Only 'MO're Adventures to Come

By: Ryan Dentscheff

Monica enjoying the outdoors on

a summer day near her Pennsylvania

home

 Monica Philippone, or as her friends often call her, “Mo,” can’t be more excited to start her life after college. For this Ohio University sophomore, the past year has been filled with life changing experiences that has her motivated to excel towards a career. 

Pre-College days

Growing up In DuBois, Pennsylvania with two sisters of ages 17 and 23, competition started at a young age for 19-year-old Monica. So it comes as no surprise that she lettered in four sports as a senior at Dubois Central Catholic High School. Being an avid member of the track, soccer, softball and cheerleading teams was only a small portion of her life in high school. She was also a member of the hip-hop competitive dance team, where she and the team traveled twice to Disney to compete in the national competition, and a eucharistic minister at her local catholic church. 

Living it up at OU

As if all of her activities in high school weren’t enough, it seems as though she has taken on more than ever as she continues her studies at Ohio University. 

A big challenge “Mo money Mo problems,” as some high school friends liked to jokingly call her, has faced was deciding to give up her will to be a cheerleader and join the club gymnastics team. She does love gymnastics but she admits to liking cheerleading more. “I miss throwing people in the air,” she said. 

Her hard work never seems to stop for Mo as she is also a very involved member of Habitat For Humanity. In the spring of 2011 she and many other members of Habitat went to Mississippi to help build a house. “It’s a lot harder than it looks,” she described about the building process, “especially the whole hammering part.”

For relaxation, Monica very much enjoys running, yoga, and hanging out with her friends. 

Monica playing with the

kids from the orphanage in Ghana 

Two weeks in Ghana just isn’t enough

Through the Humanity Exchange Program, Monica spent two weeks in the December of 2011 in Ghana near Esiama. Her funniest and possibly oddest experience on the trip she explained was “never getting so many marriage proposal” as law permits married men to be guaranteed entrance into the US.

 Her main priority while in Ghana was to teach english to grades four to six and working in an orphanage. She described her favorite day of the trip being when she and the caretaker took all of the kids to the beach, a very unusual occurrence due to the high costs of transportation and food. She bought the kids a soccer ball and they all spent the day picking up shells and playing soccer. She explained her favorite thing was “just seeing them all so happy.”

Monica was simply amazed how well the “family” took care of themselves with very little adult care. “They never seemed slowed,” she said, “the boys cleaned and the

 girls cooked. They were all young but took care of each other as though they didn’t even need a parent.” She was very saddened when two days before she left to come back home to America, the family caretaker packed her bags and left. Monica spent the last two nights of her stay living in the orphanage with the 19 children. She and the kids were all so sad when her trip concluded. 

Future Goals

Monica and Autumn Setzler preparing

for a day of relaxation during OU

fest season

After finishing her bachelors degree in social work, Monica hopes to attend graduate school in either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. She one day wants to travel to Europe to work with Cinderella House, a program organized to help women victimized by sex trafficking to readapt to normal life. After working there for about a year, she explained that she wants to find a steady job somewhere near her hometown. 

Favorite Food	Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Favorite Movie	Despicable Me
Favorite Quote	“Reach for the moon, even if you don’t make it, you land among the stars”
Favorite Musician	Usher
Favorite Hobby	Dancing

By: Ryan Dentscheff