Flawless Education
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Four years ago Calen Campanella graduated from Du Quoin High School. In a graduating class of 80 students, he was the valedictorian. In May, Campanella graduated from the University of Illinois College of Business, and though his graduating class was much larger, he once again graduated at the top of his class. Campanella is one of only four business students who graduated with 4.0 grade point averages.
One of the biggest factors for him deciding to attend Illinois and continue his education was his parents.
"My family was always supportive and enabled me to do whatever I pleased," Campanella said. "That's easily the number one reason why I came to college."
Coming from a small high school and small hometown, Campanella said the learning curve he experienced during his freshman year was significant.
"During my first semester freshman year I thought, 'Wow, college is not what it seems like on TV. It's a lot of work,'" Campanella said. "The norm is to stay in and do homework; the abnormal is to go out. I quickly found out that it was full-time job to go to school."
When he registered for classes the summer before arriving at the University, he learned he was eligible for the Business Honors Program. This program, led by Dean John Hedeman, admits 40 students from each incoming freshman class with an objective to identify and develop students who will become college leaders.
"That might have been the best thing to happen to me in college," Campanella said. "In the College of Business Honors Program, I made some of my 40 closest friends the first day of school. Dean Hedeman became my mentor. He's been my mentor this whole way, and he really took me under his wing."
In the honors program, Hedeman said Campanella set himself apart as a leader, mentor and friend for other students.
"Calen was the 'go-to guy' for the students in the College of Business Honors Program when they would need help understanding a concept, an assignment, or needed a boost of confidence," Hedeman said. "His natural ability to understand the material and share it with others made him a natural to help fellow classmates. His generous nature made him accessible to all who asked."
Campanella's grandparents own and operate the Du Quoin State Bank in Du Quoin and, because of his love for banking, he said he always knew he wanted to study finance with the intention of managing his grandparents' bank in the future.
When Hedeman told him about the Finance and Accountancy dual degree the college offers, he decided to also explore accounting and leave his options. The challenge of this was that it required him to take 18 credit hours a semester to stay on track with graduation.
"I didn't know much about accounting, so I said, 'I'll take 18 hours until I find out what it's about,'" Campanella said.
When it came time for him to officially declare a major in the spring of his sophomore year, he had already taken so many hours that he would need to graduate early if he just earned a degree in Finance, so he continued with the dual degree.
"The thing with the finance and accounting degree was that it left my options open," Campanella said. "I knew if I had the door open as long as possible, I'll fall into the best option."
Looking back on his academic success, Campanella said in 16 years of school, he has never gotten any grade lower than an A.
"As much as people don't want to believe it, I've been very fortunate and lucky to end up where I'm at," Campanella said. "I got here through luck, hard work and the determination to outwork any other student here."
Campanella approaches his academics with the mentality that his professor assigned a reading or an assignment or a project for a reason. He believes that there is educational value in everything professors require of their students, which is why he diligently completed everything asked of him.
"I don't think there's one student here who couldn't get straight A's," Campanella said. "That's what the difference is, it's the hard work."
Aside from academics, Campanella joined Business Council as a freshman and served in leadership roles for the organization including committee chair and Vice President of Operations.
When he served as Vice President of Operations, he helped create the Dean's Scroll Award, which he modeled after the Bronze Tablet.
He also co-founded a registered student organization called Common Cents and Investments, which is an investment club. The RSO has new leaders and a new name now, but he said he enjoyed being a part of its beginnings.
For his academic success, Campanella received the Dean's Scroll Award and Bronze Tablet recognition. He is also part of the Senior 100 Honorary.
In the fall, Campanella will attend law school at St. Louis University.
Through his time at the university, he said his greatest source of support and guidance has always come from his parents and family. "They're always proud of me for what I'm doing," Campanella said. "They don't realize that I'm proud of them too, for the opportunities they've presented me."