amy-liesemeyer
SCHOOL OF CONTINUING AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Amy Liesemeyer
Hometown: Tuscon, Arizona
Major: Business Management, Organizational Development & Leadership
Expected date of graduation: 2022
Amy Liesemeyer’s journey to Loyola was an unconventional one. Homeschooled her entire life, Amy worked on ranches as a wrangler in her young adulthood before feeling called to pursue higher education. After first attending a community college in Oregon, Amy landed at Loyola, and, in her words, “so began the rest of my life.”
Amy is a hardworking, empathetic lover of learning who exemplifies the Jesuit values in all that she does. She leads inside and outside the classroom with a gentle demeanor and believes service is best practiced through small everyday gestures.
Here, Amy shares the important lessons she’s learned at Loyola and how she will infuse them into the rest of her life.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from your time at Loyola?
Something that has been a recurring idea for me has been that no matter what your title is, no matter what you’re doing in life, you are a leader and should practice and exemplify the values of a good leader. That has been a very powerful lesson. I’ve always had a bit of a natural leadership in me. I remember as a kid, all of my peers would unanimously say, “Amy, you’re in charge.” I'd never asked for it. It was always the weirdest thing, just how my peers gravitated to me, looked to me for guidance, and treated me as a confidant.
My time at Loyola has reinforced the idea that whether you have the natural abilities or not, you have the responsibility to be a good leader, no matter where you are in life. In your personal life, at work, or at school, you have to exemplify the values that you believe in and be a leader for the change you want to see in the world.
What are you planning to do with your degree? How has Loyola prepared you for your future goals?
Loyola has changed my life and helped me go after my dreams and the things that I’ve really wanted in life. It’s all been possible because of a beautiful community of support, kindness, and caring for the whole person. Loyola has given me the foundation from which I’ll build the rest of my life, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.
I see myself finding work that is meaningful and has a positive impact on other people’s lives. I have truly felt cared for as a person throughout my time at Loyola, and I want to give that feeling back in my work. My passions really lie within conservation, care for the environment, global awareness, and social responsibility. I see myself working in one of those realms and hopefully making an impact that goes beyond myself—beyond my lifetime—and doing something meaningful and good for this world.
I think with my nontraditional background and being self-taught, I learned how to learn, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop. I’m a very curious person. I know I can always be and do better. I think the next step might be an MBA. Or, like I said, something that has to do with conservation. I would go and get a doctorate if there were something that aligned with my interests. I’ve always dreamed of being highly educated. Loyola is the first step in making that dream come true.
Read more medallion winner stories
