Kristy Cotter '15 Delivers Cum Laude Address

Thanks to MBS alumna Kristy Cotter ’15, a Registered Nurse at Hackensack Meridian Health, who returned to campus on Monday, April 24 to deliver the Cum Laude Address at a special All-School Meeting. As part of her address, Kristy spoke about switching career paths from finance to nursing. She reminded the students that life isn’t linear and it’s important to follow your passions — wherever and whenever you find them.

At MBS, Kristy excelled in the classroom as well as on the playing fields. She was inducted into the Cum Laude Society and the Spanish Honor Society and received the Nancy Carolyn Hoyer Memorial Award at Commencement for best exemplifying integrity, responsibility, friendliness, and school spirit.

She was also a stand-out soccer player, who earned a scholarship to play at Columbia University. As a senior at MBS, Kristy led the Crimson into the Prep and the State finals, and also played in the prestigious High School All-American Game.  

In addition, Kristy participated in a host of extracurricular activities at MBS – from being a Blood Drive Captain and a Peer Leader to a performer on the stage — and she emphasized how grateful she is to the School for providing her with so many opportunities. 

“When I was at public school, my identity was a soccer player, but when I came to MBS, I was encouraged to do so many other things,” she told the students. “My message to you today is to really soak in that opportunity and do as many things as you can because you’re not really going to be in a place like this where you’re so supported and you’re encouraged to do as many things as you want.”

After graduating from Columbia University, Kristy worked as a Consumer and Investment Management Analyst for Goldman Sachs, but soon found that she didn’t have a passion for her job. “I didn’t know what to do because it was the first time in my life that I didn’t really have a plan for the future,” she said. 

She worked part-time jobs and reflected on what she truly loved before going back to school for nursing. She said that being an MBS student – and being exposed to so many different fields – helped prepare her for her career change.

She recalled being a senior at MBS and expressing an interest in taking an independent study in Anatomy & Physiology with Dr. Milinkovic.  After talking to other students about it, a number of other students wanted to take the class as well.

“What started out as an independent study proposal turned into a full semester-long course with 12 or 15 people in the class,” she said. “This place really does give you the opportunity to do anything you want and you should take advantage of that because you don’t know how it’s going to help you in the future. When I was taking that Anatomy class I thought I was going be an economics major in college and work in finance. At the time, I had no idea that it was going to serve me later in life, but it did.”