Nottingham Woman Named Valedictorian of Neumann University’s Class of 2021

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Neumann University
Images via Neumann University.
Amanda DeCarolis.

Amanda DeCarolis, a Business Administration major from Nottingham, has been named valedictorian of Neumann University’s Class of 2021.

Her academic credentials – all earned while graduating summa cum laude in three and a half years – include the Excellence in Business Administration Award, two minors, an Honors Program certificate, and three national honor society memberships.

As a member of a senior business seminar, she led a three-student team to a Top 50 finish in the Business Strategy Game, an international business management contest that involved 2,968 teams from 164 colleges.

In addition to academics, DeCarolis has also been one of the most active students on campus since she arrived from Lancaster Catholic High School in 2017, diving into a host of activities and volunteer opportunities. Her favorite extracurriculars were Neumann Media, where she served as anchor and field reporter for the weekly Neumann Update broadcast, and the University Jazz Band, playing clarinet.

“Neumann Media was a good pairing with my major,” she said. “I was shy when I first arrived on campus and being on camera pushed me out of my comfort zone. It helped me develop the presentation skills that I’ll need for business, too.”

Music has been part of her life since third grade.

“The Jazz Band has a really good group of people, and practice was always the highlight of our week,” said DeCarolis.

She didn’t stop there. In her time on campus, DeCarolis was a Neumann Navigator (leading campus tours), Presidential Ambassador, retreat leader for Campus Ministry, and volunteer for the university phon-a-thon and at St. Francis Inn, a soup kitchen in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. She also researched and created two presentations for Neumann’s LEAD Honors Conference and one for the annual Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education Honors Conference.

Since graduating in December, DeCarolis has been “searching like crazy” for a job. Her preference is to land a position in human resources and talent management, a challenging field that would allow her to use the skills she learned in her two minors, HR and Strategic Communications.

She feels called to help individuals reach their full potential and admits, “I relish that connection with people” that a career in human resources would offer. 

DeCarolis calls attending Neumann “the easiest choice I ever made,” explaining that she was drawn to the university’s traditions and atmosphere after taking a virtual tour. Once she visited in person (on her 18th birthday in November of her senior year of high school) and took a real tour with Dr. Lawrence DiPaolo, vice president for Academic Affairs, she was convinced that Neumann was a perfect fit.

“I was more excited to come here than I was to turn 18,” she said. “I Neumannized my car with clings and stickers, and I didn’t apply anywhere else.”

Neumann hasn’t disappointed her.

“Everyone here treats you like a person and knows your name,” DeCarolis said. “You’re not a number.”

Learn more about Neumann University.

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