Alice Pagani is a Perioperative Oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering on the Upper East Side. A true embodiment of Delta Gamma values, Alice spends her days caring for others at what she describes as the scariest, most vulnerable times in their lives.

Alice grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Adelphi University, where she was a member of the Omicron Chapter of Delta Gamma. While at Adelphi, Alice studied Business Administration and upon graduation worked in finance. Dissatisfied with the industry, Alice wanted something more. She wanted a job where she felt fulfilled, so she went back to school for a second Bachelor’s degree, this time in Nursing, at New Jersey City University. In addition, she just (last month!) graduated from Hunter College with a Master’s degree on her way to becoming an Adult and Geriatric Nurse Practitioner. (Congratulations, Alice! And good luck on your certification exam, we know you’ll do great!)

When I asked Alice how she feels Delta Gamma has impacted her life, and how she’s used our motto to “Do Good,” she immediately said: changing careers from finance to nursing. She cited her main frustration with finance as the realization that, she was working so hard, and logging so many hours a week, but to what end? “As a nurse, I am able to do good on a daily basis. Caring for patients, especially oncology patients, allows me to interact with people at possibly one of the scariest and most vulnerable times in their lives, and hopefully make the entire experience a little less scary for both the patient and their family members.” In addition to all the good she does on a daily basis, this year will be Alice’s fourth time participating in Cycle for Survival, an event that raises money for rare cancer research. She’ll be participating again this March, so let’s all cheer Alice on!

So what does our sister Alice do for fun? First and foremost, she’s a dog person. She has a Morkie named Tyson who she adores. Alice also scuba dives! It’s one of her favorite hobbies and just last year she received her Advanced Open Water certification. She loves to see all the amazing life to be found beneath the water’s surface. Her most recent dive was on a trip to Belize. There she dove the Blue Hole and went down 140 feet underwater! Alice is also an avid reader. And now that she’s finished grad school, she’s really looking forward to trading in her textbooks for novels. She recently finished several of the books in Jackie Collins’ Lucky Santangelo series. (We hope to see you at book club, Alice!)

Alice joined Delta Gamma for the bonds and friendships. She said during rush, she knew immediately that DG was for her. During her time at Adelphi, she held both the Director of Sponsorship and Director of Scholarship positions. In addition, she was a member of Gamma Sigma Alpha, the Greek honor society. When asked what she likes best about being a DG, Alice described her forever bond with her sisters. “Whether it’s been weeks, months, or years since seeing one another, when I get to see and spend time with my sisters it sort of feels like home. Recently I caught up with a sister that I haven’t spoken to in a long time – we were able to pick up right where we left off and it felt as if no time had passed.”

Her favorite DG moments aren’t the parties or big events (though she mentioned one exciting Halloween party her Junior year where all the girls dressed as Strawberry Shortcake!) but rather the smaller moments. Hanging out with her sisters in their dorm rooms, singing Delta Gamma songs, or working on scrapbooks for their littles. These beautiful memories, to Alice, are what Delta Gamma is all about.

Finally, I asked Alice to give us some of her must haves. Her favorite restaurant is Sarabeth’s for brunch and Jacobs Pickles for dinner (she says the mac and cheese is amazing!). Alice loves Greek salads and anything with dark chocolate. Though probably not at the same time. Her favorite movie is Clueless and she embarrassedly admitted to me that she’s been listening to a lot of Justin Bieber lately (No shame in that, Alice! Who doesn’t love the Biebs?). Her favorite beauty tip? Wet the Beauty Blender before you use it! (Seriously, are you all doing this? It’s a game changer.) The one article of clothing she can’t live without is black stretch pants. And her celebrity crush is Justin Timberlake. Obviously.

One of Alice’s most embarrassing moments? “One year in college, I was wearing a pair of cute new sweatpants with DG letters on the butt. While walking across campus I felt a draft…turns out there was a huge rip across the bottom of the Delta symbol. I had no choice but to keep walking all the way to my dorm to change and just prayed not too many people noticed.”

Well, we noticed YOU, Alice. Thank you for all the amazing work you do, and for being such a shining example of Delta Gamma, sisterhood, and what it truly means to Do Good.

If you know a DG who should be spotlighted (including you), let us know!  Contact Carrie at sisterspotlight@nycdg.com with your nomination.

See all of our sister spotlights here: http://nycdg.com/category/sister-spotlight/