The first thing Michael Pallotto did when he got the email saying he won the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics essay contest was drop his dinner prep and call his parents.
The second-year St. Thomas University student said he had given up on hearing back because other winners were already announced.
“It was definitely more of a surprise,” said the Great Ideas and Catholic Studies major.
Pallotto won a paid trip to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to attend an active participation symposium. He will be involved in student discussions and can attend guest lectures. Pallotto said he is excited to discuss his interests in Catholic studies and business with other students and intellectuals.
“It’s pretty cool, I want to hear what other people have to say about it,” he said, “Maybe see if there’s other ways I can take my ideas further than just putting them down on paper.”
Pallotto originally wrote the essay for his Catholic Political Thought class. He was encouraged by his professor Matthew Dinan to submit it in the contest.
The essay titled “The Big Power of Small Business: How Local Enterprise Better Achieves the Common Good,” looks at modern economics through the lens of Catholicism. Pallotto poses the question: “Can business be Catholic?”
“I found that it’s not impossible,” he said, “but I found that what best exemplifies it is small businesses.”
Pallotto grew up religious, but he did not expect to develop an interest in Catholic studies when he came to St. Thomas. He was contemplating studying history or political science, but he found himself leaning more towards the Catholic studies program.
“Religious (studies) is something that intrigues me a lot.”
However, Pallotto said STU’s religious background did not influence his decision to study here.
“The bigger sell for me was that it’s going be a smaller school and I’ll get a chance to speak to my Profs.”
Pallotto said he will be getting two books in the mail to read in preparation for the symposium taking place April 8-9.
“Homework as an award,” he said, laughing a little, “that’s really pushing the academic agenda”
