Mark Evans '06 Offers Incoming Students Good Advice at Convocation Ceremony

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA — Mark Evans '06, the supply chain manager for the Americas division of BSN Medical, encouraged the incoming Winthrop University class to not approach their college careers as author John Irving approaches his novels during his keynote address at Winthrop's Aug. 22 Convocation ceremony.

"Once he settled on how the story would end, he was ready to begin writing the rest of the novel," Evans said. "If you make every decision based on today's notion of where you will be in May of 2020, you will have squandered one of the greatest opportunities life will ever afford you. This is a special place, home to incredible people and opportunities. If you fail to take advantage of them — to allow yourself to be formed by this institution — you will not, in my opinion, have had the Winthrop Experience."

Evans also gave additional pieces of advice, including:

Take a course because you hear the professor is amazing;
Learn a language because you want to travel;
Join a club to meet new people or to try new things;
Put energy into the relationships you develop here; and
Use your time at Winthrop to develop language skills.

Evans wrapped up his speech by saying "if you use your time at Winthrop to open your minds to new ideas; if you allow the incredible faculty here to shape you; if you put yourself in a position to have opportunities and then take advantage of those opportunitiesyou will be a well-educated, well-rounded, self-actualized individual, and success has a tendency to find people with these traits."

Evans graduated summa cum laude with Bachelor of Arts degrees in economics and history from Winthrop. He then earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of South Carolina.

While at Winthrop, Evans studied at the University of Vienna's Sommerhochschule in 2005 and completed internships with the United States Department of State (Vienna, Austria) and the York County Economic Development Commission. A graduate of the Honors Program, he was also a member of several honor societies and was active in SIFE, the Council of Student Leaders, and the Winthrop Ambassadors, among other student organizations. Evans was a Winthrop University Founders Scholar and recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.

Convocation serves as an official welcome to freshmen and their induction into the Winthrop community of learners, and officially kicks off the fall semester. This year's Convocation officially ushered in Winthrop's 131st year as a higher education institution.

Before Evans' keynote address, students were welcomed to Rock Hill by Karl Folkens ˜78, chair of the Board of Trustees; Doug Echols ˜77, mayor of Rock Hill; Beth West, chair of the Council of Student Leaders; John Bird, chair of Faculty Conference; and Grant Scurry, chair of Staff Conference.

Following Convocation, President Dan Mahony and First Lady Laura Mahony led students out of Byrnes Auditorium and toward the campus front lawn in the traditional Blue Line procession that was begun by David Bancroft Johnson, Winthrop's founder and first president.

For more information on Convocation, please contact Monica Bennett, director of communications, at 803/323-2236 or e-mail bennettm@winthrop.edu.