麻豆影院

Students tend to think their college years are 鈥渃razy鈥� and that the 鈥渞eal world鈥� starts after graduation, but听Erlinda Kiefel听Stafford (ChemEngr鈥�84) says the adventure continues long after you receive your diploma.

She was among 25 CU alumni at the first annual 鈥淣ight of Networking鈥� on Tuesday, Dec. 2, who spoke to the class of 2009 about life in the workforce. Stafford says she fulfilled her 鈥渨anderlust,鈥� pursuing her dreams as an engineer, a keyboardist in a traveling rock-and-roll band, a bike racer in Australia and a mom.

鈥淚 am interested in telling students there are many opportunities after college and they should follow their dreams,鈥� Stafford says. 鈥淭here is still time for the pursuit of passion. The future after graduation is not just filled with working, paying bills and 鈥榮ettling down.鈥� 鈥�

Senior Class Council events chair听Jessica Metzler听says the council planned the event with Career Services and the Alumni Association because it is important for CU to offer support and vital services that help students and alumni stay connected to the university.

鈥淚t was neat to see how much the alumni participated and enjoyed being engaged with students and to see them giving back to the university,鈥� says Ron Stump, interim executive director of the Alumni Association. 鈥淪tudents really took advantage of the situation and realized there鈥檚 assistance from Buffs beyond the classroom in terms of landing internships and employment.鈥�

The event supported the association鈥檚 new Forever Buffs program that fosters lifelong relationships with CU that begin the moment students set foot on campus. Alum听Erik Estrada听(Chem, PolSci鈥�02, MPubAff鈥�06), who has worked in the nonprofit sector, encouraged students to take advantage of the strong alumni family to refine their professional skills.

鈥淐U is an outstanding higher education institution because of its current and former students who have always been willing to learn above and beyond the classroom setting,鈥� Estrada says.