 | | Meg Littlefield '94, Usman Khosa ’04, Fatima da Cruz Jones ’97, and Andrew Bogle ’94 offer students advice about grad school. | Eight young alumni returned to campus last week to share the stories of their post-College lives, with paths that took two to Teach for America and six to graduate school. Some of the tips from the grad school panelists: Andrew Bogle '94: MBA programs are a great choice if you’re interested in middle- and upper-management, but it might be best to wait until you have at least a few years of management experience before applying. Poll your friends and family about careers they think might fit you best. But pursue what you are passionate about and be patient about finding the right opportunity. Fatima da Cruz Jones '97: going right from college to grad work for science is definitely doable as long as students start preparing in their junior year. Use your network of professors and classmates to find opportunities. Usman Khosa '04: a Connecticut College education is great because it encourages open-mindedness, good communication and a less snobby outlook on life. Try absolutely everything possible while in college and be flexible when looking for jobs after graduation. Use alumni as a resource as often as possible. Meg Littlefield '94: to go to med school right after college, you need to start planning the appropriate coursework during your freshman year. However, many people start med school later, as she did. Upon arriving at med school, you can either have an exact specialization in mind or be open to many different fields – both paths are perfectly fine. Jamie Rogers '04: don’t go to law school right after college. Instead, use the first few years after graduation to travel and try different jobs. If you really want to be a lawyer, avoid paralegal and legal aid work – go to law school. Be as sure as possible that you want to be in law if you do choose that path. Jeff Wang '04: getting a non-terminal degree just because you’re interested in a field can be as fulfilling as getting a law degree or an MBA. The opportunities for nonprofit work are always expanding but you need to have a connection to and interest in the work of an organization in order to work there effectively. Teach for America Moderator Alexandria Gomes '04, who mentors students in an alternative high school in Providence, RI, said teaching is a great way to get invaluable experience, even if you don’t stay in the field. Adrianne Capaldi '06, a science teacher in New York, and Katherine Williams '07, a math teacher in Chicago, are passionate about their work in inner-city schools. Capaldi said Teach for America can't solve all problems but helps by calling attention to what need fixing. "Everybody needs to pay attention to this," Capaldi said. Williams agreed, saying it’s not fair for students in wealthy districts to get better educations simply because they have money. The poor, she said, don’t have a voice. “As citizens we should feel responsible for that,” Williams said. For both women, the solution lies in restructuring the education system and holding teachers and administrators accountable. "I won’t let my students down," she said. Williams lives with two other Teach for America teachers. The three collaborate on lesson plans and ideas for their classes. Those who want a challenging career should be encouraged to go into teaching, Capaldi said. They won’t be disappointed. “The learning curve is huge,” she said. “You’re constantly improving. It takes so much creative thought.” The Teach for America discussion was sponsored by the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy; the grad school discussion was sponsored by the Office of College Advancement as part of a series that brings alumni in different fields to campus each semester. | 
