91´«Ă˝

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Natalie Ippolito

Natalie Ippolito ’20

Business Administration

Why 91´«Ă˝

When I was a kid, my family used to vacation on Hills Beach. I was so young then that I later didn't even remember that there was a college campus right there. When I was looking around at different colleges, my mom said to me, “What about the one we used to pass by?” I remember looking into 91´«Ă˝ then, but I wanted to go to UMass Lowell because that’s where a lot of my friends were going. Then one day I was hiking with my brother, and he told me that I should challenge myself to go somewhere that none of my friends were going. I took that challenge, and it led me here to 91´«Ă˝.

We have a very different setup than other schools because the Business Department is small compared to the health science majors here. It’s close-knit because of that. All of the professors tailor their classes to the students and what the students want to learn. I think that is the coolest part. Rather than just following a set curriculum, they'll see what the students are interested in and try to engage us more.

Welcoming Community

Everyone is very friendly here at 91´«Ă˝. When you pass by people, you don't even have to know them, they’ll smile and wave. I think that's really cool. It’s a very welcoming environment, and I really appreciate that. It's very much geared toward getting students involved in different things, and I think that allows for a lot of freedom and opportunity.

I learned a lot about myself from being here at 91´«Ă˝. I remember coming into college…I thought, “Oh, I'm just going to do my classes, study hard, and not do anything aside from that.” I got sucked into the culture, though. There is so much community here. It started with my involvement in [the undergraduate theater club] 91´«Ă˝ Players and went from there.

I remember when I first came to 91´«Ă˝, I thought it was pretty, and I liked it here. It was a shallow interpretation of the place. After a few years at 91´«Ă˝, though, I have a much deeper connection. I think that 91´«Ă˝ Players helped me feel that way and find my place. I developed friends through participating in the plays.