In one last message to the Class of 2023 before tassels are moved from right to left, Meghan Seligman’s goal is to leave Bryant’s newly minted graduates with a sense of accomplishment and determination as they launch careers and others pursue graduate school.
“My speech is about giving motivation to students and showing them how much we’ve learned and been through during our time at Bryant,” says Seligman ’23, a Biology major on a Pre-Health track who will deliver Commencement’s Student Charge on May 20.
Reflecting on the past that prepared graduates for their futures, Seligman will share how students strove to become the best versions of themselves over the last four years through hours spent in the classroom and forming relationships with peers. She adds that while COVID-19 impacted the Class of 2023 in their first year on campus, students overcame pandemic-related obstacles and persevered.
During her Commencement address, Seligman plans to encourage graduates to look toward the future with confidence — offering words of support as they reach out and embrace the unknown. While the road after graduation may be intimidating or unclear, she hopes the Class of 2023 takes the sense of community, contribution, and camaraderie instilled at Bryant and spreads it beyond the university’s borders.
Hailing from Ludlow, Massachusetts, Seligman was a high schooler when she decided that she wanted to pursue a career in the science field. She entered Bryant in the fall of 2019 with the long-term goal of attending medical school. This career choice veered in a different direction once her first-year biology professor spoke to Seligman’s class about Bryant’s Physician Assistant program. After researching the medical profession, Seligman decided PA school was a better fit.
After graduation, Seligman plans to complete the prerequisites for PA school, which includes approximately 1,000 hours of healthcare or direct patient care experience. Until she begins a graduate program, Seligman will work as manager for a company near her hometown.
Seligman says her Bryant experience is one that she “wouldn't change for the world.” During her time on campus, she was a resident assistant and served as the head RA of Middle Village this past year. She was also a member of Student Government, president of Bryant Pre-Health Association, and co-chair for the Senior Class Committee. Through leadership positions and relationships with professors, friends, and mentors, Seligman learned more about herself since stepping onto campus four years ago. She now reflects on how she can take what she has learned and apply it after graduation.
Finding a balance between academics and enjoying campus life, since freshman year Seligman and her friends could be found sitting on blankets by the pond on nice days. Dubbed ‘pond sitting,’ this activity allowed Seligman to strengthen relationships and complete schoolwork — all while taking in the campus’s natural beauty.
Seligman attributes her academic success to her professors — highlighting Biological and Biomedical Sciences professor and School of Health and Behavioral Sciences Director Kirsten Hokeness and lecturer Stephanie Mott for their inspiration over the last four years.
“Professor Hokeness really wanted us to feel like we belonged here at Bryant as science majors and to know that we can make an impact at the end of the day,” Seligman says.
Wrapping up her undergraduate career, and speech, with a special thanks to families, peers, educators, and mentors who helped Bryant’s Class of 2023 reach the finish line, Seligman will remind students to never lose sight of their goals and to relentlessly pursue those aspirations.
“We are Bryant Bulldogs, and we sit at the helm of the future,” Seligman says.
