M EG A N VIL A RDI Four years ago, while she was browsing a news article, hoping to spy her name in print, she saw something else that changed her life. An advertisement for Ave Maria University in the Florida Catholic newspaper caught her attention. “It was on the same page as the story about me,’’ said 20-year-old Megan Vilardi, an Ave Maria University junior who is studying theology. After talking to her youth minister, Megan made the decision to apply. “It definitely grew on me,’’ she said. “Just the joy that all of the people had. You could see it.” But hitting the books was part of the draw for Megan, who attended a public high school in Jensen Beach, Fla., and was raised Catholic. She got involved big-time, from becoming the head of household for Stella Maris, a group of AMU students who live together in a spiritual sorority. “It’s a sisterhood,’’ Megan said, explaining that green is the Stella Maris color, which also explains the green clothes and the green nail polish she wears. In her down time, she spearheaded the Habitat and soup kitchen volunteer group on campus. She even put together a winless flag football team. “I’m finding out who I am through my service to others,’’ she said. “It helps me become a better woman.”
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