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Double Lasers

By David Nathan

More and more Lasell graduates are choosing to become Double Lasers by supplementing their bachelor's degree with a master's.

Through the Double Laser program, Lasell graduate students can learn in person or remotely and live on campus or off. There are more than 40 fields of study ranging from athletic training to business, integrated marketing communications, sustainable fashion, and criminal justice.

Lasers return to Lasell for an additional degree for a multitude of reasons: career advancement, tuition discounts, familiarity with professors, student-centric teaching model, lifelong learning, and more.

Some Double Lasers choose the fifth-year option in their major and pursue a master’s degree immediately after earning their bachelor’s. Others wait years — or even decades — to seek their graduate degree.

Kathryn Johnston Berardi '71 '22

Kathryn Johnston Berardi ’71 ’22 has a concise explanation for her desire to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business administration after a highly successful business career.

“I love to learn,” the intellectually curious “Oma” (grandmother in German) says while excitedly describing the concept of singularity, the topic of a recent paper for her Digital Strategy for Managers class.

“There are people who think I’m crazy, but I always felt that I was missing something without my degree. It’s very personal.”

Berardi is expected to complete Lasell’s innovative Bachelor Completion in Business Administration (BCBA) program in December, 50-plus years after earning her associate’s degree in science at Lasell. Upon graduation, she may hold the distinction of the longest time between degrees of any Double Laser in Lasell’s 171-year history.

Her inspiration is her late husband, Victor, who died in 2020. Despite not completing his bachelor’s degree at Northeastern, he worked for 19 years in the virology department at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, starting as a co-op student. He and four partners went on to found IMUGEN Inc., a Norwood-based company that specialized in testing for tick-borne illnesses. IMUGEN was successfully sold in 2016.

Although she did not have a business degree, Berardi served as IMUGEN’s chief financial officer for nearly three decades. Thanks to her innate inquisitiveness, ability to learn quickly, supportive mentors, and on-the-job training she had received at a previous job at Boston Safe Deposit and Trust, she was able to fulfill the duties of a CFO. Berardi also had the support of a CPA firm in Westwood.

“If I needed to learn something, I took a class,” she says. “I was eager to learn.”

Earning her bachelor’s degree doesn’t figure to be the end of Berardi’s lifelong learning journey. She is already talking about seeking a law degree. “When I was working at IMUGEN, we spent so much money on lawyers,” she remembers. “We might have been able to save some funds for our shareholders if I had followed the advice of my academic advisor (Ruth Kneisel) at Lasell to pursue a bachelor’s degree after graduating and then study law. Now I am just eager to keep on learning.”

Amanda Beaton '16 G'20

After a couple of years in the business world, Amanda Beaton ’16 G’20 discovered her niche — and realized what she needed to do to find a job in her chosen field.

While working as an executive assistant to the COO at New York Life Insurance in Boston, she grew interested in the human resources component of her supervisor’s portfolio and wanted to focus her energies in that area.

“I really enjoyed the scope of her job and how it related to human resources,” Beaton says. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Beaton had taken a couple of human resources courses as an undergraduate business management major at Lasell, but knew she required additional knowledge to enter the field. The choice was easy: She decided to return to the University to pursue her master’s in human resources management.

“I had a great experience as an undergrad and knew some of the professors in the graduate program so I was comfortable coming back to earn my master’s degree,” she says. “Having already established yourself as part of the Lasell community sets you up for success as a graduate student.”

While taking a combination of in-person and online classes, she reconnected with two of her favorite professors — Martin Walsh and Robert McGeough.

“I appreciated how all of the professors made a point to relate the course content to their real-life work experiences and encouraged us to make connections of our own,” Beaton says.

Thanks to the advanced degree from Lasell, she landed a job as a human resources manager at Boston Vision shortly after graduation.

Stormy Horton Bell '90 '92 G'20

As a Triple Laser with three degrees from Lasell, Stormy Horton Bell ’90, 92 G’20 is part of an exclusive club.

She received a two-year associate’s degree at Lasell in 1990 before becoming part of the first graduating class to earn bachelor’s degrees two years after. She later returned to the University after three decades to pursue a master’s in management.

While the advanced degree figured to give her a career boost, Bell’s reasons for heading back to the classroom were as much about scratching an intellectual itch as following through on a pledge to herself.

“I had raised a family and worked and I was approaching 50 and said to myself, ‘If I’m going to do it, let’s do it now,’” she recalls. “Earning my master’s degree was something that I always wanted to do.” Bell was one of four students in her home at the time. Her husband, Brian, pursued his doctorate while their two sons were also in school.

Although she was a diligent student during her first stint at Lasell, Bell found that she was even more focused as a graduate student in her online classes.

“You understand what you’re paying for and understand the financial and time investment that you’re making, so naturally, you’re more conscientious,” she says. “I wanted to get the most out of it that I could.”

The management degree helped Bell secure a position as a development associate with Chester County Futures, a college-access program for disadvantaged youth in Southeast Pennsylvania.

Conner Peters '21 G'23

Conner Peters ’21 G’23 enjoyed his time as a Lasell undergraduate so much that he has largely replicated the experience as he pursues his master’s degree in athletic administration.

He’s taking classes with some of the same professors he had while earning his bachelor’s in sport management. He still lives on campus, though now he’s in graduate housing. As an undergrad, he was a game-day employee and assistant coach/manager for the men’s basketball team; today, he works for the athletic department as a graduate assistant managing Lasell intramural and recreational sports programs. Both the assistantship and housing option are benefits offered to some of Lasell’s master’s students as a way to build industry experience and save on commuter expenses.

"I just loved the small class sizes, getting to know my professors on a personal level, and the welcoming environment on campus so much that I wanted to stay here for my master’s degree,” says Peters, who graduated magna cum laude and won the academic book award for sport management last spring.

Knowing that he wanted to pursue his graduate degree at Lasell and become a Double Laser, Peters completed a few master’s-level courses as an undergrad so he could finish his studies quickly and save money on tuition.

For Peters, completing his master’s will move him closer to fulfilling his dream of one day working as an athletic director at a college or prep school. “I have always had a love for sports and can’t wait to launch my career,” Peters says.

Stephen Petrin '11 G'19

In the language of the financial services industry that Stephen Petrin ’11 G’19 knows well, returning to Lasell to pursue his MBA represented a good investment with minimal up-front costs.

Petrin’s employer subsidized the tuition, Lasell did not require him to take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), classes were offered remotely, and he embraced the University’s student- centric educational model that he had benefited from as an undergraduate.

“For me, going back to Lasell for my MBA checked a lot of boxes,” recalls Petrin, who has worked in client services at VIRTU Financialin Boston for more than 10 years. “It was cost efficient and the evening class schedule was convenient for me as a working professional.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship, he was anxious to expand the scope of his business knowledge. He had two goals: support his professional growth in his current job and provide a strong foundation if he chooses to move into a different business-related field in the future.

“I wanted my graduate education to be a broad experience so I wasn’t locked into a certain career path,” he says. “Having my MBA gives me more options going forward.”

He began his studies in the fall of 2017 and graduated after the summer semester in 2019, completing the six-course load by taking one class each in the fall, spring, and summer semesters for two years.

“For me, it was helpful to take a deeper dive into the business world,” the former Lasell soccer player says. “I was introduced to new concepts and challenged to think differently.”

Fernando Ramirez '10 G'13

Fernando Ramirez ’10 G’13 experienced the mass-production educational model midway through his college career, and thus came away with a greater appreciation for Lasell’s culture of “smaller is better” when he returned to complete his degree.

After two semesters at Lasell, the marketing major transferred to the University of Missouri, where classes with hundreds of students were the norm. The closest Ramirez came to speaking with a professor there was when checking in with a teaching assistant. After a long journey, he was excited to find himself back at Lasell again.

“Lasell’s more personalized approach and smaller classes are more conducive to learning,” says Ramirez, whose sisters, Marisela ’94 and Cynthia ‘96, plus a cousin, also graduated from Lasell. “It’s much easier to engage with your professors. They are a special breed who are passionate about their fields and share their professional experiences to guide your learning.”

Given his affinity for Lasell’s student-first model, it was not surprising that he returned to the University for his master’s degree in management. He still applies many of the lessons he learned as a graduate student, including insights that Professor Pamela Arons shared about the methodology and value of conducting comprehensive market research before developing marketing strategies.

Ramirez began the pursuit of his master’s degree just one year after earning his bachelor’s. He realized quickly he would need the additional credential to reach his career goals.

“I hope to become a chief marketing officer one day,” says Ramirez, the director of performance marketing at Total Brain. “No matter the amount of experience you have, you need the master’s degree to get to that level.”

Doubling Up

Double Lasers

Kathryn Johnston Berardi '71 '22

"Having already established yourself as part of the Lasell community sets you up for success as a graduate student."

Amanda Beaton '16 G'20

Stormy Horton Bell '90 '92 G'20

"I just loved the small class sizes, getting to know my professors on a personal level, and the welcoming environment on campus so much that I wanted to stay here for my master's degree."

Conner Peters '21 G'23

Stephen Petrin '11 G'19

"It's much easier to engage with your professors. They are a special breed who are passionate about their fields and share their professional experiences to guide your learning."

Fernando Ramirez '10 G'13

Lasell's Double Laser Program: By the Numbers

Learn more about becoming a Double Laser