#bsualum

The Bridgewater State University (BSU) Football Advisory Council hosted a Valentine Dinner Show on Saturday, February 11th, 2017, in the Rondileau Campus Center of Bridgewater State University. The event was open to the public, with proceeds benefitting the Bridgewater State University Varsity Football team. In the wake of tragedy, Head Coach Joe Verria advocated for the importance of staying together in trying times. The community’s support of this event demonstrated that spirit.

BSU President, Fred Clark and his spouse, Carrie Kulick-Clark were among the 67 guests in attendance, along with other alumni, staff, family and friends, supporting the Bears. Clark, a big supporter of his alma mater’s football team, commended Verria on his excellent leadership skills; which he believes is made apparent through the players’ hard work on and off the field. As a whole, the team recently saw an increase in overall GPA. Verria stated that this would already be a great accomplishment, but he took even more pride in the team in light of the tragic loss of team member, James Keating, this season.

During intermission and at the event’s conclusion, the audience was addressed by both Clark and Verria. Verria stated, “On behalf of the BSU Bears Football program I would like to thank Jerry Schimmel, the Alumni Office and the Football Council for sponsoring a great Valentines dinner event. The entertainment by Kelly Lennon and her band was great and everyone had an excellent evening.”

Football Advisory Council leader and former coach, Rich Florence, added, “It's always great to see our former teammates, but getting together with our wives and significant others at the campus center brought back a lot of fond memories of our BSU experience, and was very special night.”

The $60 tickets to the Valentine Dinner Show included a 3 course meal, a live performance, and a CD from the aforementioned performer, Kelley Lennon. The doors opened at 6:30pm and featured coffee, tea, salad and a cash bar for patrons before the 7:00pm dinner was served. For their meal, attendees had the choice of stuffed chicken breast, baked haddock with seafood stuffing and pork chop with cornbread stuffing. After ample time to eat and connect with other guests, the band’s performance began at 8:00pm.

There is no stronger community than a community that stands united. The Afro-American Alumni Association’s mission is “to encourage, inspire, enlighten, empower, and serve as advocates for students who attend Bridgewater State University, by building partnerships with the university and the members and friends of the association”. They uphold their motto of “reflect, connect, make a difference”. In support of that motto, the Association has awarded 3 individuals, and one on-campus organization, with a variety of awards, all of which are new to this association.

Congratulations go out to Reverend Chang-Hee Son, who is the recipient of the Paul Gaines Achievement Award. The Paul Gaines Achievement Awards is given to a current member of the faculty, administration, librarian or staff who has worked on behalf of students of color.  Barbara Jackson ’80 is the recipient of the Sarah Lewis Distinguished Award, which is given annually to an alumnus who has distinguished themselves professionally and through service to Bridgewater State University. Benvinda (Cardoso) Butler ’08 is the recipient of the Alfred Gomes Community Service Award. This award is given to a member of Afro-American Alumni who shows dedication to the ideals of social justice, fosters authentic relationships with the greater community and empowers peers to serve or increase awareness of injustice. Lastly, Men Integrated in Brotherhood received the Henry Hampton Bridge Builder Award, which is given to a student or a student group of color on campus that has sought to address campus unity.

Michael P. Henry, president of the association, emphasizes the focus on student achievement and success. Henry states, “We are an alumni organization that is focused on undergraduate and graduate students of color. We want to highlight students and alums who are doing phenomenal things in the community, which speaks to Bridgewater’s commitment to social justice”. Mr. Henry speaks proudly of the Afro-American Alumni Association stating, “We are a support and a support system for students”. The association works for the success and unity of the students amongst other on-campus organizations, as well as encouraging recent alumni to “pass the torch” to current students.

Meghan Connolly is a member of the BSU Student and Alumni Networking Group on LinkedIn.  This social media group connects alumni with BSU students and other alumni to help them explore careers and build essential networking skills within a friendly community.  All BSU alumni are invited to join this group!

Meghan Connolly ‘10 Assistant Editor of Jewish Studies and Philosophy, Brill 

Career Path: I was an English major with a minor in Theater. Before this position, I was working in medical publishing at the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and then in technology publishing at O'Reilly Media, Inc. 

Typical Day:  Typically, I start out my day by checking emails from authors and editors. On a day to day basis, I will receive manuscript proposals and completed submissions, coordinate the review process, take and answer questions about book orders -- in general, author relations. I have two different subject areas so my days can vary but overall, my goals are to keep the authors happy, publish great academic books and keep my budget on track for the year.

 Prep for this Field:  For starters, I thought the BSU English program really helped to prepare me for my first few jobs in publishing. I also think it's important after graduation to try different aspects of publishing and different size publishing houses so you can get a feel for the industry. In tech publishing, we published cheap paperbacks because of how fast technology changes and evolves. Now with academic publishing, we are publishing very niche (and expensive) books by professors who need to publish in order to get tenure. These aren't the kinds of titles on a top 10 list by any means but still important work to publish. The industry can be very different depending on what you're publishing or who you're publishing for. It's important to be flexible when you graduate so you can gain experience (and new perspectives) and then use that to your advantage. 

 Why are You a BSU Alumni Mentor on LinkedIn?:  I wanted to give back to my school. I graduated at a time when the job market wasn't very good so I know how frustrating it can be to get out of school and not be able to get a professional job in your field. It just takes a little patience and someone willing to give you a chance. I hope that I can eventually be that person for someone at the start of their career.

Josh Worsley ‘14 Financial Analyst, Medical Specialties Distributors

Career Path: I started out as an analyst intern with a private equity start-up firm. After a year I wanted to get some experience in corporate finance and was eventually hired as a financial analyst for a medical devices and engineering company called Analogic, a fairly large, multinational, publicly traded company. After working there for a little over a year, a head hunter reached out to me on LinkedIn with a job description. I said I was interested, had a few rounds of interviews and was offered a position as a financial analyst at Medical Specialties Distributers a few weeks later.

Typical Day: What I do is build P&L models (basically an income statement) for the various deals our reps are trying to close. I look at various financial metrics to see how much money we’ll make (or lose), and whether or not the deal can happen. I’m typically at my desk between 7:15 – 7:30 AM and start by checking emails. I’ll see what my priorities for the day are and what tasks can wait. Then I’ll begin modeling the various deals in the pipeline. If there’s a deal we’re going to lose money on, I’ll try to play with the numbers to see what needs to be done to turn a profit. At some point I’ll have a 1-2 hour meeting with my boss to review, and then communicate to the sales reps which deals we can do, which deals we can’t do and what’s necessary to make the losing deals profitable. I’m out of the office anywhere between 4-6 PM.

Prep for this Field: Get some unique experience. Finance is really competitive, so recent grads really need to distinguish themselves from the rest. I recommend looking into search fund internships - 90% of them are unpaid but very competitive. There will be no more than 25 employees; 95% will be interns. Your boss will be recent MBA graduate(s) from the world’s top business schools (Harvard, Stanford, Booth, Kellogg etc.). I also highly recommend taking Professor Silverman’s Business Law and Professor Ross’ Strategic Management courses, both brilliant and taught me more than any other course.

Why are You a BSU Alumni Mentor on LinkedIn?: Finance is really competitive and I’m the only person in my family to attend college. Those combined factors made it challenging for me to get a great job; there was a lot I needed to learn about networking and the job search process. Having been a recent grad I know how hard and disheartening it can be at times. I’d like to be a resource for students trying to achieve great things.

Words of Wisdom: I think there are 4 things that really helped me out:

1. Be willing to make sacrifices now – Do the unpaid internships; spend Sundays in the library. This could mean not going out on Saturday nights for a while.

2. Learn how to teach yourself – I still have to learn something new every day in my job, and many times there’s no one to teach me.

3. Develop a relationship with someone who can be a mentor to you.