Holy Cross College has named Bradley Szotko their valedictorian, a business major originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan who achieved a 3.99 grade point average in his time at the College.
For Szotko, the defining aspect of his time at Holy Cross was the close-knit nature of the school, allowing him to build personal connections with professors and countless friendships during his time there.
“The small community at Holy Cross, that’s what I live for,” he said.
Szotko found out that he had been named the valedictorian of his class when Mike Griffin, the College’s provost, pulled him aside as he exited the dining hall one night to share the news.
He described being valedictorian as “a huge honor.”
“I’m so happy that I can represent Holy Cross in this way,” he said, noting that he “never could have imagined the amount of opportunities [he] would take part in at Holy Cross that [he] likely would not have taken part in had [he] gone to a larger school like Notre Dame.”
Szotko added that he “lacked the confidence” to take advantage of the opportunities at Holy Cross when he first arrived on campus, but has since been encouraged by the small community to push his boundaries and grow in and out of the classroom.
He grew up a Notre Dame fan, but after doing everything he could for his application, Szotko was not accepted. Instead, he was offered a pathway program to complete his undergraduate degree at Holy Cross with a guaranteed seat to earn a master’s degree at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
Szotko shared that he came to Holy Cross with the intention of potentially transferring to Notre Dame. Instead, he said, “I ended up just kind of falling in love with it over here. And I still got to go to all of the games and that kind of fun stuff, so it just worked out perfectly,” he said.
“I didn't realize how much more I would thrive at a small school like Holy Cross compared to a larger school like Notre Dame until I was in it and living the Holy Cross experience every day,” Szotko said. “The lesson I hope people take from my journey to valedictorian is that the most important thing about the college experience isn’t the brand name of your school or the size of the student body, it’s the ways that it embraces you and works with you to make you a stronger scholar, citizen, leader and disciple.”
He chose to study business with a focus in finance because it came at the intersection of his interests in both working with people and numbers, later adding minors in political science and marketing because they sparked his interest and paired well together.
Szotko discussed the impact that the small classes at the College had on him, especially in the political science department, as the minor was introduced very recently. He enjoyed having the same 10 to 15 people in his classes each semester with similar professors, saying the relationships they built with each other made debates especially fun. In the minor, even as students had different opinions, “everyone really respected each other,” Szotko said.
Clyde Ray, assistant professor of politics, left a particularly profound impact on Szotko, who took six classes with him throughout his years at the College. He also noted that the support of Steve Varela, the new chair of the business department and professor Linda Thorpe Gordon, who he attended eight of her classes classes and were crucial to his success at the College.
The highlight of his academic experiences came when he was able to participate in the Holy Cross Small Business Institute, working on consulting projects for both a local mental health nonprofit and a microbrewery.
Outside of the classroom, Szotko served as the president of the College's Student Government Association (SGA) during his junior year and vice president senior year. Szotko switched between these two roles with his four-year roommate and close friend, Joseph Stokes.
“We do enough together that we have people call us ‘Broseph,’ as if we’re just one unit … I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention him,” he said.
During his time with student government, Szotko met regularly with the College’s President Marco Clark and spoke at the Board of Trustees meetings to advocate for the student body directly to administrators.
He additionally served as a residence assistant (RA) for two years as well as a campus tour guide. During his time in Legacy Hall, formerly named South Hall, Szotko greatly improved the dorm’s culture.
Szotko shared that dorms at Holy Cross do not often have extremely strong communities due to the suite style nature of their rooms, which encourage residents to keep to themselves and students moving between the dorms each year. Szotko helped freshmen adjust to college life while fostering significant growth in the dorm’s community.
Szotko was also confirmed during his time at Holy Cross.
“I’ve grown a ton here at Holy Cross and given how different I am now than I was when I came in in a good way, it’s just been kind of a gradual process, just experience after experience,” Szotko said.
In the fall, Szotko will begin his masters in finance at Mendoza. He hopes to then pursue a career in finance before shifting to nonprofit work focused on inclusion for people with special needs.
