On May 24, business students at BC had the opportunity to engage with BC alumni. Organized by the Business Leadership Community, the Alumni Network event provided a space for students to ask various questions that ranged from school choices to finding internships. In addition, dinner and refreshments were provided for the students and guests.
The BLC hosts alumni networking opportunities annually, inviting them from organizations such as Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks and Costco. These alums occupy different roles in these companies such as accounting, consulting, marketing or managerial positions. By being former students of the business transfer program at BC, these alums are connected through LinkedIn, which allows the BLC to maintain their network with them, according to Program Chair Leslie Lum.
“The Business Transfer program has a strong alumni network and our alumni pay it forward. We continue to mentor our students even 10 years after graduation,” said Lum. “We have alumni all over the world. It is an amazing community.”
However, not all of the alums are currently affiliated with established industries. For example, Peter Vu, who attended BC between 2012-2014, is in his third year as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley double majoring in business and economics. He was present at the networking event to give advice to current BC students on transfer applications and surviving in a four-year university setting. In addition, he spoke to students about finding business related internships.
Vu recollected his experiences at BC positively, while noting some issues that he experienced. “I found it difficult to make long lasting friendships with people here because it’s such a temporary place,” explained Vu, “While it was hard for me to make close friends, I thought it was nice to meet people who I’ve never been exposed to before – meeting people who have much deeper experience and who have lived longer and had more wisdom to share.”
He also shared some of his hardships on being a transfer student at Berkeley, advising students to work harder in order to keep up with fellow classmates that have been at the university longer.
“The thing that I noticed about Berkeley transfers is that they’re really far behind because they don’t know what it is they want to do or they don’t know how to get what they want to get,” noted Vu. “There are people at these four-year programs who’ve had a while to think about what they want to do and who have been exposed to the business world. Coming from a community college, it can be hard to compete with that.”
To overcome this difficulty, Vu recommended students to be confident with their academic choices and seek help from other classmates who have experienced similar issues.
Nicholas Travica is one of the students who attended the alumni networking night. “My main goal since I’m currently applying to universities was to get information on the schools that I applied to just to weigh the pros and cons of them,” said Travica.
Travica is in his last quarter at BC and he is waiting for his admissions decisions from Seattle University, University of Washington Seattle and UW Bothell. “One of the [alumni] went to Seattle U and that’s one of the schools that I’m currently strongly considering,” explained Travica, “He gave me a lot of information on what the school is like and told me to reach out to the heads of the accounting society and find more information about what the programs are going to be like and what the school is going to be like.”
Vu also attended similar alumni networking events during his time as a student. “Being in this environment, you get to meet people and learn about what route is the best route to take moving forward, and I think that’s valuable for any student,” regarded Vu.