‘I AM EXACTLY WHERE I’M SUPPOSED TO BE’ alumni spotlight The second time Kate Reuter ’92 enrolled at FLCC, the halls looked familiar but felt different. “Every hallway, every corner had a memory from when I was there after high school,” she explained, “but I knew I was there on a mission, and it was a different mission. It was to, as an adult, finish that degree life held me back from finishing.” Years before, as Katie Baker, a Victor High School graduate, she had studied graphic arts, served as a student senator, and was voted captain of the cheerleading squad. When the introduction of computers to graphic arts left her disenchanted, an advisor suggested office technology. Kate saw the practical side. “It felt like it would be a secure, in-demand career,” she said, though the program didn’t capture her imagination at first. Kate stopped out of FLCC but took the opportunity to return in the early ’90s. Her professor, Patricia Rice, asked students if they would like to learn medical transcription and terminology. “That piqued my interest,” Kate said. “It was amazing. I was good at it.” It was just two classes, but they set her on a path that ultimately led to massage therapy school and the launch of her business, Gold Leaf Spa, in Irondequoit. As a local business owner, Kate Reuter ’92 has donated massage and spa gift certificates and baskets for fundraisers for organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Spinal Injury Organization. Kate also created Project F.A.R.O.U.T (Friends and Relatives of United Troops) and gave free chair massages monthly at the U.S. Army Reserves 98th Division Headquarters from 2008-2010. 12 | theLAKER Kate Reuter’s decision to finish her degree was the first step to entrepreneurship.
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