Angelo Bonadonna Loretta Bonadonna
Professor Angelo Bonadonna has guided Saint Xavier University students through their educational journeys since 1996. There are so many experiences that have shaped his philosophy of education today, and it all started with exploring his own path.
Bonadonna was not always a huge fan of reading or literature, especially as a younger child. His love for both began when he came across “Classics Illustrated.” These books would take classic literary stories and put them into a comic book format.
Within these comic books, Bonadonna grew fond of the way the works allowed him to still think deeply while being comfortable with what he was reading.
Yet he continued to have a love-hate relationship with literature, disliking English as a subject in school up until his senior year of high school, where he had a teacher who ended up influencing him greatly.
For undergraduate school, Bonadonna attended Niles College of Loyola. He recalls the college experience of his time having less of an emphasis on knowing your path right away and more on the idea of the academic journey. He had a love for math and science that he was allowed the time to explore before making his ultimate decision.
Bonadonna ended up selecting the English major because he found the subject more challenging. He did not fully understand it and wanted to immerse himself deeper into it so he could enhance his skills; he had a double major with Latin alongside this.
He ended up later attending graduate school at the University of Illinois Chicago, where he read William Faulkner for the first time, looking at “The Sound and the Fury.” This ended up being a turning point where he realized his tie to the subject.
“I realized I was having such a powerful reaction to it because I was connecting with it at some level. There was something that was true and deep and emotional and inarticulate for me,” Bonadonna said. “I had that wake-up moment [of] ‘oh, I really love this.’”
Bonadonna did not picture himself being at the point he is today. He originally had the goal of becoming a priest until he met his wife. He then was provided a teaching opportunity at St. Scholastica School, kick starting the rest of a long career.
He recalls his first year teaching being the most difficult year of his life. He felt like he was failing at what he was doing as he had not studied education in college. This license was instead received after landing his first teaching position.
Without his extensive experience trying different roads and passions, Bonadonna would not be where he is today. A lot of what he preaches comes from the idea that the educational process should be a time where trial and error is encouraged.
The love and passion for learning allows individuals to grow into who they truly are. It is clear the process allowed Bonadonna to leave his comfort zone and trust the process of challenging oneself.
He has grown to be a highly respected mentor to students with and without English interest, motivating his students to follow their hearts.
Bonadonna has also adapted with the times, running an online blog where he shares occasional writings about anything and everything.
Yet with the pandemic and recent changes at Saint Xavier, there has been a shift from this experimental process. Bonadonna feels like this can be widely viewed as a cultural shift towards an expectation that students need to have a clear vision when they get to college and that they must find something that will be financially beneficial for their futures.
There is less of a priority for what students truly love and more for what they need to succeed standard-wise.
Recent decisions at Saint Xavier have led to an upcoming loss of particular majors. These include, but are not limited to, English, Spanish, and History. The decision has led to a lot of questions, one being what is at stake if the liberal arts are lost.
“This life of exploration is under assault,” Bonadonna commented. He believes the loss of these subjects and faculty members adds to the issue along with the loss of being able to fail.
He also believes that the liberal arts should be both relaxed and intense at the same time. A liberal arts university should allow students the freedom to wander, with structures in place that allow this to be possible.
Moving forward, Bonadonna still has hope for the future of education and all of the possibilities that come with it.
The best piece of advice he would give to future college students would be to establish connections with professors and find a mentor.
Before he retires, every student should take the time to get to know Bonadonna as he represents a spirit unlike any other. Everyone can find inspiration in his journey to follow their own process and let the future naturally fall into place.