Staci Banaszek
Harborcreek, Pa.
Class of 2006
B.A. Accounting
Class of 2006
B.A. Accounting

I got offered scholarships at two other colleges to do track and field there, but I chose Penn State Behrend without an athletic scholarship, and looking back I would not have had it any other way!

Woman on the run: A four-year track standout and team captain, Staci holds the college record in long, triple, and high jump. She earned All-Eastern College Athletic Conference honors each year, is an NCAA qualifier, and was this year’s recipient of the college Female Athlete of the Year award and Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Faculty Athletic Representative award.

Staci also helped organize community service opportunities for athletes, and captained a walking team to benefit Crohn’s disease research. “Two of our track team members have been diagnosed with Crohn’s, and we wanted to show our support.”

Why Behrend?: “It sounds corny, but ‘small college, big degree.’ You have that Penn State degree and reputation with a smaller community full of wonderful people. You are not just a number, and you know a lot of people around campus, although there are always those people you’ve never seen before, too.

“I got offered scholarships at two other colleges to do track and field there, but I chose Penn State Behrend without an athletic scholarship, and looking back I would not have had it any other way! Coach Dave Cooper and all the members of the track team have been such a big part of my life. Never have I met such great people—everyone go along and we were like a family.

“I was also involved in intramurals—Rob Wittman, the intramural director, has made intramurals such a huge thing at Behrend, and my junior year I received the Female Intramural Athlete of the Year award. I won’t lie…one of the best things about intramurals, besides playing all the different sports with your friends, is the t-shirt you get when you win.”

Meet Virginia: Staci is taking her accounting degree and 3.89 grade-point average to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where her fiancé, Shane Rock, who also graduated from Behrend this spring, found an electrical engineering position. She hopes to obtain her certified public account license there.

“Public accounting requires good relationships with your clients, and Behrend has given me the opportunity to meet so many new, great people. I have become more confident in myself and more eager to meet new people and learn more about them as a result.

“Behrend has great accounting professors who really relate the material to ‘the real world’ and give you real-life examples. The have you do outside projects, ones that are close to what you will do in an accounting firm. This helps you understand the material better, and decide if this is what you really want to do for the rest of your life.”

Staci’s picks:

Book: Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. “I also enjoyed all the Harry Potter books.”

Movie: Dumb and Dumber. “I laugh every time I watch this movie! It has such great one-liners.”

Music: “I love country songs and artists. They are so fun and out there. ‘She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy’…who sings about that? It’s great!”

On my iPod: “I think I am the only person on Earth who does not have an iPod.”

Ringtone: “I personalize my ringtones. My gramma and grandpa are Polish, so I have a polka for them. For my fiancé I have ‘My Best Friend’ by Tim McGraw. For Kristen, one of my best friends, I have ‘This One’s for the Girls’ by Martina McBride.”