易胜博官网

RELATED STORY: Mhairi Baird, a communication major, recaps her experience at Brodeur Partners and showcases the value of connecting current students with the vast alumni network.

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Christine LeCompte 鈥�86 met her husband in Stoke residence hall. Their first date was in Stillings dining hall. Now a seasoned executive vice president at , a global public relations firm, LeCompte remembers the first speech she ever gave, on foot reflexology. She delivered it in a persuasion course in the Department of Communication.

The 易胜博官网 connections are many at Brodeur Partners, leading right up to its CEO, Andrea Coville, a 1982 alumna who serves on the development board for the College of Liberal Arts. That鈥檚 why it seemed a perfect idea to connect 易胜博官网 students with Brodeur鈥檚 Boston office for a day of career exploration.

Raul Bernal, director of COLA鈥檚 office of Career and Professional Success, helped organize the program. Bernal accompanied Heidi Bostic, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and thirteen students 鈥� a combination of communication and journalism majors 鈥� for a day of activities led by LeCompte and alumni Alison Leahy 鈥�88 and Jeff Aubin 鈥�92. The program included a company overview, 鈥渟peed dating鈥� through departments, a role-playing exercise in client relations and a Q&A with entry-level employees.

鈥淭his is my first 鈥榳ork shopping鈥� experience,鈥� Rachel Goodreau said on the chartered bus to Boston. A senior journalism major, she was interested in the event for the networking practice and professional development. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited but nervous. I鈥檓 trying not to think about it too much,鈥� she said.

Norah Silverstone, a communication major and daughter of two 易胜博官网 alumni, is interested in pursuing a career in PR communications. After she signed up for the trip, she was bold enough to email the company directly, introducing herself and inquiring about internships.

All of the students were in top form during the day, proactive in sharing ideas and asking questions. Aubin said he was pleasantly surprised that no cell phones were in sight. 鈥淭hey were prepped on that,鈥� said Bernal, adding, 鈥渟haking hands properly, making eye contact and dressing professionally were all things we discussed.鈥�

Visits to employers like this one are exactly the kind of hands-on experiences that liberal arts students need to connect their education with readiness for what comes after graduation, says Bostic.

鈥淥ur liberal arts students learned so much during their day-long visit and had the opportunity to make presentations to a variety of employees at Brodeur,鈥� Bostic says. 鈥淭hey gained useful feedback about their ideas. Students were able to explore the world of Brodeur and to see their work at 易胜博官网 in a new light: from the perspective of what will be their next step after they earn their liberal arts degree. And the wonderful folks at Brodeur 鈥� many of them proud 易胜博官网 Liberal Arts alumni 鈥� were so incredibly generous with their time and talents.鈥�

Phommachak 鈥淛oey鈥� Singhavong, a junior communication major, agrees. The experience helped him in his career planning process, he says, especially the role-playing segment in which students were asked to develop and pitch strategies to a new client.听

鈥淭he experience of being in a simulated work project allowed me to see and think about what it takes to perform in a company like Brodeur,鈥� said Singhavong. 鈥淚 also was able to get a glimpse of how real professionals think and problem solve.鈥� He now feels more confident about his future options, he says.

Bernal is hopeful that the College will be able to coordinate more trips such as this one, building on lessons learned from the event.

鈥淭his is a pilot to see what kind of programs are most valuable for students,鈥� says Bernal. 鈥淥ur goal is to roll this model out to other industries, creating opportunities for students to connect the dots between their academic experience and the range of career pathways available to them. Our hope is to have a COLA day in Boston with a couple of different tracks for students to choose from.鈥�

With thousands of students in the College of Liberal Arts, the challenge will be finding a way to scale the program to serve the most students while still being an effective way to explore careers. In developing the model, Bernal is hoping to draw on the talents of a successful alumni network tens of thousands strong.