“For me, it’s a wonderful moment. I think it is a tremendous time for a Boston College physicist, a Jesuit, to be asked to participate in this space mission. This is the first NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration program, similar in scope to the lunar Apollo missions of the 1970s, where an American spacecraft has traveled to a near-Earth asteroid to retrieve sample material. So, it’s a historic moment. “I realize how important this is to be one of the few scientists, a Jesuit, who has been asked to participate in this mission. I think it stems in part from my association with the Vatican Observatory and my collaborators working with the meteorite samples." - Cyril P. Opeil, S.J., Associate Professor of Physics who is among a few select scientists taking part in international research to shed light on the nature of asteroids | READ MORE: http://bc.edu/bc-web/sites/social/s24/opeil_asteroids

"At Boston College, I learned about being 'Men and Women for Others,' and it became the heart of my college experience. I did the PULSE and Appalachia volunteer programs and joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps after graduation. We are all connected, and that sense of connection - of care and concern for others - is a central theme in my novels. I’m grateful to BC for nurturing that spirit in me and giving me such meaningful experiences to explore it." – Juliette Fay, author ’84 Photo: Yating Wang '24

“My friends and I did the sustainability competition my sophomore and junior year and the four of us went absolutely wild. We still came in second place because somebody was more wild than we were. It was fun because all of our friends were doing it, and it was literally a competition of who could be more sustainable, so there’s no loser in that. Even if you lose you become more sustainable, and it’s a great way to bring awareness to different initiatives that you might not have thought about otherwise.” - Lauren Dadekian ’24, a former sustainability intern | READ MORE about sustainability at Boston College: https://on.bc.edu/Sustainability2024

"I never thought I would write nonfiction because the nonfiction books we read in school were really dry...I wanted the readers to feel inspired by these people. Princess Diana was a princess, but she was kind and cared about other people. Babe Ruth came from nothing. It was also important to me that these subjects were presented as real people, flaws and all. In the story of Princess Diana, I talked about her divorce, but I kept it age-appropriate. The hardest one to do was Henry Ford because of his anti-Semitism and the way he treated his workers. It is important for me to show not only the good things but the bad as well." - Jenna Grodzicki '01, children's author who graduated from Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development | READ MORE: http://bc.edu/bc-web/sites/social/s24/jennagrodzickiqa.html

“After joining Boston College - Woods College of Advancing Studies, as an administrator and teacher, I became enamored with Woods’s students, its mission, and its commitment to providing lifechanging education for adult-learners. The stories that come out of Saint Mary’s Hall South are some of the most inspiring I have ever heard. They are stories of compassion, dedication, and resilience in the face of adversity. It is an honor to play a small role in those stories and, after being away for the past five years while working with my wonderful colleagues at the Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development, I am overjoyed to return to the Woods community as dean. It is a true homecoming, one for which I am deeply grateful and incredibly excited.” - David Goodman, Woods College's new dean | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/DavidGoodmanWoods

"I wouldn’t have it any other way than to work with anyone but college swimmers right now. Boston College has tradition, the atmosphere, and the environment to build a great program...I’ve had many trials and tribulations in my life, but it’s about how you learn from them, put them in the rearview mirror, and move forward. I thrive on challenges and it will be a challenge to bring fun back into the program. I want to give [the swimmers] confidence and help our athletes reach their full potential. But fun is important. Some describe competitive swimming as ‘swimming the black line’ at the bottom of the pool during your hours of training. It can get monotonous. So I want to get these student-athletes back to having fun. I want to help them as their coach and share my passion for swimming and competing. This is a chance to really give back to back to the sport." - Dara Torres, five-time Olympian, 12-time medalist, and first-year BC Swim Coach | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/DaraTorres

“The U.S. Olympic Trials event was eight days long and one of the most intense regattas I have ever competed in. Each day I woke up, I knew it was going to be a battle on the racecourse and every point was going to count in the end. When I crossed the finish line in the final race, a ton of emotions came over me. This has been a goal I've been working towards for the last 15 years. Earning the berth to represent the United States of America at the Olympics is a dream come true.” - Erika Reineke ’17, who will be competing in the women’s dinghy race at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/ErikaReineke Photo Credit: Allison Chenard, US Sailing Team

“I remember when nobody knew or understood what ALS was. Then all of a sudden, Pete Frates comes out with the Ice Bucket Challenge with Pat Quinn [a friend of Frates who had also been diagnosed with ALS] and now everyone in the world knows what ALS is. "It’s incredible...[Boston College] is a really special place full of special people, and what they say is true: It’s a place of men and women for others. I think that’s what I’m going to take with me from my time at Boston College.” - John West '24, the Boston College Baseball pitcher who was named captain of the inaugural Lou Gehrig Community Impact Team | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/JohnWest -- Pictured with Paula and Jim Duhamel, whom West presented a state-of-the-art, motorized BC-branded wheelchair before BC's Annual ALS Awareness Game Photo Credit: Meg Kelly

“I am honored to receive the Marko Jarić Award. In some ways, this award completes a full circle in my professional life. I left Serbia after high school, as a student who aspired to become a scientist. Twenty years later, I am recognized for my accomplishments as a physicist in my native country. I am happy to see that my research ‘crossed’ borders and has been noticed by my colleagues in Serbia. Although his career was cut short by illness, Professor Jarić made a number of impactful scientific contributions. The award I received was created more than 25 years ago in memory of his accomplishments, and also to recognize accomplishments of physicists in Serbia and physicists of Serbian descent abroad. Although it can be given for all areas of physics, my experimental research direction in condensed matter physics is coincidentally closely aligned with some of the topics Professor Jarić explored theoretically.” - Ilija Zeljkovic, Physics Professor honored with Serbia's Marko Jarić Award, often referred to as the “Serbian Nobel for Physics,” for his research into novel materials. | READ MORE: http://bc.edu/bc-web/sites/social/s24/ilijazeljkovic_serbiannobel

"'The best science comes from those who are fundamentally curious.' - Dr. Angelika Amon, Geneticist "In my first months walking through Boston, I came across this quote more times than I can count. Each time I saw it, it strongly resonated inside me, creating an increased sense of certainty regarding the importance of pursuing social research, even when everything seemed lost. "Retrospectively, I realized that this quote resonated with the child within me – or at least, the memories I had of myself in years past. The researcher I always have had inside: that playful being who eagerly wants to know and experience what the world has to offer. "Over the years, I have understood that innovative, critical, and societally engaged research is one of my passions. I am fortunate to work in something that fills me with happiness and moves me to continue growing. Being at Boston College's Schiller Institute has taught me different ways research is conducted, leading me to consider the constant situatedness of knowledge production and the importance of doing something that impacts people, organizations, and society. There is no doubt that Boston College has pushed me to be bolder and remain curious in this never-ending path of being a researcher." - Javiera Garcia-Meneses, Senior Research Fellow at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society

“I am so grateful for the formation I received at Boston College. These wonderful Jesuits celebrate your success as theirs at every juncture. It was a joy and gave me a sense of belonging.” - Marcel Uwineza, S.J., S.T.L. '15, Ph.D. '20, a Boston College graduate and survivor of the genocide in Rwanda | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/MarcelUwineza

"Solving the national homelessness and affordable housing crisis is a moral imperative and one of the greatest challenges facing our generation. That’s what led me to write a Boston College Law Review note on the topic. Law reviews are one of the places we get to collectively imagine what the law can be. No other profession or area of academia allows students to be so directly involved in shaping its future. That is a wonderful thing and a real privilege." -Jonathan Bertulis-Fernandes ’24, a Boston College Law School graduate | READ MORE: bc.edu/bc-web/sites/social/s24/jonathanbertulis-fernandesbclm