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[Music] Hello Blue Jays and welcome to the nest stories about life after Manor College. I am your host Kelly Peiffer vice president of marketing communications and this is the best part of my day. My hope is that this podcast will encourage, inform, and inspire you, making you feel like at Manor College you belong here always. Before we get to today's guest, it is time for a segment of the show I like to call did you know? Betsy Ross is known for sewing the first American flag and Betsy Ross spent some

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time here on Manor's campus. So Betsy Ross was married three times and had seven daughters between those three marriages. Most interesting to Manor College is that Betsy Ross was connected to the Satterwhite family through her daughter Susanna. Susanna married William Satterwhite and the Satterwhite's property stood on where the future of the mother house for the sisters of St. Basil the Great would eventually be. A mother house is essentially like the convent of where the sisters live. So Betsy Ross lived

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with her married daughter Susanna right here in Jenkintown in what we call the Yellow House. The Yellow House is still a current standing building today. It is just a few hundred feet away from where I'm sitting. It's on the sister's property. The yellow house is where Manor College initially started in 1947 with 11 students taking classes right in that yellow house. So, back to Betsy Ross. In 1827, when Betsy Ross was 75 years old, she moved in with her daughter Susanna in this yellow house.

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And it is believed that Betsy Ross spent the remainder of her life here in Jenkintown in the Yellow House. She passed at the age of 84 in 1836. So there you go. Manor College has some connection to an American icon. Pretty cool. Philly fans, get ready. Join Manor College alumni and friends night at Citizens Bank Park. July 19th, Saturday night, 2025. We are cheering on the Phillies against the Los Angeles Angels. Plus, kids 14 and under get a free Brandon Marsh jersey giveaway. All friends and family of Manor College are

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invited. Get your tickets at manor.edu/alumni/phillies. Go Phils. Today we have a truly special guest. We are thrilled to welcome Hatboro PA native having attended Upper Moreland High School before coming to Manor College. Our guest today earned an associate of science degree in business medical secretarial from Manor in 1987 after transferring from a community college. While at Manor, they were an active member of the Pacers Club. After graduating, they continued their education at Gwynedd Mercy University

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and today they are the proud executive director of the St. Raymond Nonnatus Foundation. Please give a warm welcome to an Anne DeSantis. Hi Anne. Hi, Kelly. It's great to be here with you. Thank you for inviting me. Well, thank you for being with us. It's always good to see you and to talk to you and kind of hear about what's going on in your life. You're always pretty busy and doing a lot of different things. So, it's good to hear that we'll hear about that a little bit later on.

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But, can you start me off with how did you first find Manor College? How did you hear about it? I have to give my mother the credit. She was the one that told me about Manor. As you said during the intro, I was attending a community college in the area and I was thinking about transferring because I I was basically wanting to get into a different career aside from what I had originally started the community college for. And so that's how it all came about. I love that. Give mom the credit. That's

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that's awesome. It's so funny. the more alumni I talk to, the more that like that similar um story comes up. A lot of moms particularly are really influential in the college search and the college decision. So, shout out to all the moms out there who um are kind of helping their their kids find their way. So, what was it like being a Manor student and kind of take us back, what were you involved with? Can can you explain what the Pacers Club was and um just kind of what was your Manor time

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like? My Manor time was amazing and what I liked the most about it was the community and my classes were just amazing. Wonderful professors, wonderful instructors. And at the time it's a program that's not one that you're offering anymore because it's kind of an obsolete one. I guess it was a medical secretarial but a business degree really an associate degree in business and I was one of those students who did work as well. So I was there during the day but I had a job in the evening because I

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was a commuter. I live in the I lived in the area. I lived as you said in Hatboro Pennsylvania and I was involved in the Pacers club. I didn't have a whole lot of extra time to be involved in lots of other clubs and activities, but the Pacers club was fun and exciting. I got to meet some great people and we helped to organize some wonderful events on campus. So, that that was really a great memory for me. Oh, that's cool. So, it was like um like a student activities club almost. It was an activities club for sure.

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You know what? We still have I mean that still exists today. We still have um it's called CAB. It's campus activities board and they're a group of students who get together and they help plan student activities like um every year in February we have like a blue jay ball. It's like a dance. They help plan the dance and they decorate and they promote and sell tickets and um they sell concessions at our basketball games which I know is pretty popular but like the same idea students planning events

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and having like the business aspects in it. Um that's really cool. That's really awesome. I also loved how you said that, you know, Manor was like this kind of like small small community for you and it was really embraced you and you came from a community college so that you know that was different. Community colleges are bigger and um tend to be overwhelming. So, I'm glad that you found Manor to be kind of what you're looking for. But it's so funny. You know, your story is is very relatable

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today. I mean, most of our students work, most of them work full-time, they commute. A lot of them come from other institutions and they transfer to Manor. So, like those kind of same pathways to college are still very, very relevant. Where did you work when you were a student? I worked in offices. is there were a couple different offices that I worked in, doctor's offices, and it really lined right up with what I was in school for, because what I was interested in was getting involved in working in uh

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the medical field and medical offices. And so, it really just lined right up with what my mission was at the time. But, of course, it grew over time. And uh as you said, I did go on to get the bachelor's degree from uh another university and continue my education actually which is a beautiful thing. Uh in 2021 I got a master's degree and then believe it or not this past year I actually finished with a doctoral degree in Catholic theology which really helps with what I do now as an executive

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director for a nonprofit. Yeah. Oh my goodness. I love that. I love it when I hear about alumni who like got their foundational start at Manor and then kept going. Um, education is such a powerful tool. No one can ever take it from you. So, it's just so great when I hear stories about. So, congratulations to you, Ann. That's awesome. What an achievement and what a what just like great perseverance like I'm going to keep going. I'm going to get a doctorate. the the stats of people

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who have doctorates, particularly women, is is pretty low still. So, it's always really impressive when you see anyone getting a doctorate, especially women. So, congratulations to you. That's wonderful. Thank you very much. Yeah. Can you kind of tell us what was so after you graduated um with your bachelor's kind of what was your career path and what did what did you go into? Well, thank you. I was very inspired by my instructors at Manor and also at the university I went to after I was

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finished there with my bachelor's degree and I became interested in teaching. I've always loved people. I've always loved instructing. It was something that really was an interest of mine and I loved my classes and I really learned a lot by observing some of my teachers. Uh one of my teachers at Manor was just amazing and she was one of my primary instructors when I was there was Esther Goldman. So, make a shout out to Esther. She's retired at this point, but uh she really did have a big impact on me. Uh

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and then at there was also at the time the guidance counselor at Manor, her name was I believe it was Marylou Delysia. She was also amazing and she was the one that she could see in me that I wasn't finished with schooling when I finished at Manor that I had this thirst and desire to want to go on to get the bachelor's degree. Um I I was able to get a scholarship from Manor, which was amazing that Manor gave me a scholarship to attend um the next university that I went to and and I was successful and

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finished there. Got the bachelor's degree and I was teaching. I in fact um to make a long story short, I was an instructor right across the street at what is no longer there, but St. Basil Academy. I was a business instructor there for a few years and after that time I wound up uh having a family. I have two wonderful daughters now a grandmother as well and uh I was home for a number of years. In fact um I actually was a homeschooling mother. I homeschooled my kids and got back into the workforce once they were around in

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high school. and I've been working for this uh Catholic nonprofit now as the executive director for almost eight years where we make pastoral outreach to families in crisis. It's called the St. Raymond Nonnatus Foundation for Freedom, Family, and Faith. And so that's what I've been doing over the years, over these last, you know, eight years or more um involved in in in that nonprofit world and doing some other things, too, because I'm actually a Catholic author and speaker. I'm with

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the Catholic Speakers Organization. Uh I've written some books. In fact, uh if anyone wants to learn about some of the books that I've written, you can just go to my website. It's andantis.com. Learn a little bit more about what I've done in addition to working for the nonprofit. Oh wow. Well, thank you so much for what a like a rich um description of you and your career. And I mean, what great like the word that comes to mind was service. like what great service to your community, to your family. I mean,

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staying home and being a working, you know, a homeschool mom, and that is service all over the place. Um, and then getting back into the career field, working at a nonprofit, helping pastors, helping families in crisis. I mean, that it's so wonderful to hear that, um, you're giving, you're just giving back in so many ways, and I think that's really encouraging and inspiring. Um, can you tell me a little bit about the foundation and what are maybe some of the um, you know, things that you would

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like to share about it or what's maybe some projects you're currently working on right now? Oh, I really appreciate that and thank you so much for your kind words. I really do owe so much to Manor and those beginnings because uh, I think that what I learned at Manor just was such a foundation for everything in my life. So I just thank Manor in so many ways. My instructors, it just of the sisters, the staff, it was just fantastic. Um the foundation that I work for actually it's called as again St. Raymond Nonnatus

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Foundation. It was founded by a Catholic religious order. They're called the Mercedarian Religious Order located in West Philadelphia. And what we do is we make free pastoral outreach to as I mentioned uh individuals and families in crisis. So, it could be anything from a relationship crisis, maybe something to do with um a a divorce or separation, job loss, trauma, loss of a loved one, health crisis, all those things that people go through. People can reach out to us and get a free appointment with

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one of our priests. We also have a prayer intention line where people can go to the website. The website is nois.org. We have a a confidential prayer intention page that people can send those in and our priests and brothers are always praying just as I know the sisters at St. Basil always keeping everyone in their prayers too. And that was another part of Manor that I really love was just the interaction with the sisters as well. And uh and so that's what I do. I I I try to help people help people who are going through

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challenging times through the work at the foundation and we do a lot of retreats in the area. Um, another thing we're doing which I'm really excited about is we have an Italy pilgrimage coming up in November. You asked about projects or things that are going on. Um, that's an exciting thing that we're doing at the end of this year, November 3rd to 13th. Somebody wants to learn about that. It's on my website andantis.com or the other website that I just mentioned, nonazis.org. Thanks for

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asking. Oh, wow. That that's great. So, it sounds like you help people then help people. you know what I mean? You're giving um as a foundation executive director, you're giving tools and resources to those who then can go out and actually serve and help. Um what a great gift. What a what a great mission that is. I love that. Um a question that I've been asking our guests as of lately is asking for them to like debunk a myth or a misconception about um something that they're involved

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with. And I think for for you a a good one might be like what is a myth or misconception about um people of the Catholic faith and and something that you want to debunk that maybe people assume is true but you are someone who obviously um knows the Catholic faith very very well um that you can kind of debunk for us. Well, let's look at what the word Catholic means. it means universal and the Catholic faith is concerned for not just Catholics, for everyone. Um so those prayer requests that we get, you

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know, could be for anybody that's watching or listening right now. Um we care. Um as we as we know, I mean, we just lost Pope Francis, but we have new Pope, Pope Leo I 14th. Um already I'm just very excited about his charism and what he offers. And uh Pope Francis was also wonderful. So many of us just love him and miss him. Um but uh Pope I think Pope Leo the 14th is also doing an amazing job so far. I mean he's brand new. We're getting to know him day by day. Um but just keep in mind, you know, that

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the church is there for the world. The human family, we're all part of the human family. Uh I think the Sisters of St. Basil, the way that they opened their doors um in a way of offering education in the community both at the college level and when St. Basil Academy was in existence for so many years. It was amazing for me to be involved in working there and uh and also a graduate of Manor. I'm just so proud of both. Um, and looking forward to the future and and also just I I love to

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continue to tell people about Manor and and what Manor has done for me in my life and and thank the Sisters of St. Basil, which actually they really did help me in so many ways, even with my faith as well. So grateful to them. Yeah. Oh, that's great. I love I love kind of the idea of like it's part of the human family. It's universal. It's not just for quote unquote Catholics. It's for everybody. Is there any um any plans in any of your works to meet Pope Leo I 14th? Is that going to

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happen at some point, do you think, or not sure? Well, you're giving me a chance to say this publicly. I want to meet Pope Leo the 14th. I'd absolutely love to. The good news is when we go to Italy at the end of this year, November 3rd to 13th through Trinity Tour travels, by the way, if you want to look that up, um we will be in the Wednesday audience of Pope Leo the 14th, meaning that every Wednesday the Pope, you know, has an audience where people can go and get a blessing, listen um listen to his

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homily. So, I think that uh or whatever he's offering that day, his he gives a speech in front of thousands of people. So really looking forward to that. And I won't be meeting him in person, but um I sure hope I do someday. It would be a wonderful experience. Oh yeah. And he's uh you know he's got some Philadelphia roots that you know everyone knows being a Villanova Villanova guy. So it's really cool. Really cool. I hope that happens for you an and um certainly we'll be following

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along closely if and if and when it does. Um I just want to touch on you know you talked about you taught over at St. Basil's Academy, which every day, um, you know, our campus sits directly across the street from it. And every day they're getting construction. It looks like a, you know, complete construction scene, huge, you know, bulldozers and excavators and things. And it's sad. It's it's sad to to see something that was um such a core to our mission, the sister's mission, um,

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being gone. But at the same time, you know, you think about it, you reflect upon it, and you think what a great legacy it had. It was it was there for a very long time. It served and and taught so many um young women, and they're all out in the world still living through that that mission that they learned at SBA. So, I I have hope and faith that those girls are out there doing awesome things in the world and they they stay in touch with each other and it's just always good to um connect

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with anyone from SBA and kind of hear their their stories as well. Um and then, you know, it is also good to know that the sisters are going to be okay because they are able to um they're able to sell, you know, part of their their their property and that's going to drive their mission longer and forward and they're going to be okay because of that. So that does give me some peace um when we're seeing, you know, buildings being bulldozed and um they took out all their beautiful ch they used to have

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cherry blossoms lining this entire walkway and they they pulled those out as like one of the first things they did and a bunch of us were out there watching it and taking pictures and it was it was sad, you know. It was really sad. Oh, I I understand. And in fact, I want to make a shout out for anybody who might be watching. I'm still connected with quite a few of my students when I was there on Facebook and that's a real joy to watch them and see them grow over the years. Um, and there is a

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Facebook group too for those who attended. I'm part of that group even though I wasn't a student but I'll tell you when you're a teacher there it's you get that experience a full experience of the school and it the close-knit um celebrating our faith together. It was just a absolutely fantastic experience for me. I will never forget u and I know that the people who are connected those different classes you know I was there in the early 90s and I can tell you that I can see that they

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are still a lot of them are still in touch and that's really what's important isn't it? They're just keeping those f those bonds. It's like a family bond that they have together as a graduate of St. Basil Academy or as an instructor like I was. Yeah. Yeah. It's cool. I I had the opportunity to coach over at St. Basil's for a few years for field hockey and lacrosse and it was a great it was a great gig for me. I got to I got to leave work, you know, at 3:00 or 3:30 every day and go coach for a few

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hours and it was really really cool and unique um for me to be able to to do that and and meet the girls and and work with them. So that was really special. So definitely holds a special place in my heart as well. Um, Ann, I guess I want to ask you, you know, what what advice would you have for um college students of today who are, you know, maybe hopefully they're at Manor or maybe they're high school students thinking about college and where they should go? Um, what advice would you

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share with them kind of from what you've learned in your in your life? Well, from what I've learned in my life is that it's not where you start, it's where you end. But that that start that I had at Manor really contributed to where I am today. Um when I was in high school and by bringing up that little quote there, I'm talking about when I was in high school, I honestly wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. I was one of those kids and that happens quite a quite a lot I

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think in life is that uh did I want to go straight to work? Um I went to community college but I was very unsure of myself. I was not really convinced that the direction that I was taking at the very beginning at community college was where I belonged. And I know that one of your taglines is that that that you belong here, right? There's something to that effect. And that is exactly what Manor did for me. It really gave me that um foundation as I use that word before because like I said, it's

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not where you start, it's where you end. When I was in high school, I didn't know where I was going. And I never would have guessed that decades later that I'd be where I am today, that I'd finish a a PhD, a doctoral degree in theology, and doing what I'm doing now. And being an author and a speaker, and being able to help people the way that I do through this Catholic nonprofit that I work for, I never would have dreamed that. So I would just say that Manor is a wonderful place to start to give you

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that foundation and gosh you just never know where you'll end up meaning in terms of following whatever god's will is for your life because he he has good plans for all of us and that's for sure and I never would have guessed that at the very beginning but it's not just for me it's for everyone so I think manor is just an amazing institution that I highly recommend to anyone both inside this greater Philadelphia area and even those who are watching this podcast who don't live in the area, come to

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Pennsylvania. Come to the Philadelphia area. It's a great place. Manor's, a wonderful institution and I think you'll be very happy with your decision. Well, thank you for the shameless plug. I appreciate it. Um, but I think what I think what you said about it's like it's not where you start, it's where you end. But like kind of tying that back to like but your foundation is still like your base, your root. You build off of your foundation. So it's really important to um have a strong foundation and one that

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can help guide and direct you to where you want to go. Um something that I as we're talking and I'm hearing your story and you and I have chatted quite a bit before so I'm familiar with it. But when I when I think about you I think about service. I think about um and how like you are a global like person. You are a global um you have a global reach. I feel like someone I don't think you're just helping like a a neighborhood or an area. You are touching people all over the world. Um and I think that's really

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really cool. But it ties back to our mission and this is kind of what I want to hit on. You know, in our mission, we say that we provide personalized education and then that education is going to foster a commitment to a peaceful world and empower students to develop as individuals and as a global citizen. Like those are exact words. I'm going off memory here, but that's pretty much what it says. And I feel like that's you. Thank you. Um, so thank you so much for being just

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a true testament to what we're trying to do here at Manor and a true testament to our mission and and finding just finding people that you can help and serve through your ministries and through your work. Um, and being really dedicated to that. It's really inspiring. Well, Kelly, I have to say you're inspiring to me as well with the work that you do at Manor and also just as a human being, a mom raising three kids. um just a a great person to know. I'm I'm so glad to know you and also the

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connection that we have through the place that we love so much, right, Manor College. Yeah, I know. It's a great place. And thank you, Ann, for being with us today. It's truly been a joy and a blessing to talk to you and I wish you wish you nothing but the best. And as we like to say to our alumni, you belong here always. So, thank you, Ann, so much. Thank you. And to everyone, God bless you and wish you the best with your future endeavors. Thank you for tuning in today. If you like what you heard, listen and

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subscribe on Spotify or YouTube and stay up to date with all new episodes by following Manor College on Instagram at Manor College. And that's a wrap on another episode of The Nest, stories about life after Manor College. Remember, Blue Jays, you belong here always. [Music]