The Words, March 2016
Appetizers and Alums Round II
By Molly Sowash ’16
‘Tis the season to mix and mingle. With three months left of college, seniors are looking to their seniors for advice regarding life after graduation. The English Honor Society provided such an opportunity last Thursday at the Appetizers and Alums event, where English majors and Twin Cities alumni gathered for prosciutto-wrapped dates, mango chutney, and casual conversation.
After students and alumni wandered into the Weyerhaeuser boardroom, the Honor Society kicked off the event with a brief introduction, bringing our attention to the career-themed tables before handing over the microphone to the alumni. These twenty-five alumni represented a broad range of backgrounds and current experiences from attending grad school to working at arts non-profits like the Cedar Cultural Center, teaching outdoor and special education, editing for Lerner Publishing, working in development for Jewish Social Services or the United Theological Seminary, becoming an attorney, and freelance writing. For every alum who described a direct path from an internship to their current job, there was another alum to explain their circuitous route from barista to line cook to freelance writer. Their introductions made evident what Kate Larson from the CDC said, “To all of the students in the room, the alums are not scary. They remember very well was it was like to be in your shoes.” Many of them welcomed students to seek them out, saying things like, “if you want to talk about making ends meet while also writing for a living, I’m probably your person.”
With the encouragement to make concrete connections and ask for cards, the conversations began as students rotated from tables labeled “publishing” or “unconventional careers,” according to their interests. Alumni gave insight into the particulars of their jobs, such as the design programs they use for marketing, as well as general advice about seeking mentors or working with a team. The Honor Society did an excellent job at creating an informal atmosphere for casual conversation while providing a rough structure to ensure that students had the opportunity to meet as many alums as they wished.
Abbie Shain ‘14, Alumni Relations Assistant at Mac, prefaced the evening with a reminder that “your job doesn’t need to be the most interesting thing about you.” She gave the crowd permission to “introduce yourself as somebody who has a creative project, has a blog, has an aspiration of being a published author in the future and is currently doing something else, I’ve experienced a lot of solace in being able to say that.” Alongside the aim to foster networking skills and pocket business cards, the event allowed students to think beyond day jobs to what exactly gets people up in the morning creatively.
This was the second year that the English Honor Society worked with the English Department, Alumni Relations, and the Career Development Center to put on Apps and Alums. Given its success in the past two years, they hope to bring it back in years to come. Great work, Honor Society. As Celeste Robinson ‘16 said, “It was a lovely evening.”