Powerful Profiles
Max Kennedy
Communications Major, 4Cs Student Trustee
A native of Marstons Mills, Max came to Cape Cod Community College after graduating from Barnstable High School in the Spring of 2020. While he had several generous scholarships to private universities on his plate, Max sought a different college experience that favored a more intimate atmosphere and closer relationships with faculty. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Max turned to 4Cs, which was one of the first colleges in Massachusetts to announce plans for online learning in the Fall 2020 semester.
“4Cs had the bold forethought to immediately declare all learning this year would be done remotely, reducing my anxiety over going to college during a growing pandemic,” Kennedy says. “That took a significant amount of courage and intelligence that I respected.”
When Max arrived at 4Cs, he found himself staring down an unexpected opportunity: a leadership role as Student Trustee and a seat on the College’s governing Board of Trustees. Despite an admitted tendency to lead more quietly by example, he saw a shining opportunity to bring his passion and desire to help people to a significant forum.
“I kept reverting back to the thought that my most recent successes, in school and in life, around anxieties and my own learning adjustments led me to this opportunity,” Kennedy says. “As Student Trustee, I have the opportunity to fulfill my life’s mission of interjecting mindfulness and awareness to our campus dialog that helps produce a kinder world. The students of 4Cs are my priority. My dream is that any student that has a discrepancy or issue of importance can feel comfortable coming to me because I will listen to them, work with them, and act on their behalf.”
With a seat on the Board of Trustees, the Communications major now turns to the work of enacting change.
“For much of my life, I felt like my challenges and uniqueness were ‘disabilities.’ Over time, I figured out how to come out of my shell,” Kennedy says. “I want to find the openings, cracks, and bumps that eventually help others start living more happily with our individual ‘inconveniences.’ We all have them. What makes us strange makes us powerful. I want to help our students accept their differences as strengths and better understand that their potential is limitless.”