Giving thanks for our alumni

Outside my window at the Career Center, the Zable Stadium parking lot is emptying out. Students are packing up their cars to head home for the Thanksgiving holiday and get recharged for the last push to finals. It’s a quiet afternoon in our office, giving me a chance to reflect on all we’ve accomplished this semester.

View from my office of empty sidewalks on the eve of Thanksgiving break

I am grateful to work at a school like William & Mary. The students I get to advise and teach are amazing to work with and for, the campus is stunningly beautiful in every season, and staff and faculty at W&M do incredible work. But today, I’m also deeply thankful for our Tribe alumni.

My job would be significantly more challenging without the depth of support I receive from the Tribe family. Without fail, whenever I need volunteers, mentors, guest speakers or panelists, I have found Tribe alumni willing to go far beyond what is asked of them and support current students in ways that would be impossible to achieve with our seven full-time advisers alone.

Just this past week, I reached out via LinkedIn to 10 alumni whose careers intersected with interests of freshmen and sophomores in my Major and Career Exploration class. Not only did every single alum I contacted respond and offer to provide informational interviews for our underclassmen, they did so with enthusiasm and energy. In fact, many alumni – none of whom I had ever met or talked to – expressed gratitude to me for the foundation they built here and how it’s prepared them for their careers.

Thank you, William & Mary alumni, for all that you do to help current students and each other grow, learn and prepare for careers. Thank you for being an essential part of our work here at the Career Center. Your generous gifts of time, talent and expertise help us and our students more than you may even realize.

Happy Thanksgiving, Tribe!