She Reached Higher (Crystal Little)

She Reached Higher. She Went Far. Long before Crystal Little ’99, ’01 knew where her career would take her, she stood on a hillside near Saint Francis University at sunrise, raised both arms into the air and unknowingly became part of University history. Crystal was an undergraduate when she was asked to participate in a Saint Francis marketing photo shoot. She agreed to meet the photographer at 6 a.m. the next morning, and as the sun came up, they captured the image that would become one of the most memorable visuals of the University’s “Reach Higher. Go Far.” campaign. Crystal expected her photograph might appear in some print materials or on a few posters around campus. Instead, within months, she was seeing herself in advertisements and on billboards throughout the area. Years later, the poster still has a place in the Little family home. “My mom still has the poster in her basement, and I still feel a connection to the school,” Crystal said. “We go to Mass in the chapel while I am home visiting. We walk in the gardens and drive through campus. It’s like an extension of family; I feel tied to it.” For Crystal, “Reach Higher. Go Far.” became more than a marketing slogan. It became something of a personal motto that would prove fitting as her life and career took her from Loretto to Youngstown, Philadelphia and, eventually, Denver. Finding a Home at Saint Francis Crystal’s connection to Saint Francis began well before that early-morning photo shoot. Her mother, Wanda Little, worked in Torvian Dining Hall for 40 years before retiring in 2015. When Crystal was 14, Wanda helped her get her first job, working on the food line and serving at catered events on campus. Crystal credits her mother not only with making a Saint Francis education possible, but also with teaching her the work ethic, service and kindness that would guide her throughout her life. “If my mom didn’t work [at SFU], I wouldn’t have been able to afford it,” Crystal said. “I am really thankful to her for modeling her work ethic and her saying, ‘Go do it.’” Once she became a student, Crystal immersed herself in campus life. She served as a resident assistant in St. Joan of Arc Hall, worked as the women’s basketball team manager and walked on to the women’s softball team; all while keeping up with her business classes and making time for friends. “Campus just felt like an extension of home,” she said. One faculty member in particular helped Crystal discover an academic direction that would continue to influence her decades later. “I took an intro class with Dr. [Randy] Frye, and I was hooked,” Crystal said. “There are still some lectures that I take bits of even into today. I appreciate him so much as a mentor and faculty member.” Crystal earned her Bachelor of Science in Management with a minor in Management Information Systems in 1999 and completed her Master of Business Administration at Saint Francis in 2001. She later earned a certificate in Human Resource Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. From Residence Life to Technology Some of the experiences that filled Crystal’s days at Saint Francis ultimately helped determine where she would go next. After serving as an RA, she began a career in higher education as housing coordinator and summer camp supervisor at Youngstown State University, where she also served as an assistant softball coach. “From the time I started as an RA, I spent 15 years of being on call,” Crystal said. “My immersive, live-on experience really helped the trajectory of my career.” After five years in Ohio, Crystal moved to Philadelphia to work in student housing at the University of Pennsylvania. There, an assignment helped reveal another professional interest. Crystal joined an implementation team responsible for transferring student housing data into StarRez software. The project brought together her experience in higher education with an interest in technology that stretched back to her MIS coursework at Saint Francis. “During the process, I fell in love with the tech side, signing students up for housing,” she said. “I made good friends with the people I met at StarRez so when a position opened up, I decided to apply.” Crystal briefly worked as a project manager for StarRez before returning to Youngstown State as associate director of residence life. Her career continued to move between residence life and software until she ultimately landed on the technology side of higher education. Today, Crystal is a principal engagement manager for Workday, Inc., a cloud-based financial management, human resources and student information system software vendor. She works with customers of Workday Success Plans to optimize their systems, helping them mitigate risk, improve efficiency, and enhance user experience. “From the time I was an undergrad until now, I spent a lot of time on the residence life side of things. Now I am on the software side, and I love it,” Crystal said. “My minor in MIS and the classes I took are really parallel to what I am doing today.” Even in a technology-focused career, Crystal sees connections to lessons she learned through service, higher education, and athletics. “There is very much a servant leadership side to it. It’s about the customers — making sure that they are getting the best,” she said. “To me it’s kind of like sports; each interaction is a game, and you get to see the customer win.” Going Far — and Putting Down Roots Over the course of her career, Crystal has called four places home: Loretto, Youngstown, Philadelphia and Denver. Now, she has put down roots in Colorado. “If I retire here, I will be happy. I absolutely love it,” she said. “I have roots now, and I’m doing what makes me happy.” Her journey has also given Crystal a new perspective on the many experiences she packed into her years at Saint Francis. “You can do everything. All these experiences complement each other and work together to grow new experiences,” Crystal said. “Looking back, I think, ‘how did I do all of that?’ I was tired, but I’m glad I did it.” She also sees those experiences as the foundation for something larger: the opportunity to use her own growth in service to other people. “It’s about growing yourself first and then being able to become that someone for others,” Crystal said. “It’s almost like a tree — planting roots and building a foundation — and as you start to grow how many opportunities do you have to become that someone for friends and family.” And years after standing on that hillside near Saint Francis with her arms raised toward the morning sky, Crystal found herself striking the pose again. During a trip to Canyonlands National Park in Utah, she recreated the photograph that had followed her since college: arms up, landscape stretching behind her. This time, however, the student pictured beneath the words “Reach Higher. Go Far.” had decades of experience behind her. She had reached higher. And she had, indeed, gone far. Crystal’s college story began with a message that encouraged a generation of Saint Francis students to Reach Higher. Go Far. Today, the words may have changed, but the promise behind them has not. For today’s students, that promise is reflected in The Power of And. They don’t have to choose just one path, passion or possibility. Crystal’s own journey is proof: business and technology, athletics and service, higher education and innovation. The experiences that once seemed like separate parts of her Saint Francis story ultimately came together to shape a career (and a life) uniquely her own. For a new generation of students, perhaps that is what it means to reach higher and go far: discovering the power of everything that can happen in the And.