Anna Graziosi (’20)
Anna Graziosi has spent much of her young life devoted to Catholic education. She attended high school at St. Benedict at Auburndale, a diocesan school in Cordova started by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecila, where she was Senior Class President and a Lady Eagles volleyball star.
When Anna came to CBU as a Lady Buc, she also quickly adopted the Lasallian mission and made teaching her goal. She majored in Special Education, was a regular on the Dean’s List, was presented a Lasallian Leadership Award by Campus Ministry, was made Team Captain of the volleyball team, and graduated magna cum laude as a Buccaneer Scholar in 2020.
Immediately upon graduation, Anna returned to her high school alma mater and became the JV Coach of the Lady Eagles volleyball team on which she had once played. By December, she had completed her Post Baccalaureate Teacher Licensure and had also joined the faculty at St. Benedict as a teacher of Theology. Throughout her college career, Anna had also worked as a volunteer coach with the Memphis Juniors Volleyball Association, where she was “teaching young girls to be better individuals as well as better volleyball players,” and she has continued to do so. She also regularly volunteers as a personal assistant to several individuals who have disabilities and special needs.
I have sat in on her classes, where she leads her students in prayer, encourages them in saintly devotions, and proceeds with a vibrant class. She strikes the difficult balance of being firm but also the students’ friend. Additionally, she works with the high school retreats and is a volleyball coach, thereby sacrificing much of her own time to be present to the kids she teaches and coaches. She once told me, ‘I just want my students to know that they’re loved.’ If that is not Quality Education and Faith in the Presence of God, I don’t know what is.