{"id":448,"date":"2019-06-18T15:04:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T15:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/?p=448"},"modified":"2019-06-26T16:58:06","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T16:58:06","slug":"alumni-profiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Profiles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"FRANK PIZZITOLA \u201873, MBA \u201882<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a Celt, always a Celt,\u201d Anthony Frank Pizzitola \u201973, MBA \u201982, said when he was named this year\u2019s Rev. Vincent J. Guinan Distinguished Alumnus. Presented annually during UST Commencement, the award recognizes outstanding contributions to the University and society through professional and personal excellence and community involvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn his quiet, yet effective way, Anthony has brought the truths and values he learned at UST into the world of business,\u201d said J. Michael Miller, Archbishop of Vancouver. \u201cTo know Anthony is to recognize an alumnus of whom the University should be rightly proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

For nearly 50 years, the former president of the UST Alumni Association has served UST in a variety of ways, starting as editor of the Summa yearbook along with selling ads. Currently, he offers his expertise to UST students, such as organizing an MBA seminar presented by Disaster Recovery Institute International. He also served as Chapel of St. Basil sacristan for eight years, among many other involvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that earning two degrees at UST and staying close to the school have been the cornerstones to keeping me close to our motto \u201c\u2018Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge,\u2019\u201d Pizzitola said. \u201cThere’s something about staying close to the values of home, that continues to bring one back to home. Current students should continue to develop a relationship with UST that will model their decisions in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pizzitola\u2019s rewarding career spans construction, facilities operations and maintenance, and emergency planning and disaster recovery for companies like Taco Bell, YUM! Brands and ExxonMobil.<\/p>\n

\"America's

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT: THE CHAMPIONS — “The Champions Four” Episode 104 — Pictured: Kechi — (Photo by: Trae Patton\/NBC)<\/p><\/div>\n

KECHI OKWUCHI ’15<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kechi Okwuchi \u201915 surpassed her wildest dreams when she became a finalist on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent: The Champions\u201d by way of earning the Golden Buzzer from iconic and vocal judge Simon Cowell. Okwuchi\u2019s career has taken off since her win aired in January 2019. She released her first single, \u201cDon\u2019t You Dare,\u201d travels as an inspirational speaker and is an advocate for multiple burn survivor organizations.<\/p>\n

Okwuchi, an economics alumna, is one of the two survivors from a 2005 plane crash in Nigeria that killed more than 100 people, 60 of whom were her schoolmates. She suffered burns on most of her body and underwent years of treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool that now I can say I am a singer. I grew up in a very musical household \u2014 my mom and I would sing together all the time,\u201d Okwuchi said. \u201cThe accident happened, and my voice went through a significant change. My turning point is when my dad got me a karaoke machine; I would sing all the time and train my voice back. In 2017, I started to sing in church and that was a huge step for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okwuchi was UST\u2019s 2015 student commencement speaker, and she continues to inspire others with her story and music. She was grateful to be a finalist on AGT, although her goal for appearing on the show was not necessarily to win but to gain recognition as a singer and feedback from respected professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing on a platform like that is scary,\u201d she said. \u201cI would tell someone that the nerves will always be there, but I think the best things in life happen outside of your comfort zone. Nothing extraordinary happens from being comfortable, but by achieving amazing things. You have to choose the fear that you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"MarshBook\"LORETTA “LORRIE” PARISE ’84<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Loretta \u201cLorrie\u201d Parise \u201984 recently published her first book, \u201cBiography of an Everyday Couple: Turning Ordinary into Inspirational,\u201d a true love story of Parise\u2019s parents, Alice and Fidel, whose 64-year marriage came to a sudden end when Alice passed away. Her father passed away months after her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe died of a broken heart,\u201d Parise told The Woodlands Online.<\/p>\n

The story of the lives of this couple takes the reader through a journey of love and loss. Parise describes her parents as ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis book is written with such love that it leaps off the pages,\u201d Tracy Young, reviewer for Readers\u2019 Favorite said. \u201cLorrie Parise has written \u2018Biography of an Everyday Couple\u2019 to share her parents with the world, and I thank her for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBiography of an Everyday Couple\u201d ranks with five stars by Readers\u2019 Favorite. The celebrated book is nominated for Next Generation Indie Book Awards (First Novel and Inspirational Non-Fiction categories) \u2014 and Writer\u2019s Digest, (Self-Published category).<\/p>\n

The book is available online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. A portion of book sales benefit local The Woodlands charities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A snapshot of alumni achievements to celebrate including the 2019 Vincent J. Guinan Alumnus of the Year Anthony Pizzitola \u201973, MBA \u201982.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[155,121,37,156,11],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-155","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-success","tag-summer-2019-issue","tag-summer-issue"],"yoast_head":"\nAlumni Profiles - Encounter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumni Profiles - Encounter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A snapshot of alumni achievements to celebrate including the 2019 Vincent J. Guinan Alumnus of the Year Anthony Pizzitola \u201973, MBA \u201982.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Encounter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-18T15:04:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-26T16:58:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brittani Wright\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brittani Wright\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/\",\"name\":\"Alumni Profiles - Encounter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-18T15:04:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-26T16:58:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc3cd90d448206b9d6a575877dfa031\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Kechi_agt(600x300px)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alumni Profiles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/\",\"name\":\"Encounter\",\"description\":\"The Magazine of the University of St. Thomas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc3cd90d448206b9d6a575877dfa031\",\"name\":\"Brittani Wright\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83c2303a3254de8aca6e220b2a5998a81c7fc708661b9b00b3ca27807b3451d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83c2303a3254de8aca6e220b2a5998a81c7fc708661b9b00b3ca27807b3451d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brittani Wright\"},\"description\":\"Brittani Wright is a Houston native and graduate from the University of Houston-Downtown with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. She currently works in the Marketing and Communications department, and is pursuing her MBA at the University of St. Thomas.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/author\/brittani\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alumni Profiles - Encounter","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alumni Profiles - Encounter","og_description":"A snapshot of alumni achievements to celebrate including the 2019 Vincent J. Guinan Alumnus of the Year Anthony Pizzitola \u201973, MBA \u201982.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/","og_site_name":"Encounter","article_published_time":"2019-06-18T15:04:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-26T16:58:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brittani Wright","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brittani Wright","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/","name":"Alumni Profiles - Encounter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-18T15:04:32+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-26T16:58:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc3cd90d448206b9d6a575877dfa031"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg","width":600,"height":300,"caption":"Kechi_agt(600x300px)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/2019\/alumni\/alumni-profiles\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alumni Profiles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/","name":"Encounter","description":"The Magazine of the University of St. Thomas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc3cd90d448206b9d6a575877dfa031","name":"Brittani Wright","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83c2303a3254de8aca6e220b2a5998a81c7fc708661b9b00b3ca27807b3451d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83c2303a3254de8aca6e220b2a5998a81c7fc708661b9b00b3ca27807b3451d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brittani Wright"},"description":"Brittani Wright is a Houston native and graduate from the University of Houston-Downtown with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. She currently works in the Marketing and Communications department, and is pursuing her MBA at the University of St. Thomas.","url":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/author\/brittani\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/06\/Kechi_agt600x300px.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/encounter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}