Courtesy of Bowdoin Communications

Last week, the Career Exploration and Development Center (CXD) hosted its seventh annual Sophomore Bootcamp for the Class of 2027 to explore career opportunities and prepare for life after the College. According to Leah Hodder-Romano, assistant director of programming for the CXD, this year’s sophomore class was the first to have the last day of the three-day series of workshops, talks and other career-related events fully dedicated to individualized programming.

“Based on last year’s feedback, we had students want more of those one-on-one workshops, so we made a big effort to condense things to Wednesday [and] Thursday, and then push all of those individual workshops to Friday, so that we had way more to offer,” Hodder-Romano said. “Because in previous years, it was only ever for a one-hour session Thursday afternoon or something. This time it’s a whole day.”

A general theme for this year’s bootcamp was an increased amount of independence and choice throughout the programming. Students were encouraged to attend events they were interested in that would serve their specific career goals in the future, especially on Friday.

Last year, all three days of Bootcamp consisted of lectures, panels and small group activities called “Team Times.” This year, the CXD changed the schedule to allow for “Adventure Time” workshops on Friday for students to explore their specific interests further.

Some of the workshops, such as “Wall Street Prep: Technical Finance Interview Prep” and “Why Bowdoin Students Make Great Consultants” prepared students for the demands of specific careers while others such as “Finding your Niche in Policy and the Public Sector” focused on various pathways in broader industry sectors.

Adventure time programming, according to Bethany Walsh, director of partnerships and programming at the CXD, allowed students to have a more diversified experience than just attending general lectures would offer.

“The perennial question we have is: How do you design something for 500 students of really different interests and really different steps in the process that has enough customization while covering all the bases?” Walsh said.

This new day of events also heavily featured the perspective of upperclass students throughout the different workshops, highlighting how students can work toward their career goals while still in college.

“We talk a lot about how to pursue these different fields far down the road, but sometimes it’s helpful to see the next one or two steps ahead of you. So to hear from people who are actually in your same [position] and not someone 20 years out of college is really helpful,” Walsh said.
Jiahn Son ’25, a team leader at bootcamp who sat as a panelist in the “Humanities Majors: Charting your Career Path” session, felt having students share their experiences made career steps feel more attainable for sophomores.

“It can be good to talk to upperclass students. I feel like it’s reassuring, because a lot of times seeing other people go through it and you’re like ‘Oh, it’s definitely cool to do that,’” Son said.

Furthermore, all throughout the day on Friday, team leaders held general support and drop-in meetings for students to get one-on-one help with resumes and cover letters or just ask questions.

“[Back when I did bootcamp],… they gave us all this advice but had no time to actually put [it] into practice. I think it was great this year that they actually did have dedicated time for students to spend on their own and work on things,” Son said.
Hodder-Romano emphasized that, while the change to make Friday more customizable is new, the focus of elevating students’ comfort with career development remains the same.

“The whole purpose of bootcamp is kind of to get everybody up to at least a certain level of understanding,” Hodder-Romano said. “One step forward from wherever they are, at least one more confidence boost up.”

While making Friday a choose your own adventure day is new this year, it is the latest in a long string of changes since the inaugural year of bootcamp in 2019.

“From going from an opt-in program with 20 students sitting in Thorne to becoming a part of the fabric of your Bowdoin experience, right between orientation and graduation, a lot of things have changed,” Walsh said.