Career Center connects alumni with students

Air Force Capt. Michael Landry speaks as part of the career center's Bryan Connect program / Photo courtesy of Stephanie Husky

Jesse Murray
Senior Reporter

Nestled cozily on the first floor of Mercer in room 121 is the Bryan Career Center. In the past, students might have noticed free coffee and donuts coming from this room, but the Career Center is working on much bigger things for Bryan students. Over the past year, the Career Center has been providing opportunities for students to network with professionals from a variety of fields while preparing them for post-college careers.

Director of Career Services Marica Merck, who has been at Bryan since July, said there are two separate events hosted by the Career Center that give such opportunities to students: one is the Leadership Forum, and the other is the Bryan Connect.

The former brings in non-alumni leaders from various professions to speak with students regarding career matters and the like—allowing for question-and-answer sessions. Some of the guest speakers for this event in the past have been musician Michael Card, Aaron Clark (founding member of Global Sales Officer Practice at Heidrick & Struggles), photographer David Johnson and Bill Carlson of Rolls Royce.

Bryan Connect brings in alumni and has included speakers such as owner and president of Money Trax Inc., Don Blanton (Class of 1975), CFO of Pilot Corporation David Clothier (’88) and Air Force Captain Michael Landry (’03), who spoke last week.

“When I came here, I asked, ‘What [could we] do to provide more opportunities for students?” said Merck. “I looked at some larger schools like Duke and Harvard and what they were doing to get students prepared. They bring in big businesses, and that’s what we’re doing—and we’ve barely begun to scratch the top of the surface.”

“In general, you get to speak to high profile individuals—businessmen—who tell us about their failures and successes,” said sophomore Ashton Alexander about the events. “They tell us about the importance of networking and the importance of developing a résumé that sets us apart.”

Following a Bryan Connect event, Alexander began working with alumnus Don Blanton, who on top of being head of Money Trax., is a self-published author.

“He’s working on a new book that will be self-published, and he’s asked for my assistance,” Alexander said. “It’s huge, and it’s low stakes as well—and it’s definitely been a learning experience for me. You learn skills in English class, but to actually engage in someone’s work, serious work, something with economic implications; it adds another level of seriousness to it. I was in the right place at the right time.”

According to Merck, the Career Center is also working toward starting a mentoring program in which students would be mentored by professionals in desired fields. Merck said that the parameters are still being worked out, but there are already professionals interested in mentoring.

This coming Friday, the Career Center will host a Leadership Forum featuring Bryan Senior Fellow for Leadership Studies Jeff Myers. The Career Center will be hosting another Bryan Connect event on April 11 featuring Army Brigadier General George Vogel, chaplain for Veteran Affairs Healthcare Service (Long Beach, Calif.).