Author Archives: Kathryn Meader

Dominos, Dining Halls, and Dives: Episode 5

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Hey everyone! We’re back with a fresh installment of our personal favorite segment- Domino’s, Dining Halls, and Dives!

This is when we find a local alum (could be you next time!), and take them out for lunch! While we’re at lunch, we chat about all sorts of stuff, including what they’re up to, and what they’re looking forward to!

This week, we met up with one of your classmates, Matt Marshall ’18, who graduated this May with a Forestry degree from the Rubenstein School!

We caught up with him after work for a snack (a big snack) at Bueno Y Sano in South Burlington.

We got to chatting with Matt, and learned more about his summer so far – from getting into lots of board games to continuing his job search – he looks like he’s having a pretty good summer so far!

More from him later in the post, but first, pictures of the most important thing – the food.

^^That’s Kathryn’s Burrito Bowl – not served in a bowl, but just as delicious as if it had been.

Everyone else grabbed a burrito, some with Chipotle chicken, some with steak, all with the spicy sauce.

Now back to Matt:

How have your first couple months out of college been so far?

My first couple months out of school have been good so far. I went on a road trip to the Summer Camp Music Festival with some friends and spent a few days in Chicago afterwards.

I’ve been to the live show for the Risk! podcast with my mom, younger sister, and my friend/her family. I’ve been to a couple concerts around town and generally hanging out with my friends around town, we even started a Dungeons & Dragons campaign!

What has been your biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge for me has been trying to find a job that will let me utilize my degree and everything I learned at UVM.

How are you working on overcoming it?

Always sending in applications and on the lookout for new jobs.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far?

I haven’t had any life lessons come along this summer, it’s been fairly relaxed!

Any advice for your classmates?

None that I feel qualified to give, since it’s only been a few months since graduation.

–

We’ll check in with Matt again later this year and see how he’s doing, and if any life lessons have come knocking on the door!

Speaking of knocking on the door…

Are you local to Burlington? Would you like to get a free lunch, and chat about how your adventures since graduation? Does this post have you feeling like this?

We’d love to take you out!

Click through here and suggest a place to get lunch, and tell us something cool about yourself- Then, we’ll be in touch to make a date.

 

Class of 2018: Survey Results

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Last week we asked y’all to take a quick survey and let us know where you’re at in your post college adventure. We love learning more about your adventures.

Beyond that, we think it’s important for you all to see where your classmates are in their journey, because we’re all out in this crazy world together, doing the best we can. Like this guy:

So, let’s find out what you and your classmates are doing, and how many people are in the same spot that you are!

So, without further ado, here are the deets:

 

Looks like you all want diverse subjects covered here on the blog – and we’re excited to bring that to you each week!

It’s awesome that so many of you have landed a new job already, and we’ll be sharing career advice and stories throughout the year on a variety of topics.

Understandably, the relationships and connections made here at UVM are most important to you guys. That’s why we’ll try to tell as many stories as possible featuring your classmates!

We’ll keep you posted of any events are coming up, to keep those UVM connections alive! For example, we’ll be throwing a party for you in early October, during Alumni Weekend, so stay tuned for the details.

If any of this makes you nervous, don’t worry. When we did this survey with last year’s grads, they were pretty much in the same place you are.

Y’all also submitted some awesomely hilarious stories about your first day at a new job – and we’re compiling them for next week’s post, so stay tuned! It’s going to be a good one.

Once again, thanks for engaging with us! If you’re looking for a way to get more involved, we’re looking for some VIPs to help advise us on content and share feedback!

If you want to get involved, let us know! You can sign up to be an Afterword VIP here:

See you next week for some awesome stories about new jobs, new cities, and some relatable content.

What’s The Deal with My UVM Email? – 2018 Edition

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You’ve had your UVM email address for 4+ years now and you may be wondering what’s going to happen with it now that you’ve graduated. Well, nothing is going to happen just yet. But, that doesn’t stop UVM IT from sending scary weird emails.

What the heck is this weirdness?

If you haven’t already, one of the first things you’ll get is a cryptic-looking email from UVM that reads like this:

This is an automated email sent to all recent graduates like yourself that makes you feel like you are reading this:

It is definitely confusing and looks like someone may have hacked your account, but don’t worry, it’s really just a message to let you know that a change is coming to your NetID and email.

Thankfully, we’re here to let you know that you will still be able to use your email address. Your access to your UVM email will eventually expire, but that doesn’t happen for another year. (You may want to start shifting your important communications to a different email account soon – but that’s something for future you to worry about.)

So, now that you know more about your UVM email account, time for a survey!

We are excited to start learning more about you all, and the first way we do that each year on Afterword is through a quick survey –  just a few easy questions about what you’re up to right now.

Additionally, we are working on a post about y’alls first day on the job so be sure to answer the last question on the survey to help us out with that project. i.e “no one told me where the bathroom was – it was crazy” – things we can all relate to – or “my first day was perfect, I can’t believe I’m so lucky” – all good stuff.

Best Part: Three of you who fill out the survey will win a pretty sweet UVM t-shirt!

So, let’s get to it!

For you, Class of 2018

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Welcome to Afterword! We’re so glad you’re here.

We know it’s only been a month since you graduated, and you aren’t feeling nostalgic for UVM yet…

Or maybe you are nostalgic because the ‘real world’ is happening now. Some next level Sunday Scaries, if you ask us.

But first, you are probably wondering what this blog is all about.

Well, contrary to popular UVM lore – we’re not asking you for anything. This isn’t a secret trick to ask you for money or barrage your inbox with useless information.

This blog is the afterword to your UVM story. We’re here to keep you connected to UVM, Burlington, and to your classmates. And, we’re here to help you write your next chapter.

We’re recent grads like you. We work at the UVM Foundation and Alumni Association and our job is to help you.

Unlike your parents, we don’t expect you to know everything right now. You’re under a lot of pressure to plan the rest of your life (whether you have a job, a place to live, or neither) and we want to give you a place to feel at home.

We’ve been doing this for the past three years with the Classes of 2015, 2016, and 2017 so we are really excited to talk to you, get to know you all, and be as helpful as we can.

With that in mind, during Senior Week, we set up shop in Alumni House and asked many of you a few questions about your upcoming year, and recorded your answers with a professional podcasting microphone. Pretty neat.

Post-grad life is often very uncertain, and the reality sets in quickly that you are now really in charge of your life. Luckily, your classmates all feel the same way. And trust us, not everyone has a plan yet for what they are going to do next.

So take a minute and listen below to hear your classmates’ answers recorded live during senior week. Enjoy!

Stay tuned in the coming months for all of this helpful content and more!

Are you excited? We sure are.

 

So Long, Class of 2017

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This is it, Class of 2017, the final post of your afterword journey.

I know it seems a bit crazy to think about how an entire year has passed since your graduation.

We’re honored to have been on this journey with you for the past year, and we hope that by sharing the stories of you and your classmates, we helped you in some small way.

Maybe you got some free stuff, maybe you felt like you weren’t the only one feeling a little lost, or maybe you feel a bit more connected to your classmates.

Whatever the outcome, it’s been so much fun connecting with you all.

For some feels, we dug out the first Afterword post we sent to you: the audio stories that we collected from many of you at your senior week.

Take a listen, and hear how much you all have grown:

Thank you all so much for sharing your stories with us, and having a little fun along the way.

I know, you’re thinking: Wait, what happens now?

Well, there are tons of ways to stay involved with the Alumni Association, and the easiest options are ones you’ve probably already done! We’re on Facebook, Insta, Twitter, and LinkedIn – so if you haven’t followed us, go hit those Follow buttons!

Through our social, you’ll hear about opportunities to volunteer, as well as events that are happening near you!

Beyond that, we also have a new network for alumni that you should join!

It’s called UVM Connect, and it’s a space for UVM alums to come together for career networking of all kinds – whether it’s coffee, or a job shadow, there’s probably an alum out there who would be willing to share a thing or two with you!

You can also offer to help a fellow alum or a current student – use the life experience you gained this year for good!

Sound like a plan?

Cheers,

-Kathryn and Ryan