Four Paths, One Community: Leading with Heart

"When one or more of us is missing, people usually ask where our other piece is," Corinne Williams said.

It happens at almost every Buccino Leadership Institute (BLI, the Institute) event. Isabella “Izzy” Barbarino, Rachel Beck, Ashlyn McCormick and Corinne Williams show up to so many things together that people have come to treat them as a package deal.

On paper, they don't have much in common. McCormick is a marketing and global supply chain management double major with a minor in Legal Studies who plans to pursue opportunities across law, business and global supply chains. Williams is a nursing student headed for a career women's health. Barbarino studies journalism with a  minor in theater and wants to anchor the evening news. Beck is majoring in diplomacy and international relations and hopes to join the U.S. Department of State.

They're in four different colleges and their schedules almost never overlap, but the BLI includes students from all of Seton Hall's colleges and has them learn and train together throughout their undergraduate years.

"None of us likely would have crossed paths if it weren't for the Buccino Leadership Institute," McCormick said.

"The Institute was and is our bonding piece," Beck said. "It was the invisible string that we never knew we needed, that pulled us together to form a friendship that has become more of a family."

Like many first-year students, the four arrived at Seton Hall and the Institute with a mix of excitement and uncertainty. Williams assumed leadership training was mostly for students headed into business, only to discover its relevance in all fields. Beck was looking to build confidence after a quiet, introverted high school experience. McCormick arrived feeling nervous but quickly discovered "how invested the faculty and leadership team are in helping every student succeed," she said.

How They Came Together

They each tell the story of how they met a little differently.

McCormick met Beck at freshman orientation just hours after moving in. "We still joke about our 'meet cute' because the first thing I ever said to her was that she had an eyelash on her face," McCormick said.

Barbarino met Williams on the first day of class in the BLI and asked about her major. When Williams said nursing, Barbarino told her, "Dang, good for you. That could never be me."

The group came together that January. McCormick, Beck and Williams were selected to go through the process of becoming the Buccino Scholar, one of the Institute's top honors.

Barbarino was working for the BLI at the time and helped run the interviews. Beck remembers her "checking in on us, writing us encouraging notes and giving supportive hugs on one of the most stressful days of our lives."

Beck was ultimately awarded the Buccino Scholarship and the four celebrated together.

As semesters passed, the friendships merged into one close-knit group, spending more and more time together. McCormick and Williams became roommates, while beck and Barbarino served as resident assistants in the same resident hall, where colleagues affectionately referred to them as the “Boland Twins.”

Friendship, Teamwork and Growth

They talk a lot about what they've learned from each other.

Williams said Barbarino taught her to loosen up in a field that doesn't always leave room for it. "In healthcare, we can sometimes become so focused on being serious, precise and professional that we forget to have fun," she said.

McCormick sees the same thing in Barbarino. "Her presence can completely change the atmosphere of a room."

Williams credits Beck with reminding her that "caring for people means seeing them as a whole person, not just patients."

Beck said she has never met anyone as driven as Williams, who showed up prepared every day while juggling nursing labs and exams.

Barbarino calls McCormick "the scale for us as a group" because she's the one who steps back and looks at every side of a problem.

They've all had rough stretches and leaned on each other through them. Barbarino remembers sitting in Williams and McCormick's room during a hard time last year when the other three told her she needed people who brighten her light instead of dimming it.

The others often call her the group's light, but Barbarino gives the credit back to them. "My light is so bright because they are my sparks," she said.

The strength of those relationships became apparent when they found themselves working together in the classroom.

Their favorite BLI experience came sophomore year in the Ideas and Trends course, where students engage in a yearlong team research effort. "The project was not always smooth sailing," Beck said.

Their team, which included other BLI students, took on the topic of quantum computing. Williams admits there were moments when she was ready to throw in the towel. Barbarino doesn't sugarcoat it either. "Did I get frustrated with my friends? Yes."

But, in the end, it was their team that won top honors at the final competition.

Growing As Leaders

Each of the four credits the BLI with changing how they see themselves.

McCormick reflected on that growth, noting "There is a clear difference between the person I was as a first-semester freshman and who I am now as a junior.” She now leads the Women in Leadership program within the BLI.

Williams, co-president of the Student Nurses Association, said her parents and old high school teachers noticed the change after one semester. She points out that the "BLI has not necessarily shaped my career goals, but it has helped me realize that those goals are possible.”

Beck has already started her master's degree while finishing her bachelor's. "I pushed myself to graduate early because I wanted to take control and take initiative over my education," she said.

Barbarino, a first-generation college student, now serves as the lead on the BLI’s student admissions team. When she talks to prospective students she tends to tell them the same thing. "I found my future bridesmaids through the BLI."

Now they're trying to help the students coming up behind them.

One of their mentors spent months pushing them to start a podcast. They went a slightly different route and launched Fab Fourward, an Instagram account where they share what they've learned about college, careers and leadership.

Four Futures, One Friendship

As Barbarino prepares to graduate in May, a year early, she reflects on the experiences the Institute gave her. "These young women helped this unknown campus become a second home for me," Beck said.

Their careers will pull them in different directions, but none of them thinks that will change much between them. Williams is confident they will stay the people who call each other "when something exciting happens, when something goes wrong or when we simply need someone who understands."

"I know this sounds so cliché, but I came into Seton Hall with no one and I'm leaving with sisters," Barbarino said. "Genuinely."

Categories: Campus Life