Beyond La Salle

As Griffiths moves beyond La Salle’s brick walls, she plans on attending the honors college at Oregon State University this fall. She is excited to pursue a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and become a pediatric occupational therapist for kids with disabilities.

“I’ve always had a heart for kids and people that are often thought of as outcasts,” she said. “I know what it feels like to be without friends and be alone [in the world].”

Griffiths wants to be able to teach kids important skills that they are going to need later in life. She also said that she wants to be a friend or support system for kids who need it. Something that is important to Griffiths is being someone who is empowering to others, but more than anything, she wants to be a friend to the kids that she works with.

Aside from her future career, Griffiths wants to join a sorority and cannot wait to meet her future “lifelong sisters.” She also is hopeful that at Oregon State she will meet the man that she will eventually marry.

“[I want to] have the best four years of my life there,” Griffiths said. “[My dad] said, ‘If you think high school rocked your world, wait until you get to college because those are going to be the best four years of your life.’”

For Griffiths, going to Oregon State is special because the university is her father’s alma mater. Mr. Griffiths was also a member of a fraternity, and when she visited his old fraternity house, his name and picture were on the wall.

“I couldn’t have chosen a better school for me,” she said. “When I walked onto campus, I could feel him there. To know that he walked those same grounds and that he was there, it’s so perfect.”

“I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else,” she said.