Brittany Morin-Mezzadri
Where did life take you after Elmira College?
After Elmira, I headed to the University of Kansas to study Medical Sociology where I somehow found myself teaching in a lecture hall large enough to seat our entire Elmira undergraduate population (a truly humbling and disorienting experience). As a fun and entirely unnecessary footnote, Taylor Swift once attended one of my lectures.
Along the way, I spent a summer in Paris studying French Sign Language, an academic detour with no real relevance to my degree, but deeply relevant to my soul. After KU, I taught kindergarten through third grade at a residential school for the Deaf, before returning briefly to my roots as a lifeguard and swim instructor, still very unclear on what I wanted to be when I “grew up.”
Following a few years bouncing around Massachusetts, I eventually landed at Definitive Healthcare as an analyst and consultant. Since 2022, I’ve been living in Texas, where I’m thriving professionally and personally in my most important roles yet: partner to a bona fide cowboy, evil stepmother to my two bonus kids, donut provider and occassional babysitter for my two nieces and nephew, and cheese provider to my two dumb as bricks Bernese Mountain Dogs.
What did you study at Elmira and why did you choose that at the time?
When I arrived at Elmira, I truly had no idea what I wanted to do or be after graduation. During my overnight visit in 2003, I sat in on a psychology class taught by Diane Maluso, and all I knew in that moment was that I wanted to take every class she offered.
Sophomore year, Martha Easton came to Elmira to teach Sociology, and after just one class with her, I knew I was and would always be a sociologist, whatever that might look like beyond Elmira. From there, my path became less about a specific job outcome and more about following intellectual curiosity.
I loved my academic choices at Elmira, but I think I loved my professors even more. Martha Easton, Diane Maluso, and Charlie Mitchell shaped not just what I studied, but how I learned. I ultimately chose my classes and major because I wanted to be in their classrooms, wherever they were willing to take us.
What does life look like for you now?
I live about an hour east of Dallas, Texas with my partner, Jerrod, where real, actual longhorns roam freely and no one seems surprised by this. Our household includes two stepkids (a 15-year-old girl - lord help me - and a 9-year-old boy), and two Bernese Mountain Dogs who are overflowing with love in their hearts and gentle breezes in their brains.
Outside of work, I take ballet classes where I am routinely the oldest student by 25 to 35 years. My dance résumé includes such prestigious roles as Grownup Villager in Encanto, A Fork in Beauty and the Beast, and the bear that delivers Elphaba in Wicked. I’m also a devoted hot yoga enthusiast, which feels necessary at this stage of life on account of the fact that I'm old and chronically freezing.
Living far from a booming metropolis means I read. A lot. I’ve hit my goal of 50 books a year for the past four years and take great joy in recommending books to anyone who will listen. Last year, actually, I rented an events space for my sister in law's babyshower. We ended up having to relocate the party, but I was still stuck with the contract and the space. So, we had a North East Texas Grown Up Book Fair, or what I like to call "A Brittany's Favorite Things" party with books, wine, and plants.
What are you most proud of over the last ~20 years?
I came to Elmira shy, sheltered, and with a worldview roughly the distance between Alumni Hall and the Campus Center. When I graduated, I was a bit more curious and way more confident. And thanks to our class, with a much wider understanding of how other people move through the world.
Since then, I’ve traveled, built friendships and relationships with people who think very differently than I do, and learned how to communicate clearly. I sometimes even sound like a grownup, which is still weird to me.
I’ve also completed several triathlons and half marathons, which seemed like a great idea at the time, and later required reconstruction surgeries for both knees .
I still sometimes feel like I’m 18 at Elmira, though my knees and step kids are eager to clarify that this is no longer accurate. Jokes aside, I’m genuinely proud of the woman I’ve become. I'm grateful for our time at Elmira that allowed me to grow up into someone that resembles an adult.
Share a story of a time that fully captures your time at Elmira College.
As the kids say, I’m going to be so for real right now. I'm pretty sure that's how the phrase is used.
I take full responsibility for our senior year Mountain Day Class Night loss. We should have swept. We propbably would have. Unfortunately, we did not, and that failure has lived squarely on my conscience for the years since.
As a member of Student Association leadership, I made what I believed at the time was a deeply principled, ethically unassailable decision. Because SA was made up almost entirely of members of the Class of 2008, I chose to abdicate our decision-making role (to whom, I do not remember). I truly believed I was modeling moral restraint, fairness, and righteous leadership. I thought future generations would whisper, 'she didn’t intervene because it was the right thing to do.' Girl, no.
I stepped aside, convinced I was protecting the integrity of Mountain Day, while completely forgetting that sometimes good leadership means saying, 'of course this is biased but also we are seniors and this is literally our last chance.' In my quest to be ethically pure, I robbed us of a Class Night victory.
To The Memorable Class of 2008: I was v wrong and I'm sorry.
What did being a member of The Memorable Class meant to you then and what does it mean to you now?
What was your favorite meal at the campus center (dining hall, Mackenzies, Sweeney's, 1855 Room, Simeon's)?
I loved loved loved loved loved LOVED the veggie lasagna in Mackenzie's and the pasta purses in the dining hall. I also miss the obscene volume of Diet Snapple Peach Iced Tea I could buy at Sweeney's.
What's something you learned at Elmira College that still shows up in your life today?
How to walk on ice with confidence for fear of breaking my knees. Again.
Stapling papers flat-side down is apparently now my moral standard.
The first time I ever presented with SIFE was also the first time anyone told me to wear a blazer, and I think about that moment every single time I 'dress up' for work or a business meeting.
In our freshman year writing class (do y’all remember Saturday morning writing class?), Dr. LoVecchio made us revise a 20-page paper to eliminate every single instance of the verb to be. No is, was, were. I still fear the passive voice, and 'that was…' registers as an affront to the memory of JLo. I have not known peace since.
Not exactly a learned skill, but Elmira also gifted me recurring stress dreams; notably, the one where I’ve forgotten which mailbox was mine and the combination. Some lessons stick with you forever.
Who was a professor, coach, or admin who shaped your life at Elmira College?
Professors Martha Easton, Charlie Mitchell, and Diane Maluso shaped me in ways I'm still discovering. What stands out most is that they trusted an 18 year old with a very limited world view with the full expanse of their knowledge and experience.
I am only able to appreciate now how they taught us how to think, how to be curious, and how to sit honestly with unfamiliar or challenging concepts. They modeled intellectual integrity in a way that felt both rigorous and humane without protecting us from discomfort.
Now, watching universities in my state shutter entire academic programs, I feel even more grateful for the liberal arts education we received at Elmira. It was, and still is, a radical thing to be taught how to question, synthesize, and think critically across disciplines. That foundation shows up in my work and my life every single day.
On a lighter note: most of my classes were in Harris Hall, which absolutely rewarded the deeply unserious decision I made to wear flip flops through winter. Now, at 40, I wear orthopedic sneakers which breaks my heart.
What campus tradition do you miss the most?
Without question, Mountain Day singing was my favorite tradition. My goodness, I loved the absolute pageantry of the whole week. I remember the absolute commitment to whatever group we belonged to on any given night (dorm night, clubs and sports nights, and especially class night) and how we threw ourselves into costuming and the invention of even MORE songs.
I try, and fail, to convey to my family how seriously we took this tradition: 'What do you mean that everyone shows up to the president's lawn, uninvited, and yells at him until he gives you a day off of class ... else you'll rewrite the lyrics to ... Sesame Street?' I'm met with side eyes about the seriousness of our beloved college.
Perhaps it's nostalgic reflection with purple tinted glasses, but I miss so much ow fully we threw ourselves into our traditions, building communities, and our chimney sweep costumes.
What did you think success would look like at 21 and what does it look like for you now?
At 21, success meant staying a student because it was the only identity I had ever grown into. I couldn’t imagine any other way of living, and I exhausted myself with anxiety over getting into grad school simply so I could keep being one. Honestly, a “job” didn’t feel like something I’d be good at or enjoy.
As it turns out, a job pays the bills, and being a student generates a remarkable number of them. I’ve had a few jobs since graduation, and I’m grateful to have found a career that fits me now. The work I do now would have felt completely foreign to me 20 years ago, so I'm very glad that 21 year old Brittany didn't get to call all the shots forever. What I know now is that 'success' is finding work that lets you stay curious.
I love what I do because I get to keep the parts of school I loved most: learning about my clients and their challenges every day, asking good questions, and helping colleagues and clients make sense of complex data.
If I could tell Baby Brittany that success later will look less like having it all figured out and more like getting paid to keep learning, I don't think she would have believed me.
If you could give advice to current Elmira College students, what would you share?
If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s Elmira students, it’s this:
Treat your time at Elmira as sacred. It is a rare space that is protected, intentional, and uniquely suited to helping you grow into yourself. For me, it was where I learned how to be a human in the world.
Life after Elmira will stretch you. You’ll encounter people who think differently than you, heartbreak that feels too big, and moments of failure you can’t yet imagine. What will sustain you through all of that is what Elmira teaches best: how to belong to a community, and how much protection and strength that belonging provides.
Use this time to grow into the person you will someday become. And when you leave her fair halls, untried paths to know, trust that you can build (and deserve) community wherever you go.
As she has taught us, be it ever so.