Arsene Frederic

How far in advance did you prepare and begin applying for your experiential learning opportunity?

I prepared about two weeks before the spring semester ended. I knew that I wanted to get an internship with the Alumni Association because of my career goals, so I made it happen.

If you used any Career Center services, resources, or events to obtain your internship/research opportunity/fellowship, what were they? How did they support your application process?

My academic adviser in the English Department referred me to the Career Center Experiential Recognition Program. Once I learned about the opportunity, I then spoke with Career Advisors who gave me more information about how these experiences help students grow.

Describe some of your responsibilities or duties during your experiential learning opportunity.

Some of the responsibilities were:

1. Regulating operations with the executive board
2. Supplying parents and students with adequate information about the Student Alumni Association
3. Working closely with the adviser to ensure we are following University regulations about fiscal funds

What was a typical day like "on the job?"

A typical day "on the job" was pretty cool. Each day was different and the orientation sessions were going on consisting of parents and students from all across the United States. Tuesdays and Thursdays I would attend information sessions around 2 p.m. and talk about why students should join the Student Alumni Association (SAA), and then around 7 p.m. I would attend the parent check-in sessions to inform parents what their child could gain by joining SAA.

What are some major takeaways from your experience? How will these help prepare you for the next step after graduation?

Some major takeaways from this experience are networking, building my speaking and organizational skills, and learning what parents would like to see from a University as an alumni. While participating in this experience, I received the opportunity to chat with members from the Alumni Association's National Board and they provided some great career advice regardless of what field. During the information sessions, I spoke in front of parents and students a lot so I had to ensure my ideas and things were organized. My career goal is to be a University president and I learned the most important components about how to increase the alumni participation rate with the institution they graduated from.

Did this experience help clarify your career path? If yes, how so?

Yes, this experience help clarify my career path. This experience allowed me to see the intricacies of the day-to-day operations of the Alumni Association. From this, I was able to be hands-on with many different things so that when I get to that point in my career, I can be successful.