Kristen LaLima '13: Finding Herself at Adelphi

by Cecil Harris

When Kristen LaLima ’13 visited Adelphi University as a high school senior, it was love at first sight.

“Once I saw Adelphi, I knew I didn’t want to go anywhere else. The location was perfect: far enough away that I could live on campus and close enough for me to go home whenever I wanted,” the Staten Island, New York, native said. “Adelphi has so much to offer—the programs, the campus, the small class sizes, the tight-knit community.”

But first, Ms. LaLima had to convince her parents that daily life on the Garden City campus would not consist of party-hearty students chanting, “To-ga! To-ga! To-ga!”

“My dad made me watch Animal House because my parents were very much against Greek life before I came to college,” Ms. LaLima said with a smile. “But Adelphi has a lot of parents’ events, so when they came here and met everyone involved in Greek life they found out that it’s all about scholarship, and academics are very important here.”

Not only did Ms. LaLima join a sorority, but she also became president of Adelphi’s chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma.

“Our sorority won the Campus Engagement Award because our girls were involved in so many activities,” she said. “I really looked up to the upperclassmen. Their example helped me to shape my own path.”

Ms. LaLima has relatives who are hearing impaired, which influenced her decision to major in speech pathology in the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education. For her Honors College thesis, Ms. LaLima, mentored by Susan Lederer, Ph.D., did a case study on the effect of yoga on a boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

“I administered the program over six weeks and did a DVD with him before and after his sessions,” said Ms. LaLima, a yoga enthusiast. “I watched the tapes and measured his responses and his family’s responses. It was pretty interesting to work yoga into my major at the Honors College.”

Ms. LaLima truly immersed herself in campus life at Adelphi. In addition to her academic and sorority achievements, she was a resident assistant, an orientation leader, an admissions tour guide and a member of the campus activities board and two honors societies.

“Kristen is a model student,” Dr. Lederer said. “She is academically high-achieving, a respected campus leader and a lovely woman. I have loved mentoring her.”

Ms. LaLima, who earned her bachelor’s degree in May, began a two-year graduate program at Hunter College, which includes research work at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. She’ll carry with her fond memories of her successes at Adelphi, as well as her participation in the University’s heartfelt response to the people and communities affected by Superstorm Sandy.

“You really become who you are while you’re in college, and I think Adelphi really shapes the kind of caring person you should be,” Ms. LaLima said. “College is about doing well in your classes, getting involved, networking and community service. I think Adelphi has every positive aspect that a college should have.”