From the moment she stepped foot on campus, Amanda stood out amongst the crowd. She was an honors student, a resident assistant, a finance tutor, and a student ambassador. During her time at Thomas, she also started to share more publicly something that she’s naturally gifted at, singing. What started for her as just having some fun doing karaoke with friends to unwind quickly led to her singing the national anthem for the Portland Sea Dogs (multiple times) in front of thousands of people and receiving invites for her to audition to sing all over.
While her professional career has taken her away from singing (she’s currently one of the top salespeople in the country for WB Mason), she came back to Thomas this spring to help the class of 2022 kick off Commencement by singing the national anthem. While she was on campus, we were able to briefly catch up with her and learn a bit more about the impact Thomas College has had on her life.
Since leaving Thomas, Amanda has remained very involved with the Terrier alumni community, supporting the College through her dynamic participation in the Life After Thomas group; helping promote the College’s Annual Day of Giving; and through her commitment to financially support the College every year.
When asked why she remains so supportive of Thomas, Amanda simply replied, “Thomas just feels like home. I have so many great, close friendships today that started right at Thomas.” She also mentioned, “Thomas also really helped to empower and position me so I would be successful the second I graduated and entered the job market. Because of Thomas, I was able to hit the ground running at work, with confidence. I had to work very hard to get where I am now, but had it not been for the foundation I received with my Thomas College education, I would not be where I am right now.”
After she did an incredible job singing at Commencement, Amanda was asked about coming home to Thomas to perform the national anthem. Amanda said, “It has been exciting to be invited back to Thomas to help open Commencement. I was honored to be invited, and I was a little bit nervous at first. But once I walked into the field house and saw all the familiar faces, the smiling graduates, and the proud families, it was just so comfortable. It really felt like coming home.”
When she was asked what kind of advice she might have for this year’s graduates entering the workforce, she offered the following: “I would tell them to remember that anything is possible. If you know what you want and you are willing to work hard consistently for it, then eventually you will get where you want to go. I would also tell them that they have the rest of their lives in front of them, and they now have a life-changing degree from Thomas that will help open doors for them!”