At the 30th Opening Convocation, students and faculty received congratulations and lessons on networking from the panel of guests.

This year, the program’s panel consisted of Columbus Mayor Robert Smith, Mississippi Senator Chuck Younger, MUW President Dr. Jim Borsig, Plus President Dr. Holly Krogh, Regions Bank President Mr. Chad Edmonson and class of 1997 alumni Mr. Stark Hayden as the speaker. Each congratulated MSMS for its ranking as the eighth best school nationally and the first for best faculty by Niche.  

Junior Millie Purdue was astonished by the number of people “outside the school who honestly care for the school’s future.”

To Senior Brianna Ladnier, Purdue and the other juniors understand that the people that care for the school’s future is what convocation is for. “Convocation is so important for the juniors because they get a summary of what life here is like and to know upfront about the recent budget cuts.”  

Mr. Stark Hayden gave a speech that was greeted by a standing ovation. Through a story of his early arrogance toward networking, he relayed the message to stay humble and cherish the opportunities to make connections because it will save time and money. 

Purdue agreed with the message, saying, “It’s naive to think in this day and age you can get to where you want to be quickly without connections; it’s best to work smarter not harder.”

It seems this year that MSMS is highlighting the “imperativeness of networking” to counter the recent budget cuts, and having students educated on the matter from the first day of school may be a first step in that direction.