Zach Zambarano

Throughout my four years at Bryant, I have learned to embrace change not as an obstacle but as an opportunity to grow and better myself and the community around me. Let me explain. If you had asked me if I would embrace change during my senior year of high school, I would have laughed and said you were crazy. Throughout my lower education years, I rejected change, often staying in my comfort zone, and developed a routine that restricted my creativity, and vision for my professional career and future. When I got accepted to Bryant, I thought I would stick to the script: drive to school, learn, do homework, go to bed, repeat. While I was involved in clubs and activities in high school, I knew I wanted to limit or cut out activities to focus on academics in college. While engaged in one or two clubs in my first year, I had a set picture of what I wanted to do in my four years at Bryant. But then, things changed in the spring semester of my first year. While the pandemic was a transition and challenge for all college students, it gave me time to reflect on the legacy I wanted to leave when I graduated from Bryant. Even though I was still seven semesters away from graduation, I realized there was more for me at Bryant and that this university is a special place to enhance my leadership and community-building skills. At that moment in my first year, I realized I had to get more involved and use Bryant’s resources to my advantage to gain a competitive edge for my future. In my sophomore year, I had an opportunity to be in Student Government as a Senator, and while the President was calculating the results, I was sure that I had lost. When they called my name, I knew it was only the beginning of many more opportunities in my quest to be a leader and mentor on this campus.

Being in Student Government was a real eye-opening experience because it showed me how powerful student voices are at Bryant University and how we can change the Bryant experience by voicing our concerns. As I got more involved in Student Government, Residential life, Ways and Means Commission, Fisher Student Center, and Student Ambassadors, and more in my junior year, I realized that I was the one that was helping make the change. It was then that I no longer wanted the same routine every day and wanted to be a change-maker on campus for the betterment of the student body and future generations of Bryant bulldogs. Fast forward to today, where I was the President of the Student Government, helping to facilitate the change along with the partnership of the Bryant administration. Along the way, I have learned lessons I will cherish forever, failures that turned into opportunities, and a supportive and inclusive community to any idea (even the blue-sky ones!). So, as I leave this place that I have called home for the best years of my life, here are a couple of lessons I have learned:

1. Change is good, even when you reject it. Change is inevitable, and while adjusting takes time, you see the benefits of that change. As you grow and expand on your leadership skills in college or professionally, you might be tasked to create the change, which might be downright terrifying! But use your resources and the opportunities you have received to change aspects to better the lives of others. Bryant University has changed my life for the better, and I wouldn’t have had any personal growth if Bryant or the world hadn’t changed my first year.

2. Change becomes easier when you have support. As I always say to future student leaders: thank the people who got you to this point. These people have guided you through your journey and helped you change and grow into new skill sets that you will take with you forever. Trust and cherish these people to help you make the right decisions occasionally because often, a second opinion helps fuel the change for the better. Thank you to my mentors, faculty, staff, classmates, administration, and of course, my parents and family for steering me to greatness and excellence and allowing me to fail. Without your help, I wouldn’t have changed for the better, probably be in the same routine and not have the best college experience possible.

To the Class of 2023, we have seen many changes. We can say that we are the change-makers of Bryant University today and motivate the next generation to be the change-makers of our university tomorrow. Never forget our roots in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and all the opportunities Bryant has given us. It is time for us to leave, drive past the Bryant globe one last time and embark on our journey. While we may live far and wide, we will continue to be the change our world needs today. But remember that our journey together started here on a 435-acre campus with a vision and dream to think big and be great.

Congratulations, Class of 2023! We did it! Go Bulldogs!