Judy Dominguez (AA ’18)
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration
AA, BBA
When Judy Dominguez started her college search, she took two specific factors into account. First, her family wanted her to stay close to home. She had to pick a college she could commute to from her Chicago neighborhood. Second, she had to rely on scholarships for her studies or find a way to pay out of pocket.
A high school friend Judy admired told her about the college they were attending: Arrupe. Since it was a local institution, it checked off the first item on her college
wishlist. She visited the campus during the application process, and that’s when she realized Arrupe fulfilled her second requirement as well.
“You’ll find the support you need at Arrupe if you ask for it. If you’re unsure, it’s a great place to start.”
“I talked to the staff about the support and structure of Arrupe. They were just so welcoming,” said Dominguez. “People were willing to talk to me about where I saw myself. I knew there was a big community around it, even though it was brand new. This is where I wanted to be.”
At Arrupe, Dominguez’ social life flourished. She has fond memories of being on the Water Tower Campus until 11 p.m., finishing homework with her study group and spending her spring break working on scholarships with friends. “We wanted to see each other be successful, so we pushed each other to that level.”
But Dominguez also found a supportive community in one of Arrupe’s career development initiatives. In 2016, the college partnered with Grant Thornton, one of the largest accounting networks in the world, to offer an apprenticeship program for business majors. Accepted students worked up to 20 hours in their offices, rotating through the audit, tax, and advisory departments and gaining hands-on experience in the field. Dominguez dreamed of breaking into the industry. She applied and began her internship the fall of her sophomore year.
“They were really flexible with our school schedule,” explained Dominguez. “They understood that school came first and allowed us to take time off to study. They were always so open to helping us understand key concepts, too.” She stayed in the program after transferring to the Quinlan School of Business, and through her work in the firm she decided to focus her studies on information systems. Upon graduation, Grant Thornton offered her a full-time role.
Today, Dominguez is an IT internal auditor at Gogo Business Aviation. She plans on obtaining her certification as an information systems auditor in the near future. Her love for Arrupe runs deep, and she’s returned to campus to share her story with current students. “You’ll find the support you need at Arrupe if you ask for it,” Dominguez said. “If you’re unsure, it’s a great place to start. There will be people who encourage you. As long as you seek out those opportunities for help, there are tons of resources for you to figure out what you want to do.”