Katie Lee ’06
Katie Lee graduated from Bradley in 2006 with a major in Radio & TV and a minor in Professional Writing. Within two weeks of graduation she was off to New York to follow her dream, having been hired as an assistant on ABC’s “The View” to work with celebrities Barbara Walters and Rosie O’Donnell. Katie loved working in Manhattan, but she had always wanted to work for Public Television or be involved in an educational setting. So in November of 2007, she went to work for National Geographic in Washington, DC as a Rights and Clearance Specialist, which is a liaison between the legal and production departments. Here, she works with people from all different walks of life and has to be able to communicate clearly.
How did this energetic young lady get her start?
Katie graduated from high school at the age of 17 in Arden Hills, Minnesota, where competitive figure skating had been the main focus of her life from the age of four. She was the Minnesota State Senior Champion in 2000 and the Upper Great Lakes Regional Champion in 2003. That’s when she moved to Peoria to train with Olympian coach Linda Branan, the same woman who headed the team that mentored Matt Savoie ’02 to a seventh-place finish in the Winter Olympics. During her skating career Katie had the privilege of training with Olympian skaters Matt Savoie, Gene Heffron, Alexei Mishin, and Mark Militano.
The minute Katie walked into the Admissions Office in 2003, she knew Bradley was the right place for her. “It just felt like home.” Her four years at Bradley were the best of her life, she said, and “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Katie juggled a rigorous training regimen with academics through the first semester of her sophomore year. That’s when she suffered an injury that would end her competitive career, but compel her to concentrate more fully on her Bradley experience. Never one to sit on the side lines, Katie pledged Kappa Delta sorority, served as Chair of Derby Days, and was on the sorority’s Standards Board. She also served as president of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national honor society. Never straying far from the ice rink, Katie also coached students in “Learn to Skate” classes privately and for the Peoria Park District.
Katie was equally passionate about her major. She produced the campus TV station’s Midstate Magazine, was a member of the Bradley Media Society, interned with the National Association of TV Program Executives, and worked part time for WTVP-PBS Chanel 47. She was a teaching assistant in Dr. Paul Gullifor’s EHS 120 class, and served on the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts Student Advisory Board. For her commitment to her field of study she was honored as the Outstanding Student in Electronic Media in May of 2006.
Katie remembers the personal attention she received from her teachers at Bradley and she keeps in touch. “I took every class Dr. Gullifor taught. I was more than a number; he listened to me and valued my opinion.”
Katie has lots of wonderful memories of friends and experiences while at Bradley. She remembers going to Gorman’s for pizza and Martini’s with her sorority sisters to listen to live music and “vent.”
Her advice to current students: “Make the most of your four years at Bradley. It isn’t high school; college is different. Go for your dreams; don’t let people say you can’t. Have confidence in yourself; dream big.” Katie says that succeeding is all about persistence. “If you want it, you can do it. You just have to GO FOR IT.”
Katie gives back to her community by coaching Kids on Ice, a “Learn to Skate” program for at-risk youth and she is active in the Kappa Delta Alumni Association in Washington, DC.
One last thought, Katie? “I always felt special at Bradley. I really felt I could make a difference and some day I just might come back to Bradley to teach.”
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