Department Leadership Award Communication

I keep a copy of Fred Chappell’s Brighten the Corner Where You Are in my truck. It is a book that I’ve not yet finished reading. Something I turn to when traveling or sitting waiting for someone at the store. It seems fitting that it is a book always not finished because brightening corners is a task always in process, a game played over and over again. Despite not having finished the book, the title is one of those phrases that I try to live by.

I’ve not always been someone who gets involved with my programs of study and the people in my departments. But about a year ago I realized that my time at Mason COMM was passing by extraordinarily quickly and I didn’t want to leave another place without becoming part of the community. So, I decided to become involved with CGSA and do my best to foster and support the graduate student community.

It has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of Mason COMM and have the opportunity to try to make it better. To help my fellow grad students. To support, and learn, and laugh together. I am truly grateful and humbled to receive the 2024 Department Leadership Award and I can’t wait to keep brightening this corner where I am.