Scott Topal (SESP10)
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From a glance at Northwestern senior Scott Topal’s résumé, you would think it was a list of qualifications for at least three Northwestern students, not one. While keeping up with his studies at the School of Education and Social Policy, he has served on leadership councils of more than six student groups. Yet, in addition to his hard work and dedication, Topal exhibits a keen sense of fun.
“I always make time for Northwestern games…I love rooting for our team,” he says enthusiastically. “I appreciated my four years at the Bronx High School of Science, but I didn’t have a school team to cheer for until I came to NU.”
And that team spirit has flowed through many areas of Topal’s life. In 2008 and 2009, he served as president of Northwestern’s Hillel Center. Although he was only a sophomore at the time, he managed to redesign a four-member executive board into an 11-member leadership council, with a focus on training new leaders. The council now forms the core of Hillel on campus, “like the center of spokes on a wheel,” he says, not only welcoming incoming freshmen, but overseeing all related student groups on campus, such as the Jewish Theater Ensemble.
Additionally, Topal has served as Associated Student Government’s senator for the Hillel Center and as fundraising chair for his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi. Many would have been satisfied to call that a good college career, but his greatest opportunity came at the end of his sophomore year.
Topal decided, on a whim, to submit an application to the Northwestern Class Alliance. Before long, he was co-chairing the 17-member Homecoming Committee, an experience which would strengthen his interests in leadership.
“It was an exhilarating time, planning a week for 8,000 undergraduates,” he recalls. “We got the chance to see and build community on a grand level.”
On the academic side, Topal first followed his interests in political science, but later found that the undergraduate program in Learning and Organizational Change (LOC) was the best fit for him.
“Most people have never heard of it,” he says, but emphasizes that it has given him a chance for some real-world experience and has fundamentally shaped how he thinks about people and organizations.
Topal says he will miss being on campus after he graduates in June, but he looks forward to the opportunities before him, including a new management consulting job with the global firm Accenture. Most of all, though, he looks forward to keeping in touch with the friends he made at Northwestern, both through the NAA and student groups.
Read more alumni and student spotlights.
Posted April 6, 2010.
