University of Wisconsin Oshkosh human services alumni show students there is more to their field of work than traditional, nonprofit routes.
On Wednesday, UW Oshkosh Career Services and the Human Services Leadership Program are hosting a 3 Under 30 event, which allows human services students to network with peers and alumni. The event will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Alumni Welcome and Conference Center, room 213.
“We wanted it to be a networking event exclusive to human services majors,” said Loryn Cornette ’13, of Oshkosh, human services leadership career adviser.
The alumni on the panel are: Devon Hudak ’14, of Wisconsin Rapids, director of communications at ARC Contracting; Kayla Riekkoff ’11, of Appleton, vocational coordinator at Goodwill Industries; Alli Thompson ’13, of Milwaukee, a graduate student at UW-Milwaukee who also counsels students at Whitefish Bay High School. A fourth participant, Taylor Lodewegen ’14, of Chicago, Ill., program manager for Best Buddies in Illinois, will Skype into the presentation.
Cornette said the 3 Under 30 event was something that had been done in the past and Career Services Director Jaime Page Stadler wanted to bring it back.
Jennifer Berry, of DeForest, is a human service leadership advanced intern in the Career Services Office and is helping plan the event. She attended last year and felt the experience was eye-opening.
“Human Services is such a broad field,” Berry said. “There are so many things you can do with it, I feel like it’s kind of hard for students to know what they want to do in the path. 3 Under 30 gives them a more clear vision of what they can do with the major, and they see how other professionals have gotten there and what other paths they can take.”
Cornette added that the event demonstrates to students that they are not restricted to the title of their major as their career.
“The individuals we’re bringing in kind of have unique titles and it’s good for students to hear different situations of how different alumni have gotten into the positions that they’re in and not just the standard ones they think, hear and know about while in the program,” Cornette said.
Berry said the event is a great setting for students because it’s not intimidating and students can be around peers and recent graduates who have unique positions within the human services field.
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