Ivy League freshman is flourishing but says she misses the close support she received from Notre Dame Prep teachers; plans to be part of the burgeoning revolution in Detroit.
2016 Notre Dame graduate Michelle Lo says her high school experience set her up for a successful first year at Cornell University.
Michelle Lo is more than a year into her college education in economics at New York's Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences. She graduated from Notre Dame Prep in 2016 and while she has adapted well to a university environment and being so far from home, she’s noticed one big difference between Cornell and Notre Dame Prep.
“I miss the close-knit relationships I formed with all my teachers over the years at NDP,” Lo said. “Walking to class and joking around with Mr. Devine or stopping in to say hi to my teachers is what makes me miss the halls of NDP the most.”
Lo said it’s different being close with teachers you see everyday and who you turn to for guidance versus the limited support that university professors can offer.
“My teachers at NDP took a genuine interest in me and the track I was on in life,” she said.
Still, Lo is thriving at Cornell.
“Although classes are extremely rigorous and my coursework requires me to really apply myself, I owe my success so far here to the study habits I developed at NDP,” Lo said. “The workload I was given at NDP, especially in my AP classes, is what I believe gave me the ability to manage my time well and it’s what prepared me for the level of rigor I’ve experienced during my first year at Cornell.”
She said the in-class essays and demanding prep work for AP exams at Notre Dame are very similar to the assignments she’s completed so far in her college classes.
“If it hadn’t been for the discipline that NDP instilled in me during my time in high school, I wouldn’t have had such a big advantage going into my classes at Cornell last fall.”
Currently, Lo is majoring in economics and minoring in business, and she hopes to become an analyst for a consulting company or maybe follow in her dad’s footsteps and work as an auto analyst in Detroit.
Wants to be part of the ‘revolution’
“My accounting class with Mrs. Palushaj at NDP has inspired me to return to Detroit and get involved with the revolution the city is currently experiencing,” she said. “I remember Mrs. Palushaj took our class to the Quicken Loans Finance Park in Detroit and that got me thinking that eventually I would bring my education and experiences back to the city to ’industrialize’ it further. Those business classes at NDP influenced my decision to write the majority of my college application essays about my passion for both Detroit and business, and how I’d like to take the education I receive and bring it back home to become a part of the revolution myself.”
Cornell University is located in Ithaca, New York.
This summer, Lo is interning with the business department of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as well as doing some research work with a professor at Oakland University. She’s also a longtime violinist and believes the discipline necessary to learn and play the instrument also factored in her success both at Notre Dame and Cornell so far.
“I really think my ability to tie my passions for music and business together will allow me to excel in the business world when I get there,” she said. “I never thought that my education in music or my role as a violinist would be influential in what I do in terms of economics or finance, and yet my work as the social chair of the Cornell Chamber and my previous involvement with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has led me to where I am today.”
She said she’s been able to turn her passion for classical music into a business interest in Detroit and thinks that the role the DSO has played in Detroit’s comeback is critical.
“I want to bring back symphony music even stronger in Detroit by marketing it to a younger audience, which could also generate revenue and interest for other cities as well,” she said.
Not one, but two Ivy League schools
Lo’s work at Cornell isn’t her first foray into learning about the world of business at an Ivy League school.
While still a student at Notre Dame Prep, Lo was able to spend a summer interning at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, something she said resulted from help courtesy of NDP math and business teacher Joanne Beauchamp.
“Yes, I’ve always loved business, but without the guidance of Mrs. Beauchamp, I would not have learned about the different branches that business really encompasses,” she said. “Mrs. Beauchamp actually wrote one of my recommendation letters for that prestigious Wharton program for high school seniors at Penn, which also served as a catalyst in discovering my passion for management and what got me interested in consulting. I was able to study with Wharton professors and write a business plan for a service that my team and I pitched to a panel of actual venture capitalists and business professionals.”
Find out through the "Scholars Way" how to make an impact on students who are just like Michelle Lo was when she was a student at Notre Dame.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.