Spring 2019 Convocation
New and returning students were welcomed to the Landmark College campus for the start of the 2019 Spring Semester on January 26. The convocation ceremony featured remarks by current student Ryan Linkletter, alumna Katherine Wagenbach ’98, and associate professor of History Michael Hutcheson.
Linkletter told his fellow students how attending one of LC’s summer programs for high school students set him on a better academic path. He described himself as “unmotivated” and “shy” prior to that experience. Now in his third semester as an undergraduate student, Linkletter is a Resident Assistant and Vice President of the Student Government Association.
His advice for the new students included joining clubs. “There are ton of clubs on campus that cover at least one interest people have; such as student government (hint hint). It is a great way to meet new friends and make connections,” said Linkletter.
For Wagenbach, the biggest difference between Landmark College now and when she was a student 20 years ago are the technological advancements now available. The key to success, however, according to Wagenbach, remains the faculty.
“Let yourself be guided by these amazing educators sitting in this audience today,” Wagenbach told the students. “They are some of the best. And, they understand you. They understand the struggle and the hardships you endured. They understand that you’re here to feel what success in academia should feel like.”
One of those amazing educators is Hutcheson, who will be retiring before the start of the Fall 2019 semester. Hutcheson shared his first encounter with a Landmark College student, which actually pre-dated his joining the faculty in 1991. During his time teaching literature at a small liberal arts college, he witnessed a student named David who struggled in an introductory English course, and then returned from Landmark College with tools and techniques that helped him perform well in an advanced course focused on the works of James Joyce.
“Throughout that semester, David showed me the strategies he’d learned at Landmark, and I began to use some of them with other students who were struggling,” said Hutcheson, who then reminded the students that the journey they are embarking upon will be challenging at times. “It’s difficult to admit that the strategies you’ve relied on aren’t working. Then it can be equally hard to find new strategies that do work for you and turn them into habits. But based on my first encounter with a Landmark student, David, and many more since, I can tell you that the hard work can lead to great rewards.”
With that, new students came on stage to receive the Landmark College coin, meant to embody the worth and worthiness of each student. Then everyone gathered in the dining hall for a celebratory reception.
(Left to Right) Landmark College president, Dr. Peter Eden, Katherine Wagenback '98, Michael Hutcheson, Ryan Linkletter