Originally published in Carroll Capital, the print publication of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. .听
In high school, Jesmary Gonzalez 鈥�28, MC 鈥�26, was tasked with creating an original business concept for a school competition. Her winning entry was a baked goods company, inspired by the time spent in the kitchen with her mom and the stories she had heard of her grandfather鈥檚 bakery in Guatemala. Gonzalez began thinking her future might be in business.听
But when she looked into college business programs, high tuition was a discouraging obstacle. 鈥淲hen I started getting these replies back from schools and there wasn鈥檛 enough [financial aid], I thought 鈥榠t鈥檚 over, I鈥檓 not going,鈥欌�� she says. Then, she was accepted into Messina College.
Jesmary Gonzalez '28, MC '26
Messina College, Boston College鈥檚 first associate鈥檚 degree program, welcomed its inaugural class of 100 first-generation, high-financial-need students to the University鈥檚 bucolic Brookline campus two years ago. In May, Gonzalez and her classmates became Messina鈥檚 first graduates.
Come fall, Gonzalez will also be one of around 14 general business majors (at this writing) taking advantage of one of the program鈥檚 greatest draws: After graduating, Messina鈥檚 management students with at least a 3.4 GPA are eligible to transfer into the Carroll School of Management to complete their bachelor鈥檚 degrees.
In developing the Messina experience, Patti and Jonathan Kraft Family Dean Erick Berrelleza, SJ, drew on his own experiences as a first-generation college student. 鈥淚 see it as a lens,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f I were doing this for the first time, what are some of the questions that would be raised for me and how might we answer those?鈥� In response, Messina has committed to providing all students on-campus housing, a high level of financial aid鈥攐n average, students only pay $2,000 annually鈥攁nd program adaptability tailored to specific student needs.
鈥淭his first Messina graduating class is really building this with us,鈥� says Associate Dean Alicia LaPolla. 鈥淭hey are co-creators in this experience.鈥� She also acknowledges that these students bet on an unknown program when they committed to Messina.
鈥淚 put my faith in this school without knowing much,鈥� says general business major Yazzidy听Fernandez 鈥�28, MC 鈥�26, who grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts. There were not yet Messina student success stories to be inspired by, like the ones she heard from other colleges she applied to. But Boston College鈥檚 reputation ultimately tipped the scales for her, especially the idea of transferring into the Carroll School. 鈥淚 never thought I would get to go to a school like this,鈥� she adds.
“ When I started getting these replies back from schools and there wasn't enough [financial aid], I thought 'it's over, I'm not going.' ”
Berrelleza often compares Messina College to a startup when it comes to adapting to student needs in real time. 鈥淎s a whole, the plan has worked as we designed it,鈥� he says. In the past two years though, some tweaks have been needed, like reordering the general business major curriculum.
Take, for instance, Coding for Business, one of Messina鈥檚 eight required general business courses. 鈥淲e noticed students were struggling to learn how to study for this class who were really strong performers otherwise,鈥� LaPolla says. Messina worked closely with the Carroll School to reorder the required courses so Coding for Business would come later in the program once students were better prepared for the material.
Ethan Sullivan, the Carroll School鈥檚 senior associate dean for the undergraduate program, says that while Messina College鈥檚 original goal was to be a strong 鈥減ipeline to the 红桃视频 bachelor鈥檚 degree,鈥� not all students who come through the program are ready for or interested in that pathway. Curriculum adjustments also help support general business students who will take their associate鈥檚 degrees and head into the workforce or those who transfer to other business programs, perhaps where there is less emphasis on skills like coding.
For those Messina students who are transferring into the Carroll School, they must now also hold their own among their new classmates in a particularly competitive environment. Last fall, Johnny Ray 鈥�28, MC 鈥�26, a pseudonym requested by a shy student, interned with Waltham-based Commonwealth Financial Network as part of Messina鈥檚 second-year program requirements. But Ray knew his future Carroll School classmates were likely planning further ahead and thinking bigger when it came to internships.
鈥淚 love Messina, and I came here to grow, learn, and think at a Boston College level,鈥� he says. He quickly secured summer internships for both 2026 and 2027 with a Federal Reserve Bank and a top financial services firm, respectively.
Early in the spring semester, Gonzalez, Fernandez, Ray, and their general business classmates settled into Professor of the Practice Thomas Wesner鈥檚 late afternoon Introduction to Law and Legal Practice class, the first entirely Messina-student class held in Fulton Hall. Throughout his lecture on the branches of government, Wesner engaged each individual, drawing them into a conversation about the subject matter as well as their goals and ambitions.
This is not their first taste of听Fulton Hall; general business majors joined a handful of Carroll School classes last fall. Vanessa Conzon, assistant professor of management and organization, had six Messina students in her Organizational Behavior classes, a course typically taken by juniors and seniors.
“ A Messina College student doesn鈥檛 have fewer opportunities than a Boston College student. A Messina student can do the same things and reach the same levels. A Messina student is a Boston College student. ”
It鈥檚 an adjustment for students and faculty alike, she says. Conzon points to elements of the Carroll School鈥攍ike the grading curve and Portico, the interdisciplinary ethics course taken by first-year management students鈥� that the students didn鈥檛 have experience with.
Still, Ray excelled in the class and will be a research assistant for Conzon next year. 鈥淢y students are all measured by the same standards,鈥� Conzon says. 鈥淚f any sophomore receives an A, I鈥檓 scooping them up.鈥�
鈥淕etting an A was a big deal,鈥� confirms Ray. 鈥淥utperforming the curve, even though there is that difference between student backgrounds, really is not lost on me.鈥�
Berrelleza believes that the connections between Messina and the wider Boston College community will only get stronger as students like Gonzalez, Fernandez, and Ray become full-time Carroll School students in the fall, and hopes that they will help 鈥渃reate a community that is bridged between the campuses,鈥� he says.
To Ray, that community is already in progress. 鈥淎 Messina College student doesn鈥檛 have fewer opportunities than a Boston College student. A Messina student can do the same things and reach the same levels,鈥� Ray says. 鈥淎 Messina student is a Boston College student.鈥�
