Three seniors reflect on their four years at Siena, and their thoughts on what their futures hold for them!
Name, year graduating, and major:
Susana Garcia ‘17, English Major with Writing & Communications and Italian Minors
Mugsy Beresheim ‘17, Finance Major with Entrepreneurship Minor
Anthony Pelliccia ‘17, Psychology Major
Why did you initially choose Siena?
SG: Siena and I had quite the courtship. I initially applied because they sent me a free application and a friend of mine was a current sophomore who really liked it here. From there, Siena always remained in the forefront of my mind because of all their outreach programs – I visited twice (including an overnight stay), attended some events in Westchester and remained in contact with various staff members. Ultimately, I realized that if they put all that effort in for recruitment, I would be taken care of here in a nourishing environment.
MB: I didn’t pick Siena until 10 days before I graduated high school. I was originally going to go to the Naval Academy, but then Siena came knocking on my door. I came here for a tour and met admissions counselor Colin O’Reilly, and then signed the piece of paper committing to Siena. So, I would like to say that it was fate because of the fact that I didn’t have a traditional path to get here.
AP: When I was first applying to schools, Siena wasn’t on my radar at all. My guidance counselor suggested Siena, and I had never heard of it before. I got accepted and came for Accepted Students Day, and by the time that I left campus, I knew that I wanted to come here. It felt right, and like it was home.
Looking back over the last four years, what’s the thing that you’re most proud of?
SG: I’m most proud of my work with Her Campus at Siena. One of the reasons I came to a small school was because I wanted to make a difference in the community I was going to be living in. Writing was always something that I enjoyed but hadn’t done too much of in high school, so when this opportunity presented itself I was totally on board to be a part of it because it’s really cool that we’re bringing the first online writing platform to Siena. Also, I’m proud of stepping up as a leader and making it a known club on campus and growing it into what it is now.
MB: I’m proud to say that I’ve met a great group of friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life. Accomplishments, awards, and achievements are things that you just put on paper, but friends aren’t something that you can put on paper. They’re something that you can only experience.
AP: I’m most proud of my personal change. I push myself to strive for the best and do everything possible. I want to give myself the opportunity to better myself in anyway that I can. I’m most proud of not holding back and really going for it all, and shooting for the moon.
If you could change anything from the past four years, what would it be? Or is there nothing that you would change?
SG: I would join clubs or try new things even if my friends weren’t involved in them. I would’ve applied to SAINTS sophomore year. Also, I would’ve came to the realization more quickly that there are so many opportunities at Siena and that I should be taking advantage of them and not to be self-conscious about it.
MB: I think that a lot of my mistakes helped me in the long run, so I don’t think that I would change anything. I’m someone who’s always trying to learn and I think how you handle different situations with people and college is very volatile. I may have not made the right decisions in terms of solving situations, but I definitely learned from the situation.
AP: I would’ve considered studying abroad. I want to experience the world as much as I can. Study abroad would’ve been an excellent opportunity to do that, but at the same time, I didn’t want to go abroad because I didn’t want to miss a semester on this campus and all the opportunities that go along with being here.
Is there anything that you wish you would’ve been able to do or experience while at Siena that you never got the chance to?
SG: I wish that I had branched out more academically. There are so many things outside of my disciplines that I’m interested in and could pair well with what I want to do.
MB: I wish that I would’ve gotten more into service. You see the bonds between Bonners and Best Buddies and other service-oriented clubs and organizations, and it’s something to be envious of.
AP: No, everything that I’ve gotten involved with on this campus are things that I never would’ve imagined that I would have done. Nothing really comes to mind. I got it all, everything I could’ve gotten out of a college experience.
What’s one piece of advice that you would tell freshmen-year you?
SG: I would tell myself to join clubs, even if my friends weren’t in them. And also, stay committed to the clubs because if you’re going to start something, then you should commit to it.
MB: When I give orientation talks, I like to give this analogy: Your next four years are going to be like a pizza pie. Good pizzas are filled with multiple ingredients, but in order to have all those ingredients, you need to stretch that dough out to make a big pie. But, if you stretch it too far, you think yourself out and there’s holes, and that pizza is no longer good. So being a New Yorker, you need to find that right amount of thinness, with the right amount of toppings to have a successful career here. It’s super easy to stretch yourself out too far, and that’s when there are holes.
AP: I would tell myself to get involved because I was the least involved freshman year. Sophomore year is really when I kickstarted my involvement. I wish I would’ve started earlier in my college career just so I could’ve experienced more.
What are you most excited about for your future?
SG: I was just awarded a Fulbright to Mexico where I’ll be teaching English abroad for nine months. As a Mexican-American, I’m really excited to embrace that other half of my cultural identity. I’m also excited to serve as an ambassador between the U.S. and Mexico and help bring about cultural harmony.
MB: I’m most excited for the unknown. I’m going into Nielsen Company’s Financial Leadership Program and I’ll be rotating throughout the business. They’re an exciting business that is always evolving. They evolve according to market research so that means whenever the market changes, we change with the market because businesses need to understand their consumers. I’m most excited to learn about Nielsen and how their business operates, learn more about consumers, and the B2B model.
AP: There is no one thing that I’m most excited for! I’m excited for the next chapter and whatever life brings me. I want to travel and see what comes next.