Sitting in one of her journalism classrooms on Commonwealth Avenue, Mary Vitale, 20, a junior at Boston University, remembered a habit from her childhood.
“Before computers… I used to take out my dad’s typewriter and just write one-page short stories,” Mary said. “In high school, I kept writing and wrote on the school paper. I realized that it is hard to get a creative writing job, and I realized that journalism was different, but fun.”
It was that recognition that led to Mary majoring in magazine journalism at BU’s College of Communication, but she remains unsure of her direction.
“I just don’t want to work for any trashy tabloids,” Mary said. “I would like to do current events, but I’m afraid that I don’t understand them as well as I should. I also like the arts, but on an idealistic level I would like to write human interest stories or stories about human rights.”
Outside of classes, Mary regularly volunteers, involved in the both the local community service center and the Children’s Theater in Boston.
“We write and put on five minute skits and perform them for inner city kids around Boston,” Mary said. “I enjoy working with people.”
Her mother, Karen Gormley, 50, who works as a nurse with Hospice, said that her start in philanthropy began when, at a young age, she volunteered to assist at basketball programs within the local Catholic Youth Organization.
“If it wasn’t their game, they would run the candy [stand], or run the clock, or do the books for the games,” Karen said. “After that they just volunteered in those kinds of activities.”
Mary grew up in Somers, NY, a small town in Westchester County, where her family still lives.
“When I tell people where I live, they call it upstate, and think it’s 10 hours from the city, but its actually only one hour from the tip of Manhattan,” Mary said.
Her proximity to New York sparked her interest in cities and traveling. Going to Florence, Italy through a program at Fairfield University during the fall semester of 2007, Mary took five classes in a wide range of subjects from European literature to Introduction to cooking. Two years before, Mary took a trip to India.
“I had read a lot about poverty and violence, but to see it…I was blown away,” Mary said. “Seeing children sleeping in the street, I saw that most of the world lives like [they do in India] and not everyone lives the way Americans and Europeans live.”
Away from home most of the year, Mary stays in contact with her family, talking to her brother, Michael Vitale, 22, employee of J.P. Morgan Chase, about once a week.
“I like to give her a little bit of space when she’s away but I do talk to her when important stuff comes up,” Michael said. “I keep in pretty close contact with her.”
Said Mark Symons, 21, who is an engineering major at Northeastern University and friend of Mary’s from freshman year of high school, “She’s real easy going; she’s a great girl and she’s a great friend.”
Mary is still unsure of how to balance her interests with a future career. While considering journalism, she is also thinking about attending law school, where she would study to be a media lawyer, practice family law, or potentially go into human rights law.
“I have a life list that lists everything I want to accomplish in my life,” Mary said. “Things on it range from adopting a baby from China or Africa, to publishing a novel, to planning a road trip to Vegas with my friends, to seeing all the wonders of the world… I always like to meet new people, try different things, and have fun.”