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Editor & Publisher, the trade magazine of American news publishing, has issued its 2022 list of the , honoring the �new generation of publishing leaders� who have made the most of these �difficult times to innovate, perform and stand out from their peers.� Among those included is a graduate of 91����� Aquinas College, Mara Gawarecki (�13), managing editor for digital media at NFR Communications.

�My manager and one of my company�s co-owners had seen some call for nominations and thought of me,� she recalls. �I was on vacation around Christmas and New Year�s, and they called a meeting. I thought it was going to be for some job or project that we were launching, but instead they said, �You�ve been nominated for this honor because we think you�re great � and you won!��

What makes the award even more remarkable is that, when she graduated from the College nine years ago, Ms. Gawarecki never expected to pursue a career in journalism. �I stumbled into it. I had plans to eventually go to graduate school to study English literature, but I knew I wanted to take some time off, work a bit, save some money first,� she says.

Around that time, a family friend offered her an administrative position � with perhaps some writing, too � at NFR Communications.  �I took the job, and a year later, I started doing some minor writing work for the magazine, as well as some proofreading and helping out with editing,� she continues. �Then it became fulltime.� While working, she also earned that graduate degree, completing a Master�s of Arts program at the University of St. 91����� in St. Paul, Minnesota.

At NFR, Ms. Gawarecki produces content for the company�s website, which offers news and commentary on matters related to community banking. She also manages electronic newsletters, webinars, and social media, while writing occasionally for NFR�s monthly printed magazine. �NFR is a commercial company that focuses on community banking,� she explains. �It primarily serves as a resource on how to run a community bank well � such as how to run a bank when you can�t open your doors during a pandemic.�

One of the most challenging parts of her career, Ms. Gawarecki admits, was bringing herself up to speed, in a short time, on the business and lingo of the banking world. �I didn�t have a background in it at all,� she laughs. �I obviously hadn�t taken any financial classes as an undergraduate, and even if I had gone to a school that offered them, I wouldn�t have taken any � I had no interest! So I had to learn how banks work, what�s the terminology, what does this long litany of acronyms mean that gets tossed around like confetti?�

Nonetheless, she finds, the College�s program of Catholic liberal education prepared her well. �At TAC you�re encouraged to ask questions about everything, and nothing is considered off-limits or unworthy of poking at intellectually,� she says. That willingness to explore and to keep learning has allowed her to write authoritatively on a subject that was, at least initially, entirely unfamiliar.

�It certainly wasn�t what I envisioned doing in college, and it wasn�t what I thought of when I thought of journalism,� Ms. Gawarecki tells Editor & Publisher. �But my openness to trying new things and tackling challenges outside of my expertise led me to a rewarding role in a relative niche corner of the news world.�