Greetings from a business graduate of the Honors Program
Brian Campbell ’22 was one of five students who shared the title of “top scholar” this year, graduating with 4.0 averages — the equivalent of all As across eight semesters. The finance major, one of three Providence College School of Business students who reached this level, will work as an investment banking analyst with Citizens Bank in the Debt Capital Markets Group.
He shared the following remarks at the reception for graduates of the Honors Program during Commencement Weekend:
Good evening everyone, and thank you, Dr. Lynch and Dr. Fournier, for giving me the opportunity to address my fellow graduating honors classmates tonight. As we gather here tonight with family, friends, and loved ones celebrating our upcoming graduation not just from Providence College, but as Providence College graduates from the Honors Program, I cannot help but think about how the honors program has shaped myself and all of us into the students we are today, in addition to playing a pivotal role in our holistic experience here at PC.
Like many of you, I firmly remember the day I opened my acceptance letter from Providence College being filled with excitement while also being puzzled and curious after seeing an invitation to the Liberal Arts Honors Program on the inside of my acceptance package. Having no real idea exactly what the honors program was about, my curiosity led me to the webpage for PC’s Honors Program to learn more information.
And it was there, right on the front page, I distinctly remember the four simple, but powerful words that I was first confronted with when navigating to the page. “You’re invited to challenge.” I’ll repeat that again — “you’re invited to challenge.” While in my senior year of high school, those four words didn’t really sink in or have much context and meaning to me, as I sit here tonight and reflect upon my college experience and specifically within the honors program, I think I speak on behalf all of my classmates here in saying that those four words are immensely true … liberal arts honors is a challenge no doubt, but the product of that challenge is immense reward and an individual self that is well prepared to not only enter into whatever career we choose, but to tackle any situation or adversity that life may bring us.
Surely, we all remember the long sleepless nights cramming loads of information into our brains before Civ exams, or having to read the entirety of Dante’s Inferno and Purgatorio in the matter of a week, struggling to piece together what exactly the words on the page meant. In short, I think it’s safe to say that through our time in the honors program here at PC, we surely were invited to challenge, just as those four words that greet every viewer to the honors website boldly state.
But, as I sit here tonight and I think about the friends and peers I met walking into my first day of freshman year in Dr. Lynch’s class, and I look out at all of you today, I truly see the reward and product of that challenge we all persevered through. Surely, the information we learned about Dante, or from any of the great books and time periods we read and studied in our semesters in civ was useful, especially for becoming potential future contestants on Jeopardy, but I think for me and all of us, it is safe to say that at the heart and core of the honors program is not solely the material we learn or the title on our diplomas at graduation. Surely, in the immediate future and the five to 10 years beyond graduation when we are applying for jobs in our respective careers, advanced degrees, or any of the other endeavors we pursue, having that title as a graduate from the honors program will get attention from recruiters and other admissions offices.
But, as the years go on and our college credentials become less significant and our respective career achievements take front and center in our lives, it won’t be that title on our diploma from the honors program that will take us far in life and transcend our time at PC. No … I believe that while all of these things may be important to us at some point in our life and we will never forget some of the most interesting pieces of material that we learned from Civ, it is the soft skills and tools that we developed from this program that will take us far in life and that will allow us to be successful in whatever endeavor we decide to pursue in life.
Looking back on the students we all entered as freshman year and looking at the students we are about to leave PC as, I am confident in saying that honors has truly fostered and brought about the skills that are vital across all industries in today’s world. The ability to think critically, the ability to write effectively, to communicate effectively, and to challenge and question the status quo. That to me, is what honors is all about — putting the best and brightest of our grade all in one room to challenge each other, push each other, and to foster a room full of intellectual curiosity to develop a group of future leaders in our respective fields who have the soft skills and tools needed to thrive in any endeavor we face in life. While surely our respective classes outside of Honors Civ were demanding and pushed us to think critically, I believe it is because of honors and the challenging environment it fostered that we were then able to confront these other challenges during our four years here. We were invited to challenge in our years in Honors Civ, no doubt, but we took that challenge, embraced it, and came out of it better and more than ready to enter the real world as we all are in a matter of days.
But, as I end tonight, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t acknowledge those who were fundamental to the development of the students we are soon to be leaving as: the tremendous faculty and friends within the Honors Program. I know I already thanked him at the beginning of the program, but whether you have had him in class or not, I think it is safe to say all of us have had some encounter with Dr. Lynch. Whether it is Dr. Lynch bringing out a samurai sword in class freshman year, his joke-full personality, or his ability to make reading Shakespeare engaging and enjoyable, thank you, Dr. Lynch for not only being an amazing professor, but for also your and Dr. Fournier’s efforts in making the honors program the amazing and rewarding program that it is.
Like all of us, I could go on and on reciting personal anecdotes of the great faculty members that teach in the honors program and that are some of the best faculty members that PC has to offer. Whether it is Dr. Andrews from the history department whose lectures were always engaging and who could be seen playing pickup basketball with students in Peterson, or Dr. Hogan from the English department who always brought cookies to seminar each week and made reading poetry enjoyable to someone who always avoided it all costs, I cannot thank these professors enough. And while I am surely missing plenty of others and many professors who some of you have fond memories of, I speak on behalf of my entire class in thanking all of the honors faculty for not only contributing to our growth as students, but for challenging us each and every week and pushing us to become the best versions of ourselves. Without you, we would not be the students we are today equipped with the writing, thinking, and communication skills needed to tackle the world we are about to enter.
And last, but certainly not least, when I think about my time in the honors program, far beyond the skills it has developed and the faculty who were there to help, I cannot help but think about all of the great people and friends I have made as a result of this program. Whether it is late night study sessions for exams, Friday and Saturday nights spent in each other’s dorms hanging out, friendly debates within seminar, or socializing at different honors events like the annual Christmas dinner, when I think about my time at Providence College and especially within the honors program, I am beyond thankful for having had the opportunity to meet all of you in this room and for being able to not just call you my fellow classmates, but more importantly, my friends.
So, as I end here tonight, and we get ready to graduate and enter the real world, I’d like us to remember those four powerful but simple words that I started with. “You’re invited to challenge.” Surely, our challenging time in the honors program may be over, but I challenge every one of us to take those four words with us beyond our time here at PC. There is no question that as we enter our respective fields upon graduation or our other postgraduate plans, we will be faced with adversity and other struggles in life, but I have the utmost confidence that with the skills we have developed as members of this program, we will be ready to confront any challenge we may face in life and to persevere through whatever comes our way. We are not just PC graduates. Rather, we are PC graduates from the honors program, and I hope 10, 20, 30 or however many years from now, we will all remember what that means and how that transformed us into the people we are today. So once again, thank you for giving me this opportunity, and for one last time: God bless and go Friars.
