Students and Alumni Connect at Networking Event
Public health students gathered with alumni to connect and learn more about career fields and internships last Friday.
Over thirty alumni, stationed at individual booths in the Garden Court of the Wilkinson Student Center, set up displays featuring their work and organizations. The public health students, 115 in number, walked from booth to booth to learn more information about various career opportunities and left hopeful about their future careers in public health.
Professor Rosemary Thackeray helped organize the event with the hope to create a valuable networking experience for both students and alumni of the department.
One student, Elissa Himmerman, said that her experience at the event did just that. “I think I just got an internship!” she said, smiling. “It was a great way to connect with people and the learn more about certain field of study I’m interested in.”
Student Sean Haskell also said, “It was a great opportunity to meet people who are actually doing what I want to do. You go to college with the idea of being able to help people and provide for the future, but sometimes it gets hard to visualize exactly where the path is that leads to a career.” He continued, “This activity was a great chance to meet and learn from people farther down the path, and learn from them what my next steps could be.”
Alumnus Jake Wright, an internship coordinator at Intermountain Healthcare, affirmed that the event was equally beneficial for his organization. “In the past, we’ve just accepted the hopeful interns who have reached out to us through their applications,” he said. “But being able to meet them face to face is much more beneficial because you get a more accurate understanding of who they really are.”
The Department of Health Science will continue to offer students and alumni networking opportunities through other events in the future.