Meet Paul Theriault ’22 from Stow, MA. If you ask Paul what his favorite thing about Bryant is, it turns out it’s not just one thing or one person—it’s everyone. “Bryant’s community has been there for me throughout my past four years,” he says.
Paul’s major, Global Supply Chain Management, is all about connecting people with products and services that they need—which makes it a perfect fit for him. As Head Resident Assistant and as a Student Ambassador, he has made it his mission to aid other students in making the most of their time in college.
“When I visited Bryant as a high school student, my student ambassador had such a positive impact on my experience,” Paul notes. When he first started college at Bryant, he found the same willingness to help in his classmates and upperclassmen. “As my time at Bryant went on, I realized that’s what I want to do for others,” he says. “One of my favorite parts of being an RA and an ambassador has been making that same positive impact on younger students’ Bryant experience.”
At Bryant, Paul says, the entire campus comes together to make sure that everyone can reach higher and achieve more. “You make so many personal connections, not just with other students but with faculty and staff as well,” says Paul, remembering how Bryant’s president helped him and other students move into their residence hall on their very first day. “I don’t think that’s something you see at other schools.”
“I was treated like I was a full-time employee. I was in all of our team meetings, and I was communicating with people around the world on a daily basis.”
One of the connections he made, Associate Professor of Marketing Teresa McCarthy, has become an important mentor for Paul. “She’s been a really important part of my time at Bryant,” he notes. It was McCarthy who recommended him for a Global Planning Co-Op internship opportunity with international play and entertainment company Hasbro. During his co-op, Paul put the skills he learned in the classroom to the test by evaluating demand for 32 global markets and allocating supplies for almost 70 active items.
At Hasbro, he found another welcoming community. “I was treated like I was a full-time employee,” says Paul. “I was in all of our team meetings, and I was communicating with people around the world on a daily basis.” The co-op, he says, provided him with invaluable real-world-ready experience. The company was so impressed with his work that he’ll be returning to Hasbro as a Global Planning analyst after graduation.
Paul is excited to start his new job for a lot of reasons, one of the most important is that he’ll be able to continue having a positive impact on others. “I’m glad I get to work in an industry that brings people joy,” he says.
