Profiles of Leadership

Anne E. Koza
Hometown: Beverly, Massachusetts
Class year: 2008
Major: Biology/Psychology

Honors/Awards at Loyola: 2006 Cura Personalis Award; 2007 Goff Scholar for Leadership through the Independent College Fund of Maryland 

Activities at Loyola: Green and Gray Society; Evergreen, Orientation Committee;
FE100 Student Teacher; Care-A-Van volunteer; Junior Retreat student leader; Project Mexico team member; Eucharistic Minister; Studied abroad in Rome, Italy

What have you found most rewarding about your involvement/experience at Loyola? Through opportunities on campus, abroad in Rome, and service within Baltimore, I have learned to navigate the world in a whole new way. Not just through words, but with actions, a welcoming hand, or a smile, I am able to engage the community around me. Throughout my travels I was able to meet incredible people that have had a lasting impact on me regardless of language, cultural or social differences. The Jesuit ideal of cura personalis is vital to understanding our world. The care for the whole person looks beyond the small differences like language and focuses on the whole person’s mind, body, and spirit. We are all fundamentally connected as humans. They are all basic needs that all must be met in us to fully function as we are intended to be. We have much to learn from others’ views of the world. We must keep an open mind and an open heart and allow the world to move us to convictions to make the world a better place.

Christopher Nicolas
Hometown: Exton, PA
Class year: 2008
Major: Psychology and Physics Double Major

Honors/Awards at Loyola: UNITY award (Spring 2007); Green and Grey Society (2007-08); Unsung Hero RA Award (Spring 2007)

Loyola Activities: Asian Students Association; Physics Club; Chapel Choir; Student Ambassador tour guide; RoadTrip sophomore retreat leader; Discover Your P.A.T.H. discussion group facilitator; Resident Assistant; C.A.R.E. Peer Educators student coordinator; National Residence Hall Honorary; NASPA Undergraduate Fellow; Green and Grey Society

What have you found most rewarding about your involvement/experience at Loyola? My experience at Loyola helped me to discover my passions, led me to realize my potential, and inspired me to become a better person. In the spirit of cura personalis-care for the whole person-my experience here at Loyola has helped me develop not only as a student, but as a person. As a freshman, I entered Loyola with the expectation that my experience here would land me a successful job, making a lot of money and living comfortably. Since coming to Loyola, however, I have learned a lot about myself, a lot about other people and a lot about life. As a senior, I will leave Loyola a better person, with a more thorough understanding of what is truly important in life. I feel that I could have received a solid education at countless number of other schools, but at Loyola I learned so much outside of the classroom that I am now on track to lead a truly fulfilling life.

Christina Delcher
Hometown: Towson, MD
Class year: 2008
Major: English (Secondary Education minor)

Honors/Awards at Loyola:
2005 Special Award at Gratias ceremony--Magis Scholar-Leader Award Class 2008; Inaugural FAC Employee of the month; 2005 Undergraduate Dean's List Honoree for Outstanding Academic Achievement; Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society; 2006 Undergraduate Dean's List Honoree for Outstanding Academic Achievement; Spring 2007 Dean's List; Honors Program

Activities at Loyola: Ed Society; LoCoLitSo; Dance Company; Dance Team; Academic Mentor

What have you found most rewarding about your involvement/experience at Loyola? The most rewarding component of my experience at Loyola has been my exposure to people and circumstances outside of my comfort zone. I studied abroad in Bangkok, Thailand for six months and was exposed to a world completely unlike my own. I learned a different language, a different religion, a different culture and different aspects of myself. I grew as an individual because Loyola has allowed me to discover my own capabilities through serving others. In both Baltimore and Thailand I was given amazing opportunities to serve communities through teaching. I taught English in an elementary school in Thailand and now I am teaching English in middle and high schools in Baltimore. I have worked with orphanages and outreach programs and have been privy to so many amazing little moments. I love to teach-it is what I want to do with my life, and I thank Loyola for affording me such rewarding experiences.

Hassan Fofana
Hometown: Conakry – Guinea
Class Year: 2008
Major: Comparative Cultural Literature Studies (Philosophy minor)

Honors/Awards: Basketball Scholarship

Activities at Loyola: Men’s Basketball; Beans and Bread; HOPE; Student-Athlete Advisory Council

What have you found most rewarding about your involvement/experience at Loyola? I am a citizen of Guinea, but I grew up in Togo. I moved to the U.S at the age of 17. At the beginning of 2005, I transferred from the University of Maryland to Loyola College. Since my arrival at Loyola, I have really enjoyed my time and the opportunities that this school has offered me. Obviously being a member of the Men’s Basketball team is a big part of my life. I love my coaches and my teammates and will never forget the experience that this opportunity has provided. Equally important to me is the work that I have done throughout my time here at Loyola with Beans and Bread. I like the way that Loyola really cares for people and does not just talk about Jesuit values, but lives them. I have also participated in walks for cancer with HOPE, an organization run by Loyola students who are determined to help find a cure for this terrible disease. I want to thank Jimmy Patsos and his staff for recruiting me to come to one of the finest Jesuit institutions in the world. I have learned so much from Coach Patsos - he really helped develop me into the person that I am. In addition, I also I want thank Loyola and its community for welcoming me and making me the first male of my family to graduate from college. I am the seventh child out of thirteen members of my family. It is a great honor to be receiving a Loyola degree. I would also like to express my appreciation to all of my professors and to Loyola for preparing me for my next journey in the real world. This institution also taught me how to give back, and for that reason, my one of goals in life is to create an opportunity for people in the motherland so that they can have the same chance I had to be successful in life.