Professor Maureen Boyle smiles with senior Max Peebles at Brother Mike's. Photo courtesy of Max Peebles.
By Max Peebles
Anyone who really knows me knows I didn't have the best freshman year. At the time, I was highly considering transferring, but I was still open to returning to Stonehill for my sophomore year. I remember towards the end of that first year, Professor Maureen Boyle telling me that I’d be a copy editor for The Summit in the fall. I had just finished my first semester of writing for The Summit, and I started to think, “maybe if I don’t transfer, I can really do something at The Summit.” Obviously, I ended up not transferring, and I couldn’t be happier with how things turned out.
Writing and working for The Summit became an integral part of my time at Stonehill. No matter what happened on any given day, I always had my work for the newspaper to look forward to. It gave me a drive to keep getting better everyday and to keep working. I told myself sophomore year, “I’m going to be editor-in-chief my senior year.” When I look back on my time at Stonehill, there are two household names I will always think of: Forestdale and The Summit.
It’s crazy to look back now at the countless stories I’ve written for the paper. From feature stories, to campus news, my occasional sports rants, and my letters from the editor, there’s been a lot. And I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing some wonderful people on campus from almost every department. I’ve also interviewed numerous students from all different walks of life. I’ve learned so much from all these people and am glad that I was able to tell their stories. At the end of day, I’m just a storyteller.
It was so interesting to watch how being an English major helped me be a Journalism minor, and vise versa. I’m very happy I chose these fields to study and I’ve learned so much about life and the world we live in through them, while also building my writing skills.
A few notes of thanks I must give: to Doug Monson and the rest of Athletic Communications, I will honestly really miss filming various sporting events, especially football, for my work study job — it was a pleasure. To Aliki Karagiannis and Patti Mead in the Office of International Programs, it was great working with you this year as a peer advisor and I cannot even begin to thank you enough for helping to give me the opportunity to study abroad last year in Perugia, Italy.
To Professors Jared Green, Helga Duncan, Matthew Borushko, and John Golden, you all inspired me to new heights I could not have ever imagined and have reminded me why it is I chose to study English and why I love it. Your courses examined some of my favorite works of literature and delved deep into the essence of life. From Modernism with Prof. Green, to Romanticism with Prof. Borushko, to Shakespeare with Prof. Duncan, and to my direct study with Prof. Golden of The Brothers Karamazov for my capstone — these courses all changed me and will forever be some of my favorites from college.
To Professors Chris Ives, Fr. Stephen Wilbricht, C.S.C., and Adam Carmichael, you each exposed me to new philosophies and religious concepts previously unknown to me. Each of your courses profoundly impacted my way of thinking and how I view the world. These were among some of the most interesting courses I took while at Stonehill.
Lastly, and certainly not least, Professor Boyle. You gave me the confidence I needed as a young writer when I was a freshman and steered me to joining The Summit. I would not be the writer I am today without you. You have always been there for me when I needed advice or needed a story looked over one last time before publishing. I will truly miss your classes and working and writing with you.
To all my friends, especially, my roommates of the past four years and the boys from Forestdale — it was an awesome ride. The memories we have will last a lifetime and we’ll be making more in the future.
I could go on and on about memories and things I’ll miss — not to mention how bummed I am that my senior year was cut short — but as I sit here in the twilight of my college days, I don’t feel sad, but happy — happy that this time happened. I came into college as a fairly timid and immature boy, and left as a man with purpose and experiences that made me into a better person.
How blessed and fortunate I was for this opportunity in my life.
Peebles is a senior English major with a minor in Journalism
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