Alumnus encourages confidence, diversity in educational experience
Students should try to make themselves well-rounded and have experience in many areas in order to succeed, said alumnus Eric Hone, invited speaker for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series Friday.
Hone graduated in 1994 with a degree in political science. He furthered his education by attaining a law degree from Duke University. He currently practices law with the focus of his practice on business and construction litigation, in addition to sports and entertainment law.
Hone related his experience in working as a lawyer with the firm Lewis and Roca, specifically with the UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, with his education at Utah State University.
He said to become a successful student, one must train in many areas, something he referred to as multidisciplinary training.
“The multidisciplinary training students need are in areas of academics, hard work, social, life balance, confidence, and loyalty and integrity,” Hone said.
He told an experience of working with the UFC when the company was struggling. The owners of the corporation took a risk in buying out all of the advertising, a risk that no one else was willing to take. Hone related the owners’ experience to students’ education, he said.
“I learned the payoffs of hard work and dedication in your personal life,” Hone said.
To become successful, he said students must be well rounded. They do that by taking a diversity of courses and becoming involved in a variety of activities, he said.
“There are things you can do to make sure you are well rounded; I recommend you take courses that challenge you, study different areas, have two majors and a minor,” Hone said.
Hone touched on each of the areas of becoming multidisciplined he discussed earlier and said one of the most important qualities a person can have is confidence.
“Confidence will help you to take on big challenges. One thing you need to take from Utah State is confidence. Just because you aren’t going to Harvard doesn’t mean you aren’t as smart as everyone else out there,” he said.
He encouraged students to value hard work, dedication and perseverance. He said campus life is an excellent way to get involved with and utilize these skills.
“Hard work is important. If you are going to have devotion to hard work, you are going to need life balance,” Hone said.
He also advised students to build relationships with friends, family and professors.
“My biggest regret is that I didn’t spend time seeking out and talking to and spending time with my professors. Rather than just going to their lectures and doing their assignments, seek them out. Getting that feedback is important and instills your confidence to go on,” he said.
The last thing Hone advised students was to take pride in where they came from and their education at Utah State. He said in comparison with other students at Duke University, his education was different, not better or worse, than anyone he attended school with.
“Be a Utah State football fan, even when they stink. They’ll be good someday,” he said.
–beck.turner@aggiemail.usu.edu