First Year Focus: Elizabeth Saunders

All the way from Frankfort, Illinois, Elizabeth "Liz" Saunders, is a first year majoring in Management. She's got dreams of managing a wedding management business one day, but her aspirations also lean into the theatre field too. In addition to being a business mogul she is also quite the actor.

Saunders chose St. Ambrose because it had a lot of the characteristics of a school that made her feel at home. She was searching for a place that was small, private, and not that far from home. So far her favorite aspect of St. Ambrose is the campus environment. She loves the people she has met and the positive and welcoming environment.

Saunders recently made her college theatre debut too. She was cast in the ensemble for the spring mainstage show, Little Women and she loved the entire process. When describing her favorite part of rehearsing, she mentioned that she loved her fellow cast members.

"I just love all of the people," Saunders explained. "Everyone is so positive and encouraging, which makes me comfortable to be myself and go all out when I am on stage."

Saunders' older sister can be credited for inspiring her to hop on the stage. Her older sister participated in theatre during high school and after watching her sister in shows, she fell in love with theatre and wanted to try it out for herself. Since then she has been cast in Godspell, The Addams Family, Seussical, Freaky Friday, Elf, Back to the 80's, and The Hello Girls.

Saunders's favorite show was The Hello Girls where she played Helen Hill. She loved the soundtrack of the show and the show's feminist message. Also the cameraderie of her peers made the experience worthwhile.

"Before every show, the whole cast and pit would come together and play or sing through our favorite song from the show," Saunders said. "We would all dance around together, and it always got us hyped up to start our performance."

Hopefully you got a chance to see Sauders this in Little Women, but if you didn't, be sure to keep tabs on her next year. She is a budding artist who we know will find success in the SAU Theatre Department.