Young alum Q&A

Teresa Ricapito ’18

WHAT COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY ARE YOU CURRENTLY ATTENDING, AND WHAT YEAR ARE YOU? I’m a senior at Northeastern University in Boston.

WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR IN COLLEGE, AND WHAT MINOR WILL YOU GRADUATE WITH? I’m a bioengineering major with a concentration in biomedical devices and a minor in behavioral neuroscience.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO STUDY AND PURSUE THESE AREAS OF INTEREST? I have always been passionate about physics and science and always knew that I wanted to work in a STEM field. It was my experience on the robotics team at Santa Catalina that made me realize that I wanted to become an engineer, but I didn’t want to leave out my passion for biology. For this reason I decided to study bioengineering.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EXPERIENCES (ACADEMIC OR OTHERWISE) YOU HAVE ENJOYED IN COLLEGE? I’m currently the president of the Italian Club here at Northeastern. It has been important for me to be able to express my [Italian] culture and my identity on campus and to find people who either share or want to learn more about our culture. I’m also part of a club called NUCALL, for which I’m an ambassador. My role is to teach Italian for all levels. Northeastern offers a cooperative education program (co-op) in which we take six months off from university to work. Thanks to this program, I had the opportunity to work full-time at Pfizer as a data scientist. I’m still working there as an intern.

WHAT DO YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING AFTER GRADUATION? I’m part of a program at Northeastern called Plus One, so I’m going to get my master’s degree next school year—so, in May 2023. After graduating and getting my master’s degree, my goal is to work on biomedical devices—specifically, in the nerve or cardiac department.

WHAT DOES A “DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOU” LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW? My day starts with my internship at Pfizer. In the morning, I process some data and complete all the tasks that have been assigned to me. From lunch till early afternoon, I’m usually in class. Later in the day I’m either involved in club activities or meeting on group projects for my classes. Since I’m the president of the Italian Club, I’m always involved with campus life, trying to organize new events and meeting with other clubs, like the [event] that we are going to have soon with the Arab Club.

HOW DID YOUR COCURRICULAR INTERESTS AT CATALINA CARRY OVER TO YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE? As I said before, robotics club was fundamental for me. It really helped me in understanding what I wanted to study. It also gave me a lot of experience and hands-on skills and made me realize that in the large field of bioengineering I want to work more on biomedical devices, and specifically on the mechanical side of [this field of study].

WHAT BROADER LIFE LESSONS DID YOU LEARN AT CATALINA THAT HAVE SERVED YOU WELL IN COLLEGE? Living on campus helped me become independent and helped me a lot with the transition to college. Also, the responsibility of being a prefect helped me grow a lot and helped me understand how important it is to be present in the moment and present for everyone. It made me learn the importance of getting to know the people around me, and it’s probably the reason why I’m so involved in student life on campus right now.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU OFFER TO NEW STUDENTS AT SANTA CATALINA? To really take time to know your peers. You would be amazed by their stories and how much you can learn from any person you are going to meet. And to try new things—in particular, some of the things that scare you the most. I didn’t have any experience in robotics or circuits, but joining that club was one of the best choices of my life.

IF YOU HAD TO DESCRIBE CATALINA IN THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? Bold, community, and confidence.

Teresa, second from right in the back row, with Chaarge, a national club that empowers women through fitness.