Fulton County Ohio Media

Mason Black, a resident of Swanton and a 2024 graduate of St. John’s Jesuit High School & Academy in Toledo, was named to the Dean’s List at Loyola University Chicago.  He received a letter from the university that read, in part:

It is with great pleasure that I write to congratulate you on your scholastic performance during the second semester of the 2024-2025 academic year.  Your achievements have merited your being named to the Dean’s List of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences.

In the tradition of Jesuit higher education, the College of Arts and Sciences of Loyola University Chicago is dedicated to excellence in undergraduate education.  An achievement like yours is a concrete demonstration of that excellence, as well as a most satisfying reward for the efforts that you and your family have undoubtedly put into your education.

The letter was signed by Peter J. Schraeder, Professor and Dean, College of Arts and Sciences.

Mason, who attended Swanton Schools prior to high school, is majoring in Anthropology Premed and will continue on that path when he returns for the Fall semester.  The son of Tara and Matt Shaver and Austin and Jessica Black is currently working at Toledo Hospital as a Patient Care Technician, assisting from eight to a dozen patients with all of their general needs during his 12-hour shifts.  “It’s really great for practical experience for when it comes time to apply to med school,” he said.

With a timeline of graduating from Loyola in 2028, Mason plans on attending medical school, quite possibly at the University of Toledo Medical College (UTMC).  “I kind of have this philosophy of finishing where I started.  So, if I could, I would like to go to UT,” he explained.  “Obviously I would go wherever I got in.”

The campus of Loyola Chicago is on the north side of the city, right on the shore of Lake Michigan.  With a population of approximately 2.75M, it is the third largest city in the United States and can be very intimidating for an 18-year-old student from a town of 3900 and on his own for the first time in his life.  But Mason has adjusted very well.  “It’s great.  It’s been so much fun.  Just getting to see so many new things.  I went to a Cubs game last Fall.  That was cool being at Wrigley,” he said.

If Mason does not choose UTMC for med school he is also considering Georgetown, Creighton, St. Louis or maybe Xavier.  In the meantime, he has three more years and a lot more studying before he has to make that decision.