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Okay, hi, my name is Laura Mendoza. Um when I was a student here, it was laura french. Um I'm a graduate of the class of 1992. Um I lived on campus in leola apartments and lived off campus with friends later um I'd like to share with
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you part of my history at LMU. Um my sophomore year I was part of an organization called, I'm gonna Cry Today, not tomorrow and I was in charge of community service. So it gave me a great opportunity to connect to different organizations in L. A. County
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um and what place is needed to help and what places need help from our LMU students. Um Later on I became a bell and that was really a transformational experience for me. I'm still friends with some bells now. Um I had the great opportunity to serve
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on campus um to help the homeless and um hearts of L. A. Um I did a walk for the homeless in L. A. Um food pantries and it was just such such a blessing for me to um to serve God to live out the mission of
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social justice, but to also do it in a super fun environment with great friends in addition to the service for the community. I got to serve at mass um welcome people to the campus. Um but then we also had tons and tons of fun um dances.
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Um We went retreats, went to Palm Springs weekend so I just love the fact that myself and these women um volunteered so much of our time and our gives talents to make God's community a better place for people, but then also um made friendships and bonded
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with them. Father ng was our chaplain lisa palimony was our faculty um mentor, I think the title was at the time, um I was super, super involved with campus minister here. As I mentioned, I would always go to the eight o'clock mass with my friends, one
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of those friends, two of those friends actually being here today at the 2022 alumni barbecue. Um so I met beautiful people. I also met my husband here named Perry Mendoza. He also graduated class of 92. Um yeah, so I'm just awesome experience, one of the more
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memorable experiences of one of my friends had gotten permission um for us to go to the tower um and we were able to go and climb the tower and that was a beautiful experience. And then lastly not when I was a student here, but certainly a
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very, very memorable experience for me at LMU was getting married here at Sacred Heart Chapel. I was married here in 1996. Um uh Father Wayne Gretzky, who at the time was in campus ministry when I was a student, he um officiated our wedding here um as
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taken heart like I said, and it was a beautiful, just profound experience. Um I have complete like crystal memory of coming out of my wedding day um and looking across to sunken gardens and just praising God and being very thankful to be not only married but
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married here on campus. So it's probably my most memorable. That was the most memorable experience even though it wasn't when I was a student, but as a student, my most memorable experiences were for sure the friendships I made, oh and then also I was, my undergraduate
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was in psychology, doctor juice boy was my favorite professor. And after getting my undergraduate here I did a year of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and then I got my graduate degree in social work. So LMU was a foundation for my spirituality, my friendships, my marriage and
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absolutely my career.
