Marian student earns recognition for service and leadership

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Katie Pietrosante, a Bloomfield Hills resident and senior at Marian High School, was recently recognized for her commitment to service and leadership at her school and in her community. 

She received the Good Citizen Award from The Piety Hill Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which recognizes students who show valuable qualities such as dependability, service, leadership and patriotism within their community.

At school, Pietrosante is active in various extracurricular activities, representing an interest in a range of topics. She said that when she went to Marian, it was her goal to meet as many friends as possible, so she joined as many clubs as she could.

By doing this she also discovered some new interests.

Her leadership positions include being the co-director of the Marian Mindset Project, and the secretary of the Friends of the Earth club and the National Art Honor Society. Her other extracurriculars include the Marian varsity bowling team, the National Honor Society, the Women’s Empowerment Club and Distributive Education Clubs of America, or DECA.

The Marian Mindset Project is a student-run mental health organization.

“It’s my favorite thing at Marian, for sure,” Pietrosante said. “I put a lot of time and effort into it. It’s a really awesome impact.”

When it comes to her values in leadership, Pietrosante shared that some of them root back to being the youngest of four kids.

“I have three older brothers, so I know what it’s like to be the underdog and always go into their games and being not the best. I think it’s really important to be the kind of leader that includes everyone, regardless of their level of experience or time with something. I think collaborativeness is one of the most important things, but I want to be the leader that anyone can talk to and feel comfortable around. I don’t want to make it more of a superiority complex, but more of just as someone who has a little more knowledge and is here to help you,” Pietrosante said.

Assistant principal Christina Krogh said that the school has the opportunity to nominate a Marian student every year for the award, but what happens after that is out of their hands.

“Katie has been really a standout leader in the building,” Krogh said. Specifically, Krogh noted Pietrosante’s timeliness and excellent communication skills.

 

A passion for history
While there were several qualities they looked for in a student to nominate, she said they were looking for a student with an interest in social studies.

“Her (Pietrosante) interest in that subject area is genuine, and her passion for it is really something that she demonstrates in conversation and in the things that she pursues and in the classes she’s chosen to take,” Krogh said.

Pietrosante said that in her sophomore year, she was in honors United States history with Kristen Roland, who was one of the people who nominated her.

“She absolutely changed my perspective on school, the way she just knew every little thing about history, and it was so utterly amazing to me that I could just ask her a question and she would know the answer, and she gave us a new perspective on it,” Pietrosante said.

Her Junior year, Pietrosante took AP European history with Pat Turner; she said she loves the way he teaches and his class structure.

Pietrosante said going into high school, she would never have expected that history would be her favorite subject.

“Marian has made it my favorite thing to learn about,” Pietrosante said.

 

Future plans
Pietrosante said she is still deciding on where she will be attending college.

She will be majoring in psychology. She is hoping to get a master’s in industrial organizational psychology.