I too can reminisce on the University that has shaped me into the person I am and the person I aspire to be.