Katie Derreth joined the Student Success Center as a Graduate Intern for Spring 2022. At the time, she was a second-year graduate student at Penn State University Park getting her M.Ed. in Higher Education with a focus on Student Affairs. Katie also served as a Graduate Assistants in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life where she coaches a few chapters and co-advises the Panhellenic Council. She has also previously worked as an intern for Penn State Student Activities, and as a Summer Intern for the Academic Engagement and Transition Programs Office at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Prior to coming to graduate school, Katie graduated from Elizabethtown College in 2017 and then worked in Admission at Albright College for a few years. Katie was very involved at her undergraduate institution serving as an orientation peer mentor, a tour guide, a division 3 swimmer and senior captain, and studied abroad, to name a few. Her experiences at Elizabethtown and in Student Affairs since then have all contributed to her passion of helping and supporting students in any way she is able. Katie had this to say about her experiencing working with the Student Success Center,

"I wholeheartedly recommend working in this office because you get exposed to a lot of different offices, resources, databases, and so much more. I’ve learned so much about what it means to work in higher education and how to support and advocate for students. I gained invaluable skills for my future career in higher education and was able to help make an impact on student’s lives at Penn State. On top of the knowledge I gained in supporting students and learning processes, I felt so supported as a person, student, and worker. The amount of support I had in just the few months I worked here was so amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better office to be a part of!"