Sometimes we come to appreciate the value of “heart” by experiencing its absence.
That was the case for Cabrini junior Bill Uditsky, a double major in finance and accounting from Havertown, Pa.
In high school, Uditsky faced the challenges every teen faces, plus a few most others don’t have to deal with.
He had been diagnosed with several health conditions, including Tourette syndrome, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a mild case of Asperger syndrome, which itself is a mild form of autism.
In other words, he was different, and this made him a target for bullies. A transfer to a new high school solved the problem, and Bill came to Cabrini not with bitterness, but with insight. “Just because someone’s different doesn’t mean they should be treated differently,” he says.
At Cabrini, he continued to explore ideas of difference and its close cousin, inequality.
Religion classes gave Uditsky, who’s Jewish, an appreciation for others’ views of spirituality. Volunteer work in a nearby high school as part of an Engagements with the Common Good class exposed him to inequalities in education. He grew more acutely aware of the gap between society’s “haves” and “havenots,” and he wanted to help close it.
“I like helping others reach their potential,” says Uditsky, an Honors student who knows something about reaching one’s potential. “I want to help those less fortunate than us.”
| In the past two years, Uditsky has become involved in the Peace Mission Movement, done fundraising for developing-world microfinance projects, put his accounting skills to work helping residents of a Montgomery County assisted-living facility with their taxes, and volunteered for a variety of other causes. Accounting is a perfect major for Uditsky, who is good at math, good with technology, and likes structure. Accounting is also, he notes, “recession-proof,” offering a stable foundation for supporting a family some day. And he understands that along with the benefits of his education comes a certain responsibility. |
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 Left to right: Bill Uditsky ’13 studies with Krysten Bittner ’14 and Alexandra Saboe ’14.
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“Education of the Heart symbolizes that Cabrini teaches its students to use each of their hearts for the good of humankind,” Uditsky wrote in his application for the Alumni Scholarship, which the Cabrini Alumni Board awarded him earlier this year.
“[It] illustrates to students how … less fortunate individuals struggle to earn a living, so that we can recognize how to use our future careers as pathways to assist those in need.”
–by Richard Bader