Accounting major Elise Schukin began to thrive after finding her academic lane at La Salle.
Something clicked for Elise Schukin, â21, after she switched majors prior to her sophomore year at La Salle University.
âBusiness Calculus was a really hard class, but almost right away it made sense to me,â said Schukin. âI was able to teach myself problems and re-trace my steps if I didnât understand how my professors got their answers. It wasnât always like that for me. I was always asking others for help. Now, people were asking me for help.â
Schukin also experienced a newfound passion for her studies.
La Salle News
âInspired to make a differenceâ as a speech-language pathologist
Meet the La Salle grad student and mother of four who quit her job to change her careerâand othersâ lives.
Electing to pursue a graduate degree is an important decision. Thatâs especially true in a large family that features four children. As one might expect, finding quiet time to study can be daunting.
âAt one point,â Rachel McMahon, M.S. â21, said, âwe had preschool through graduate school represented in my house, all in virtual classes at the same time.â
McMahonâs path to La Salle University, from which she will earn a Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology, has been truly unique. McMahon is a multi-tasking career-changer who left a full-time role in pursuit of professional mobility. Sheâs a mother of four, including two sons adopted from foster care. Sheâs a gestational carrier for a couple looking to start a family o
Photo: Lenseview Studio
Grace Clarke, ’14, MPH ’21, knows what it’s like to want for basic necessities.
Born in Liberia to a single mother of three, Clarke and her family suffered from a lack of sustainable income and household resources. This included feminine hygiene products, or what’s commonly referred to as period poverty.
“I was taught, as a young girl, to find other ways, to find alternatives,” she said. “This is an experience of mine and of so many other girls, and it’s something no one should endure.”
In May, Clarke will graduate from La Salle University’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Two years ago, while pursuing her MPH, she established a nonprofit organization in Liberia Positive Action Driving Safety for Girls (PADS) to provide young girls in disadvantaged communities with the resources and education they lack.
La Salle News
La Salle senior defined by âunsurpassable motivation,â in and out of the classroom
Undaunted by personal trauma, Matthew Cruz, â21, aspires to earn a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology.
If you take Matthew Cruz, â21, at his word, the path he took to La Salle University âisnât entirely unique.â Cruz isnât a legacy, in that he didnât follow a parent or family member to 20th and Olney. And upon arrival, he even changed majors.
Cruz chose La Salle, he said, because of its community. He sought a helpful place with selfless faculty and staffâthose who would nurture his intellectual curiosity, challenge him to be his very best, and mentor him when he most needed support.