Jourdan McCullough

1. Why did you choose Loyola?

As I began the process of finding the perfect college for me, I knew that I wanted to go out of state.  Being from the South, I wanted to experience another way of life for four years.  However, as a favor to a high school teacher of mine, I toured Loyola with my dad.  From the moment I started that tour, I knew that this would be my choice-a university less than an hour from home.  I think that when it comes to touring colleges that you can do all the research and look at all the pictures you want, but in the end you have to tour them.  There is an invisible, intangible something that I felt the moment I stepped onto Loyola’s campus that tugged at my heart keeping me here.  That is why I chose Loyola, and I hope that everyone else can find that too.

2. If you could give one piece of advice to a prospective student about the college application process what would it be?

Be unique.  Admission counselors are reading hundreds of applications back to back.  This process can get monotonous, so try to set yourself apart from the pack.  If you are given an option to pick your own essay topic, do it!  I guarantee you that the counselors are tired of reading on the other suggested essay topics.  If other admission counselors are anything like the ones at Loyola, they will read everything you send, so let them know who you are!

3. What was your first visit to campus like?

My first visit to campus was a campus tour with my father.  We were the only people on the tour.  It was very personal, and I fell in love with the beauty of the campus and New Orleans as well as the people.  Until the moment I stepped on Loyola’s campus, I was convince that I wanted to go to college out of state.  In a single tour, I knew Loyola was where I was meant to be.

4. What’s the best thing about Loyola University?  Why?

I love the size of Loyola.  It is small enough to allow you to sit in classes that are slightly larger than my high school.  My classes have averaged about 25 students in my first two years at Loyola.  It is also small enough to allow you to develop a relationship with your professors which makes letters of recommendation and internships easy to come by.

5. What’s the best thing about living in New Orleans?

Everything! New Orleans is truly a city as diverse as the food it creates.  The people are as warm and friendly as a plate of fresh beignets served in the French Quarter at Café du Monde on a Saturday morning.  Mardi Gras is as loud and exciting as eating boiled crawfish one afternoon on the river at the fly.  The music is so eclectic that it is like a bowl of mama’s homemade gumbo stuffed with chicken, sausage, okra, rice, and roux.  History and culture seems to blend in the city to create both fiction and nonfiction.  The D-Day Museum, Chalmette Battlefield, and even Mardi Gras World show the history of New Orleans.  While the legendary mystical powers of New Orleans, bring stories of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen and other supernatural creatures like ghosts and vampires.

6. Where is your favorite place on campus or in New Orleans?  Why?

One of my favorite places to be is at the fly.  The fly is a small grassy section of the city alongside the river.  Any given day, there are people there reading, throwing Frisbees, walking their dogs, eating, listening to music, and just hanging out.  On beautiful, warm, and often lazy New Orleans afternoons, the park is packed with natives, tourists, and university students.

7. What is your favorite Loyola or New Orleans event? Why?

My favorite Loyola event is Loyolapalooza.  It is an end of the year celebration a couple of weeks before finals every year.  It always features local, well-known artists and hundreds of pounds of boiled crawfish with all the fixings.  It is a true New Orleans style get together that I have grown up with.  It always lures students out of their dorms and into the sunshine for one last big hurrah before everyone starts cramming for finals.

8. Have you studied abroad? If so, tell us where & what was your favorite part?

I am in the middle of planning and preparing for my internship.  I will be studying abroad in Madrid, Spain in January.  I cannot wait to experience all that Spain has to offer!

9. How has your time at Loyola enhanced/challenged you as a person?

The college years are the last years where a person really changes who they are.  We are shaped by the people that we are surrounded by and by the knowledge we take from our courses.  Therefore, I cannot imagine going through these four years at any other university.  Loyola’s Jesuit ideals are not only prevalent in the spiritual lives of Loyola students, but they are prominent in the classrooms as well.  As a student of business, a college of business that focused on ethics was important to me.  At Loyola, ethics is a focus in every course, including business.  I have grown so much these past two years and learned so much.  I am more mature and articulate.  I am more confident and giving.  I have changed for the better because of Loyola.

10. In what ways does Loyola foster involvement in community action?

Just about every student at Loyola is interested in some sort of community service, and Loyola offers a varied selection of service opportunities for them.  There are a couple of organizations that go out on the weekend to rebuild homes for Katrina victims or deliver food to homeless shelters.  You can tutor elementary students or go into local high schools and teach them to play musical instruments.

11. Tell us more about the organization(s) you participate in on campus?

Delta Sigma Pi is an international professional business fraternity solely for business majors.  We focus on four main components: professional activities, social activities, community service, and fundraising.  We have had the opportunity to tour the Superdome and meet with Dan Crumb, the CFO of the New Orleans Hornets.  We play flag football at the fly and watch Saints games together.  Last year, we ran in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and raised money for Relay for Life.  It is a great opportunity to band together with fellow classmates and make a difference.

Cardoner Leadership Fellows is a group of individuals chosen to participate in this living learning community.  If selected, you live together, take a class together, and plan a social justice project together.  We all became really close.  Many of us are still living with our roommates from this program two years later. It has helped me to become a much better leader.

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