Admissions Insider

Kathryn Perry ’10 The Rev. Kathryn Perry ’10 steers head-on into what most of us shove aside until left without any choice: death—and prioritizing what is important during the transition from life to deaeth. As a palliative care chaplain at the University of Kentucky’s Chandler Hospital, her days straddle this life and the next for families of every background and belief. Perry’s work requires putting the self aside to enter a sacred and exceedingly difficult place, listening carefully to the needs of the most vulnerable and being supportive of her peers on the palliative care team. Together they tend “the sickest of the sick” from around the state, meeting them at any point in an illness. “Pain is physical, emotional and spiritual,” she explains, which is why the palliative care team is interdisciplinary. Much of her work is about helping people with anxiety and providing emotional support. “The listening component is one of the most beautiful things about what I get to do every day,” she says. “I invite people to tell me about their lives or what’s important to them, what they value.” More often than not, it isn’t a party affiliation or a particular argument that rises to the top—“it is spending time with the people they love, it is going fishing or watching television and eating ice cream—those very simple, seemingly ordinary pieces of life that really make us who we are.” These end-of-life lessons are ripe

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Kelly Kreutzjans ’16 Recruiters from Deloitte, a “Big Four” accounting firm, first noticed Kelly Kreutzjans’ ability to socialize and connect with people at an industry networking event. They liked her résumé, too. It demonstrated her ability to multitask—playing soccer and taking on big offices in her sorority while making good grades. The complete package Social skills Broad knowledge Time management skills Academic excellence Kelly Kreutzjans ’16 offered her future employer the complete package: a broad liberal arts background that gave her confidence and the ability to engage people on different subjects, evidence of good time management and excellence in the field of accounting. She’d already interned with a CPA company in Lexington. “Our teachers know us. They always make themselves available for us. Anytime you need something, there’s someone you can talk to—or they’ll find it for you.”If you’re new to the workforce, “soft” skills top the list of essential traits that employers seek. It’s these skills (being well rounded and socially adept), along with academic achievement, that set Pioneers apart. Kreutzjans says that Transy helped her in ways she didn’t expect. “It built my confidence,” she explains. “The teachers in the accounting department were great.” They encouraged her to attend industry events and were available to her whenever she needed help. “And the liberal arts made us really well rounded,” she explains. “I can talk to people about things that aren’t just accounting or business because I’ve taken music,

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