By Jim Sheahan
Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing
Casey Witte likes to be thorough and prepared. How thorough?
Well, Bard College women's soccer coach Bill Kelly saw her at a recruiting showcase in Saratoga four years ago and suggested she visit campus. Witte admits she had never heard of Bard.
So she visited. Then she visited again. And
again. And two more times, both overnights.
"Casey had become a regular at our weekend pancake breakfasts, and she wasn't even a Bard student yet," Kelly remembers. "Boy are we glad she came."
Four years later, she's about to leave Annandale, and she's left an indelible mark on campus. She's been a
Peer Counselor, an Admissions tour guide, a player and captain for two varsity programs and a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee officer.
Today, she has a 3.94 GPA and a job waiting for her at
Deloitte, a Washington D.C.-based consulting firm. She starts there as an analyst in October.
"My college counselor was telling me I was going to hate Bard - that it was super artsy," Witte recalls. "So I visited and I loved it. That didn't mesh with what people were telling me, so I kept visiting to be sure. I did two overnights, and that pushed me over the edge and I decided to go to Bard. I just love the people here."
A math major when she arrived, Witte's degree will be in Global & International Studies.
"I took three math classes and realized I hated math, and I changed my major every few days," Witte says with a smile. "I found international relations because of my advisor,
Michelle Murray. I was pretty good at critical reading and writing, and I love history. That's where my love of international relations comes from. Everything has to be put into context, especially with everything that's going on the world lately."
An internship in New York City two years ago with the
Bard Globalization & International Affairs program, followed by an internship with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., this past summer, built her resume and experience to the point where she could get Deloitte's attention.
"
Jim Ketterer suggested I apply for the internship with the State Department because of my interest in the public diplomacy side of things," Witte says. "I really didn't think I was going to get it. I had to write a personal statement, then the full application, then another essay, and I submitted it at 11:57 p.m. with a midnight deadline."
She was in class when she got an e-mail telling her that she would be the only intern of the Policy, Planning and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs office. She shared an apartment in D.C. with other state department interns and worked from the beginning of June until Bard's soccer preseason in mid-August.
"One of the things that surprised me was just how bureaucratic it is," Witte says. "It's amazing anything can get done. But I learned that positivity can go a long way in a job like that, and when I got the job at Deloitte, it was nice to hear that my personality was part of it. I want to change things, and being positive is one easy way to do that."
Witte played soccer and lacrosse for four years, becoming captain of the women's lacrosse squad, and even filled in on the basketball team when roster issues created a need for new players. She has reveled not only in the camaraderie of being part of athletic teams, but in her roles as a Peer Counselor and Admission tour guide as well.
"I love getting excited about things and talking to people, and I love helping people," Witte said. "I love how intellectually pushed I am at Bard. The professors have pushed me in a way I didn't think was possible, and they really care about your growth as a student."
She doesn't seem particularly impressed with her 3.94 GPA, explaining her academic performance by stating simply, "Do your work."
"If I didn't play two sports, I probably would have gotten bored," she adds. "I love being active. When I'm stressed out I want to run or go shoot a lacrosse ball into a lacrosse net. It created a way for me to really refine my time management skills."
Her plan is to establish her career in D.C., then maybe go abroad with the Peace Corps, with the eventual goal of becoming a foreign service officer. It'll be bittersweet when she leaves Annandale.
"I'll remember lacrosse practices in the snow ... the long bus rides ... I've just met the greatest people and I'll never forget them," Witte says. "I just have so many great memories."
