Finding Home at Holy Family

Tedrionne Paris ’92 did not begin her college education at Holy Family, but once she transferred there she knew she found the right school for her to finish her degree.

As it turns out, Holy Family would end up being the right school for her daughter as well years later.

“I had gone away to school for my freshman year and it wasn’t quite the experience that I thought it was going to be,” remembers Tedrionne. “After my first year I went to community college, and while I was there someone came to recruit from Holy Family. It was close to home for me, and the small setting sounded nice to me. It seemed like the right fit.”

Tedrionne finished her final two years of college at Holy Family. She quickly realized that Holy Family provided the education experience that she had hoped that college would be. “I liked that even though it is a smaller community, I felt that the school challenged me,” she recalls. “I liked the feeling of it being a little more elite. Also, I liked the religious aspect. Even though I am not Catholic, I am a Christian and felt comfortable taking a religion course and meeting other people who were faith-centered. I liked being able to meet with my professors if I needed help, and that makes it special too.” 

Of the many aspects that she enjoyed about her experience at Holy Family, one that left a memorable impression on her was that connection with the faculty. “I love that my professors got to know me personally,” says Tedrionne. “For example, in my senior year, I was called down to the dean. I thought I was in trouble, and I had never been in trouble! She said to me, ‘Someone told me that you sing in a band. Would you sing our Alma Mater at graduation?’ I was blown away and honored. I didn’t even know how she knew about that!”

Tedrionne, who majored in Special Education at Holy Family, is an English Language arts educator in Neshaminy School District. Just over two decades after Tedrionne graduated from Holy Family, her daughter, Schyler Paris-Ellerbee ’20, was in the process of determining which school she would attend for college. Holy Family University was on her list – though, as it turns out, it was quite a long list.

“I was ecstatic when I found out she was interested in Holy Family,” Tedrionne says with a laugh. “She applied and got into 10 schools, and she narrowed it down to two schools. I didn’t want her to pick Holy Family just because I went there. I kept saying to her, ‘Go with what's in your gut.’ But when she told me that she wanted to go to Holy Family, I said, ‘Finally, we have a legacy!’ I was so excited!”

Ultimately, Schyler did not simply choose Holy Family because her mother went there. But like her mother, she did feel that Holy Family was the right place for her. “After getting into 10 schools, I felt overwhelmed because I didn’t think that was going to happen,” says Schyler, who majored in Psychology. “My comfort zone is being in Philly, and though I kept touring schools, I felt like I would have a good experience at Holy Family. One day I woke up and felt that Holy Family was for me. It felt very peaceful, and I think it helped settle my anxiety after coming on a tour and being able to walk around and meet other students who were here.”

The friendliness on the campus that Tedrionne observed in the 1990s was also apparent to Schyler. “A great aspect of Holy Family is having your own time to be you and grow as a young adult,” Schyler shares. “There is camaraderie on campus where you feel like you can have a conversation with anyone.”

Schyler was an active student, serving as vice president of Fusion, a multicultural student organization that celebrates cultural and ethnic diversity on campus. “That made my experience here more meaningful in the sense that we got to express ourselves and our concerns on campus,” Schyler adds.

Recently, Schyler has returned to Holy Family University to work as the Internship Experience Specialist in the Career Center. The position has allowed her to continue to feel at home in the Holy Family University community. “Because it’s a smaller campus, that sense of community allows you to connect with people that you might not have classes with and you might not know, but you see them daily walking the same path as you,” she explains. “Who knows that same person that you talk to might end up becoming one of your closest friends. That ended up happening to me!”