Stephen Howard ’12 grew up in a family that prioritized education from the time he was a child. When Howard was growing up in rural Nelson County, Va. in the 1990s, his mother, Betty Howard, traded her cleaning services for a place for her children at a private elementary school. Tuckahoe School in Nellysford, Va., had a particular focus on reading, writing and public speaking, and the Howard children were soon demonstrating their elocution skills by reading Langston Hughes poetry and reciting Martin Luther King Jr. speeches at local churches and NAACP meetings.
However, by the time his senior year of high school rolled around, Howard’s priorities had shifted, and he made plans to attend a college in southwestern Virginia for reasons beyond sports and studies. Howard said it was his family—specifically his older brother, Waddell Howard Jr.–who challenged him to look at the bigger picture.
“My brother said, ‘You always said you wanted to be one of those people who did something,’” Howard remembered.
Howard played football in high school and had thought he would like to play at the college level. He had also visited Bridgewater College a few times for Eagles sporting events. But it was Coach Michael Clark who helped make the connections that brought Howard to Bridgewater.
“I thought the campus was beautiful,” Howard said of his early visits. “The campus is its own little place within a cool little town.”
Football was his priority when Howard first arrived at Bridgewater. As a defensive end, Howard earned a spot on the All-ODAC second team in both his junior and senior years. He also built tight bonds with his teammates.
Although he did not know what he wanted to pursue for his studies, he was immediately taken with a communication class he took with Dr. Melanie Laliker, Professor of Communication Studies. The class focused on interpersonal communication and public speaking, and Howard realized that he had both experience and natural talent in that area. He said he remembers thinking, “if this is what communications is about, then I really like it.”
When asked about other memorable classes at Bridgewater, Howard rattled off several: sociology with Dr. Betsy Hayes, ethics with Professor Steve Watson, coaching with Dr. Mary Frances Heishman ’66.
“All those classes made me so much more understanding of the world around me,” Howard said. He also recalled hanging out with his classmates in the Eagles Nest or the old Alexander Mack Library before it was renovated into the John Kenny Forrer Learning Commons.
That all nearly came to an end during winter break of his junior year. His father had been hospitalized with cancer that fall, and Howard struggled to juggle visits back home with his academic and football schedule. Home was just over the mountains but felt like a world away to the youngest son of a large, close family. When his father, Waddell Howard Sr., passed away in January 2011, Howard said he considered quitting school. He did not want to leave his mother at home alone and did not see how he could focus on his studies. But Howard said that the Bridgewater community reached out to support him and make sure he returned. The football team packed his father’s funeral, and he received floods of texts asking when he would be back to campus. Faculty reached out, and Howard even recalls that groundskeeper Kevin Little would seek him out on campus to check on how he was doing.
“It was an overwhelming outpouring of love,” Howard recalled. “The people at Bridgewater helped push me back towards the light.”
Howard returned to campus that spring and graduated the following year with a degree in communication studies. He worked as a counselor in the BC Admissions Office for a few years, then as a procurement officer and manager at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. Last fall, he accepted a position in business development at Nielsen Builders, a commercial construction company based in Harrisonburg. His position involves everything from sales and relationship management to social media and videography. Earlier this month, it also included returning to BC to recruit future Nielsen Builders interns and employees at the fall Career Connections Fair.
Howard said he relies every day on the communication and networking skills he learned at Bridgewater.
“My job is to communicate and build connections,” Howard said. “The breadth of knowledge I received at Bridgewater enables me to talk to anyone about anything from poetry and literature to economics and ethics.”
– Heather S. Cole
10/17/24
