Originally published in Carroll Capital, the print publication of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. .
On any given week during his senior year, Aidan Said 鈥�24 could be found juggling classes听and homework for his two management concentrations plus the theology major he tacked on junior year, carrying out his duties as part of the Air Force Reserve Officers鈥� Training Corps, hanging out with friends, and somewhere in there also trying to get some sleep.
Said didn鈥檛 mind what he refers to as the 鈥済o, go, go鈥� pace of his days, but his evening routine of meditation, prayer, and reflection was a nonnegotiable in his to-do list. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the way I digest my day,鈥� he says, explaining that the process of reflection often helped him make sense of his place in the world amid competing priorities. 鈥淲hen you have all these different ideas that kind of clash, it always leaves you reverberating.鈥�
Aiden Said '24
For many, college is a time of great personal growth鈥攕tudents across the globe experience these moments of clashing ideas鈥攂ut it is the听ability to feel that reverberation, the point where experiences intersect meaningfully, that is integral to a Boston College education. If these years are so formative to students, how exactly is Boston College shaping the college experience? The answer revolves around a concept known as student formation, or 鈥渇ormative education.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 own the market around formative education. We鈥檙e not the only place that students grow and develop and learn,鈥� says Mike Sacco, executive director of the Center for Student Formation and the Office of First Year Experience. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just a bit more intentional. We have an emphasis on it.鈥�
The broader concept of formation comes from St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, and his way of using his own intellect and reasoning to reflect on his personal experiences. Ignatius saw God as a teacher and himself as a student of the world formed in God鈥檚 image鈥攈e also envisioned the Jesuits as a religious order dedicated to service and teaching.
Even with its faith-based origins, formative education has become part of the Boston College DNA that touches all spheres of life and learning, religious or secular. 鈥淎ll are welcomed and the University is not a church,鈥� says John T. Butler, SJ, the Haub Vice President of the Division of Mission and Ministry. 鈥淵et, the [Jesuit Catholic] ethos springs from the notion that life is a gift and it鈥檚 meant to be lived.鈥�
With so many fields of study, service opportunities, clubs, teams, and events to pick from, Boston College emphasizes a choose-your-own-adventure approach to finding meaning during these formative years. The three primary facets of student formation are intellectual, spiritual, and social growth, but these dimensions can, and almost certainly will, interweave as students explore their options.
Andrew Namkoong '24
Andrew Namkoong 鈥�24 appreciates that the University鈥檚 core curriculum allowed him to traverse subject areas from epistemology to business law. 鈥淭hrough the core, you become not just specialized but a well-rounded individual,鈥� he says. He shares a similar sentiment about Portico, the required first-year management course that weaves in threads of ethics, philosophy, and social responsibility. That class is part of the reason he later decided to pursue a philosophy major in addition to his finance concentration. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that philosophy could cross over into the business world,鈥� he explains. Around 50 percent of Carroll School students complete an additional major or minor in the arts and sciences. It鈥檚 an opportunity to discover surprising connections. For Namkoong, who describes himself as 鈥渁 big yapper,鈥� the appeal of discussion-based classes like Portico stretched beyond the course material. There he was encouraged, and even expected, to engage vocally with his new peers.
Said chose to blend his intellectual and spiritual growth when he added a theology major to his concentrations: finance, and accounting for finance and consulting. 鈥淎 lot of what you鈥檙e doing听in theology is the same as what you do in business鈥攜ou鈥檙e trying to find a precedent,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f I want to know something about a company, I will look back at their old financial statements. If I want to know something about the Book of Exodus, I鈥檓 going to look at the comments from theologians about Exodus.鈥�
“Through the core, you become, not just specialized, but a well-rounded individual.”
It was through his theology classes that Said came to better understand his own spirituality. After attending a Jesuit highschool in Detroit, he was no stranger to Jesuit practices like the Examen, a daily reflection on one鈥檚 experiences, but classes including 鈥淏uddhism and Christianity in Dialogue鈥� helped Said rethink prayer and reflection through mindfulness. 鈥淚 view the world through my practice. I do my meditation and my examination of conscience and then pray,鈥� he says. For Said, this routine applies as much to rehashing his performance on an exam as it will to his post-graduation role as an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party Officer. 鈥淚鈥檝e had time to think about what this means for me,鈥� he says about his next steps. 鈥淚t鈥檚 daunting but I feel prepared.鈥�
While some students find that their formation is intertwined with their religion, others with no religious affiliation still seek something that helps form them as whole persons. 鈥淎lthough not everyone belongs to a faith tradition, most, whether they know it or not, function in some sort of religious structure, ritual, or symbolic expression,鈥� says Butler. 鈥淎ll of our students want to transcend themselves and experience things greater than who they are and where they came from.鈥�
By virtue of being a Jesuit university, Boston College鈥檚 educational and spiritual influences loom large in the formative education picture, but the process would be incomplete without social elements. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to inform and educate in the classroom, first and foremost,鈥� says Sacco. 鈥淏ut we also give students experiences to help them grow socially with leadership, self-awareness, and social responsibility.鈥�
Irfane Soumaou '25
Irfane Soumanou 鈥�25, who studies finance as well as computer science, got involved with Boston College鈥檚 African diaspora dance group, Presenting Africa to U (PATU), as a way to meet more people on campus. 鈥淚t was my stress reliever. In the studio, dancing was all I thought about. I wasn鈥檛 worried about my other preoccupations. I was having fun doing something I love with my chosen family,鈥� she says, adding that she grew as a dancer and as a team player through PATU.
Namkoong cemented his commitment to social responsibility during his internship with Metro Housing Boston. As part of听the Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action summer internship program, he spent 10 weeks working with the nonprofit, which helps greater Boston residents achieve housing security. 鈥淚 remember talking with the CEO about not being too idealistic,鈥� Namkoong says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to solve the affordable housing crisis in Boston. It鈥檚 a process. If I help a family get a home, that鈥檚 a great step.鈥� In his internship with real estate company Greystar the following summer, he was no longer working in low-income housing, but he held onto that lesson. 鈥淵ou want to create shareholder value, but I also want to create value for everyone involved,鈥� he says, adding that he hopes to bring that mindset to his continued work with Greystar as an investment and development analyst.
Sacco highlights that one of the biggest themes of formative education is to have students 鈥渦nderstand themselves at a deeper, more honest level.鈥� In doing so, students must pay close attention to how they feel. It can be a vulnerable journey to make alone, but the University鈥檚 rich culture of retreats and group discernment makes it easier for students to heed what Sacco refers to as 鈥渢he call to take care of each other,鈥� by sharing space and personal stories with their peers.
Soumanou, who is Muslim, has participated in both the Black Women Matter and 48 hours retreats. She explains that the experiences allowed her to be more open about her college听journey so far. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thinking about moving forward all the time, but it鈥檚 really important to acknowledge how far you鈥檝e come,鈥� she says. When she spots students from her retreats on campus, she makes a point of greeting them. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of how far they鈥檝e come, too,鈥� she adds.
“We're thinking about moving forward all the time, but it's really important to acknowledge how far you've come. ”
Formative education is, at its heart, a group project. 鈥淎ll who work and participate within a university community are educators, and thus participate in the formative process,鈥� says Butler. While it鈥檚 important that professors and academic advisors cultivate meaningful dialogue and big-picture thinking with students, the beauty of wisdom is that it sometimes comes from unlikely sources鈥擲aid mentions his roommates, Soumanou talks about her dance teammates, and Namkoong even name-drops Boston College dining hall staff as making a mark on their college experiences.
The University may provide the framework for these opportunities, but ultimately it鈥檚 up to the students themselves to embrace their formative education and carve a path forward. 鈥淢y parents instilled in me this mindset of treating every opportunity as something positive鈥攖reating it as a yes,鈥� Namkoong says. 鈥淲ithout that mindset, I wouldn鈥檛 have discovered philosophy as a major, I wouldn鈥檛 have interned in affordable housing.... I wouldn鈥檛 have had all these experiences that have made me who I am today.鈥�
