Issa DiSciullo, the recently arrived assistant dean for admissions, doesn't exactly march to the beat of her own drum. She dances to it.

The daughter of an advertising executive who had firm ideas about her professional future, DiSciullo allowed herself to be nudged toward a career in marketing.

"I was interested in psychology and wanted to pursue a theatrical career," DiSciullo said. "That was not even a conversation I could have."

But DiSciullo did it her own way. At the age of 18, DiSciullo left the Mariana Islands where she grew up and began studying marketing at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. The geographic leap was worthwhile both because DiSciullo received a full ride at Bentley and because she relished the business school's emphasis on liberal arts. By the time she earned her bachelor's degree in marketing, DiSciullo had immersed herself in diverse subjects that satisfied her academic wanderlust.

She'd also fallen in love with Boston and the eclectic opportunities that urban life offers: the music, the food and the theater.

It was an enormous change for a self-described "island girl" who grew up in Saipan, "putzing around" in the same caves where Japanese had hidden during World War II and later earning a coveted spot with a prestigious dance company that performed for tourists.

But the array of activities from salsa dancing to skiing was intoxicating for DiSciullo, who stayed on in Massachusetts, taking a job in Bentley's undergraduate admissions office.

From there, DiSciullo moved to Northeastern University's School of Law, where she became associate director of admissions. While at Northeastern, she also earned her master's degree in higher education leadership, a specialty that taps into her diverse interests. DiSciullo directed admissions at the University of South Carolina School of Law and undergraduate admissions at Johnson C. Smith University before joining the Earle Mack School of Law in late November.

Already, DiSciullo feels at home in Philadelphia. Still an avid dancer who competes at the amateur level in ballroom styles such as cha-cha, rhumba and waltz, she'd found a dance studio that will harbor her restless feet within weeks of arriving in the city.

More importantly, DiSciullo quickly became enthused about the faculty and students here as well as the school's diverse opportunities to combine hands-on learning with serious legal scholarship.

"We're not just teaching people to be lawyers," she said. "Our curriculum enables students to realize the power they have to effect change."

The students and faculty have distinguished themselves as "mavericks," DiSciullo said.

"They're vested risk-takers," she said. "They're going to take an active role in creating what the Earle Mack School of Law is going to be in the future."