Recently 淫人色欲社鈥檚 College Counseling聽and Alumni Offices hosted a Young Alumni Panel聽for seniors and post-graduates in the Class of 2021. Students聽had the opportunity to talk with a group of successful alumni, some still in college and others who have graduated and are pursuing master鈥檚 degrees.
This discussion, the second of the year, was designed to connect current students with six alumni who could share their college experiences. 鈥淭hese panel discussions provide seniors with a number of tips and encouraging stories about the possibilities available after SKS graduation, Director of Academic Counseling Lynn Mellis Worthington explained.
The panel speakers were:
Matt Moyer 鈥�16 鈥� currently a grad student at George Washington University. His undergraduate degree is from Vanderbilt and he previously played basketball for and attended Syracuse University
Bryce Mann 鈥�16 鈥� a junior at Olin College of Engineering, where he鈥檚 majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a concentration in Business/Economics. He鈥檚 already had 4 internships so far, doing a lot of circuit board design, electrical testing, and writing software. Last summer he worked at an Electrical Engineering consulting company in Los Angeles called Second Order Effects and he is returning there in June for his second internship.
Eric Zhaoyuan Shu 鈥�17 鈥� a senior at the College of the Holy Cross, majoring in Chemistry and Math, minoring in Statistics. He originally planned to be on the pre-med path but changed his mind and is now focused on excelling in mathematical sciences.
Myles Williams 鈥�17 鈥� a senior at Villanova University, majoring in Marketing with a minor in Sociology. He has had several internships, including his current role under fellow South Kent alumnus, Jack McClinton. He has a passion for art and has begun to grow his business as a graphic designer.
Tomas Jamett 鈥�17 鈥� finished his undergraduate degree last fall at Iona College, earning a double major in Business Administration and Finance. He is now working on his MBA at Iona. He did several internships in Manhattan for Microsoft and Equitable Advisors; and is currently interning for Forest Hills Financial Group, where he was offered a full time job and the possibility of getting his visa sponsored. He has played soccer at the Division I college level.
Shane Hauck 鈥�19 鈥� a sophomore at St. Lawrence University said he鈥檚 likely to be majoring in statistics with a career of data science. He has played soccer for the DIII school. He attended the fall semester on campus but he鈥檚 currently taking a semester off due to alterations to his schedule as a result of COVID. He will most likely be taking summer classes. He is currently at home in New Fairfield and working at Stew Leonard鈥檚 Wine Store in Danbury.
Students wanted to know about how the alums navigated the transition from SKS to college and each of the graduates had different experiences. All were highly complimentary of the skills that they left South Kent with.
鈥淒on鈥檛 lose contact with those you met at South Kent,鈥� said Tomas Jamett.
鈥淭he people I鈥檝e met at South Kent are the most genuine people I think I鈥檝e ever met,鈥� said Matthew Moyer. He said he鈥檇 been to so many different colleges. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 met a single group of people that are better than my brothers from South Kent.鈥�
鈥淯tilize this idle time you have right now,鈥� said Myles Williams. 鈥淔rom here on out you鈥檒l have so many distractions and so many other things you鈥檒l have to attend to.鈥�
Shane Hauck encouraged the students to focus on the little things while they are on the Hillside, noting that anything from jobs to homework seems like a pain now but eventually they鈥檒l see the value.
鈥淪outh Kent builds these core values and you just do things the way you鈥檙e supposed to,鈥� Shane said.
Eric Shu encouraged the students to try lots of new things when they get to college.
鈥淵ou can try everything and find what you love.鈥�
Bryce Mann encouraged students to be peer tutors and help other students. It is something that he did at SKS and continues at Olin and it has helped him understand and apply information.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 something that you want to learn or get better at, teach it to someone else,鈥� Bryce said.