Fenwick Young Alumni – The Friar Files

September 2, 2020August 25, 2020

Collegiate Friars: September 2020

Catching up with Friar young alumni Karina Banuelos ’18 and Luke Cahill ’16.

KARINA BANUELOS

Fenwick Graduation: 2018
Hometown: Chicago
Grade School: St. Richard
Current School: University of Illinois at Chicago
Major: Pre-Med Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology

Summer Internship: I had originally planned to intern as a part of the “Women in Science” Field Museum summer program, researching plant and fungal interactions in their lab, but due to the ongoing pandemic, these plans had to change. Instead, I currently volunteer at the UI Health Hospital in the Inpatient/Outpatient Pediatric Center, helping children and their families before their appointments, reading to babies, and trying to bring the most fun, interactive engagements I can to patients, even with COVID limitations. Additionally, I volunteer in the Surgical Services Department of the hospital, assisting nurses by providing pre-op and post-op patients with warm blankets, informational take-home folders, and contacting families after surgery. This experience has allowed me to make connections within medicine and view firsthand the intensive work and passion these women and men put into what they love. I also had the opportunity of completing two neuroscience courses offered through Harvard University this summer!

Career aspirations: Ever since I took Ms. Lilek’s [now Mrs. David] Psychology course senior year, I realized my love and fascination of the human brain and its complications, making it more invigorating to learn about! She made the class interactive, challenging us to create our own experiments, testing them out, and then sharing our unique results with the class. These research experiments peaked my interest into what is now my focus in college and career aspiration for the future! After touring the University of Illinois College of Medicine, I was offered the opportunity to be recently placed with a medical student who is now my Neurology mentor throughout my undergraduate career, which I could not be more thankful for! After undergraduate school, I would love to go onto medical school and accomplish my long route dream of becoming a future neurosurgeon.

Fenwick Achievements/Activities: H.O.L.A Club, Medical Club, German Club, Girls’ Water Polo, Girls’ Bowling, St. Catherine/St. Lucy Tutoring

Fenwick teacher who had the most influence on you: I had a couple of faculty members who had much influence on me throughout high school, such as my German teacher, Frau Strom, and my counselor, Mrs. Docherty. They both immensely aided and guided me when I had several questions about the college process and financial aid, needed help with tutoring, or was just someone to help me catch myself when I felt overwhelmed. If it wasn’t for my sophomore chemistry teacher, Ms. Timmons, I don’t believe that I’d be where I stand today. When there was something I didn’t understand, she always offered to stay late and give extra help before class until I confidently understood the lesson, which later led me to my love of science to this day. Even outside of academics, Ms. Timmons made a memorable impact on me that I will always cherish: When I joined water polo my freshman year, I had absolutely no experience competitively swimming and playing sports in the water. From day one, Coach Liz asked me to set goals for myself and constantly pushed me to achieve my best. In the pool and in the classroom, she made me realize that there is no shame in struggling and making mistakes, because that’s how we learn to build that greater version of ourselves and grow into what we want to accomplish. We should also never be afraid to ask for help, because there is probably someone else out there who has the same question as you!

Fenwick class that had the most influence on you: I had the fortunate and beautiful chance of taking Fr. Joe’s theology class my sophomore year. Fr. Joe is someone you can never forget — always happy, laughing and loving life, and putting others first before himself. He didn’t care who you were or where you came from; just that he loved each one of us individually, and that’s how he went about his teaching. With the same passion and love he had for God, he displayed it onto the students in an interactive way: By dancing, praising and singing to the Lord, and always praying for one another. Much like Kairos, Fr. Joe’s theology class incorporated the Dominican Catholic pillars of prayer, study, community and preaching into our academic and personal lives, which has allowed me to deepen my relationship with God and remind myself to take each beautiful day as it comes.

Best Fenwick experience/the one you would like to live again: My freshman year at Fenwick, I knew no one going in. Keeping this in mind, I decided to join clubs that I’d thought would help me meet new people. Joining H.O.L.A (Hispanic Outreach and Latino Awareness Club) was probably one of the best decisions I made early on and would love to live again. I was able to connect and share my story with incoming freshmen during open houses and fortunate enough to meet many families from all backgrounds who were interested in learning more about our culture! Mrs. Gallanari also made this club a safe, inviting, fun and informational place where I was able to meet students from similar backgrounds, take part in food drives and Day of the Dead celebrations, learn more and inform others of the Latino culture within the Fenwick community, and ultimately create relationships with the people who are now my closest friends to this day.

Fenwick experience that changed you the most: I am blessed and forever grateful to have gone to a school that allowed me to open myself to new surroundings, people and experiences, while having an extensive support system to creating my own path. Attending Kairos was the experience that motivated me to grow into the woman I want to be and realize that we should not take our everyday interactions for granted. Life can be simply based on how you perceive it: “Is your glass half full or half empty?” In other words, never be afraid to compliment or share a smile with that random stranger or to just give your family member an extra- long hug or even check up on your loved ones. Be happy and always spread that love around you, because you never know when someone could be needing it. I also learned that we tend to get ahead of ourselves and become so preoccupied with the world around us, that sometimes we need to hit “pause” on our life, and be thankful for what and whom we have. So, to everyone at Fenwick who has watched me grow as a student, friend, athlete and, now alumna, and to those who have helped me when I struggled, a huge THANK YOU for everything you’ve given me those four years and now!

LUKE CAHILL

Fenwick Graduation: 2016
Hometown: Naperville, IL
Grade School: Washington Junior High
College: Graduated from Regis University (Denver, CO) in May 2020
Major: Finance & Accounting

Summer Internship: 2019 internship – Marathon Petroleum Corporation

Career aspirations: I started a full-time position in June 2020 working for Prologis, a real estate investment trust, as a Capital Expenditure Specialist in Denver.

July 2, 2020July 1, 2020

Collegiate Friars: July 2020

Catching up with 2019 classmates Laura Durkin and Samuel Saunders at the University of Illinois and Syracuse University, respectively.

LAURA DURKIN

Fenwick Graduation: 2019
Hometown: Riverside, IL
Grade School: St. Mary’s
Current School: University of Illinois (Gies College of Business)
Major: Finance and Information Systems

Summer Internship: A summer internship I am currently pursuing is branching off of the Venture Capital Association club that I participated in my freshman year at U of I. This internship involves working with private equity firms across the United States to provide financial analytics and exit-strategy consulting. This summer I will be continuing research and performing quantitative due diligence to identify potential target investments for a private equity firm that I have been on a project with since the beginning of my second semester. This internship will be paired with an internship through COVID-19 Business Fellowship Program where I will help small businesses throughout the Chicago area to reimagine and redefine how they reach customers, achieve business objectives, and help them to adapt to the new normal by mobilizing in the face of adversity.

Career aspirations: I will be a sophomore in the Gies College of Business, still mainly exploring my career options and aspirations. I am looking into a career potentially involving computer science and finance.

Fenwick achievements/
activities: National Honors Society, Latin Club Dictator, Cross Country 4 years, Track 3 years, Cross Country and Track captain 2019, Freshman soccer; Varsity soccer sophomore year, Girls Bowling record holder, Kairos Leader November 2019.

Fenwick teacher who had the most influence on you: I was taught AP physics by Mr. Kleinhans and AP Econ by Mr. Gallo. A mixture of both the enthusiastic, heartfelt, and informational lessons I learned that apply both in and out of the classroom by these two teachers is what has been guiding me to find my interests and career aspirations so far in college. I was also blessed to be taught by Mr. Rodde, Mr. Roche and many more influential teachers while at Fenwick High School.

Fenwick class that had the most influence on you: Moral Theology my junior year with Mr. Slajchert and Dominican Spirituality my senior year with Fr. Peddicord. I was lucky enough to have Mr. Slajchert my freshman and junior year. By the time I had him for moral theology my junior, I was very comfortable with his teaching style, and I was able to explore the material of moral theology with his guidance and see the importance of the theology class at Fenwick first hand. My senior Dominican Spirituality class, led by Fenwick President Fr. Peddicord was influential because it was a perfect conclusion to my time at Fenwick learning of the history, pillars, and virtues of what living as a Dominican truly means.

Best Fenwick experience/the one you would like to live again: I was recently reflecting on this answer this past weekend as I was updated with my one year memories on snapchat of my senior track state and senior prom weekend. I would relive this Fenwick experience in an instant surrounded by teammates, coaches, friends, and family celebrating the culmination of my four years of training and closing out my highschool experience with a sunny weekend out of a fairytale book.

What Fenwick experience changed you the most: My participation on the cross country team changed me the most through my four years at Fenwick. I had never run before high school, but before my first day of classes even began I had already met a group of driven, talented, compassionate, beautiful girls that would be my best friends even after graduation. I learned innumerable hard lessons and built a strong character and culminated my highschool running career by qualifying for state individually. I am now taking the love for the sport that was formed and developed through highschool and currently training for the Chicago Marathon in the fall.

SAMUEL SAUNDERS

Fenwick Graduation: 2019
Hometown: Wheaton, IL
Grade School: St. Petronille
Current School: Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)
Double Major: Finance & Entrepreneurship

Involvement on campus: I’m currently a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, NYA chapter where I’m on the Finance Committee. This is a great experience because I get the opportunity to manage a $100,000 budget. Last year, I was elected to be the RHA (BBB) Director of Administration and Finance where my role was to govern student life for the 730 students in my hall and oversee Syracuse’s housing budget. I’m also an active member in Cuse’s Entrepreneurship Club where we bring in prosperous entrepreneurs such as Kenneth Langone Sr. — investor, philanthropist, and co-founder of Home Depot — to guest speak at our business school.

August 15, 2019October 1, 2019

Collegiate Friars: August 2019

Catching up with two young alumni from the Class of 2017: Rachel McCarthy, recently back from Japan, and Ellis Taylor, an American footballer in NYC.

Rachel McCarthy (shown here in Tokyo) will be a junior at Illinois Wesleyan University in downstate Bloomington.

Fenwick Graduation: 2017

Hometown: Riverside

Grade School: St. Mary School

Current School: Illinois Wesleyan University

Current Major: English Literature and Psychology

Summer Internship: This summer I was a teaching assistant at Technos College, where I spent an unforgettable seven weeks living in Tokyo and helping English students practice conversations/interviews with a native speaker. I also did a lot of behind-the-scenes planning for the college’s annual cultural exchange event with 10 other sister universities from around the world.

Career aspirations: I’ve looked at a few different career options in the past two years, but right now I’m exploring the possibility of being an English professor. I’ve always had an interest in academia, and my experience at Technos College taught me the joys of working one-on-one with students to help them blossom.

Fenwick Achievements/Activities: Lawless Scholar, Illinois State Scholar, Girls Cross Country, Blackfriars Guild and Novel Writing Club co-founder.

Fenwick teacher who had the most influence on you: A better question might be who didn’t inspire me, but one teacher I do think of on a regular basis is Mr. Arellano. Though his speech class was tough, the way he cared for each and every one of his students was readily apparent, and I still think of his encouraging feedback whenever I have to give a major presentation.

Fenwick class that had the most influence on you: My junior year AP Language and Composition class was pivotal in shaping me as a writer. That class pushed me to write critically about a wide range of fascinating, real-world topics, and I loved the freedom we were given to pursue our own interests. As I prepare to spend a year studying English as a visiting student at Oxford University, my heavily annotated APLAC textbook remains a valuable guide to this day.