Christina Battisti is a long-term substitute teacher for Accounting and Personal Finance teacher Meghan Roscia. 

Battisti attended Juniata College, receiving a bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in political science. Battisti worked many jobs throughout the years, for example in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Washington DC. Specifically, Battisti worked in the White House. 

“My job title in the White House was confidential assistant,” Battisti said. “I took an executive assistant role in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) where we put together the federal budget every year.”

According to Battisti, no agency can do anything without money from the federal government, so every president, when he or she comes into the White House, decides what his or her agenda is going to be. Every agency has to comply and work towards whatever that initiative is.

Battisti started right after 9/11. She received the offer in July and started towards the end of September.

“I was really good at learning from the jobs that I did when I was in college and high school as well as the activities,” Battisti said. “I took on legitimate responsibilities and learned a lot. After college, wherever I went for work, I would just try to better myself. I spent my own money on classes to become computer literate, for example to make myself marketable, and I worked really hard, often long hours, so I could really be an asset and add value to whoever my employer was.”

Before working in the White House, Battisti lived in Pittsburgh doing non-profit organization work. 

“When I was volunteering it just so happened that one of my friends that worked at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation was very good friends with the woman who was handling all of the governor’s events,” Battisti said. “After volunteering at these events, she saw my initiative and my skills and I said ‘Here’s my resume, if you could pass it along to the transition team I would appreciate it,’ and she did.”

Battisti knows that even though one may know somebody, they still have to be able to do the job and demonstrate willingness to learn, initiative and character. She worked at White House for one year before moving to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

While working in the White House, everything changed almost hourly in the day-to-day job. 

“The budget director at the time, Mitch Daniels, told us to expect things to change frequently throughout the day,” Battisti said. “There were times when they needed feedback on documents, so they could brief the president before press conferences.”

Battisti found she had to be incredibly flexible, but she didn’t want to only be her boss’s assistant. She wanted to take on more responsibility and learn, so she got herself an intern. 

“I gave my intern the calendar, and I was able to take on more responsibilities,” Battisti said. “I was always striving to take more responsibility in mind for what would be the best resume builder.”

“My boss was the federal government chief information officer, and he was responsible for one of the president’s agenda items,” Battisti said. “That was how to make the federal government more user friendly. I knew we would be doing a lot of event planning such as to raise awareness and interact with the public.”

According to Battisti, every industry has its own inner sanctums, and everyone in DC politics and government knows everyone else which Battisti was glad to learn early. 

While she was at the Department of Health and Human Services, she was suddenly drawn to the entertainment industry. 

“From the time I was a little girl, I was fascinated by watching shows and wondering about what’s behind the scenes,” Battisti said. “I couldn’t explain why I felt compelled to investigate the possibility of moving to Los Angeles.”

There was a film club at a local faith-based organization in Los Angeles that was holding a movie night showing an Academy Award nominated short film co-written and co-produced by Billy Zabka, an American actor.

“My life coach wanted to introduce me to Billy Zabka, so if I ended up in Los Angeles I would know someone,” Battisti said. “She figured out how to get him in contact with me, so when I went to the movie screening, he was there.”

Battisti visited LA in April of 2006 for a vision trip. She wanted to make connections, so Battisti asked friends of hers from Washington DC if there would be anyone she could meet that would be willing to give her time to talk over coffee.

“By the time I was ready for my vision trip to LA, I had a list of 45 people willing to meet me for coffee and I met with about 12 when I went,” Battisti said. “The power of having solid healthy relationships pays dividends later whenever you’re deciding what you want to do.”

Battisti stayed in Los Angeles for 10 years. She loved the culture and knew it was her calling. 

“After 10 years in LA, I wanted to be near my mom and talked about moving back,” Battisti said. “When I moved back here, I realized I have lived in major metropolitan areas for most of my adult life, so I didn’t know what I was going to do in Altoona Pennsylvania.”

A friend of Battisti’s reached out letting her know those with a bachelor’s degree could substitute teach. So Battisti substitute taught the 2016-2017 school year after which she then transitioned into a marketing agency. 

“I was a brand manager at a local marketing agency here called Brand Demon,” Battisti said. “It closed in 2023, after we lost a few really key roles although we tried to fill them again.”

Battisti found her way back to substitute teaching where she took on this long-term role. 

“When I tell my students, some of them are surprised and some ask questions,” Battisti said. “When Jimmy Carter died, I put on the funeral and explained the protocol and who does what and the order of how they arrange the seats.”

Battisti’s biggest takeaway from her experience in the variety of industries is that life can follow many paths and to take each opportunity.

“I just followed nudges; for example, I was drawn to Pittsburgh in the non profit fundraising world,” Battisti said. “Towards the end of my time in Pittsburgh, I was drawn to the government, so I took trips to Washington DC. You have to be willing to ask with a humble attitude for time on someone’s calendar. That would be my last takeaway, build quality relationships.”