Andrew Mihaly ’13

Andrew Mihaly ’13 says attending Franciscan University allowed him to pursue his undergraduate degree in an environment where he “could truly flourish in my studies, my faith, and my social life.”

Now an athletic director and middle and high school social studies teacher at a private Catholic school, Andrew also coaches various sports teams, and serves as advisor for its chapter of the National Honor Society.

“I landed the exact job I was trained for in my undergrad,” says Andrew.

Being at Franciscan, Andrew says, provided him with “a strong foundation to go out into society to strive to be the best witness I can be to others and serve the Church in the best way I can.”

“Franciscan gave me the opportunity to better myself in such a healthy and well-rounded way while I was an undergraduate,” he says. “It provided me with invaluable experiences and skills that I am applying now and will certainly take with me into whatever challenges and experiences await me in the future.”

Those skills didn’t just come from his classroom experiences. He says his on-campus job in the carpentry shop and his time as a member and coordinator of a household helped prepare him and grow immensely.

As an undergraduate, Andrew also reaped benefits from required fieldwork experiences at schools in the local Steubenville area as well as the Austrian schools abroad. It was experiences like these, he says, that prepared him “extremely well to enter the teaching field and excel immediately.”

“The challenging environment of the larger public schools prepared me well for the smaller setting of a Catholic school,” he says.

Andrew is recently married, and he and his wife, who is also a teacher, hope to start a family soon in New Hampshire.