Three voices, one farewell from graduating student employees

The Honors College is home to roughly 4,000 students, a fraction of which are hired to serve the college as student employees.

Three of those employees graduated last weekend. Sloane Barlow, Tate Rudisill, and Domenic Cedillo shared a cumulative 8.5 years of Honors College student employment experience. They enriched Eustace-Cole and Campbell Hall, bringing unique skills, perspectives, and curiosity to their roles.

These are their open letters to the Honors College as they step into new chapters.

Sloane Barlow: A letter from behind the lens

You may recognize me best with a camera in my hands. I have had the pleasure of documenting the engaging, welcoming, active community that is the Honors College through my photography and my pen, for the past four years.

As a communications intern writing and photographing stories for the Honors College, I have been able to utilize skills from all my areas of study: creative writing, journalism, multimedia, and global leadership, among others.

Not only have I been able to stretch and strengthen these skills, but I have been taught the value of my talents by actively engaging in the efforts of the Honors College. From large-scale campaigns to face-to-face interviews with students, the work I am most proud of has all been thanks to this community.

Image of Joanne Maguire smiling joyfully at a student inside Michigan State University

Image of MSU Honors College Interim Dean Glenn Chambers and Associate Vice President for Residential and Hospitality Services Patricia A.R. Martinez holding giant scissors to cut the ribbon at the entrance of Campbell Hall. They are surrounded by various MSU staff and leadership with enthusiastic expressions and business professional apparel.

Image of MSU Debate graduates Arielle Gearring, Joanna Gusis, and Glen Scully standing and smiling in their green graduation robes, while holding their green graduation caps to the sky. The wooden door entrance to Beaumont Tower is behind them.

Image of MSU Honors College students Anusha Pandaya and Patrick Lo laying in the grass looking at the sky and smiling. They are in different MSU t-shirts and jeans.

My favorite project will always be working with our most engaged students. Whether it’s working with Honors students for a stock photoshoot or tracing my roots back to working with first-years in the HC IMPACT Week of Service, these scholars have become dear friends and true inspirations throughout my collegiate career.

I am proud to call myself an Honors College alumna, with dual degrees in English and journalism. I plan to pursue a graduate certificate in global non-profit leadership, after being encouraged to take graduate-level courses in this field for Honors credits during my time at MSU.

I may be leaving the Honors College, but it will forever be a second home to me. So much so that I won’t be leaving campus just yet.

Working for the Honors College has prepared me to immediately give back to the university as the communications manager for the Visiting International Professional Program with MSU’s International Studies Department. I am proud to say this accomplishment is a testament to my dedication as a storyteller for the Honors College and the greater Spartan community.

Image of Honors College graduate Sloane Barlow in a green graduation gown, white Honors stole, and cords, smiling.

Thank you to all the individuals in the Honors College for allowing me to share your stories.

“In wisdom gathered over time, I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.” —Ansel Adams

Domenic Cedillo: Leaving as a club legend

My four year stint at MSU has concluded. In soccer terms, my contract has now expired and I will be entering into the transfer window as a free agent (working towards law school). The time I spent here was the best four years of my life. I have built excellent relationships, worked tirelessly, felt a broad spectrum of emotions, established a community of my own, and showcased research. I never expected to reach the heights that I have nor did I expect the manner in which I did it. I walked in as a nobody and four years later, I will walk out like a club legend.

Image of Michigan State University student Domenic Cedillo in a green graduation robe, white MSU Honors College stole, khaki dress pants, and formal shows kicking a soccer ball in front of Beaumont Tower.

Image of MSU Honors College student Domenic Cedillo presenting a multicolor research poster on wedding dowries. Cedillo is wearing a light red collared shirt and talking. Other posters are in the background.

My experience at MSU has been a story of an ever-changing scape of opportunities that matured my abilities as a student and as a person. I have been given excellent chances to test myself in the waters and demonstrate my potential. Throughout my academic career I got to turn my flashes of potential into consistency. I showed just how hard of a worker I am and just how much my degree meant to me.

I was part of nothing when I first stepped foot on campus. That didn’t stop me. Instead, I put my head down and got to work. I poured hours of time and every last erg of energy into my first semester, accomplishing a 4.0 GPA to begin my college career strong. That work ethic was rewarded by an invitation to the Honors College. This program gave me a second chance. I got to evaluate the type of student that I wanted to be and from there, I was on a trajectory that could not be stopped. I received anything from scholarships, study abroad, and even a job working as a student assistant for the Honors College.

During my time in the Honors College, I was able to build community with the Honors Students of Color Coalition as treasurer, vice president, and president. I collaborated with numerous organizations to make our students feel welcome with amazing events and opportunities. I have also by program or by random occurrence mentored students who needed guidance in any aspect of their MSU career. At times, I myself was mentored by exceptional staff members who I got to know on a first-name basis. They helped me to test myself even if I didn’t know I had the ability to do something.

Image of MSU Honors College student Domenic Cedillo holding a tug-of-war rope with another student and smiling. Both are in jeans and t-shirts. Green grass and shrubbery are in the background.

I met my greatest friends through Honors College events. I would have never known that two guys from the Honors College picnic would be my roommates and best friends for the three years that would follow my freshman year. I would then go on to meet more people from the Honors College who were just as interested as I was in soccer, so they joined my group that played every Friday.

I am happy to have met and mentored such great and determined people. I have always cherished the relationships that I have forged with my students and I am very happy to see what type of people they will become. I will sorely miss the friends I have made through the Honors College. Whether it was in the antique halls of Eustace-Cole, in the renewed basement of Campbell Hall, or under the setting sun in the night lights of Munn Field, I will always remember this magical place as a second home.

Tate Rudisill: Unique paths to success

It feels like lately I’ve been saying a lot of goodbyes, but it’s especially hard to write one for the Honors College. First and foremost, I don’t write much for my major, so this is quite literally a difficult ask. Most importantly, though, it’s hard to leave the first place that welcomed me as a designer.

Of every project I completed during my two years on the job, perhaps nothing was more rewarding than the watercolor painting I created for the Campbell Hall ribbon cutting ceremony this past fall.

A recurring theme throughout my time in college was a naive belief in myself that my mentors reciprocated with confidence. That idea rang true throughout last summer as I took on the watercolor painting remotely from my hometown in Ohio. Ultimately, the painting went on to be a big hit with alumni, students, and staff, and inspired numerous future fine arts-related projects at the Honors College, my other jobs, and in my personal life.

Image of stacks of boxed greeting card sets displayed on a table. Each box features a watercolor of Louise H. Campbell Hall with the text “Louise H. Campbell Hall, Honors College Living-Learning Community.” Two people stand blurred in the background.

I am not a prototypical Honors student. I found this out firsthand while serving on an H-STAR panel alongside countless researchers and peers whose qualifications far outweighed my own during introductions. But what I learned then, and I’ll always remember from my time in the Honors College, is that there is no clear path to success. Honors College members are extremely multifaceted and continue to surprise me.

I am beyond proud to walk across the stage in my Honors stole this weekend. I’m even prouder to be able to come back in the future when I feel like I’ve earned the investment that has been poured into my career and personal life by Honors staff and students. I’m going to miss this position dearly, but I look forward to what comes next.

Image of MSU Honors College student Tate Rudisill smiling while holding a green and white bumper sticker that says, "Proud Alum of the Honors College. Michigan State University". Rudisill is in a dark green Michigan State sweater.

Image of MSU Honors College student Tate Rudisill seated at a table full of Honors brochures, pencils, and other promotional materials at Green and White Days. Rudisill is in casual attire having a conversation.