Vilma Fermin, '20

As the manager of the women's basketball team, Vilma travels with the team, sets up their practices and warm-ups and, during games, takes statistics and films. Her dream? "One day, I would love to work for a professional football team — in a perfect world, for the Denver Broncos — in media or working in-game," she says.

Vilma supports new students through every phase of their college journeys: She offers tours to prospective families as a Hawk Host, welcomes students to campus as an Orientation Leader and supports freshmen through their first year on Hawk Hill as an RA. "I want to be that familiar face for new SJU students," she says. "I love that I meet students before they've made a final decision — and maybe even be part of the reason they chose SJU. When I led this past summer's orientation, every student I had on a tour remembered me. That's an amazing feeling."

Through spring break and summer service programs, Vilma has brought her talents all over the country. She has traveled to Mississippi with Collegiate Challenge and Kentucky with the Appalachian Experience (APEX) for construction-based service projects. She also tutored in an after-school program at Northern Children's Services through the Weekly Service Program. "In high school, I thought that service meant helping someone," she says. "Through my service experiences at Saint Joseph's, I've learned that in relationship-based service, I get just as much — if not more — out of the experience than the people I'm serving."

"Phi Sigma Pi, the national honor fraternity," says Vilma, who served as Fundraising Chair last year. "Through their professional development, I've become a braver, more courageous leader. I'm not afraid to speak up."