Student: Claire Creighton
Claire Creighton
she/her
Senior
Major: Biochemistry
Where are you from?
Rochester, MN
What do you like to do?
I enjoy cooking meals with my friends and trying new restaurants around Chicago. I like working out and walking along the Lake Shore Trail during the warmer seasons! I love having game nights with friends and watching TV series together. I recently finished Kaleidoscope on Netflix and I highly recommend! I love volunteering with kiddos in my free time too!
How are you involved in Community Service & Action?
I have been involved in Community Service & Action since Saturday of Service my first year at Loyola! Since then, I was captivated by the work I saw my peers engaging in, and I wanted to be a part of it! I participated in Loyola4Chicago my first year, volunteering at Jordan Elementary School. My sophomore year I was an LUCserve co-leader on both the Community Partner Engagement and Immigration committees. Junior year I served as a leader for L4C again at Jordan and McCutcheon Elementary schools, and I have been an L4C leader at Centro Romero during my senior year! Every year I have been fortunate enough to participate in Saturday of Service, reminding me of my beginnings in CSA.
Why do you engage in the community?
I think it’s a gift to be engaged in your community and represents a truly mutually beneficial relationship. When you participate meaningfully in your community, you are rewarded beyond belief with new relationships and resources. I want to see the places I live, work, and study in flourish so that I too may grow.
How are you involved at Loyola outside of CSA?
Outside of CSA, I just finished my term as president of Alpha Chi Omega, a Panhellenic sorority on campus. I am also a Supplemental Instructor with Tutoring Center, and a mentor in Loyola’s Interdisciplinary Honors Program. I do research on campus in Dr. Burns’ lab, I am a student volunteer advocate for The Line, Loyola’s gender-based violence hotline, and I am in Friends of MSF and NLVS, the New Life Volunteering Society, on campus.
What is your favorite place on campus?
Damen Student Center! I always see so many friends walking by and love those interactions. There’s always something going on in Damen!
What tips do you have for building and maintaining community in college?
To build and maintain community at Loyola you need to put in the level of effort you would like to receive in return. Putting yourself out there can be hard, but extremely rewarding! Meet new people, try new things, and community will come naturally.
What advice would you give to an incoming student at Loyola?
I would tell incoming students to fully embrace all the emotions that come with starting college or transferring to a new college. Acknowledge that your experience is yours alone and try your best not to compare it with your peers’. Make the most of your undergraduate experience in ways that are fulfilling to you.