A lasting impression: Coming to St. John's fulfills a childhood
dream
Melvin Warren may be one of the very few high school students
who decided which college he wanted to attend while still in grade
school.
He made up his mind during several family trips from his
hometown in Georgia to visit the New York City borough of Queens.
Melvin remembers staring out the car window as his father drove
past the grey stone buildings and expansive green of St. John’s
University’s Queens campus.
“It left a strong impression on me,” he recalls. “I liked it the
minute I saw it. I decided that was where I wanted to go to
college.” It was a decision he never altered. Later, Melvin also
determined that accounting was the right career for him.
Finally, in his senior year at Baldwin High School in
Milledgeville, GA, he got the chance to fulfill both goals.
Applying to various colleges, Melvin revisited the St. John’s
campus. “I still felt the same way I did when I first saw the
campus.” He did his research and learned that St. John’s has a
highly ranked business school, The Peter J. Tobin College of
Business.
Melvin was ready to follow his passion. Even though he was
awarded a state scholarship giving him the chance to attend any
Georgia college tuition-free, Melvin chose St. John’s.
“Opportunities come along—and I take them,” says the 22-year-old
business major. The President of the St. John’s chapter of the
National Association of Black Accountants, Melvin is in the fourth
year of the Tobin College’s five-year, combined
accounting B.S. and M.B.A. degree program.
Melvin’s capabilities and drive have already caught the eye of
leading business firms. When he graduates, Melvin will assume the
well paying full-time position he was offered at
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the nation’s top-four
accounting firms. “It’s an amazing position, one that I never would
have gotten if I hadn’t been an intern there.”
Melvin applauds another feature of the St. John’s experience,
the Vincentian mission. “When I came to St. John’s, it was new to
me. But I found the idea of serving those less fortunate and living
ethically and compassionately, very motivating. I try to practice
these values in my daily life.”
Equipped with his St. John’s education, and the values it
emphasizes, Melvin knows he made the right choice when he was first
smitten as a child.