As Catherine McGovern approached her final year of college, she wanted to give back to the welcoming community she found at Catholic University. After all, stepping onto campus and meeting people was what made her choice to become a Cardinal clear.
“Everyone was just so friendly and you can tell there was a tight-knit community. I just wanted to be a part of it,” she said.
Catherine decided to become an Orientation Leader for the Class of 2028. Many of her lasting friendships at Catholic University were formed during that first time together as a class, so she wanted to be there for a new generation of students. “It was definitely a full circle moment,” she says. “I loved getting to talk to the first years and their family, becoming friends with the fellow Orientation Leaders.”
Catherine can add Orientation Leader to her list of accomplishments at Catholic University. Not only did she juggle a double major in Psychology and Media and Communications Studies (with a minor in Marketing), she also studied abroad in Ireland at the University of Galway for a semester. In addition to excelling at her studies, she used the skills she learned in the classroom to prepare for her future career in social media management, working for both the. School of Arts and Sciences and University Communications as a content developer.
Looking back at her time as a student, one memorable project for Catherine was crafting her senior capstone project. “For my senior thesis, I had the opportunity to create a narrative short film with my roommate.” She used the film and audio editing skills she learned in her courses to create the seven-minute feature. Catherine’s film, The Deadline, premiered at a recent film festival as part of the University Research Day. “It was a really great experience to write a short film script, cast people, shoot it, and edit it.”
Originally from Westfield, New Jersey, Catherine has found the Catholic University connection back home. One memorable story includes a hometown favorite eatery. “I was in the bagel shop where I grew up and I ran into people with Catholic University merch,” she said. “ I walked right up to them, and I was like ‘You go to Catholic, I go to Catholic. Here, have my phone number.”
She wants so many more people to know about Catholic – and now, after graduation, she will be joining the University Comms team full-time as a social media manager. Continuing the Cardinal love!
