Buckling down for Bucknell

"I thought Bucknell was unattainable, but I buckled down, toughened up and made it."

Michael Davis '13, economics

Update: After graduation, Michael will join Deloitte Consulting as a Business Technology Analyst.

"When I was in high school, I went to a Bucknell diversity alumni gathering with my dad, Frank Davis '82. Several people from the Office of Admissions were there. I was unfamiliar with the University and only knew that it was the that my dad had attended, and I thought I couldn't get in.

"I got into a debate about global warming while I was at the gathering. Afterwards, people from the admissions staff handed me their cards and encouraged me to apply. I met later with the president, who told me that I was the kind of person Bucknell needs. No other school had treated me like that.

"At that moment, I aimed to come to Bucknell. My high school GPA had been between a 2.7 and a 2.9, but I went back my junior and senior year and tried to succeed again. I finished my last two years of high school with a 3.8 GPA. I thought Bucknell was unattainable, but I buckled down, toughened up and made it.

"Now I'm majoring in economics, and it has broadened my understanding of the world. Economic factors are ubiquitous. You cannot do anything without a consideration for economics. You can't do most things well without an understanding of economics and how money works. Realizing this ubiquity, I wanted to know as much about economics as possible. I wanted to know how to formulate plans to make the world a better place, and hopefully I'll be able to do just that in my honors thesis."

Michael is from Kennesaw, Ga.

Posted May 6, 2011