Name: Katherine Santarpia
Major: Spanish and Political Science
Hometown: Staten Island, NY
Key Bryn Mawr Experiences:
- Growing in faith and friendship as a member and leader of Newman, BMC's Catholic student group!
- Working in the Writing Center, in the Pensby Center's Interfaith Program, in the Spanish Department's Apprentice Teacher Program, and (as a first-year student) in New Dorm Dining Hall— I'm so grateful for all these amazing communities!
- Participating in the Pensby Center's Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip two years in a row, as part of a cohort of students visiting houses of worship in the Philly area, partaking in a service project, and sharing in both intentional discussions of religious community and identity and casual car ride convos.
- Striving with friends to get two Plenary resolutions passed, with many (mis)adventures along the way.
- Being a Brecon frosh!
- Getting to engage in projects that fostered incredible academic- and, above all, self-formation—in particular, a Deep Dive into Catholic spirituality and practice, a letter exchange collection, and two (separate but simultaneous) theses on solitude.
People you want to thank:
I'm thankful for so many folks! Thanks, professors, for so often creating learning environments that I never could have anticipated and yet to which I now owe so much. Special thanks, Joel and Professor Quintero, for teaching me most frequently and, in many ways, most memorably—and especially for all the thesis guidance and reassurance! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for taking on so much to make this silly college dream possible for me, even when it felt less silly and more outrageous, and for more love than I could ever even know. Special thanks, Samantha, for somehow always keeping me in love and laughter and making the burden of older sistership look effortless. Thanks, friends (y´all know who you are!), for times fun and frantic, all the joys and jokes and grieving and growing we´ve shared in along the way. Special thanks, BMC, for all those doing the work of tending this beautiful but fragile community, whether student, staff, or admin, for all those people whose names I never got to learn and those whose names I´ll never forget—you´ve inspired me to care about trust and connection, labors seen and unseen, and I hope that you continue passing that on so that we all might come to pass it on ourselves.
What will you remember most about your time at Bryn Mawr?
I don't think that I'll ever forget the impact that so many critters of this campus have had on me. I just want to recognize the awesome beauty and joys of BMC´s creatures—many of which, with every encounter, have made me feel incredibly alive. Here's to the birds, that big, swooping one that stole the show when we were all in quarantine and that one blue jay I always saw, the loud woodpecker and the veritable fleet of robins, the covert pigeons and the notorious geese. Here's to the occasional frog, the unexpected bat, and the omnipresent squirrel. Here's to the bunnies and the fox—all the best should your paths cross. Here's to the destresser animals in libraries and on patios and along paths, dogs and cats and bunnies and goats alike. Here's to every pet brought to campus—but, let's be honest, especially to you, Cornelius and Tubby, my dear Bryn Mawr Bulldogs. And while I'm at it, here's to the trees—I could spend a lifetime here and never appreciate you with the depths of the awe that you so frequently leave me with. Here's to all the life and the living that called this school home before me and will continue to do so after I'm gone. I hope to cradle all that you've given me as I look to times ahead.
Members of the Class of 2022, we want to hear from you! Drop us a note at news@brynmawr.edu. Include a photo of yourself and let us know what you have planned for life after Bryn Mawr, who you'd like to thank, words of wisdom, or whatever else you'd like to say. We'll be sharing selected profiles on the College's website and social media channels over the next few weeks.