Haley Swartz took her first steps toward Undergraduate Commencement this week as she ordered her cap and gown. Haley, who realized she was destined to become a Bobcat the moment she first visited our Mount Carmel Campus, is filled with an entrepreneurial spirit. From the time she could first form sentences, she was trying to make the world a better – and sweeter -- place. She still smiles when she thinks about the small candy nook tucked beneath her steps at home in which she stored the loot she sold to neighborhood children as they got off the bus. Through the guidance of Quinnipiac professors, she realized her passion wasn't for behavioral neuroscience, her first major, but rather entrepreneurship. "As soon as I switched my major, I felt a sense of comfort," she recalls. Haley helped a 5 year old with cerebral palsy celebrate Halloween. Using insulation, cardboard, felts and a few dozen lights, Haley and two of her friends spent more than 60 hours last semester during the heart of her field hockey season and semester transforming Kendall Pallone's wheelchair into a carriage worthy of a princess and then coordinated more than 300 students for a trick-or-treat sunset event on our quad. "I will never forget seeing Kendall's glowing face as we showed her the costume for the first time," she said. "Quinnipiac has allowed me to experience the world through the immersion of experiences, and I can't imagine what my life will be like after graduation." The upbeat soon-to-be-graduate from outside Philadelphia has served as a captain of our conference-winning, Big East-bound field hockey team, has led several high-profile student-run University events and traveled to Nicaragua to evaluate and award micro-loans to entrepreneurs. "When I committed to Quinnipiac, I wanted to make a name for myself," she said. "I was determined to be a Bobcat and leave a legacy here." It's pretty clear that when she walks across the stage at Commencement, she will be leaving the University a better place, and is already well down the path of changing the world for the better. Seniors are encouraged to order their caps and gowns today at www.quinnipiac.edu/capgown. #BobcatNation #QU2016