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Saturday, May. 09, 2009

Georgia College grads stand tall among their peers

MILLEDGEVILLE — Jennifer Irish and Ryan Greene may be just two of more than 900 Georgia College & State University seniors receiving their diplomas this morning, but they stand out.

Irish, a Spanish major with a 3.93 grade-point average, will be speaking at the commencement ceremony, an honor given just one student each year.

And it’s a fair bet that many of the students on hand will recognize Greene: He’s the university’s two-term student body president.

Both students carry the attributes that the school likes to see in its graduating class: leadership, campus involvement and a positive attitude to go along with high academic marks.

That’s what members of the school’s faculty who know them best say.

“In 22 years, Ryan is probably the most genuine, other-oriented student leader I’ve worked with,” said Paul Jahr, associate vice president of student affairs. “He’s a very unselfish individual, very dedicated, very committed, detail-oriented team leader. ... He effectively represents the students’ interests.”

Irish has made a similar impression on the teachers who know her.

“Professors sometimes have students they remember for a long time,” said Aurora Castillo, an assistant professor of Spanish. “They make a very big mark. For me, Jennifer is one of those students.”

Irish, originally from Michigan, chose Georgia College by following in the footsteps of her sister Jamie, who graduated a few years ago.

She’s a member of both the general and the Spanish honor societies, has worked with the Young Democrats, has been a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa leadership society and has played intramural soccer and volleyball. She’s also worked in the school’s housing office and volunteered in the community.

“One of my favorite experiences here was working with student housing,” she said. “We got to do a lot of programs on campus.”

Greene also started out involved in student housing when he first arrived on campus, but in a slightly different role.

As a freshman, he was elected president of the student housing association. Jahr said Greene worked to get extended dorm hours from almost the moment he arrived on campus. Through a combination of lobbying, town hall meetings and working with the administration, he accomplished his goal by late in his freshman year.

Greene, a business management major with a 3.9 GPA, said he wanted to stay relatively close to his hometown of Rutledge, near Madison, and ultimately picked Georgia College over the University of Georgia because of the smaller class sizes on the Milledgeville campus.

He said his activities on campus, which include the Leadership Certification Program, the Georgia Educational Mentorship Program, playing trumpet and French horn in the pep and jazz bands and intramural softball and Ultimate Frisbee, have allowed him to learn how to interact with people, something that will be essential to his goal of being an entrepreneur.

“All of that out-of-the-classroom experience and the extracurriculars have done so much to help me work with people and learn how to work in a collaborative environment,” he said.

Greene said those skills will be necessary when he eventually goes to graduate school to get an MBA. But he plans to enter the work force right now to pick up practical experience and skills.

“I’m just looking for a job in the worst recession in 40 years,” he said with a chuckle.

Irish will head to West Virginia University in the fall, where she will study for a master’s degree. Her goal is to become a college professor in Spanish.

Greene was also a finalist to be the commencement speaker. He interviewed for the honor before the committee ultimately picked Irish.

Irish said her speech will include a combination of advice her grandmother gave her and a quote from her favorite athlete: hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

Leaving the campus, she said, has brought a mix of emotions for her.

“I’m excited, nervous, sad — but more excited than anything.”

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.