"Being part of something that gives me purpose — especially in my first year — has made a huge difference. I've been able to connect with students and faculty who genuinely care."

When Katie Raso '28 began her college search, she was drawn to business programs but knew that creativity was just as important to her as balance sheets and bottom lines. She was determined to find a university where she wouldn't stifle her creative side. 

As a markets, innovation & design (MIDE) major in the Freeman College of Management, Raso says she has found what she was looking for.

"What initially made me hesitant about pursuing a business major was the idea of a 9-to-5 cubicle job," Raso says. "I was involved with Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), which showed me the more creative side of business. I wanted to keep building on that."

While in high school in Mamaroneck, N.Y., Raso worked with her engineering teacher to design and develop a prototype for a product that she pitched at business competitions. Her idea took her all the way to FBLA nationals twice.

"I realized how much I loved prototyping, branding and pitching, and I didn't want that to stop after high school," she says.

Raso recognized that Bucknell offered not only a strong academic foundation in the Freeman College of Management but also hands-on creative opportunities through campus makerspaces and the Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (PGCEI).

"When I toured Bucknell, I got to talk to MIDE professors, and it just clicked," she says. "The open house helped me visualize my future here."

Now on campus, Raso is a student ambassador for the PGCEI, where she helps organize events, create promotional content and welcome new students into the entrepreneurship community. She's also one of the students who revived the student-led Entrepreneurship & Innovation Society, and she'll be on the board for the entrepreneurship & innovation affinity house next year.

"There are so many different ways to get involved," she says. "And what's amazing is that you don't have to have a successful business — just being curious is enough to be supported and heard."

Raso is continuing to develop the project she began in high school, drawing on mentorship and workshops provided by the PGCEI — though she's keeping the concept under wraps for now as she works through the next stages.

"In high school competitions, no one tells you the next steps," she says. "At Bucknell, I'm learning how to trademark a name, form an LLC and take this project to the real world," she says. 

Through it all, she's found not just opportunity, but community. "Everyone at the center is so welcoming," she says. "We laugh about the things that go wrong and celebrate the things that go right. And being part of something that gives me purpose — especially in my first year — has made a huge difference. I've been able to connect with students and faculty who genuinely care."