When Tina Schmidt walked in the May 1997 Commencement, graduating from Cabrini with a master’s in Education, her 1-year-old daughter Deanna was there to cheer her on with the rest of her family. Twenty years later, Tina was back on Cabrini’s campus for Commencement, but this time she was the one in the crowd, watching Deanna graduate with a bachelor’s in English.
“When Deanna was preparing for graduation, I pulled out her baby pictures to look at the photos from when I graduated from Cabrini,” Tina said. “Who would have thought back then that my little girl would choose to follow in my footsteps at this great school? It’s even more special that she is in the first graduating class from Cabrini University.”
When Deanna was looking at schools, Tina thought that Deanna would fit well at Cabrini because she was coming from a small Catholic high school. After researching the undergraduate programs and student life at her alma mater, Tina convinced Deanna to add Cabrini to her list.
“I toured all of the schools that I had applied to, but none of them seemed to stand out to me in the way that Cabrini did,” Deanna said. “Cabrini was the perfect size, the perfect distance from home, had a beautiful campus full of trees, and was in a great area. I was also offered a place in Cabrini’s honors program, which was another benefit.”
Though the Schmidt family has a history of Penn State graduates, Deanna was ready to start a new family tradition of Cabrini graduates, making them a Cabrini Legacy family, when students and alumni have a sibling, parent, or grandparent with a degree from Cabrini.
“Even though Cabrini was once my mom’s home, I chose to attend this university for me,” she said. “It had the qualifications that I was looking for in a university, which just happened to be the same qualifications that my mom looked for when she chose Cabrini. My mom and I have a lot in common, which led us both to choose this university to be our new family.”
There is another family member with a Cabrini connection—Tina’s brother. When Tina was pregnant with Deanna—about four years into her graduate program—he also took night classes to finish his four-year degree.
“We had class on the same night, so we would meet for dinner in the caf before we each went to class,” Tina said.
Because of new career opportunities, her brother didn’t complete his degree then, but he is starting in Cabrini’s Degree Completion Program for Leadership Studies this fall.
Tina, who teaches 3rd grade at St. Ignatius of Antioch School in Yardley, PA, was the first in her family to receive a bachelor’s degree, which made it even more poignant when she earned a master’s degree.
“In 1991, a friend who worked with me at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Morton, PA, was just starting her master’s degree at Cabrini, and my parents encouraged me to go, too,” Schmidt said. “Neither one of them had attended college but they knew how important it was to have a higher level degree in this day and age.”
With the support of her parents, and also with the tuition discount Cabrini offers to Catholic school teachers, Schmidt committed to being a lifelong learner and decided to attend Cabrini.
“It was during those years at Cabrini that I felt a shift in my thinking,” she said. “Learning changed from being something that I had to do, to something that I wanted to do. What was the most exciting was learning something new and then being able to try it right away with my students. Today I still strive to learn new educational techniques that will help me be a better teacher so I can make my classes more exciting and engaging for my students.”
For Deanna, Cabrini served as the guiding force for her personal and professional life. She was undecided on a major when two faculty members in the English Department saw Deanna’s potential, giving her the “confidence boost” she needed to become an English major, she said.
“Cabrini has allowed me to grow in a number of ways, as well as get involved on campus,” Deanna said. “I was on the editing staff and published articles in the past three editions of Cabrini’s literary magazine, Woodcrest; I joined Cabrini’s dance team and danced at the men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse games and in competitions; and I studied abroad twice—once for a week with one of my English classes, and the other for the fall semester of my senior year in London. All of these opportunities that Cabrini gave me have really allowed me to explore my passions in a meaningful way.”
At Cabrini’s 57th Commencement exercises, which took place on Sunday, May 21, 2017, under a tent on the Cavalier (Upper) Athletic Field (different from the behind-the-Mansion location where Tina graduated 20 years ago), the Schmidts cheered on Deanna from special up-front seating that is offered to Legacy families.
“Now that my Cabrini experience is over, I am looking forward to seeing where life takes me, whether that be in the US, back in London, or somewhere else,” Deanna said.
Her mom added, “I hope that her Cabrini degree will lead her to a fulfilling and rewarding career like mine did.”
The Cabrini Legacy Program recognizes Cabrini Legacy families—students and alumni who have a sibling, parent, or grandparent with a degree from Cabrini—through networking opportunities, special programs and events, and reserved seating at Commencement.
If you identify as a Legacy student, please contact us at alumni@cabrini.edu or 610.902.8214.