Dan Hardwick

When I began my undergraduate career, I didn't have a clue what "going to college" meant. The social stuff and extracurricular opportunities were obvious parts, but in hindsight, I never actually thought of college as an endeavor of which the ultimate goal was learning. It seemed to me that college was something that, given the chance, you accomplished, because that's what was expected of you. Therefore, I chose a course of study not based on a passion to learn, but on a somewhat vague idea of what would be the "best" choice: finance.

Toward the end of my five year struggle to get my finance degree at Texas A&M University, I realized that my skills, my talents, my passion, and most importantly my potential could best be utilized in a much different discipline. That's why I started looking into public relations and in the end, that's what lead me to OU. I already had friends here, even a girlfriend, and I was highly impressed by the Gaylord College. All in all, OU seemed like the perfect place for me to go and up to now, it has lived up to expectations.

Most importantly, my time here has taught me a very essential skill: critical thinking. Thinking critically is something that I believe everyone has the potential to do. Being able to refine and expand upon that skill has opened parts of my brain that I didn't know existed, and consequently, I see the world very differently than I used to.

To get to the point, I guess I should mention that I hoping to begin a thesis exploring corporate social responsibility and the corporate image through the prism of investor relations. I look forward to getting feedback from all of you as we begin to nail down these thesis/project ideas!