Viking Valentines: Becca Montano ’13, ‘17G and Jim LaConte ’11, ‘15G

Becca Montano ’13, ‘17G and Jim LaConte ’11, ‘15G met through a mutual group of friends and bonded over athletics and academics!

Becca was an English and psychology double major and received her master’s degree in counseling and psychological services and applied behavior analysis, and currently works as a board-certified behavior analyst and staff training coordinator at Futures Behavior Therapy Center. Jim majored in psychology and history and received his master’s degree in mental health counseling. He currently works as a licensed mental health counselor at Eliot Community Human Services.

“I moved from Feeding Hills, Mass. to attend SSU for undergraduate studies,” Becca explains.

“I joined the cross country and track teams at SSU and loved getting to know everyone on the team-- the community was so welcoming at SSU. Jim and I quickly got to know one another through a mutual group of friends and teammates. One day after track practice, I saw Jim reading out of a textbook and studying in the O'Keefe Center and knew I wanted to get to know him because he was clearly focused on both athletics and academics! Through talking, we quickly realized that we had a lot in common and bonded over studying for psychology exams and our love of running. Salem State University is such a special place to us and I can't say enough about how amazing my personal experience was as both an undergraduate and graduate student and resident assistant there!”

Do you have your own Viking Valentine story? Make sure to share with us on the Alumni Association’s Facebook page!