Spotlight Student: Jessica Celesnik, junior social work major

photo courtesy of Facebook
Jessica's favorite food is pizza—no wonder she work's at Jioio's. Her favorite color is turquoise and she has two dogs, Harley and Rico, and one cat, Gigi. Jessica typically has a 70-hour work week, dividing her time between a job (40 hours) and internship (30 hours).

This month’s Spotlight Student of the month is Jessica Celesnik, a junior social work major here at Seton Hill. Celesnik is a full-time student interning at the Westmoreland Children’s Bureau and a full-time cook at Jioio’s Family Restaurant.

Celesnik has dedicated herself to social work and actively going out and improving the lives of others. Her motivation to help others was sparked one night when she picked up a friend who was walking home in the pouring down rain because her father never picked her up. She was cold and hungry, so Celesnik took her home and fed her and dressed her, and that’s when she decided that helping people is the only important thing worth doing.

“I just want to help people and make their lives better,” said Celesnik.

Even though she works 30 hours a week at the Children’s Bureau and 40 at Jioio’s, Celesnik still manages to participate in the social work club “Project HOPE.” She has even held an officer position for the past two years.

“I live to work and love my friends and my family.”

The workload has not affected her academic performance. On the contrary, her advisor, David Droppa, recommended her for the Student Spotlight because she is such a remarkable student.

“She comes to class with curiosity about what she is going to learn.  She thinks critically about what is discussed in class, and jumps into discussions saying what she actually thinks rather than what she thinks the instructor wants to hear…With her in the classroom, teaching is a lot more fun!”

Droppa suggests that if students want to receive similar recognition from their professors and advisors then they should come to the classroom with their biases and curiosities ready and not be afraid to speak up and engage with the professors and other students.

“Students can make [professors] better than [they] are!”

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