Brendan Chisholm

My name is Brendan Chisholm, and to this day, some years after I graduated from Xavier, I still discover new ways the Honors Bachelor of Arts program prepared me for success.

I came a long way to go to Xavier University. I grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and graduated from a Jesuit high school in Denver in 2009. My passion for Classics developed from 6th grade, when I began studying Latin. Between language study, culture, and mythology, Latin was my favorite subject and a no-brainer when it came time to choose a major in college.

I chose Xavier because of the HAB program. Even early on in high school, I knew that I would attend Xavier and hoped to be an HAB. While at school, I supplemented the Classics curriculum with minors in Philosophy and Environmental Studies-a new program that combined economics and ecology that fulfilled the core requirements. I grew especially close to my HAB classmates and the HAB professors, and both will be friends for life.

After graduation, I spent a year as a volunteer teacher in the Alumni Service Corps through the Jesuit Province of Missouri. This was an opportunity to spend a year giving back to the Jesuit infrastructure that helped me grow into the man I am today. I taught and coached at De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, Missouri. During this time I spent a lot of time reflecting on my next step in life, ultimately deciding law school would be the best choice.

I now am a student at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Every day, I find ways the rigor of the HAB program prepared me for success in law school. The most common thing I heard going into law school was the intensity of the workload, but my daily routine varies little from my undergraduate study. Moreover, the program's emphasis on research and writing prepared me better than most of my peers.

As I move forward in my legal career, I am confident my background and preparation from HAB will continue to pay dividends in ways I cannot yet foresee.