91�㽶��Ƶ

After serving as Graduate Assistant for Student Engagement at Dominican University, Brittany Mitzner ’16 in 2018 applied that her experience to a new job overseeing first-year student programs in the Dean of Students Office at Harvard University.

“I had no idea how to program events before I went to Dominican and now I like to think that I’m very good at it,” said Brittany, who was an Orientation Leader and Director of Programming for ASDU from her sophomore to senior years. “That prepared me to know what all goes into the event planning process. I’m able to oversee and guide students toward the goals of what they want out of the program.”

In the summer of 2017, before completing the final year of her Master of Arts degree in Higher Education at Boston College, Brittany accepted an offer from Campus Life to return to Dominican to serve a three-month internship for Orientation. It allowed her to implement the ideas she developed as an Orientation Leader and reconnect with Dean of Students Paul Raccanello, then Campus Ministry assistant director Lianni Castro, and then Senior Director of Student Engagement Lauren Castro.

“Lauren is the sole person that changed my entire career path,” Brittany says.

Brittany came to Dominican undeclared, yet knowing she wanted to help others. She switched from Occupational Therapy to Psychology as a major, but it was her decision as a sophomore to volunteer to become an Orientation Leader and join ASDU that most influenced her. Those experiences helped her evolve into a student leader and peer mentor.

“I enjoyed doing the programming with ASDU and I enjoyed being an Orientation Leader and working with other students and helping to build a community,” Brittany says. “Over time, I realized I was putting more focus on those things than I was thinking about my future therapist career.”

At one point, Brittany received a recommendation from Paul Raccanello to lead a lunchtime student presentation about The Dominican Experience. She also received plenty of support when it came time to apply to grad schools.

“It felt like everyone in Student Life was in on it. They were all giving me their input,” Brittany says.

Ultimately, Brittany selected Boston College where she was a graduate assistant for Student Programs for two years. She also served an internship as a Grad Assistant for Public Service Programs at MIT for four months.

At Harvard, Brittany was primarily advising two different programming boards of first year students. Her job was to help guide them through the adjustment period of college and help them transition into facing and achieving their goals. She aimed to help students find and build community at Harvard while fostering students’ leadership skills.

It was a big step for Brittany. A year earlier, she was planning orientation leaders training at Dominican. The timing was perfect for Brittany.

“Any opportunity to get back to Dominican, I was like, `Yeah, I’m in!’ ”