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February 4, 2025

People and Culture School of Health and Human Services

Ali French grew up on the Saint Mary’s Winona Campus. She frequently watched her brothers playing Cardinal baseball and remembers attending concerts and shows. And the alumni lines run several generations deep in the French family.

She explains that part of her chose Saint Mary’s because of the 3+2 Accelerated Physician Assistant (PA) program, in partnership with Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences, but another part of her chose it because it felt like home. “Having the PA program on top of it and then softball on top of that … I knew it was the perfect place for me,” she said.

“I’ve only ever had brothers, and in softball I have a built-in group of best friends/sisters,” she said. 

French is also the vice president of student affairs for Student Senate, through which she is an advocate for student voices and concerns, and she has served as both a new student orientation leader and an executive orientation leader. Students continue to reach out to her to ask questions, and she’s happy to serve as an ongoing resource. 

French said she believes she’s grown a lot in her leadership skills through all her campus involvements, and she will be pursuing cardiothoracic surgery as she continues her PA studies at Saint Mary’s Rochester Campus next fall. 

“I’ve also grown just by learning new perspectives,” she said. “I’ve reframed my mind that it isn’t I HAVE to go to class, it’s that I GET to go to class. I see the blessings I’ve been given, and I appreciate my education. I see things through a different lens now.”