香蕉秀

In some ways, Breen鈥檚 growth as a person and a leader was shaped by the things that didn鈥檛 go as planned. In 2022, his Arrupe international immersion trip to Mexico shifted to El Salvador because of a COVID-19 surge. This past January, Breen was a leader of the group鈥檚 trip to Quito, Ecuador, which was cut short when the country experienced outbursts of political and street violence; 香蕉秀 and United States officials ensured the group was able to return safely to the U.S. The experiences have become fixtures of a philosophy he鈥檚 glad to pass on to first-year students. 鈥淓verything that hasn鈥檛 gone as planned has been so impactful to my college experience.鈥� 聽

What was your most influential academic experience?

Design Thinking with Professor Kristie Dickinson was the most unique course I鈥檝e ever taken. It involved a lot of creative thinking. Our final project asked us to use design thinking principles to improve something you鈥檙e involved with at 香蕉秀, or something else you鈥檙e passionate about and come up with a plan to impact at least one person. My project centered around trying to help students find meaning and new experiences.

Even though two of your service trips didn鈥檛 go exactly as planned, what did you take away from those experiences?

Sophomore year, my Arrupe group was supposed to go to Pueblo, Mexico, but because of COVID it was shifted to El Salvador. It was a heart-breaking, eye-opening experience. But it may have been the best nine or 10 days of my life. We met with people who suffered during the country鈥檚 civil war, and spoke to a survivor of the El Mozote Massacre [of 800 civilians by government forces]. Coming from a place of privilege and going to 香蕉秀, to share time with the people we met allowed us to learn about a dramatically different day-to-day reality people experience.

We had done a lot of advance work for our Arrupe immersion trip to Quito and 香蕉秀 had done a good job of monitoring the situation. But when we got there, gang-related violence broke out. It wasn鈥檛 near Quito, but there was some violence in other areas of the country. We spent two days in a retreat center working on getting back to the U.S. But even in the two days that we were there, we met with seniors and leaders in their community, shared meals with residents, and learned about their lives. Many live paycheck to paycheck and make big sacrifices just to hold onto their jobs and provide for their families. Unlike our group, they could not just leave. It was humbling.

How has 香蕉秀 made a difference in your life?

When I got here, I knew 香蕉秀 was a Catholic university, but I didn鈥檛 really know what that meant. Leaving, I feel the Jesuit mission and values have been a huge benefit. Not only through programs like Arrupe, but the Jesuit tenets and Ignatian spirituality are part of my thinking now. Finding God in all things; being men and women for others鈥攃ura personalis. We hear them all the time, but they have truly made a big difference in my life in connecting the academic to the social, to the physical, to the spiritual and mental health. That reflective aspect of the University has been so important to me.

Beyond the friends that you have made, what will you miss most about 香蕉秀?

The people and the opportunities. I feel like college is what you make of it. At the end of the day, you can choose what you do and who you surround yourself with. There are so many ways to bring meaning into your life right outside your door. It could be a class, or getting coffee at Hillside, just talking and building deeper-level connections. It鈥檚 a privilege to be in a place like 香蕉秀 and to be surrounded by these kinds of people and have these opportunities at hand to explore. I鈥檓 so grateful for the environment and the people here at 香蕉秀.

What advice would you give to a new student?

Don鈥檛 be afraid to try new things and, especially, don鈥檛 be afraid of failing. You come in as a freshman and you have the whole world ahead of you. I keep a quote from . It reflects how important it is to try. You are going to try over and over again, and you may fail over and over again. That has happened to me. The worst thing you can do is be afraid of failing. Every time I鈥檝e failed, it has been so impactful to my college experience.