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Liz Kay
Hello and welcome to the Providence College podcast. I'm your host, Liz Kaye. And I'm joined by producer Chris Judge of the Class of 2005. Here are the Providence College podcast. We bring you interesting stories from the Friar family. This week we're talking with Myles for a member of the Class of 2024 from New Bedford, Massachusetts. As a first year student, Myles became an intern at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Providence.

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Liz Kay
But by the fall, he was the director of internships and professional engagement, managing a team of ten interns himself. He's also the president of Pieces chapter of Habitat for Humanity through Campus Ministry. Myles, thanks for joining us.

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Myles Forgue
Liz Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

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Liz Kay
So how did you get your internship at Habitat for Humanity?

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Myles Forgue
So I became acquainted with Habitat for Humanity during my freshman year. So last year my roommate Dorie, a management major, he was tasked in his introductory management class to host a session where he could welcome nonprofit leaders from throughout the state. And it was a wonderful opportunity for college students to learn how they could plug into direct service during a time when so many things have been pushed to go remote.

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Myles Forgue
And so I was sitting on the zoom, just being a good friend, trying to help them out by even being there. And all of a sudden my attention perked up when I heard my credit speak, representing Habitat for Humanity. Mark Kravitz was the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Providence. And before he came to the affiliate, he actually graduated from Providence College, class of 22 as a public and community service studies major.

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Myles Forgue
And then from there, he acquired almost 20 years of service in sustainability consulting for organizations. And so he brought he brought such a wealth of knowledge to habitat for Humanity into bringing strength, stability and self-reliance through home building to habitat. And so when he was speaking about the work that he was doing in the work that the organization was up to, it truly kindled the spirit in me to want to learn more.

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Myles Forgue
And very ironically, he had mentioned that he needed a marketing intern to help launch the affiliate's social media strategies on Facebook, on Instagram and on LinkedIn. And having just gone to marketing, to a find myself, I was really eager to get to work. So I immediately messaged him, and thanks to the generosity of the family, I was able to start working with him very quickly right after the new year.

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Myles Forgue
And so coming on to Habitat is the first marketing term. My task was simply to create a strategy for the organization. How would they approach suddenly creating different social media platforms? And I realized the more and more thought that I put into this project that there was so much work to be done in so many different types of expertize and intelligence needed to make it happen.

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Myles Forgue
And so what really came to me was thinking of inviting my friends who are in the marketing fellowship at PCC to come with me to work on this amazing project. And, you know, in the Scriptures in Romans 12, it says that we all have different gifts according to the grace that's given to each of us, if it's serving.

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Myles Forgue
And so if it's teaching and teaching, if it's leading, then do it diligently. And this was the type of energy that I wanted to bring to this organization. And six months in, we were able to create a team of ten marketing interns who were helping to create a newsletter for the organization and to launch it's Facebook and LinkedIn from the ground up.

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Liz Kay
So just to reiterate, though, you weren't even enrolled in the class in which Dorie was leading this this event. But there you are in the private chat on the zoom, connecting with and getting your getting yourself an internship. That's great.

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Myles Forgue
Absolutely. Networking sites as soon as you enter the door.

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Liz Kay
And so you told us a little bit about some of the projects you did as a Habitat intern. But I think I'm just boggled by this fact that you were involved as an intern at Habitat at Providence in Providence before you were involved with Habitat's Chapter Peace's campus. Is that correct?

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Myles Forgue
That's correct. Yes. I was actually working with the organization for about six months before I met the leaders of the Providence Conch chapter of Habitat for Humanity. So before I had met the the the president of PC Habitat, I actually had been leading the team. And by that time, we had done some really amazing work in the community, like my actually my roommate Anthony, the Spaniard, who's a political science major.

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Myles Forgue
He was able to work under the mentorship of home support specialists. And what he did was he researched the bylaws and best practices of the homeownership journey through habitat. And in that, he was actually able to renovate and tailor the homeownership guidelines to better fit the community that we were serving. And so by this time, working very closely with Anthony, I was able to meet more and more of these families.

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Myles Forgue
And I was starting to grow a real personal love for wanting to serve them. And so by the time that I had met the executive board for Habitat, I knew that this was something that I was very familiar with, and it was something that I just wanted to keep working on. And there was this sense of familiarity that was so funny about it.

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Myles Forgue
It almost felt like I was at a family reunion, and I had met a cousin that I didn't even know. I. And so next thing I knew, I was involved with the campus chapter for Habitat. And we've been able to do really, really impactful work since then. This year we started doing local builds where we actually go out, not even within a ten or 15 minute radius of the campus.

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Myles Forgue
And we are working on these home improvement projects for the families that we serve. And so we're really getting our boots on the ground as soon as we start the semester this year.

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Liz Kay
So in the past, there may be PC alums who remember either they themselves went on a Habitat for Humanity trip to, you know, various places along the Eastern Seaboard, but this this spring break, you were leading a group that stayed pretty local, right?

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Myles Forgue
Yes, that's right. So this year we had a much smaller crew than usual, but it was still a very mighty crew. We went for the first time. We did a local build for the alternative spring break in Providence. And it was so amazing because the students were so happy to make a difference. Not even 50 minutes away from their second home.

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Myles Forgue
And then in addition to the build in Providence, we were also able to go down to southeastern Connecticut and work in the little village of Habitat Homes that they were building down there. It was about five construction sites that we're currently going in. Honestly, it was really hectic, but it was a wonderful experience to work with this crew that was there simply because they cared about the people that we were serving with and they ever picked up a hammer and nail in their life.

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Myles Forgue
Maybe not. But that's the gift of grace. And how powerful it can be is that it enables you to be able to do this work that you set out to do.

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Liz Kay
And what about yourself? Had you picked up many hammers or nails or worked with many power tools before joining the Habitat campus chapter?

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Myles Forgue
Actually, quite a bit, but I definitely wouldn't have considered myself an expert here. Prior to all my involvement with Habitat, I began interning with Tejon Tech Industries or DTI in their field sales and marketing role, where I represented companies like Milwaukee Tool and Rio de Tool. And from frame to finish, I learned how to market these products that were made for the core trades to hold up our local community, whether it be back or the industry for electricians and for general contractor.

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Myles Forgue
And so working very closely with them, I was really able to learn the true power of these tools. So it only told natural by the time that I had gone to the Habitat to build site that, you know, my if you will say my mouth was to the megaphone and the hammer was in my hand and there was it was history from there.

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Liz Kay
As we've talked a little bit about your marketing major, that you really have a unique combination of majors because you're your double majoring marketing in theology. Why did you choose these two majors?

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Myles Forgue
So ironically, theology was the major that I had chosen when I was going into PC, and I'd second guess myself even though it was something that I truly love to study and to learn more about. And so I changed my major, and this is all before I even got to college, by the way. I changed my major to an English major because I love storytelling.

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Myles Forgue
And then another voice in my head was telling me that the same thing you love about English, you can love about something in business, that storytelling piece. And so that really is what piqued my interest in marketing in the first place was this ability to tell a story in a sort of fun and exciting way and to help brands to do the same.

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Myles Forgue
And the more and more that I got deeper into my experience at PC, the more I realized that I kept writing myself papers about theology. It wasn't until I had Dr. Holly Coleman as one of my Civ seminar professors to remind me that that, hey, this is something that you seem to be really passionate about, and I want to push you as to why you're not taking more time to study about it.

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Myles Forgue
And so in an academic sense, I kind of felt called out. And so from there, I, I started to ask myself, why am I not reading theology? So I went ahead and I added it as a double major to my marketing major because I truly love equally both to learn from.

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Liz Kay
I bet you've gotten a few interesting reactions when you mentioned your two majors.

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Myles Forgue
Oh, absolutely. In marketing and theology, a lot of people think that I'm going to grow up to be a Bible salesman, but I don't really have much of a rebuttal to that as of now. Aside from the fact that it's true, I basically major in evangelization the Catholic Church. I've I've heard it said by good friend, they have the best product in the world but the way salespeople.

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Liz Kay
But you got to think you know some of those early Christians you know they really had to think about how they they were delivering their message when, you know, some of the early adherents were facing some pretty tough penalties of persecution. So as a marketing and a theology major, you've probably got experience, a wide range of courses at Providence College.

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Liz Kay
Tell us about a few of your favorites, please.

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Myles Forgue
Being in a Dominican institution has been one of the greatest gifts in my life. It's totally helped me to reframe the way I look at learning, the way I look at study, and I look at it in the same way that many of the friars who I've had as a professor look to the way they learn. And that's that their study is the reflection of the goodness of God.

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Myles Forgue
And in everything they study, they see this beautiful kernel of truth in it that they can share with other people. And so with being a marketing and a theology major, one thing that particularly stands out to me that I've taken so far as Catholic social thought, Catholic social thought initially was something that I just wanted to take as as a theology major.

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Myles Forgue
But I also learned that it covers my political engagement proficiency. And so, Tom, my father, Albino Barry, this class really explored many, many different ethical methodologies from throughout history. And Father Albino did such a good job of helping us to look at each one of those with a critical eye, to think what are the strengths and weaknesses of everything that was to study?

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Myles Forgue
And that's a difficult perspective to come with, to be a critical thinker in everything that you approach, even if it's something that you already initially agree with or disagree with. And so because of the way he challenged us as thinkers and as readers, we were able to explore really niche interests of our own. For instance, for my final paper, I was able to look into how do business and theology really come together?

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Myles Forgue
Is being a business person a vocation? And in a short answer, yes. And we were able to score things like why do we have human dignity? And what does that mean for the way that we work? How does that affect the way that companies recruit and how does distributive justice come into play with compensation? And all these questions were just ones that were coming in and out of my head throughout the class.

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Myles Forgue
And Father Albino PEREIRA was able to field everything on one of those questions with such humility.

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Liz Kay
Myles You have a habit of visiting someplace on campus daily. What is that place for you?

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Myles Forgue
It has to be the chapel. Honestly, at least once a day. I make sure to make my way over to the chapel, whether it's just to try to carve out at that time for a moment of peace and for a moment of prayer. Or if I'm going right downstairs to campus ministry to visit my friends who are hanging out, playing ping pong, hanging out with the Friars.

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Myles Forgue
It's become such a wonderful environment to see people constantly in and out of campus finishing the chapel. And I think that that's part of the difference at Providence College is that your ability to connect with God and with the truth is not even across the street. It's on the same campus.

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Liz Kay
And aside from the chapel, which is another place where you spend a lot of time on campus.

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Myles Forgue
Definitely. Stephen Definitely slaving. If I had seen an hourly log of how much time I'd spent in slaving, I probably would be scared. A lot of people find it funny. I find slaving to be actually a very good ambiance to do homework in, which is, you know, that's just an extroverts dream to just always be surrounded by people in conversation.

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Myles Forgue
So slaving is the perfect place for that. And if I'm not working on homework, I'm definitely working behind the bar in MacPhail's.

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Liz Kay
And you also spend a lot of your free time in MacPhail's, too?

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Myles Forgue
I do, yes. I love, love, love to play pool at MacPhail's. I love to teach people how to play the game. My brother taught me how to play. And since then, it's just been something that any free chance I get. I love to challenge people with the game.

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Liz Kay
Maybe we've got our newest intramural sport ready to go.

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Myles Forgue
Yes, the lineup has come in. I can just sense it.

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Liz Kay
So what are you doing this summer?

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Myles Forgue
So. Right now, I'm actually calling in from South Carolina, which is a 15 hour drive from my home back in New Bedford, Massachusetts. But the reason that I'm in South Carolina and I'm here for the summer is that I'm here for my second year internship with CTI. So I interned last year with them as a field sales and marketing representative.

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Myles Forgue
But this summer I wanted to explore more the interest that I picked up from Habitat, which really was in people management and in human resources. So the work that I'm doing this summer is helping to develop the corporate internship program, which is 50 members strong in the Anderson South Carolina office, and also helping to improve some mentorship programs on the campus, one of them being for an engineering leadership development program.

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Myles Forgue
So I'm really enjoying the work that I've been up to and getting to work with the interns and their managers has been an absolute pleasure.

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Liz Kay
But that's not the only thing you're doing this summer. You'll be back on campus to be in orientation coordinator. So some of the, if any, incoming first year students are listening, they'll get to know you pretty well. What's your favorite part of orientation?

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Myles Forgue
I am so excited for orientation coming up. Coming in as an orientation coordinator, I'm specifically looking forward to just being able to connect with all the orientation leaders and be able to coach them as they foster these really unique relationships with the students that they lean in on orientation leader for a day or even for a week or even for a year.

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Myles Forgue
It's something that carries with them all throughout their time at Providence College, because their relationship with the people that they lead is one of trust and it's one of friendship. And so for that reason, one of my favorite sessions during the orientation program is tough questions. Tough questions is the session that your annotation leaders hold in a small group with their they hold in a small group and they get to really open up about what is really on your mind about Providence College.

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Myles Forgue
What do you want to know from whether it's the dining or how is the sit program or what's been your favorite memory station? Leaders get to be very authentic and very vulnerable with their group.

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Liz Kay
This is the college's 50th year of enrolling women as undergraduates. In honor of that anniversary, are there any fire women, faculty, staff, alumni, students who particularly stood out as role models for you?

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Myles Forgue
Absolutely. I would say that you come to mind the first being Dr. Coleman was the theology department head that I had spoken about previously. And the reason why she came to mind is that she's just been such a great guide and a great mentor and an excellent teacher, even beyond the classroom, in every single thing that I do that I approach her about.

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Myles Forgue
She always gives me the advice to whatever I do. Do it as if I'm doing it for the one, you know, that's what the Book of Colossians tells us. And that perspective is just enable me to approach school with a lot more diligent, with a lot more focus in a truly study that which feels the most relevant for me in my career.

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Myles Forgue
And because of that vote of confidence, I've been able to take vigorous in my academic experience of adding a theology major on top of her business major and also in my own professional life. Who would think that when you had theology, professors would give you just enough conviction and confidence to be able to make that move from the northeast to the south of the United States for a work experience in an industry that you're not even in.

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Myles Forgue
And so with that in mind, another really great mentor of mine has been Liz Lombard from the Career Center since day one of meeting Liz. She has been so tuned in and will go to bat for me every single time about a concern that I have about school or this crazy dream that I have about an internship that I want to do going into my senior year, no matter what it's been.

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Myles Forgue
She's been a very great listener. She's been super receptive and has helped me truly to feel at home in our town.

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Liz Kay
Just looking ahead, you have quite a ways to go before commencement, but what are your hopes and ambitions for after graduation?

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Myles Forgue
After graduation? I wish I could say that I've thought that far ahead yet, but it's a plan that keeps on unraveling. You know, the in the book of Jeremiah, the Lord says that he has he has he has a plan for us and for our future plans to give us hope. And having confidence in that has really it's taken away a lot of the stress about planning, about my future.

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Myles Forgue
So I think as of right now, what I see for the future is continuing to work in this field of human resources, whether it be in training or in talent acquisition or recruiting or just overall management. I'm really excited about the future and I'm even more excited about what's coming up for this school year. Junior is going to be a very busy year between the Habitat chapter and my involvement in leading the Benjamin Family Social Media Fellows.

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Myles Forgue
I'm really excited to get that experience of working in a really close team, and also the experience of every class I have relates to something that I could potentially see as a career down the line.

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Liz Kay
Through your work through the Benjamin Family, Social Media Fellows, you'll get to be part of this team that's managing social media for the School of Business, which is a pretty exciting opportunity for a group of college students.

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Myles Forgue
Absolutely. That's something that I'm very passionate about, and I urge anyone who's listening to take the most of their experience by telling their story. Your story is not at all going to align with the story of your father who went to PC or even your friend who is in the same major as you or even your roommate. Your story is so uniquely your story, and that for me is what is so beautiful about this campus community that keeps me coming back and it keeps me waking up each day wanting to tell my story, but more importantly, wanting to listen to the story of prospective students as an admissions ambassador of listening to the stories of

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Myles Forgue
students who are already admitted to orientation, what's the biggest fears and what's their hopes? And just sometimes giving your own testimony, giving your own witness is the story that someone else didn't think that they needed.

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Liz Kay
Myles, this has been a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much for joining us.

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Myles Forgue
It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me.

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Liz Kay
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