Four-for-four: Family sees all four children graduate early and earn President’s Award from BGSU

All four Slembarski children graduated from BGSU in fewer than four years, with a 4.0 GPA and no debt.

As the last of her four children graduated from Bowling Green State University, Lori Slembarski ’93 said the moment was bittersweet.

The day marked the end of four journeys to graduation day, yet the Bowling Green-based family collectively marked a monumental achievement when Abi Slembarski ’25 continued what has become a family tradition.

Just as older siblings Joshua ’19, Andrew ’20 and Johanna ’23, ’25 had done before her, Abi graduated in fewer than four years, earned the President’s Award for earning a 4.0 GPA and departed BGSU with no debt.

Though Lori and her husband, Keith ’94, are Falcon Flames who always hoped their children would choose BGSU, each of their four children – who pursued four vastly different degree programs – all came to the same conclusion: BGSU was a place where they could succeed.

“We did encourage higher education, and we specifically encouraged BGSU heavily,” Lori said. “It was here locally, had good scholarship opportunities, great support and they all liked the size of the school.

“Even though we really recommended going to BGSU, we took them to other universities so they could check them out. But one found BGSU to be great, then another, and they followed each other’s footsteps. They each found their own niches of where to fit in to enjoy their time there.”

Independently, all four found what they were looking for at BGSU. Joshua earned a degree in business administration with a focus in supply chain management and is now in a business analytics role for BG-based company CMC Group; Andrew is in residency to become an anesthesiologist after taking the first step into medicine with a degree in applied health science; and Johanna is now a school speech-language pathologist after earning a master’s degree earlier this year.

Abi, the most recent graduate, earned her bachelor’s in business administration with a focus in accounting after a thorough college search that included serious consideration of other universities.

During her visits to BGSU, however, she connected with several future professors who expressed interest in helping her – then an undecided student – find a pathway that would fit her interests.

From there, her decision was made.

“I looked at a few other schools, but I kept coming back to how people at BGSU really cared,” she said. “Even before I started, I met a few professors who were genuinely interested in helping me figure out my path. It was a close, connected learning environment.”

Through the College Credit Plus program, all four Slembarskis knew they could be on the fast track to professional success. All of their credits transferred seamlessly, giving them a head start that reduced their out-of-pocket costs and allowed them to also dedicate time to on-campus activities and pre-professional opportunities that jump-started careers while they were students.

“All of us were able to graduate debt free, and I saw my brothers both have immediate success in their fields with a Bowling Green education,” Abi said. “I was able to get internships and connect with companies around the country who were super interested in BGSU students, but at the same time, I was able to form close relationships with most of the professors and other people in my classes and build from there.”

As high-performing students, each of the Slembarskis had their pick of universities and degree programs, yet each found their individual journey would be best completed close to home.

Ultimately, Lori said she wanted each of her children to pick a career path they enjoyed and gave them options, and all found that was achievable at BGSU.

“At the end of the day, we wanted to get them all through school with no debt, and BGSU ended up being the best option for all four of them,” Lori said. “They could have gone anywhere they wanted to go, but they all found what they wanted at BGSU.”