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  Mary Pat Bertacchi, Interview with Melissa Newman, 2022

  A commuter student graduating in 1974, Mary Pat Bertacchi reminisces how she enjoyed the commute up Lake Shore Drive along the lakefront and never having trouble making friends with commuters and non-commuters alike at Mundelein. Mary Pat discusses the memorable classes that she took and how her professors would always do their utmost to help her succeed. Out of all of them, Mary Abbott Hess, the nutrition professor, was a positive influence on Mary Pat. She taught Mary Pat critical thinking skills and helped her gain the confidence she did not know she had. Hess was also well-regarded in her field and Mary Pat appreciated how she used that to her students’ advantage by bringing experts already in the nutrition profession to speak to classes and ground their studies in the real world. Mary Pat also fondly remembers Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt who, upon finding out Mary Pat could not afford spring tuition, made sure scholarship funds were available to allow Mary Pat to complete her schooling. Content Note: These collections may include language or descriptions of events that may be upsetting to some users.