Title: Student
Company: Grand Valley State University
Location: Michigan
Education: AA in Multimedia Journalism, Grand Rapids Community College (2021); BA in Communication Studies, Grand Valley State University
Career: Staff Writer, Lanthorn, Grand Valley State University (2021-Present); Line Cook, Peppino’s Sports Grille & Pizzeria, Kentwood, MI (2018-Present); Administrative Assistant, GVSU Sociology Department, Allendale, MI (2021); Journalist, The Collegiate, Grand Rapids Community College (2019-2021); Kitchen Supervisor, Fricano’s of Caledonia, Caledonia, MI (2015-2018)
Anthony Clark Jr., Student at Grand Valley State University, has been recognized as a Marquis Emerging Leader for their contributions and achievements in the field of communication.
For as long as he can remember, Mr. Clark has been passionate about writing. As a child, he often filled notebooks with fictional tales and dreamt of one day becoming an author. Motivated by his mother, who raised three children on her own, and his grandfather, a military veteran and hard worker who served as a great role model to him, he devoted himself to being a strong student and eventually enrolled at Grand Rapids Community College in 2019, where he majored in multimedia journalism. He quickly proved himself in his field by joining the school’s news publication, The Collegiate, and advancing from a reporter to a Sports Editor to Editor-in-Chief—which he considers a crowning achievement—by the time he graduated in 2021. In doing so, Mr. Clark became the first in his family to graduate from college, lending credence to his philosophy that “with hard work and determination, success will come when it’s least expected.”
Diploma in hand, Mr. Clark sought to continue on his higher education journey and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies at Grand Valley State University, which he strives to obtain by 2023. There, he serves as a staff writer for Lanthorn, a twice-weekly newspaper published by the school for which he writes and reports both news and sports articles. In addition, he has excelled as a line cook at Peppino’s Sports Grille & Pizzeria since 2018. He was previously active as an Administrative Assistant within the sociology department at the university, creating syllabi and course material for professors, managing filing systems and records, and directing students in need of program assistance. As a testament to his abilities in his field, Mr. Clark has garnered several accolades, including a Grand Valley Award for Excellence, and serves as a member of both the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the National Society of Leadership and Success.
Valuing the advice and feedback of others, and finding his role incredibly rewarding, Mr. Clark will soon be working for a broadcasting company in West Michigan and aspires to become a communications director for either of his alma maters.