Name: Mark Vitale
Age: 23
Occupation: Grad student/ Grad Assistant in Freshman Studies
Hometown: Florham Park, NJ
Role model: Bob Marley and his friend Kenson from Haiti: “He inspired me both times I went to Haiti and I look up to him a lot and hope to see him again one day.”
We’re throwing it back to an awesome SHU alum who is an inspiration to us all!
When Mark, excuse us, Professor Vitale, was an undergrad here at SHU like so many of us, he was a brother and two-time Recruitment Director of Alpha Sigma Phi, went to Haiti with Dove twice, was a Peer Advisor, won the Servant Leader Award in May 2014, and was a member of three different honor societies. Wow!
While he may no longer be an undergrad, Prof. V still bleeds blue with SHU pride.
“The best part of being an alumni is how open Seton Hall is to having their alumni back on campus and still being able to keep the connections you made during undergrad with professors and advisers. Also, the amount of experience Seton Hall gives you really prepares you for the future” he said.
If there is anyone who loves SHU and its students, it’s Mark Vitale. The aspiring school counselor explained to Her Campus how he wishes to help students—when he isn’t helping orphans in Haiti!
“I decided that I wanted to go to graduate school for school counseling because I was inspired by my school counselor in high school and by the work that the Mentors in Freshman Studies do. I knew that being a school counselor was my passion and that I wanted to work with students to help them find their own passion and recognize their potential and strengths…The best part about my job is that I get to be an influential person in the lives of my students… I am inspired by their leadership and their compassion” Mark said.
We asked Professor Vitale if he had any advice to share from his many life experiences to which he replied:
“The biggest piece of advice I can give to students is to take advantage of every opportunity Seton Hall has to offer you. Your years here at Seton Hall go very quickly and it’s important to make them count. You won’t get your college days back but the memories you made and the experiences you had will always be with you. I was given this piece of advice when I was a freshman and it gave me an ideal college experience.”
So what’s next for our celeb alum? Well, when isn’t traveling the world, he explained how he wished to finish his degree and get a job in a high school as a teacher or counselor or even both! We know whatever he does, he’ll make his fellow pirates proud!