There's More to Ally K than Chester Boots

Hey!  I’m writing to you about another one of our awesome LVC Colleagues Ally Kruzansky!

Standing in a telephone booth in London!

Just as a little background of who she is, Ally was born and raised in Brookfield, CT (only and 1 hour and 15 minutes south of UConn!).  Her full name is actually Alicia, but in third grade she wanted to be cool and have a nickname…so she made up the nickname Ally for herself!  Her younger sister is just as smart I guess because she also decided to attend UConn (and is only two years younger).  When Ally was deciding on colleges, she wanted a larger school that had a bunch of different majors (entered unsure if she would stick with her original major of Communications) and a lot of different opportunities.  The deal breaker when looking at different schools was whether it had a Hillel and that it was close to home.  Once she received all of her acceptances from schools that fit this criteria, UConn was the highest caliber choice!  As a result, she decided to attend the accepted student Open House and fell in love (even though her initial visit to the University was bad weather and she didn’t have a great first impression).

As I said, she initially came in as a Communications major but then after taking a general education course in Communication Disorders, she decided to switch her major!  Her favorite classes at UConn have been all of her communication disorder classes, mainly because they focus on applicable material that can be applied to many different populations of people.  Not only did these classes help convince her of the switch, but she also wanted a major that would lead to a solid, well-paying career where she would be able to help people on a daily basis and had a tangible purpose! With this degree, she hopes to go on to graduate school to become a speech pathologist (which I think she will excel at once she is in the field!).

Ally and some of her sorority sisters

A common theme that I got from Ally when talking to her was that everything she does, she wants it to have an impact on somebody (which is reflected through all of the different activities).  When she came to UConn as a freshman, one of her favorite activities was attending the Involvement Fair and signed up for WAY to many clubs.  She “loves being surrounded by people all the time” and said she had to join a bunch of different clubs to get her daily dose of attention (sorry Ally I had to put this in!).  Initially joining SUBOG (Student Union Board of Governors) and working on different PR related activities, she later stopped participating so that she would be able to hold more leadership roles.

Those oysters didn't stand a chance

Ally is all about meeting new people, she ended up joining a wide variety of activities in order to establish multiple friend groups.  She started doing a lot with Community Outreach her sophomore year participating in an alternative spring break trip to Washington DC  focusing on Women, Children and Politics.  In addition, she joined a learning community and lived in EcoHouse for two years; not only this, but she led another alternative break trip with EcoHouse down to Florida to assist with the BP oil spill cleanup by bagging fossilized oysters and putting them in the water (since they naturally filter the oil out of the ocean water).  Lastly, she became a sister of AEPhi (just like colleague Jessica Anavim who I also interviewed!) because she wanted to continue expanding her friend network, but also to participate in an organization that was nationwide where people had the same values and morals as she did (which is a pretty high standard it seems).  Oh, did I mention she is also an all-star tour guide?

As a senior this year though, she decided to live off campus so that she could learn how to pay her own bills, cook and have more independence in a place she could call “home.”  She lives there with one of her sorority sisters in AEPhi and a friend she met in EcoHouse, along with their kitten Chester Boots.  According to Ally, he’s their bundle of joy that they mostly throw around like a toy (kidding or is it kitting?)!

Chester Boots: Kitten and Playtoy

Overall though Ally has loved every second of her UConn experience and is extremely glad she chose this school as her home for the past four years.   I asked her if there was anything she has on her Senior Bucket List before May, but she said she’s “done it all…time for me to go.”  Before she walks on stage to get her diploma though, she does want to make sure that she had tried every Dairy Bar ice cream flavor and make a half court shot at a basketball game (she’s got secret connections I guess).  Also she wants to climb to the top of Gampel?  So I guess if we see her name in the Police Blotter for getting arrested for trespassing and disturbance of the peace, we will know why!