First off, I enjoyed meeting several of you at the Sophomore Alumni Ice Cream Social last month. It is nice to be able to visit and hear your thoughts and insights as to how the academic year is progressing. During this visit I had a couple of key takeaways:
· You are approximately half way through your collegiate career at Trinity. Stop to celebrate this accomplishment. Too often we are so focused on hitting the “finish line” that we don’t take the time to celebrate the small successes we have along the way. Remember that without the small successes there is no big accomplishment.
· Declaring a major can be a stressful experience. For some of you, you have always known what academic and career path you want to take. For others there is great anguish involved in the process. Many of you expressed the same concern to me; that once you declare your major you feel you are also determining your career. This is not the case. A major is just the foundation of your education. Attending a liberal arts university allows you to experience a well-rounded education. Which then leads me to #3……
· It is not too early to start contacting alumni. Do you really like Mathematics but aren’t sure what the career path for a Mathematics major is? Now’s the time to ask….your professors, the Career Services group and alumni can all be resources for you in this process. And trust me, we all like to help!
· I watched a former alumni give a student a great tip during the event that I’ll share with you. If you are unsure how to “strike up” a conversation with an alum, just start asking them questions to find where you have commonality and go from there. Maybe they had a similar professor and have some great tips to share or enjoy the same hobby as you. Trinity alumni are connected and if they didn’t experience your situation I bet you they know someone who did. It’s not too early to start reaching out to this vast network for their wealth of knowledge. And, best of all, the contacts and advice are all free!
Finally, please use Kyle and me as resources as well. We love to hear from you! Good luck with your final exams and enjoy your summer!
Jennifer Dewar
Alumni Sponsor
