Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 October 12, 2001 f

"Beyond Bowdoin": Students, alumni connect
ERIC CHAMBERS
STAFF WRITER

"Beyond Bowdoin", held on September 20, has continued to successfully unite alumni and current students in speaking about career experiences and opportunities.

Co-sponsored by Alumni Career Programs and the Career Planning Center, this event featured recent Bowdoin graduates who are now working in a variety of job fields. The program, according to Director of Alumni Career Relations Lisa Tessler, is "geared toward students who have a general idea, but are not quite sure of what they want to do, or want to understand how to utilize their skills in a variety of situations."

This event began last year, in hopes of presenting current students with the range of opportunities that a liberal-arts education can provide. "We wanted to create a program that could educate students about the value of liberal-arts skills in a variety of careers," stated Tessler.

Graduates who work in various fields are invited back to campus to participate in discussions about their careers. Topics that were discussed this year included professions in government, health care, the media, science, business, and education.

"Beyond Bowdoin" has seen some changes since its inauguration last year. This year, the program was held in conjunction with Maine Day, and prospective students touring the campus were allowed to attend the program. Graduates chosen to speak this year now work within the state of Maine. According to Tessler, "there are a lot of career opportunities if, after your Bowdoin career, you decide to work in Maine."

Most of the chosen alumni speakers to were also recent graduates.
In conjunction with the event, the Common Hour held on the same day featured Dr. Mary Jacobsen, who spoke about her book, Hand Me Down Dreams: How Families Influence Our Career Paths.

The event showed a large turnout, with almost all seats filled at each program. "We are very enthusiastic about the large turnout. I'm hopeful that this will be a program that will continue in the future," said Tessler.