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Alumni Spotlight: Larissa Nemchik '20
Larissa Nemchik graduated from Pitt-Greensburg in 2020 with a BS in psychology.
What brought you to Pitt-Greensburg?
Growing up I was always a big Pitt fan, especially of Pitt basketball. Pitt-Greensburg was the only college I applied to and was interested in as it was so close to my home and work. In hindsight only applying to one college was probably not the best thing, but it worked out well!
Were you a commuter or a resident?
Resident
What activities were you involved with as a student?
During my freshman year, I commuted to college as I only lived 10 minutes away and worked about six minutes away as a key carrier at a local retail shop, working over 30+ hours a week. I then chose to live on campus with some friends and resided in the Academic Villages. Right before my sophomore year began, I was asked to be a back-up Peer Leader, which really spurred my involvement on campus. Mid-sophomore year I became a Community Assistant (CA) with Residence Life and moved to Westmoreland Hall for the spring semester. I was involved in the Education Club and participated in a few outreach programs like the charity basketball game and painting a high school over Spring Break. I became a Presidential Ambassador. During the spring semester of my sophomore year, I faced an extremely difficult trauma, but I still pushed on with my campus involvement. I stayed on campus as a summer CA where I worked with Residence Life. During summers, I also assisted with a few tours and summer orientations. I worked in Chambers Hall, which I continued to do up until my senior year. I joined numerous clubs and activities, including the Big Brothers Big Sisters Foundation, Psychology Club, Active Minds Club, Habitat for Humanity, Greensburg Experience More (GEM), Emerging Leaders, and probably a few others I’m forgetting. I was involved in Psi Chi, the Leadership and Success Honor Society, and Alpha Phi Sigma. I also was an honorable mention on the homecoming court for two years before becoming Homecoming Queen in 2019. That win really boosted my confidence as I typically am a more quiet and low-key person socially! I attended a Habitat for Humanity Alternative Spring Break trip where we built a house. I received a scholarship to study abroad in Spain over Spring Break 2020, however that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. With all the clubs, honor societies, and leadership roles, I was involved in many different outreach and community support projects over the years that would take much more time to write about!
Did you have a favorite professor, staff member, coach, or mentor that really impacted your life?
When I think of Pitt-Greensburg, there are a few professors and staff members of whom I think so positively. My favorite professors who I still occasionally keep in contact with include Dr. Asplin, Dr. Holler, and Dr. Phillips. These three professors played a huge role in my future as I have dedicated over six years to being a social worker assisting with mental health, developmental disabilities, and the criminal justice system. And although I don’t keep in touch with him, Al Thiel really impacted my push to help others. During my sophomore year a roommate and dear friend and I went through some awful times, and I’ll never forget the kindness and support Al showed us. His support and kindness impacted me probably more than he will ever know.
Of all the classes you took, what is the one class that most impacted you or was your favorite? Why?
The most impactful classes might have been Psychology of Trauma and one children’s class - it might have been Social Foundations of Education. I took these while I was still an education major, and they showed me that education really was not for me. Psychology of Trauma showed me a better path to what I enjoyed - helping others and being resourceful while being very considerate of others’ lives. The class not only helped me understand my own traumas, especially when it was really needed in my early 20s, but it really solidified the field I was interested in and how I could apply different methods to others. I still remember the professor, who was truly incredible, saying “Everyone’s trauma is still a trauma-no matter the labeling of severity.” That thought still sticks with me today and really helps when I face incredibly challenging situations within the social work world.
What do you remember most vividly from your time at Pitt-Greensburg?
The 2019-2020 academic year may have been the biggest rollercoaster of events. I got a concussion while working over the summer. While having a severe concussion, I worked several jobs while going to school full time, was a very involved CA, and was involved in a lot of therapy and treatment. Yet despite all of that, Robertshaw staff made every crazy moment memorable. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that cancelled our last study abroad opportunities, the ResLife staff kept things so positive and fun-specifically my last residence life staff I was on. Almost every night, even when we weren’t expected to be on duty and active in the hall, all of us were typically together for some of the night. We had such great times together even when we were just sitting on our phones for hours making random vocal stims from TikToks or sayings. The 2019-2020 Robertshaw hall staff are some of my favorite memories that make me think of Pitt- Greensburg. It’s also notable to mention that in the fall of 2019, I adopted Gracie, who became my Emotional Support Animal in my dorm. Gracie was super comforting for the residents and other CAs. Having an ESA on campus wasn’t wildly common, and there was without a doubt some deterrents around her residency, but Gracie is still my best buddy to this day, and she helped get me through the most wild year of my college life!
What have you been up to since graduation?
During virtual learning in the spring of 2020, I was working full-time as a security officer at a hospital, where I met my soon-to-be husband while chatting away about our criminal justice class readings we were both learning about in our last few weeks of college. I then began working as a Targeted Case Manager and Intellectual Developmental Disabilities Support Coordinator at WCSI in Greensburg. In 2022, my partner got accepted to the University of Cincinnati for a Criminal Justice Masters program, so in July 2022 we packed up and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, I have been working as a Service and Support Administrator with Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services in Cincinnati. I got engaged in December 2024 and will be getting married to the love of my life this fall back in Westmoreland County. We have rescued a few cats, and anyone who remembers me from Pitt-Greensburg knows that was something that I dreamed of having.
How did your experiences and education at Pitt-Greensburg prepare you for life after college?
Looking back at things now, being involved in Residence Life, Peer Leaders, and other clubs really helped prepare me for the social work I do today. Case management can be complex and fast paced, where having multi-tasking skills and knowledge of resources plays a big part every single day. Aside from the knowledge in my many psychology and criminal justice classes that assisted in general knowledge, knowing how to talk to others, keeping confidential information while also being a mandated reporter, and understanding social cues and the diversity of communities while also learning about empathy couldn’t have prepared me better for what I do now! I can still think of different lessons and class material that apply to my work today-aside from some math classes as I have never had to think about some of the equations I leaned. I was able to learn time management very early on, along with administrative tasks, utilizing power point/excel, and many other skills.
As an alum, how do you stay engaged with Pitt-Greensburg?
It’s difficult at times to support Pitt-Greensburg from out of state and as life has gotten more hectic, but I’ve reached out to professors and staff to share resources or job opportunity details to share with current students.
What advice do you have for your fellow Bobcats?
Even when you’re drained and exhausted from daily routines of classes or part-time work, join the clubs. Participate in different activities, go to the job fair, go to the assumed boring meeting for a club or honor society-even when you’d rather go nap. I can’t even begin to count how many times I considered skipping things and was super glad at the end of a meeting or event that I attended. Take advantage of any activity or opportunity that is offered because I met some of my best friends from them and wouldn’t be where I am today had I not pushed myself to check things out. It sounds sappy, but I do believe I was given so many opportunities just by showing up somewhere.
For fun:
What is your favorite food?
My favorite food is probably a turkey sub with Doritos layered on top - something I would regularly get from the Bobcat’s Subway! I still think about the food in the Bobcat when I am on a run, and kinda miss it to today!
List 3-5 fun facts about yourself that most people probably wouldn’t know.
- I entered Pitt-Greensburg as a freshman with two high school golf scholarships.
- I was a CA for 7 semesters despite getting hired on for Spring 2018 semester. My senior year, I was told I might not graduate on time due to a brain injury. I managed
to take 18 credits including my senior capstone class, continued all my extracurricular clubs/honor societies/community volunteer work, worked two part-time jobs along with being a CA, went to 3 different therapies off campus for recovery, somehow had a social life AND managed to graduate cum laude on time. I was also working 50-60 hours a week during the last few weeks of the spring 2020 semester. - I attended my sister’s lavish wedding in India, where I visited the Taj Mahal and even met some of the few descendants who built the Taj Mahal, and they gifted me with a stone elephant that they inlaid as part of a demonstration.