Name: Nathan Petithomme

Year in School: First Year
Major: Early Childhood Special Education

ABOUT YOU

Where are you from?
Southside of Chicago  

What do you like to do? 
I love listening to music (Ariana Grande), doing social justice work, and spending quality time with friends and family.

MY COMMUNITY SERVICE & ACTION EXPERIENCE

How are you involved in Community Service & Action?
First, I signed up to do the Saturday of Service, which was a Welcome Week activity. From then on, I signed up to be a part of Loyola for Chicago, and I’ve been a Homework Helper at Jordan Elementary every Monday. Notably, I had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C with fellow Loyola students for a weekend of activism called the Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice.

What is one of your favorite stories from your experiences of involvement with service and action?                 My favorite moments were at the Ignatian Family Teach-In. We got to go to Washington D.C and from there we were lobbying different elected officials on mass incarceration.

How do you envision living out our mission of building the greater good past your time at Loyola?
I will be an educator after college. As an early childhood educator, I have the gift of paving the way to development academically, socially, physically, and emotionally. After teaching, I want to move into administrative positions and hopefully becoming the CEO of CPS. Through all of this, I want to keep in mind the Jesuit values that are personal for me.

BEING A RAMBLER

How are you involved at Loyola outside of CSA?
I am involved in Brothers for Excellence, which is a men of color support cohort on campus. Another program that I am involved in is Advocate Empowerment Pipeline. In this program, we give campus visits to students who are underrepresented on campus such as black and brown students.

What is your favorite place on campus?

My favorite place on campus has to be is my dorm hall. I am in the Multicultural Learning Community and honestly I’ve met the best people there to hang out with. I do my homework, study, and socialize on campus.

What advice would you give to an in-coming student at Loyola?

Take your time and be flexible with yourself.  I had all these expectations coming into college that I’d join many clubs, get perfect grades, and make the best of friends all in one semester. While I achieved those goals to a certain extent, I did learn that not everything will go to plan and that I just need to take it one step at a time.