The world beyond business

From the moment Francesca Frieri set eyes on the University of Notre Dame, she knew she wanted to compete and study here. She just wasn’t sure what she wanted to study. As an incoming freshman, Frieri applied to major in business at the Mendoza College of Business.

When Frieri arrived in South Bend, much of her identity was tied up in being an athlete.

“As a freshman and a sophomore, I really struggled with imposter syndrome. Everyone on our team is a five-star recruit, and it was hard to realize my identity wasn’t just lacrosse,” she said.

“One of my teammates sat me down and told me I am so much more than a lacrosse player. She brought up [an opportunity] in Uganda and thought it might be something I wanted to do. For me, it was huge that my teammates could see past what I was doing on the field and put those pieces together. They were able to see my potential, and that has been really important in my life.”

These conversations opened her eyes to many different career paths. As a sophomore, Frieri shifted her focus toward international work and a major in global affairs.

When her experience overseas showed her the value of a business education, she added two business minors — one in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and another in Foundations of Business. She’s on track to graduate in spring 2026 and pursue a career that leverages her knowledge of business to make a positive impact in people’s lives.  

Acquiring the hard skills to meet social needs

Frieri’s academic pivot began in her sophomore year, when she worked as a research assistant at Notre Dame’s Pulte Institute for Global Development. There, she helped develop an entrepreneurship curriculum for St. Bonaventure Girls Secondary School in Tanzania, and worked on a STEM curriculum for schools in Algeria. But it was a trip to Uganda during the winter break of her junior year that cemented Frieri’s shift in focus. 

“That experience was eye-opening,” Frieri says. “It made me realize I could intersect my interests in global affairs with the business world and that I could do more good by taking a business route to creating change.”

St. Bakhita’s provides vocational education to women in northern Uganda, a region ravaged by a decades-long civil conflict that has impacted many St. Bakhita’s students directly. The school, founded in 2007, teaches vocational skills such as tailoring, hairdressing and catering, while also providing a foundational education in computers, financial management and entrepreneurship. During Frieri’s time at St. Bakhita’s, she interviewed 30 to 40 students and found that their questions centered on their business ambitions.

“They asked me about how to set up a five-year business plan and how to ensure finances are in order,” said Frieri. “And I just didn’t have the kind of hard skills to be able to answer those questions at the time.”

The experience motivated her to undertake a Foundations of Business minor. Frieri has studied finance and coding and will be taking courses in accounting before she graduates in the spring. For Frieri, these hard skills complement her global affairs education. They also

encapsulate Notre Dame’s commitment to cultivating a business education rooted in ethics — growing the good in business. At Mendoza, entrepreneurial ambition and social responsibility are not mutually exclusive; they are two sides of the same coin.

“I’ve loved my global affairs major. It taught me to ask the right questions about managing relationships in sociocultural spaces that you’re unfamiliar with,” said Frieri. “But to make a meaningful impact and be a connector, I knew I needed to supplement my global affairs education with a business minor. It has allowed me to explore other channels that I didn’t even see starting out. After gaining that experience, I am now able to help other students develop business projects.”  

Balancing academics and athletics enriched Frieri’s Notre Dame experience

As Frieri prepares to graduate in spring 2026, she is considering options for work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as a public servant in a government organization or on the business side of international development. She credits the valuable support from her teammates on the women’s lacrosse team and from Notre Dame’s Academic Services for Student Athletes Office with helping her achieve her academic goals. She’ll be graduating on time with a major and two minors, not to mention a four-year career as a Division 1 athlete.

“There was a huge learning curve with time management during my freshman year, especially stepping into such a rigorous course load at Mendoza,” Frieri says. “But Notre Dame does a really good job of making sure you never feel alone, and that was a big piece of it for me. Being able to see my academic advisor whenever I needed to was really helpful, and so was having access to tutoring.”

She also gives big ups to her teammates for providing her with guidance and camaraderie throughout her time at Notre Dame.

“Our team is composed of some of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” Frieri says. “So many of them did the business track themselves. Being able to bounce things off them was really helpful,” she said. “It makes you feel a lot better just to see someone else on the bus doing their homework next to you. It puts you on the right track. I’m so grateful for the way I’ve put together my college experience.”