"I chose my major because I’ve always been interested in learning about people,” says Joey Leszczynski ’23, an Easton, CT, native who is studying Leadership and Innovation at Bryant. Joey's coursework is teaching him how to inspire creativity in others and bring them together as a team. He's already finding success, both in the classroom and on the stage.
Having been around theater his entire life, Joey knew that he wanted to continue to explore his passion while also earning a high-quality business degree. Through the Bryant Players, the University's premier theatre troupe, he found a campus group devoted to performing and to aiding one other. “I remember walking into Janikies Theater on my birthday and everybody was so welcoming,” Joey remembers. “It was so great to see that Bryant has this really solid arts community where everybody is so supportive.”
“Mixing business with liberal arts helps you to be more open minded and really gives you an edge. It broadens your horizons and helps you see things from different perspectives.”
Last semester, Joey directed “Rumors,” the Player's fall performance and one of three productions they'll put on this year. “We all worked hard to put on this show and entertain the Bryant community,” he says. Staging a full production and managing a cast of students from different majors and class years might seem daunting to some, but Joey relishes the challenge. “I love working with people and I’m practicing what I’ve learned in my Management classes in real time,” he says.
That fusion of education and experience will payoff beyond the stage as well, Joey says, noting that the best results, like the best performances, require rehearsal. Aiming to secure a job in the fashion industry after graduation, he knows that the combination of business and liberal arts he’s learning at Bryant will also provide an important advantage. “Mixing business with liberal arts helps you to be more open minded and really gives you an edge,” he states, pointing out that his Sociology minor gives him an insight into people and social relations that makes him a better manager. “It broadens your horizons and helps you see things from different perspectives.”
