CAPTAIN ANDREW DULIN MPS-2000

Andy Dulin

United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO

BS Geo-Politics

At Mercyhurst Prep, Andy was one of the outstanding players on the soccer team and a team leader. He was one of those students who was always positive and always willing to go the extra distance. He took those talents with him when he left and made the most of them at the Air Force Academy. There he majored in Geo-Politics, with a minor in French and continued his soccer career on the Academy's soccer team.

After being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant at the end of his four years at the Academy, Andrew attended the USAF Intelligence School in San Angelo, Texas as well as the Air and Space Basic Course. He was then assigned to the 4th Airlift Squadron at McChord Air Force Base in Washington. Following this he was deployed to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. There he served as liaison to the Italian Air Force. In 2007 he was deployed to Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey. There he supported C-17 and C-130 cargo planes and was intelligence liaison to the Royal Air Force of Great Britain as well as the Turkish Air Force. Now a captain, Andy is working in the Counter-Tactics Office at Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville, NC.

LAUREN HIEGEL MPS-2001

Lauren Hiegel

Penn State University Behrend College

BS Marketing

While at MPS, Lauren was involved in a wide variety of activities, from the soccer field and student government, to the student newspaper, Shorelines. All of this was done with a positive attitude. Recognized by her classmates in the Senior Superlatives as "The Most Friendly", it was a rare thing to catch her without a smile on her face or a kind word.

At Behrend, Lauren pursued a Marketing degree. She took part in the American Marketing Association, getting experience in networking and learning about opportunities in the field. She served as the organization's Vice-President for a year. She also interned with the SeaWolves getting experience in promotions. She had the opportunity in college to travel to Europe and came away feeling that it was a formative experience for her.

After college Lauren worked in Washington DC for GEICO Insurance as a recruiter, organizing on-campus recruiting events, interviewing job candidates and conducting informational presentations at conferences. Now she is with Bank of America in Charlotte, NC in Human Resources. Working in university relations, Lauren now helps identify talent, creates strategies to achieve target hires and organizes campus recruiting events around the country.

In keeping with her Mercyhurst Prep roots, Lauren spends a lot of time volunteering with Bank of America's community service programs, including working with the Humane Society and on community blood drives.

For Lauren, her experiences at Mercyhurst Prep..."allowed me to make long lasting relationships and become a more well-rounded and positive individual."

"MPS provides so many options to get involved and help find what you love, which will then help in your future success and happiness."

NICKY BELL MPS 2008

NICKY BELL

College of William and Mary

Williamsburg VA

International Relations

An outstanding member of the MPS Debate team, it is no surprise that as a student at William and Mary, Nicky has participated in the American Parliamentary Debate Association, competing against teams from around the country and qualifying for the national tournament as a freshman. Along with his debate experiences, he was elected as vice-president of the Residence Hall Association for his sophomore year after being honored as Representative of the Year as a freshman. Nicky also serves as a peer reviewer for articles submitted to the Monitor, the journal of international relations at the college. He works as a writing consultant in the Writing Resources Center. Last year he was inducted into the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Societies, and was one of 25 sophomores at the school selected for the Student Leadership Foundation. Nicky spent part of his spring break working with a Teach for America project in Charlotte, NC. As a recipient of a Monroe Scholarship from William and Mary, Nicky traveled to Spain last summer where he spent a week conducting interviews and visiting memorials to the Madrid train bombings in preparation for writing a paper on the relationship between the memorials and Spanish identity. Also during the summer, he worked as a research assistant for Professor Larry Evans, focusing on the Congressional Whip Count Project. he will present a paper with Prof. Evans at the Western Political Science Conference in April based on this work.

"Although I have only been in college for a year, I can already tell that the education I received at MPS has been instrumental in helping me achieve the success I have over the past year. The teachers at Mercyhurst challenged me to think critically about everything they presented me, and that is exactly the skill that college professors look for. Not only has this put me a step ahead of my peers in adjusting to the rigors of a college curriculum, but it has also created so many opportunities for me."

"I am very glad that I did the IB Diploma at MPS. The program taught me the skills I need to be a successful student at a competitive university...I found that my practice with IB, which forced me to go beyond superficial analysis...was allowing me to produce high quality papers. All of the other IB students I've met from across the US and the rest of the world had the same experience. However, I will say that speaking with other IB students has made me realize just how good the IB program at Mercyhurst really is."

RENAE ZINGELEWICZ(STODDARD) MPS-1990

RENAE ZINGELEWICZ (STODDARD)

Allegheny College
Meadville, PA

BA English/Secondary Teaching Certificate

Theater has always been a passion of Renae's. The hours spent on stage at MPS prepared her for a minor in Communication Arts-Theater at Allegheny College, while majoring in English. Actively involved in almost every production in her four years at college, she did everything from acting to stage managing. Even her work study job was at the theater, preparing props for performances. She was honored as an outstanding contributor to the Theater Arts in her senior year. A play she wrote for a course was selected for production and she had the opportunity to direct her own work, which was one of the most thrilling events in her college career. Her experiences on the volleyball court at MPS also led her to participate on the collegiate level as a freshman.

Currently, Renae works for Erie Insurance as a Liability Adjuster. She investigates motor vehicle accidents to determine liability and works with injured parties on their claims. Married and the mother of two children, she still finds time occasionally to perform with the local theater.

"I still, all these years later, feel very connected to the MPS community. Erie Insurance has a huge sense of service and community and MPS definitely prepared me for that...Giving back to the community and being taught the sense of commitment and responsibility was a great foundation for the customer service that I try to provide every day."