Meet Kristina Petrich, a current junior at Catholic. She is a Pre-dental student who is also President of the Biology Club and plans to be an oral surgeon one day! She is very involved at Catholic and will hopefully incorporate her passions of dentistry and public speaking to save the world one dental dilemma at a time!
HCCUA: Tell us a little about yourself!
KP: I am a Pre-dental biology major with a minor in psychology. I am from Long Island, New York. I am a movie buff! I love watching all different kinds movies. I like to try new things…like today was the first time I went to hot yoga! And i like going out to eat…I love food.
HCCUA: How did you get involved with the Biology Club?
KP: I got involved freshman year. I was a representative and I would go to meetings and be given different tasks that were aimed at getting more freshman involved.
HCCUA: What made you want become President of the Biology Club?
KP: I just wanted to get more involved with the club. I noticed a lot more could be happening that wasn’t going on with the club and I wanted it to have a bigger presence on campus. I also wanted to give pre-health majors at CUA different opportunities.
HCCUA: What is the biggest challenge you have faced since leading the Biology Club?
KP: It’s difficult to get money for the club, because there are so many different activities on campus. It’s such a concentrated subject, too, so it’s kind of hard to get a large group involved. I haven’t had many challenges, but it is a little tough trying to get as many people as I would like involved!
HCCUA: Do you have a favorite class/professor that you would recommend to other students?
KP: I really liked taking Acting last semester. I took it for a humanities requirement last semester, because I really didn’t want to write papers! Gary Sloane was the professor.
HCCUA: Are you involved in any other groups/clubs on or off campus?
KP: I am a tutor, a eucharistic minister, and a jumper on the women’s track and field team. I am also a part of the Undergraduate Board for the Department of Arts and Sciences.
HCCUA: What advice would you give to freshman who are striving to be successful student-athletes?
KP: Do it because you love it. This is a division three school, so make sure you know the limit of pushing yourself too much for your sport when your grades are struggling. School comes first!
HCCUA: What are your future goals?
KP: My dream is to hopefully be an oral surgeon. I’m actually in the process of applying to dental school right now! I never knew what it was like to have a true passion until I experienced what this profession was all about. I hope to travel with it and include my other passion of public speaking with it and spread the word of oral healthcare. I would also love to do mission trips with it too!