Alumnae Spotlight: October 2020 Newsletter

Katia Lopez Hodoyan ’98 & Marlen Miranda ’16

Congratulations to Katia Lopez Hodoyan ’98 and her now husband Christian Lindner who were married at the University of San Diego’s Founders Chapel on February 29, 2020. Katia is so grateful that they were able to celebrate this wonderful event “just a few days before COVID 19 turned the world upside down.” Christian and his family travelled all the way from Germany to be in San Diego for this important day. Katia is an award-winning bilingual journalist with vast experience in television and print news. She lives and works in Dohar, Qatar. Katia is a member of a legacy OLP family. Her mother, Julieta Lopez Hodoyan, is a member of the class of 1959 and her sister Julissa Lopez Hodoyan graduated in 1995. Congratulations, Katia & Christian!

With great pride we announce that Marlen Miranda ’16 has been awarded a U.S. Student Fulbright Binational Internship in Mexico City. Fulbright grantees are placed in businesses, and will take courses related to international business at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo, a private university in Mexico. “ Being Mexican and American has taught me how critical it is to form positive binational relationships,” said Marlen. Her childhood experience has led her on a journey to pursue a career in international affairs, which then led to three semesters abroad in Chile, Nepal, Jordan, Spain, and South Africa, where she sought to understand other cultures, nations, and identities. While in Mexico, Miranda will study how to create mutual understandings between the private sectors of Mexico and the United States. Marlen’s dream is to work as a U.S. Foreign Service worker or diplomat. Anne Lundberg, Director of Fellowships says of Marlen, “She really embodies the Fulbright goal of promoting mutual understanding through cultural exchange. She is truly a global citizen with a heart for the world, qualities highly valued by Fulbright, and which will serve her extremely well in a future foreign service career.”  Congratulations, Marlen — and congratulations to her family, particularly her mother Maria Elena Hernandez ‘90 and sister Daniela Miranda ‘19. You are doing the work of a daughter of St. Joseph.

We ask for your prayers for the following alumnae who have passed away recently: Dorrie Montgomery Adessa ’48; Ernestine Barton ’52 (who passed from COVID-19); and Sr. Catherine Irene Finley ‘46. Please keep all alumnae and their families who have been affected by COVID-19 in your prayers.