On Thursday, February 21, in McIntyre Lounge, the Saint Peter’s University Freshman Achievement Luncheon was held to honor first-year students who achieved a 3.5 grade point average or higher.
“I’m so pleased to see so many of our best and brightest freshmen here today,” said University President Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D. “We are very impressed by your accomplishments so far. You have demonstrated your commitment to high academic standards and to our Jesuit tradition of excellence in all that you do.”
The honorees each received a certificate of achievement from their faculty advisors. One of the presenters was Assistant Professor of Business Administration Karl Alorbi, Ph.D.
“There are two days I look forward to,” he stated. “The first one is when I meet the students for the very first time when they come to Saint Peter’s. The second is this luncheon, when I give them their certificates and I shake their hands.”
He jokingly added, “I look forward to that because that will maybe be the last time I shake their hands before they become so famous. In being the best and the brightest, you all have the Saint Peter’s curse – you become really, really successful.”
One of these students, Jeffrey Miller ’16, a business management major at the University, said it is very important to excel academically to get the most out of your education.
He added, “You look at all the money and sacrifices that your parents have made, all the hard work that they’ve done to get you here, as well as all the hard work students have done to get themselves here by maintaining and preparing for the SATs. It would seem only proper to give it your all in college and to do the very best that you can.”
Other award recipients include Class of 2016 members Marissa Baron, Stewart Lemus, Charles Weening, Genesis Balarezo, Mitesh Patel, Jennifer Mejia, Shanay Fischer, Matthew Puzzo, Erin McDermott, Melissa Ann Travelino, Abdul-Mumin Sanni-Adam, Nelchael Antoine, Lauren Squillante, Diony Dominguez, Rania Said Abdalla, Niah Campbell, Ashley Soto, Michelle Turkovich, Sandy Nguyen, Erick Tejada, Mary Gerraah, Christina Petrelis, Alysha Schenker, Lauren Behrens, Sabrina Cartagena, Karlie Casas, Jael Cruz, Lauren Glassberg, Lee Harrison, Laura Kelly, Anthony Marsh, Ondrelique Ouellette, Michelle Perez, Venkata Ponakala, Susan Ragheb, Sarah Surowitz, Christian Ugaz, Natalie Ramirez and Hugo Lima.
