Dartmouth Career Services celebrated 30 years of service to students Thursday with an anniversary party that showcased the stories of alumni who have followed nontraditional or unexpected career paths after graduation.
"All dreams are welcome here," Career Services Director Skip Sturman said as he addressed more than 40 students, professors and alumni who gathered at Collis to toast the organization's three-decade effort to assist undergraduates with their professional endeavors.
The recognition of alumni was made possible by the Alumni Stories Project, a Career Services' effort funded by John Kovis '63's Career Discovery Program. Sturman said he was delighted that the department was hosting at the reception "two of the stories that are up on the wall," referring to the display in Collis that celebrates the work of a number of Dartmouth alumni through pictures and narratives.
"I want you to notice the number of English literature degrees on the wall," Sturman said, garnering audience laughter. "For every alum who followed a linear, straight line, many more zigged and zagged and engaged in profitable meandering."
Rob Patterson '85, who majored in French and Biology at Dartmouth, now works as the senior program director for the Academy of Educational Development in Washington, D.C., on global issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention. Patterson shared his journey as he mingled with the crowd.
Patterson claimed he "didn't know what public health was" before applying to get his master's degree from the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
He stressed the importance of students pursuing their interests in college and specializing later in life.
"To a large extent, as long as you invest in yourself, have willpower and get your diploma, what you do until you're about 25 is not all that important," he said.
The other honoree present was Gisela Insuaste '97. Insuaste, an anthropology and art double major at Dartmouth, has become an award-winning artist since graduation.
Career Services hopes that the Alumni Stories Project will inspire students to make their passions their life's work, and to think broadly about the range of career options open to them.
Sturman said that he and his staff are sometimes concerned that students who have shown little or no previous interest in the corporate world feel pressured to take part in on-campus recruiting by their senior year when they see their peers going through the process.
Students get caught up "in the feeding frenzy to find a job -- any job," Sturman said, adding that he hopes the vignettes on the wall will remind students that their choices are not limited to one set of careers.
"Most of us are looking for a calling, not just a job," Sturman said.
