Honors Student Public Talks

Throughout the year, Honors students are called upon for public presentations. Here are five snippets from just a few of our talented students:

Jill Alexander

“Hello everyone, my name is Jill Alexander. I am a junior studying Mechanical Engineering and I have been a part of the Honors College since my freshman year. I’m originally from Bonners Ferry, a small town in northern Idaho. After graduating from high school I was thrilled to move and live in a place within thirty miles of a McDonalds. My sophomore year at BSU I decided to apply for a prestigious summer internship, conducting research on a self-driving car. I didn’t think I would get the internship. I did. And in June of 2019 I flew to Tucson, Arizona to start a summer internship at the University of Arizona….I was assigned the task of creating a domain specific modelling language to generate 3D test worlds for a self-driving vehicle….Overall it was an incredible experience in a field that fascinates me….Before joining the Honors College, I had many of the same worries I had before starting my internship: Am I smart enough? Can I compete? Am I what they are looking for in a student? I am so glad to stand before you and tell you that I had nothing to worry about, and that I have been supported and encouraged for as long as I’ve been in the Honors College.”

Lemuel Saputra

“My time here at Boise State, though it has not given the definite answers I would like, it has taught me the right questions to ask. Despite still occupying the in-between space, oddly I have a better sense of the person that I am and I want to be going forward. I still hold freedom in high regard, but it’s no longer for its own sake. Leaving my community in Indonesia and assimilating to a new one here has shown me, through my own shift in identity, the choices available to me, the ones that aren’t and which of them matter most. I’m not as free as I thought I was—and needed to be—and that’s okay. Stubborn pride, insisting that I need to be wholly in control of who I am, had stopped me from trusting the forces that were shaping me, but maybe it’s time to be humble.”

Jacob Pintar

“Commitment, which is our leap of faith in today’s world, is recognizing the many choices we have and being resolute in one. It means looking each other in the eyes, despite the buzzing phones in our pockets. It means bravely confronting whatever problems we might face in our relationships, even though we could easily find someone new…. The beauty of commitment is that it lowers the veil. Saying “I need help” is no longer foreign, and we can rest assured knowing that our friends will be around for the long haul, helping us become the best versions of ourselves for the sake of each other. Of course, friendships like this aren’t started by going up to someone saying, “Hello, I’d like to change your life.”… I’ve tried that…It’s honestly just the first part, saying hello, and finding those moments where you both go “Whoa I thought I was the only one.”

Video Placeholder Image — Meet Jacob Pintar

Cameron Wilkins

“My Honors College experience, more unexpectedly, has been one that taught me the real value lies in discovering more questions to ask and the life-long habit of reflection. I will likely learn more about computer science every day for a majority of my life since things grow and change so quickly. The things I learned here, however, will stand out when the routine has set in, and will be a different and powerful set of evaluative tools for my life as a whole.”

Steven Arthur

“When I enrolled in the Honors College, however, I was introduced to a world of classes that emphasized the lasting significance of the topics at hand. I got the chance to take courses on Plato and Heidegger, as well as freshman and senior seminars, and so on. All of these classes provided the opportunity to discuss life’s permanent and difficult questions….But the real challenge lies ahead. Whether or not we realize it now, we must continue to be educated in this deeper sense. Life’s most important and practical questions—What is the right way to live? How do I raise a child? What is the meaning of life and the significance of death?—these questions require this type of education. And it is not a question of if, but when these kinds of questions will be asked of us.”