Cultivating the Mind and Heart

Cavanaugh Council and President’s Circle Scholar

Darius Colangelo ’26

I’m the second oldest of five boys. My dad works as a public school math teacher and my mom has worked for the same university for the last 20 years, hoping the college tuition benefit could offset the cost of education. They are incredibly hard-working parents, but even so, I never considered a Notre Dame education was possible for me.

I first visited campus on a family road trip. I remember walking into the Basilica and being surprised that the tallest building—the very heart of everything—was a church. It was my first inkling of what Father Sorin meant: “the mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart.” As soon as I got back to the car, I started researching how to apply, but the high sticker price made me dismiss the possibility.

I applied anyway, but it wasn’t until my financial aid offer arrived in March that I knew for sure I was coming to Notre Dame. I’ll never forget that day. Your generosity made the impossible possible.

Because of your support, I have been able to pursue incredible academic, social, and spiritual opportunities that I wouldn't have anywhere else.

Last year, I met Dr. Reichter, a Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor. He’s the kind of professor that is both at the top of his field, and incredibly generous with his time because he cares about mentoring his students.

I now work with him and a software consultant to improve weather models. We are training “neural networks” to accelerate massive fluid simulations—making the process up to 34 times faster and dramatically increasing the accuracy of natural disaster prediction.

Darius’s research modeling supports projects in the College of Engineering’s Reichter Lab. Professor David Reichter’s work improves hurricane forecasting, and was featured in this season’s What Would You Fight For ad.

Last spring, I sang with the Liturgical Choir in a basilica in Chile. I had the privilege of becoming a godfather to a fellow student as he became Catholic. I now help nearly eighty others discerning entering the Church through the OCIA program on campus. These are just some examples of the opportunities to truly dive into cultivating my mind and heart at Notre Dame, and it is something I’ll be grateful for to the Cavanaugh Council and President’s Circle for the rest of my life.

Darius Colangelo ’26

Cavanaugh Council and President’s Circle Scholar

Back to Home

Page updated

Report abuse