Priyanka Satish chose Saint Mary’s because of its 3+2 Accelerated Physician Assistant (PA) program with Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences. The opportunity to one day work with the nationally renowned hospital in cardiovascular surgery was enough for her to give up on plans of playing Division I basketball.
Instead, Satish focused her competitiveness on a very different sport: pickleball. She even started her own club on campus her freshman year. Just one year later, 165 students are getting in on the fun.
When she’s not in class, in the lab, or on the court, Satish is also a tutor for biology and chemistry, and a makerspace intern, where she helps students with 3-D printing and creates anything from LED lights to candles. She’s also an innovation scholar and an orientation leader for the PA program — helping new students have the best possible experience.
“I originally wanted to go to a state school and play basketball. But starting this pickleball club was 100 percent why I love Saint Mary’s; I wouldn’t have been able to do that at a big school,” she said. “I love the small, niche community. I love this campus. I don’t know how I’d do in a big school. I like knowing everybody. A lot of my friends have 400 students in their biology classes; we have 15 to 20. Those close relationships you make with professors and classmates … you will never get that at a state school.”
