Coming Full Circle: A Joyful Journey of Belonging
Article by Aspen Wooley | Photos by Grace Heaton
At the annual Honors Program Gala this year guests dined, were inspired by a wonderful keynote address, and then danced the night away! This year we welcomed and honored Brigitte C. Madrian, a BYU Honors Alumnus and the Dean of the Marriot School of Business. Her keynote address drew both reflection and laughter from the crowd that gathered at the Wilkinson Center as they enjoyed a BYU 150 Centennial banquet menu. The evening sparkled with glittering dresses, laughter, friendships, dancing, and delicious food!
Guests arrived dressed in their best, stunning and bright. The night started off with a delectable meal, complete with tarts for dessert. As guests filled up their plates, they also filled up their minds. Conversations flowed and friendships were strengthened. Honors scholarship recipients were recognized for the Generations, Khona Family, and Robert K. Thomas scholarships. Then the audience had the pleasure of hearing from Dr. Madrian.
Her address was titled “Coming Full Circle: A Joyful Journey of Becoming.” This topic is one that many attending have on their minds: what will I become and how will I achieve my dreams and goals? Dr. Madrian shared lessons she has learned from changing plans and shifting expectations over the course of her remarkable career. She made it clear that our plans can only go so far in determining our realities.
As a young adult, her plan was to graduate from BYU, attend MIT for a PhD in economics, and then return to BYU as a member of the economics faculty. This was her “straight down the cliff path” she explained. As she showed a video of her rappelling down a cliff and spinning out of control all the way down she laughed, “but it ended up being like this.”
Attending MIT was extremely hard, and Dr. Madrian questioned dropping the plan of working toward a PhD and instead earning an MBA, as it seemed more fun. She decided against it, however, confident she didn’t want to lead people or manage organizations. As she finished her PhD, the Harvard Economics Department made her an offer and she accepted. After being at Harvard for two years, she realized she was miserable and that “you shouldn’t accept a job just because it looks good on your resumé.” She noted this was one of the hardest times of her career, and circumstances were not ideal. Eventually a friend convinced her to take a job at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and leave Harvard, taking a job at a business school.
Taking this leap pushed her to excel in new and unexpected ways. In taking advantage of opportunities, she did work “that ended up being very, very impactful. And that was hugely rewarding, to start working on things that actually made a difference in people’s lives.” Even though things seemed to be going well, she said she was struggling to hold on to her passion for research. This is where she said she learned a valuable lesson about prayer and God’s involvement in her life. After months of praying and trying to figure out what to do next, she was able to make a connection that successfully altered her research path. She asked, “what would the rest of my research career have looked like if I had prayed that fervently about every other project that I had worked on? I would encourage all of you to make the Lord part of your professional decision making along the way.”
Eventually, Dr. Madrian ended up back at Harvard, but this time at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She said the take-away for her in making this transition was to never burn bridges since you never know when those relationships and connections may be important once again. Another lesson she took to heart was to be open to different dreams and ideas, to “date” a dream and figure out if it’s what you want to do. She noted that when she decided to open herself up to new ideas about what to work on, “almost immediately opportunities started coming my way.” One such opportunity that caught her by surprise was an email she received as part of the search for a new dean for the BYU Marriott School of Business. BYU had given her hiring offers throughout the years, but she had never accepted and wasn’t sure if she would even get an offer this time. But she did! When the offer came to be dean of the Marriott School, she began considering it and met with Kim Clark, a General Authority and former dean of the Harvard Business School. This was a life-changing moment as he said to her, “‘Brigitte, you’re asking the wrong question. You should be asking ‘what does God want you to do?’” Thirty years later than she had originally planned, Dr. Madrian came back to BYU!
The plan and the reality of Dr. Madrian’s life have been very different. Yet, amidst shifting plans she said it has been a wonderful life full of meaningful lessons. This was an important message for guests at the Gala, a majority of them students who are trying to figure out their own plans and goals. She ended with a call to lead in Christ-like and Christ-light ways, “leading with and through the light of Jesus Christ.” Closing with her testimony of each person’s identity as children of God, children of the covenant, and disciples of Jesus Christ, she reminded guests of the blessings that can come into their lives through living the gospel and sharing His light.
After hearing from her, the night continued with an entertaining tap-dancing floor show performed by members of the BYU Folk Dance Association, faculty members Amy Jex and Wendi Isaacson, and students Gabriel Flemming and Will Isaacson. Then, DJ Cole Whitman turned up the volume and energy as guests flooded the dance floor!
A special thanks to everyone who made the evening such a success, including Dean Madrian, the folk dancers, DJ Cole, Honors staff and administration, and members of the Honors Student Leadership Council. What a great event… we can’t wait for next year!