Of all the students walking the stage in Commencement today, one would be hard-pressed to find a Fighting Knight with a heart larger than that of Sydney Trezza.

Born and raised in New Milford, CT, Trezza has big dreams of changing the lives of children around the globe. Trezza first began her journey at Lynn in the fall of 2013; enrolling in the 3.0 Program with a major in psychology and a minor is elementary education.

Throughout her time at Lynn, Trezza has achieved major accolades, beginning first when she was awarded the Presidential Scholarship. This prestigious award is given to students who show significant leadership attributes and rank in the top 10% of their high school class.

Trezza went on to earn a spot on the Dean’s List, President’s Honor Society, as well as acted as a Resident’s Assistant at E.M. Lynn Residence Center and Community Advisor of DeHoernle Residence Hall.

However, Trezza’s journey of giving back to the community started long before she stepped foot onto Lynn’s campus. Trezza attended Canterbury School, located in New Milford, where both in March of 2012 and June of 2013 she traveled to Nicaragua to volunteer with an organization called Fabretto.

“Fabretto builds schools all across Nicaragua for young children to go to,” explained Trezza. “Often times for these kids their school lunch might be the only food they get to eat all day long. That’s why their work is so important.”

While in Nicaragua, which Trezza affectionately refers to simply as “Nica,” she worked on building kitchens at two different schools and helped start the build of a garden at another school.

“My favorite part of being there was the people because they are some of the happiest people I’ve ever met and they have next to nothing,” said Trezza.

Trezza continued her journey of giving back during J-Term of 2015, traveling to the Dominican Republic to volunteer at an orphanage for disabled children called Conani. She was granted the Stephanie Crispinelli Endowed Memorial Scholarship, which was established to honor the faculty and students who lost their lives during the earthquake in Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010.

While in the Dominican Republic, Trezza and a group of fellow Knights helped build new clean latrines for three different families at their homes. Their previous facilities were contaminated and getting residents sick, so the mission of the trip was to provide safer facilities.

“It was super interesting to see the conditions in which these children live but again also get to see just how happy they truly are,” said Trezza. “For the entire second week of our trip we traveled to a farm called Ranchete. We lived there for a week and had no electricity except for some light at some parts of the day, and sometimes we had running water to shower with and flush our toilets.”

Trezza’s kind heart has led her to pursue a career in which she continues to give back to the community. Following Commencement, she will be working to receive her master of science in clinical mental health counseling at Lynn, and wishes to work as a children’s therapist in either schools or a private practice.