student

Ryan Mason '13

Sociology | Brooklyn, N.Y.

The decision to come to Susquehanna fit well with my major. I figured I could learn not only the academics, but also the repercussions of attending a college in an area I didn’t grow up in. I thought, “You’re your own best sociology experiment.” I don’t make very orthodox or expected choices. I suppose I wear that as a badge of honor.

The Honors Program is interesting. They replace some of our core courses with specialized classes. Instead of Writing and Thinking, you have Thought, for example. The Sophomore Essay is the cornerstone of the program. Since I did a thesis every year at my high school, School of the Future, it kind of fit in well. I’ve done this before, although not on the same level.

I got involved in a lot of activities my freshman year and am trying to figure out what to consolidate. I’m secretary of the French Club, took part in LeaderShape and was just appointed to a position on the Democrats Club. I’ll be a resident assistant (RA) in West Village next year and part of the Student Conduct Board. I can use conflict resolution skills on the RA side. And I’ve always had a strange interest in law and proceedings. Those positions will satisfy those interests.

I’m VP of Sustained Dialogue, a program that Lisa Scott and others have recently started on campus. It’s for colleges that feel they can benefit from students coming together to dialogue about student trends that aren’t beneficial to the campus. We went to a conference at Princeton and are planning our next steps to hit the ground running next semester. Sustained Dialogue will probably be the horse I bet on during my years at SU. It will be the thing I’m really into.

I’m results-oriented. And I’ve learned that leaders can’t just be about the consequential, concrete results, but have to consider the process of how we get to those results. That was an interesting epiphany.