This week we checked in with one of your classmates, William Lemos who is doing exciting things in Boston. Read what he had to say about his first year out!

What are you up to in your first year out of UVM?

Since leaving Burlington I have been BUSY!

I’m a full time graduate student at Suffolk University working on a dual degree in Public Administration and Political Science. My focus is on government and professional politics. I’ve worked as a Graduate Fellow for the Universities Office of Student Leadership and Involvement, supporting their Fraternity and Sorority Life community. This past semester, I had the opportunity to be an associate intern at The Blue Lab, a political consulting group for campaigns in the Greater Boston and Massachusetts area.

When I’m not supporting Suffolk students or future politicians, I’m a Graduate RA for a fraternity at MIT.

Having my hand in a lot of different cookie jars has been both existing and exhausting at times but also immensely fulfilling. Every day is an entire new adventure and I honestly never really know what I’m going to have on my plate when I wake up in the morning.

I haven’t forgotten, though, the lessons on self-care and mindfulness that UVM taught me. I make time to focus on myself be it with early morning workouts or walks along the Charles River.

What are you looking forward to in the next year? What do you think will be your biggest challenge? 

One year from now, I’ll (hopefully) will have finished my degrees and will be graduating from Suffolk. Where the road will take me after that moment, I haven’t entirely figured out yet.

Will I be in Boston? Will I even be in New England? Better yet, will I be employed?

These are the big challenges and obstacle that are ahead of me in the year to come. Even with all this possible uncertainty, I’ll keep in mind the wise words from UVM Orientation: Be a duck!

What are you most proud of since you graduated?

Since graduating, I’m both grateful and thankful to still be able to work with undergraduate students through my roles at Suffolk University and MIT.

Being able to pass on what I have learned and share my experiences has been fulfilling and gratifying. The conversations that I’ve had about life, lived experiences, and the future with the students that I’ve worked with have been opening to me and, hopefully, supportive for them.

Being able to give back is all I want to do and that’s just what I’m doing now.

We are just a few weeks away from welcoming the Class of 2018 to Afterword!

Share your own first year out story with us we’ll tell it to the newest group of UVM alumni. Or, if you have a friend who has an awesome first-year-out story, we want to feature them on the blog too!