Getting Ready for Portico

Hey readers,

My name is Greg Pidgeon ('11), and I'm going to be contributing to the blog along with Luke. As we get further into the summer (and finally get some sunshine around here), I wanted to talk a little about the Portico program we have for incoming freshman. Portico is a class all CSOM freshmen will take, focusing on an introduction to business ethics, as well as an introduction to CSOM and BC as a whole. It was a pilot program last year, but this year will be extended to the entire freshman class.

I'm really excited about the program because I will be a T.A. for Professor Sarah Cabral's 3 p.m. class next semester. The program gets its kick-off a little before school starts with an expedition into downtown Boston to get to know classmates and get the Portico experience going. After that I'll be doing the usual T.A. work of grading papers and helping out with assignments and projects, but for the most part, I'll be serving as a peer mentor for the students. I benefitted from a great peer mentor as a freshman so I'm definitely looking forward to being able to assist the freshman the way my mentor aided me. Through the Portico program, the Carroll School will continue its great tradition of facilitating relationships both in terms of advising and general friendships between its students, a tradition that I have found invaluable throughout my time here.

I think the peer mentor experience really sets BC and the Carroll School apart in that so many of our students love to pass down information to their fellow students. There exists a great sense of friendship and community between all students here and through that stems terrific inter-year relationships as well. I’ve never seen an upperclassmen treat freshmen or sophomores without a tremendous amount of respect and care. Whenever I have had questions about classes, internships, or just life in general, I’ve always been able to go to my mentor or just older students in general for advice. I’m really excited that as I get older and spend more time here I’ll be able to continue this tradition both in the formal sense as a Portico T.A. as well as through the informal ranks of just helping out my younger friends whenever they have questions.

So that’s just a little what’s going on right now as we all prepare to head back to school in another month and a half or so. As always leave me comments or feel free to email me at pidgeong@bc.edu if you have any questions.