Sandy (Contreras) Burns remembered feeling over the moon excited when Viterbo launched its first official women’s basketball team and she was going to be a member. “I was in seventh heaven,” she said.

Burns and her friends had been playing just for fun, back when the gym was located in what is now the Todd Wehr Memorial Library.

A few years earlier, in June 1970, Burns had emigrated from El Salvador to the U.S., and that fall she started college at Viterbo, far away from her home and family. Political upheaval in her home country, including the University of San Salvador on strike and overtaken by guerrillas, meant that Burns and her parents were looking for a safer university. They heard about the Franciscan Sisters’ school in Santa Ana, El Salvador, and decided to visit. There, they learned about Viterbo in La Crosse.

“We liked the fact that Viterbo was smaller, with just 400 female students,” Burns said. “My parents and I decided right then that’s where I would go.”

The people Burns encountered at Viterbo made a significant impact on her experience at college and in the U.S. She recalled how her English teacher, Charlotte Bonneville, FSPA, embraced her and provided a welcoming space. To this day, some of her favorite Viterbo memories include Sr. Charlotte.

“She was so patient,” Burns remembered fondly. “She would check with me and even my other teachers to see how I was doing. It was nice to know I had somebody to go to.”

Others at Viterbo also helped make the transition go smoothly. “It was very hands-on,” she said. “I had student tutors, one for English and one for chemistry. They were so instrumental in helping me.”

Roommates introduced Burns to new experiences. Together they explored their hometowns. She was introduced to life on a farm through one of them. Burns took her roommate Rita Mae Foley, ’73 home to El Salvador one summer. She laughed remembering the good times they had.

After graduating with a degree in dietetics, Burns moved to Chicago where she held positions managing the cafeterias in the Illinois Bell Building and working for Humana.

“It was the people side of my profession that led me to pursue a master’s degree in human resources from the National College of Education (now Lewis University),” she said.

When she first started, the human resources field was predominantly male, but Burn’s bilingual skillset was often needed. She felt prepared and ready to take on challenges, thanks in large part to her life at Viterbo.

“My Viterbo life and education prepared me for my future endeavors, for certain,” she said.

Prior to retiring, she was the regional human resources business partner for Communications Test Design Inc., a repair house that supports the telecom industry.

Burns and her husband, Pat, enjoy an active retirement in Elgin, Ill. They have two sons and several grandchildren.