The 13th annual Sophomore Connections, Jan. 17–18, introduced 462 second-year students to 147 alumni representing various industries. Through workshops, panels, and networking events, the program fostered interactions to help sophomores identify and explore potential career paths.
The two-day program began as Milone Family AVP for Career Initiatives Teresa Olsen and Taylor Buonocore-Guthrie ’08 addressed sophomore attendees in Memorial Chapel. Sharing tenets of Career Services’ four-year plan and the value of self-confident networking, Olsen and Buonocore-Guthrie urged students to put themselves out there and embrace the uncertainty of the career search.
“Someone out there is going to do exactly what it is that you're dreaming about,” said Buonocore-Guthrie. “So who says that it shouldn't be you? The opportunities are there, especially when you have your eyes open.”
That evening, the keynote speech was delivered by Toby Bozzuto ’96, president and CEO of Bozzuto Real Estate and chair of the ԱƵ Board of Trustees. "True business success stems from ethics and kindness,” he shared. “These values are not merely admirable ideas — they're powerful drivers of profitability, growth, and opportunity.”
On Saturday, students chose to attend three of 21 panels across four career categories: STEM and health care, business, arts, and common good. A number of alumni representing household names, including Google, Spotify, and NBC, joined each. The environmental panel, featuring John Paul Ortiz ’10 (Google), Jessica Prata Cianciara ’01 (Columbia University), and Maureen Lynch ’06, PhD (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators), discussed how a liberal arts education prepared them for the demands of their multifaceted careers.
"At ԱƵ, I had some opportunities to go down to Costa Rica, and that's eventually what inspired me to preserve the wildlife down there,” says Ortiz, who is currently building an eco-retreat center in the region while working as an account executive at Google. “I was brought to Antarctica for the first time with Professor Amy Leventer,” added Lynch, “which brought me to realize my interest in working there.”
At the Creative Arts and Design panel, alumni working in the fields of architecture (Jesse Allen ’19), songwriting (Julia Segal ’20), and photography (Taylor Dumas ’20) discussed their diverse career paths post-ԱƵ. Dumas, in particular, began her creative career through a contact made at Sophomore Connections: keynote speaker Jon Lopez ’06.
“At the dinner, I was super interested in his journey, so I ended up going up to him,” shared Dumas. “I pitched him an idea for a podcast, and we actually started it together. It just goes to show how a single interaction can significantly shape your path.”
Sophomores left the program with a reminder to navigate the possibilities ahead with confidence and curiosity. “Ask yourself what makes you come alive and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive,” said Bozzuto.