As you look around at the school where you have chosen to spend the next four years, ask youself what was it that drew you here? It might be the beauty of the campus, the sense of community, the athletics, or the school’s reputation and academics.

Whatever your reason may be, chances are it was one or more of those same qualities that caused Quinnipiac graduates to remain at the university to receive their educations.

Few college students are able to envision spending the rest of their lives at their university. Most of them want to graduate within their four-year plan, get out and get on with their lives.

However, some knew from the moment that they set foot on the Quinnipiac campus, that it was a unique place that they wanted to be a part of forever.

Al Carbone, Marla Buono and Maura Coppola are just three of the surprising number of Quinnipiac alumni who have continued their professional careers at the same school from which they received their college degree.

The three agree that there is strong sense of community at Quinnipiac that attracts both students and staff to the campus. It is also the reason why they could not bring themselves to leave once they had graduated.

Al Carbone, who is now the Associate Dean of Admissions, has, in a sense, never left Quinnipiac. He began his career at Quinnipiac immediately after receiving his degree in marketing from the university.

As a student, Carbone knew he wanted to someday work at Quinnipiac. He remembers thinking to himself, “what a great place to work.”

Carbone was right in trusting his instincts, because he now is able to say, “I love my job.”

The love for his job reflects in Carbone’s pride of how far the university has come. He is eager to rave about the school he represents.

“The academics are excellent, the facilities are outstanding, the quality of our applicant pool is becoming increasingly more competitive and the rating of the university has also steadily increased,” he says.

Similarly, Marla Buono is now the Assistant Director of Career Programs. As a student she double majored in computer science and finance. Ironically, she never used the Career Services resources as a student, but she always knew that she wanted to work at Quinnipiac.

“The sense of family and community is the main reason why I’ve always loved Quinnipiac,” says Buono.

She also attributes the beauty of the campus to Quinnipiac’s appeal.

Buono says that she has witnessed huge changes and seen the university change for the positive in a large way, but the overall beauty and atmosphere has remained in tact.

Maura Coppola, now the Administrative Coordinator for the Department of Nursing, received both her undergraduate degree in Diagnostic Imaging and her graduate degree in Health Care Administration from Quinnipiac.

“While the university has grown immensely since my time here as a student, it has kept its uniqueness and remains a wonderful place both to study and to work”, Coppola says.

“Additionally, students are able to have a relationship with faculty and staff that most other universities can’t offer,” Coppola adds.

“Quinnipiac has grown to be large enough in academia, but remained small enough in terms of closeness of community.”

Coppola also says that Quinnipiac has become a more recognized name in recent years.

She accredits Quinnipiac’s polling institute, as well as its enriched programs in undergraduate, graduate and healthcare programs for this new awareness.

“I can now wear my Quinnipiac apparel down in Florida and people will come up to me with a story about their personal affiliation with the university,” says Coppola.

“It’s amazing how much Quinnipiac has grown.”