Student athlete wins Outstanding Graduate Senior Award

Double major Lissa Regets is graduating from both ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with outstanding graduate awards. She also happens to excel in a decidedly "unbusinesslike" area: javelin throwing.

As a walk-on athlete on the ASU women’s track and field team, Regets set a javelin record in her sophomore year and went on to participate on several championship ASU teams. As a journalism and business student she has maintained a high GPA and has been named W. P. Carey’s spring 2010 Turken Family Outstanding Graduating Senior and the Cronkite School’s Outstanding Graduate Award winner.

And while those achievements might seem a bit incongruous, they highlight the range of accomplishments attained by Regets, a self-described “passionate, dedicated and enthusiastic individual” who boasts a resume that is filled with professional experience, internships and leadership roles in various ASU and community programs.

Regets will graduate this month with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance with a certificate in international business from the W. P. Carey School and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism with an emphasis in public relations and strategic media from the Cronkite School.

Reared in a single-parent, blended family, Regets was forced to learn adult responsibility and help support her family at a young age after her mother suffered severe and unexpected medical problems.

“Realizing that education opens the door of opportunity, I was determined to set a new example for those around me and become the first person in my family to graduate with a college degree,” Regets says.

Because her mother was unable to contribute to the cost of her ASU education, Regets relied heavily on scholarships, federal aid and paychecks from a variety of part-time jobs she held throughout college. She also has a passion for involvement and has been able to successfully balance extracurricular activities, Division I athletic competition and more than one work schedule.

After graduation, Regets will spend the summer working for the U.S. Embassy in Macedonia. She plans to attend graduate school in the fall to study international business management and aspires to work in strategic consulting.

Written by Hal Mattern
Director of Communications
W. P. Carey School of Business
Arizona State University
hal.mattern@asu.edu
(480) 965-5577