BUDDING RESTAURATEUR FINISHING U-M A YEAR EARLY

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February 20, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here. 

Notre Dame Prep and IB Diploma Program grad from the Class of 2022 plans to take over restaurant franchise after completing his University of Michigan degree a year ahead of time. 

Universities in the United States truly are international communities. They’re committed to educating the youth of today to solve the global challenges of tomorrow. They also seek to encourage students to learn from one another, to recognize their common humanity and to reflect on globally significant issues across the curriculum.

The key aim of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is for students to develop an international mindset that will enable them to build a better future. IB students learn to see the world from different cultural perspectives and they study languages that enable them to communicate with peers from different backgrounds. As an internationally recognized qualification, the IB also prepares them for a career anywhere in the world. IB students are global citizens and this makes them an asset to international academic communities anywhere. Perhaps more so than many other great reasons, it’s this that makes IB students so appealing to universities.

IB graduates typically are very eager to share their experiences with schools, teachers and parents exploring the Diploma Program. We have been meeting a number of Notre Dame Prep's more recent IB graduates who look back at the impact of the DP on their lives and especially on their college experience.

For 2022 Notre Dame Prep graduate Ryan Lawroski, his IB Diploma Program studies set him up for big success at the University of Michigan, which includes earning his undergrad degree a year early. Read what Lawroski says about his NDP and U-M experience and the exciting future in business that awaits.

"I'm currently at the University of Michigan, studying economics and history, but this is my last semester, as I'm graduating a full year early. I can attribute that to the credits from IB at Notre Dame Prep and also some summer classes. I've held leadership positions in a few clubs around college and I've been traveling whenever I had the chance and meeting some incredible people aa a result.

"I've also been working full-time this past year as a general manager at a restaurant, which ties directly to my post-graduation plans. 

"I've always wanted to become a business owner, and I have had incredible business partners who believe in me and want to see me succeed! I am set to become a franchise holder at Culver's through a program at Culver Franchising System, LLC, that allows current franchisees to expand with their top leaders. My current franchisee and the senior leadership team at corporate are very special to me. 

"I really didn't ever think that this is where I'd be today, but I'm forever grateful to all of my mentors who have supported me. My first restaurant will be open by the end of this year!"

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndprep.org.