Connection Christmas 2022

1998
Bethany Rooks ’98, one of the finest
two-sport athletes in College of
DuPage history, was inducted into
the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in
June 2022. Bethany played a starring
role on three national championship
teams and helped win four Region
4 titles and compete at the national
tournaments. She won consecutive
All-American volleyball honors
after leading the Chaparrals to the
1998 and 1999 NJCAA III national
championships. She was the national
tourney MVP her freshman season
and led the nation in kills/sets as a
sophomore. Her 1999 basketball team
won the Region 4 title and finished
fourth at nationals. The following year,
she was a featured player on the 2000
national championship team and
earned second-team All-American
honors. Bethany is the daughter of
Edie (Tameling ’64) and Foster Rooks.
Credit: cod.edu/news/2022/june/athletic-hof-inductees
2003
As a missionary kid growing up in
Argentina and Ecuador, Ashleigh
Dellos ’03 was exposed to the world
at a young age. When her family
returned from the mission field in
2000, Ashleigh attended Wheaton
Academy for her last three years
of high school. WA blessed her
with a rich community and a firm
foundation with the Lord. Now,
she has the privilege of working
for a study abroad program, Living
and Learning International (L & L).
Growing up overseas gave her a
heart for the world and a passion for
seeing students engage with other
cultures. At L & L, the mission is to see
students live in community, engage
the challenges of the world, and
learn how to respond with a biblical
Christian worldview. This goal is
accomplished through discipleship,
academics, and adventures.
Partnering with Christian colleges
all over the country, Ashleigh’s role
is to place students at one of the
organization’s locations. Her reward
is to see students’ lives changed
after they spend time abroad in this
program. Learn more at landli.org.
2008
This smiley guy is Thomas Scott
Rougas III, the son of Scott Rougas
’08 and his wife, Christine. Scott is
the assistant controller for Transdev
North America in Lombard, Illinois.
In that role, he is involved in financial
planning and analysis. Christine works
part-time for North DuPage Special
Education Cooperative and nannies
part-time, so she can be home most
days with Tommy. Scott and Christine
love their new life as Tommy’s parents
and are excited about their family’s
future as they follow the Lord’s will.
2014
ALUMNOTES
After three years and a global
pandemic, Alyssa (Pell ’14) Budzisz
earned a doctorate of nurse practice
focused on family medicine with
a subspecialty in palliative care
from the University of Alabama
at Birmingham in August. While
working on this degree, Alyssa
worked as a pediatric bone marrow
and oncology nurse at Duke
University Hospital in North Carolina.
Her goal is to become a palliative
care nurse practitioner and to use
her training to help patients with
chronic health conditions manage
pain and improve their quality of life.
She would love to serve veterans. Her
long-term plan is to gain more clinical
experience and become a professor.
She is trusting the Lord to open doors
where He wants her. Alyssa and her
husband, Jerry ’12, reside in Raleigh,
North Carolina.
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