When he came to Viterbo, Juan Jiménez pictured himself spending his life as a math teacher. He did begin his career as a math teacher, but after returning to Viterbo for a master’s degree in educational leadership, his horizons broadened.

In 2011, Sue Graf's church was looking for someone to prepare a meal to feed 15 people seeking refuge at La Crosse’s Winter Warming Center. Raising her hand for that set her on a path toward founding and running a nonprofit organization in 2021, What I Need Now (WINN), a mobile mission to serve unsheltered people in the region.

Andrew Santoso credits his Viterbo advisor with steering him toward the field of medical physics. Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mathematical physics, Santoso has been speeding along that career path.

Michelle (Pixley) Reichert's internship experience set in motion an educational and career path that culminated in her being named the first female chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security, a company with more than 11,000 employees that is one of the nation’s largest federal contractors.

As chief financial officer at Jackson County Regional Health Center in Maquoketa, Iowa, Kolin Huth ’21, ’22 is doing just what he always pictured himself doing. He is, however, doing it a lot sooner than he envisioned.

By the time Gundersen Health System CEO Dr. Scott Rathgaber enrolled in Viterbo’s Master of Arts in Servant Leadership Degree program in 2018, 30 years after earning his doctoral degree, he’d already had a lifetime of learning. But growing up in Indiana, his parents instilled in him a strong love of education, and Rathgaber felt the obligation as a CEO to be the best possible leader he could be.

Dean Yohnk he knew when he came to Viterbo in 1982 that he wanted to become a theatre arts and English teacher himself. He became that and more, a much honored college professor and administrator in a career that saw him teaching at Viterbo from 1992-2001.

Linsie (Sanger) Clements ’08, a labor and delivery nurse at Gundersen Health System, has a strong sense that she is right where she is supposed to be, and that comes from a sense of openness to new paths. After first specializing in cardiac care, Clements switched to labor and delivery with a passion for supporting the birth process and helping parents going through the grief she had when she lost her child.

Ta Her ’19 has had a remarkable journey, from growing up in a poor family in Laos to being on the brink of earning her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Viterbo and becoming a nurse practitioner. A journey this summer for a VUSM class helped put her life’s path into a new perspective.

Debra Murray '90, the driving force behind Viterbo's mental health counseling master's and doctoral degree programs, is retiring after nearly 30 years here, but she's not done helping those who most need it.