Rising Star Award Speech

 

Let me start my sharing some of the ways that colleague’s described this person. They shared that this person is thoughtful, committed and driven. This person’s supervisor used the word independent, in the sense that you never have to worry about this person rising to the occasion and getting the job done. It’s no surprise that doing their job is simply in their blood as this person has grown up passionately taking notes form Bill Belichick and the Patriots. It was also noted that this person is a loyal teammate and a fierce advocate; I could not agree more that this person is all of those things. 

In everything they do, they bring a voice to those who might not have a seat at the table and strive to put themselves in others shoes. A continual learner, this person spends time asking the hard questions and then listening- really listening – to the discussion. Some of the work we all do is hard and often finding the “right” answer requires us to consider many side of the situation. The conversations can be difficult but this person does not shy away from the challenge. Along the way they also invite you to join them in learning – serving as fellow student and teacher. Our organization thrives on growth and education and this person embodies that.

On top of teacher and student, teammate may be one of the best ways to describe this person. If they are on your team, they are ALL IN. This person gives 110% to every team they are on, and also leads on these teams within NEACAC and NECBAC. Much like our student ambassadors who always seem to have resumes too deep to fit in sleeping, this person also balances doing it all with exceptional grace.

This person is quite simply, someone to look up to. Mentor is a another great way to describe  this person, even with only five years under their belt. I know for certain I am not the only one who has thought “I want to be you when I grow up”. This person has inspired many students to join our profession and has led by example with passion, grace and commitment to the work that we do. Our field has benefited tremendously from their inspiration to others. In normal circumstances, I’d be asking those folks to stand and join me so we could all say a collective thank you – but given the difficulty of that on ZOOM for now, I and so many others say thank you to this year’s Rising Star recipient for being on our teams and inspiring us to do the work we do.

So now since I’ve surely surpassed my 90 seconds and since you’ve likely figured it out by now, I’ll wrap this up and just say, you’ve already added so much to our field – KEEP SHINING!

It is my greatest honor to present this year’s Rising Star Award to Amy Chung.

 

Emma Brown
Associate Director of Admission, Bentley University