Meet Lisa Gianturco ’24
Finding Joy Through Purpose
Lisa Gianturco has worked as a chemical engineer. She spent two years living abroad in Singapore. She got married, raised her kids, and saw them off to college. Now, she’s writing her next chapter with Loyola University New Orleans. After earning her master’s degree in pastoral studies this May, she’s one step closer to becoming a board-certified chaplain and pursuing her calling to help others.
“I graduated in 1983 with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering, and I worked for 15 years, I call it, in the rat race. Then I got married and decided it was time to have a family, and I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom,” Lisa explained. “When they got into school, I started doing social justice work volunteering at my church. I realized I had the opportunity to volunteer as a chaplain and then started working and realized what great joy I got from that. I had finally answered what I believed was actually a call to do that.”
Lisa decided that if she would pursue this new career, she wanted to do it right. After consulting with the National Association for Catholic Chaplains, she found that Loyola was listed as an educational partner and would meet all of the requirements to get board certified as a chaplain.
“Within three months, I enrolled with Loyola to get my master's degree with the idea being, if I'm going to be a chaplain, I'm going to approach it professionally just the way I did it in my first career as an engineer,” Lisa said.
Combining Coursework and Life Experiences
After 40 years away from higher education, Lisa had her hesitations about going back to school. But she had also accumulated a wealth of knowledge and life experiences in that time to enrich her studies.
“Yeah, I was concerned, but everyone is so supportive here. My advisor helped me, they're always available to talk and work with you as you get back into that groove. It's just a matter of committing to it because the staff and the teachers here will support you, and they'll work with you,” Lisa said.
From roaming the “stacks” in the library during her undergrad years to exploring digital research databases from home, education has come a long way in those 40 years. But Lisa has embraced the new opportunities for enrichment, with the staff at Loyola there to support her along the way.
“The staff here is phenomenal when it comes to support for distance learning. There's always somebody there that you call on the phone,” Lisa shares. “But it’s kind of opened up that whole world to get in and to have access to all that information and the ability to learn and grow, which is what feeds me.”
More Than Checking a Box
When Lisa first applied to Loyola Online, it was just a box she had to check in her pursuit of her chaplain certification. But through her studies and the relationships she built with faculty and classmates, the pastoral program has grown to mean so much more to Lisa.
“It moved from something that I had to do to something that I really wanted to do,” Lisa explains. “In terms of opening myself up and creating an online community, and developing my faith, and just seeing the world through a whole different lens.”
It’s never too late to pursue your calling. If you’re thinking about going back to school, explore undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs available at Loyola Online. For individual questions and support, connect with an admissions counselor by emailing online@xyschool.net or texting 504-588-6025.