When graduating as the class president from Rosary High School (Aurora, IL), she delivered the commencement speech for her classmates. Her leadership abilities and academic successes continue in college, where she will be entering her junior year at Augustana University. She is majoring in Public Health, minoring in Communications. She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society International and the Phi Ro Sorority. Currently, Elise is spending her summer in Mobile, Alabama as a marketing and communication intern at the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute.
Her volunteer activities include Best Buddies, where she assists others with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She also volunteers in the Augustana admissions office and serves as a Eucharistic Minister in her parish church. One of her professors writes: “Elise stands out among her peers due to her enthusiasm for knowledge and her ability to communicate with peers and leaders. She is an extremely attentive and engaged student, and I have always been impressed by her maturity and thoughtfulness.”