Student-Alumni Connection Found Very Valuable

To the Editors:

In a recent edition of the Review, Chris Pinelo, OC ‘94, wrote about the work of the Career Services Advisory Committee in establishing networks of alumni around the country to support current students and alumni in searching for employment. In response to that letter, I am writing to provide my “real life” experience with this network.
Almost since graduating from Oberlin, I have been involved on the Admissions side, first with interviewing prospective students, then working as an Admissions Coordinator, serving on the Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee and then chairing that committee. As chair of the committee I started to become involved in Oberlin alumni activities beyond admissions, including volunteering housing for winter term and summer programs.
While the Admissions work is very important to the college and it also provides a means of staying in touch with alumni in my area, it doesn’t generally provide a lasting connection to current Oberlin students. One of the joys of the Oberlin experience is the lasting friendships that develop, not only with members of your own class, but with alumni and students across the spectrum of age and experiences. Oberlin prides itself on being a learning community, and the boundaries of that community extend well beyond the Oberlin campus and the time you spend there.
In the middle of May this year, I received a call from a current student who had landed an unpaid internship in New York at a company headed up by an Oberlin graduate. Reasonably priced housing is hard to find in New York and with an unpaid internship, finding affordable (read “free”) housing was critical. Madison, New Jersey is about 30 miles west of Manhattan and right on a train line. While it is not the most convenient option, many people do make that commute daily and my offer of free housing for the seven weeks of the internship provided a solution. After a couple of phone calls back and forth and some e-mail exchanges, we welcomed our summer visitor on Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend. Tired after a long bus ride from Cleveland, he nevertheless was game enough to join me at my daughter’s track meet that afternoon. There began a friendship that I think will continue to grow well beyond his Oberlin graduation and my service on the Executive Board of the Alumni Association.
Through the summer we debated whether or not management consulting is an honorable profession (I think I’m losing that debate), we lamented the performance of the stock market, reviewed the happenings of our work days, shared our perspectives on current world events and social issues. I learned, through his networking, that there are many Oberlin graduates in high places at some very traditional Wall St. firms. I learned, through his life experience, about the impact of the US/NATO actions in the Balkans. I heard firsthand about some of the hot issues on the Oberlin campus. And most of all I learned that Oberlin students today are motivated, inquisitive, hard-working and appreciative of the support of Oberlin graduates and I think he learned that the alumni network provides connections and experiences that can be invaluable to students trying to navigate the maze of life after Oberlin.
So my advice to you is that you start early to get to know the people in the Career Services Office. Use their network to find a winter term project or a summer internship or housing or a career mentor. You will greatly enrich your Oberlin experience and better position yourself for the time after graduation. You will also greatly enrich the lives of the alumni you meet. We, after all, went to Oberlin and we seek to extend that experience and to continue learning as part of the lifelong Oberlin
community.

–Leanne C. Wagner
OC ’76
President-elect
Oberlin College Alumni Association