Ask an Alum
Think back to your undergraduate years at Moravian. How did you spend your summers?
![How Did You Spend Your Summers How Did You Spend Your Summers](https://live-marketing-operations.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/suticase-mobile.png)
“After my sophomore year, I applied for a summer internship with the AFL-CIO called Union Summer. I met college students from all over the country, and we worked for a variety of unions in Washington, DC. We lobbied for workers on Capitol Hill, protested nonunion employers, and worked to organize unions while learning from professional organizers. It was an inspiring experience, in part because I met other college activists, but also because it was the first time I lived in a big city. I’m so glad Professor Gary Olson recommended Union Summer to me during his political science class The Politics of Labor. This experience inspired me to be a lifelong activist and pay attention to working conditions and the ongoing work of the labor movement.”
—Rachel O’Donnell ’00
“My summer job was as a pipefitter’s helper, 8 to 5 and lots of overtime at Delmarva Power & Light. I spent weekends at the shore between Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and Ocean City, Maryland. My friends and I would surf at Indian River Inlet under the bridge that we called ‘The Bridge Club.’ ”
—Richard Minich ’67
“The summer of 2006 I took a three-week May term trip to Europe with Dr. Jean-Pierre Lalande. We went to Greece, Italy, France, and Germany. It was easily one of the best decisions I made while at Moravian. It was an experience of a lifetime that I am still so grateful for all these years later.”
—Catherine Bowman Jewell ’07
“I worked my first summer as a short-order cook, which was followed by a summer as a camp counselor. Next I had the opportunity to study Intermediate French at Moravian—sharing a house near campus and being able to spend the summer studying in Bethlehem was my most memorable experience.”
—Joan Taggart Koch ’72
“I always worked to help pay tuition. I realize now that I wish I had travelled more in the United States and overseas. My best summer, however, was the one during which I began to date another Moravian student. We were married in 1976 and still are.”
—Tina Hudak Class ’74
“I participated in a SOAR [Student Opportunities for Academic Research] project one summer, and it was the best decision! I was able to deep-dive into a subject I wouldn’t normally have the chance to explore so thoroughly, make money, and stay on campus and live with my friends all summer. ”
—Aisling Pagnano ’14
“I worked at the Norshipco shipyard in the summers before my junior and senior years at Moravian, which foreshadowed working for Exxon after I graduated.”
—Bruce Bender ’82
“I had to work to help pay for my college costs. One summer I worked in a large laundry on the north side of Bethlehem (very HOT). I lived at home all of my undergraduate years and commuted.”
—Julianne Pesola Cassady ’67
“I spent two summers taking courses in history and literature at Lehigh University.”
—Kenneth J. Briggs ’62
Next Up
Who was your favorite professor and why?
Submit your answers at mrvn.co/ask-an-alum, or look for this question in the next alumni bulletin.
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