Many thanks to the alumni and friends of Padua Franciscan High School who spent the morning with our sophomores for Career Conference Day.
Ken Smith ’03 delivered a keynote speech to kick off the event on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
In his address, Smith outlined his own journey from Padua student to University of Dayton graduate who then enlisted in the United States Army. After completing his service, which included deployments overseas, Smith entered the field of cybersecurity and continues that work to this day.
His final point of emphasis in the speech was “You won’t have it all figured out at 18, and that’s okay. Curiosity, resilience and flexibility are greater than rigid plans.”
Our presenters included:
- Rachel (Teron) DeGirolamo ’02 (Journalism)
- Justin Dzik ’01 (Engineering)
- Tina Dzik ’01 (Accounting)
- Christopher Harris (Forensics)
- Steve Kulikowski ’97 (Finance)
- Emily Kuznik ’17 (Marketing)
- Alyssa Lizzini ’18 (Studio Arts)
- Judge Sherrie Miday (Law)
- Joe Morel (Programming)
- Lisa Oswald (Entrepreneurship)
- Nicole (Grisak) Patton ’04 (Physical/Occupational Therapy)
- Tiffany Peets (Mental Health)
- Ptl. Jess Robertson and Ptl. Kyle Shoemaker (Law Enforcement)
- Anthony Scarcella ’99 (Military)
- Rebecca Simna (Education)
- Ken Smith ’03 (Cybersecurity)
- Kelly (Mason) Trouten ’05 (Law)
- Andrea (Elsasser) Von Der Vellen ’00 (Nursing)
- Katherine Watts (Non-Medical Careers in Medicine)
