Outstanding Senior finalists honored

Compiled by Karina Rajtar
Cardinal Staff

The following are biographies and words of wisdom from the ten Outstanding Senior finalists of 2008.
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Kevin James Black
Hometown: Mahtomedi, MN
Major: Accounting (Minor: Economics)
Plans after graduation: On September 2, 2008 I will be starting a new job as an auditor for Deloitte Touche, an accounting firm based out of Minneapolis. Until then, I will be taking classes and studying to pass the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) exam. This summer I will also be helping coach the Mahtomedi American Legion Baseball team, and training to possibly run in the Grandma's Marathon.
Advice for underclassmen: The only advice I can think of for underclassmen is to enjoy your college experience and understand how privileged you are to attend an institution like St. Mary's University. Get involved around campus, take the initiative to motivate others, and welcome the opportunity to meet new people. College is the best four years of your life, so enjoy it to the fullest because it goes by way too fast.

Jeff David
Hometown: Potosi, WI
Major: Music
Plans after graduation: Enroll in a graduate program and get my
teaching license.
Advice for underclassmen: Enjoy college. Four years may seem long, but it's not.

Lindsay Dickson
Hometown: Brooklyn Park, MN
Major: Social Science with a Public Relations minor
Plans after graduation: I'm actively searching for communications and public relations jobs in the Twin Cities and Rochester areas. I hope to eventually work for a non-profit organization doing event planning. I would also love to spend more time traveling in Europe.
Advice for underclassmen: Get involved but keep a balance between activities, friends, homework, and time for yourself. I'd also recommend getting to know different faculty and staff around campus; some of my strongest Saint Mary's friendships have been with staff members.

Michael Alexander Downes-Borowski the 1st.
Hometown: Woodbury, MN
Major: Music Industry
Plans after graduation: Volunteering and finding Truth.
Advice for underclassmen: Make mistakes and learn from them. Following your heart and its passions is the juice that is always worth the squeeze.

John Freeman
Hometown: Aurora, IL
Major: Environmental Biology
Plans after graduation: Find an internship or a job to gain some experience in my field.
Advice for underclassmen: Treat everyone with respect, regardless of how they treat you because you will be spending the next four years of your life with them and you will need to interact with them many more times in the future.

Laura Holupchinski
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Major: Social science education
Plans after graduation: I have 1 year left here, then I hope to volunteer or begin teaching.
Advice for underclassmen: Be open to receiving all of the gifts being offered to you here...receive with joy and gratitude and don't be afraid.

Amy Kalina
Hometown: Webster, MN
Major: Public Relations; Minors: Spanish, Psychology
Plans after graduation: I hope to participate in the Lasallian Volunteer program or another long-term volunteer opportunity.
Advice for underclassmen: Take advantage of all of the opportunities available at Saint Mary's, particularly those outside of your major. After college, it will be so much harder to be involved with music or theatre or the newspaper if it isn't your career choice. Now is the time to explore your hidden passions; leave college without any regrets.

Rick McCoy
Hometown: West St Paul, MN
Major: Business Management: Human resources (psych/music minors)
Plans after graduation: Working in a twin cities firm in the human resources department.
Advice for underclassmen: If you don't like the way that things are going, get involved and change the process. Any one person can change how any group operates, it just takes motivation to recognize and fix the problem.

Kasey Schultz
Hometown: Cary, IL
Major: Psychology
Plans after graduation: I will be attending graduate school, where I will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology.
Advice for underclassmen: Take advantage of what this campus has to offer while you are still here: the bluffs, the people, the clubs and organizations. During the second semester of your senior year, you don't want to look back and wonder what you did with the past four years. Also, you can never judge a book by its cover, especially in the cafeteria, and ranch dressing goes great with everything.

Anastacia Louise Sontag...or just Ana Sontag!
Hometown: Minneota, MN
Major: Marketing major & Chemistry minor
Plans after graduation: Become a long-term volunteer! Hopefully become an after-school tutor for junior high and high school students.
Advice for underclassmen: Don't be afraid to stay up late doing absolutely nothing with a close friend...and when you buy tuna in a can, never buy tuna in oil, only buy tuna in water (tuna in oil is nasty).