Life after graduation with Alex Scofield

Returning 2008 alumni Alex Scofield spent an afternoon in Hyde Hall on Monday, March 14 to talk about life after graduation to this year's graduating seniors and eager juniors. Alex had a lot of useful information to share about life after Plymouth State University, putting some of the graduating seniors' fears to rest. Many came with notebooks as if it were another class, ready to take notes about being successful after the tassel has been turned.

"They [graduating seniors] are not alone and are always trying to find helping hands," said Dr. Metasebia Woldemarian, a professor in communication and media studies. She, along with the help of Dr. Eun-Ho Yeo, put together this event in order to help the graduating class calm their anxieties of the world beyond college. Both are co-advisors to Lambda PI Eta.

Alex spoke to the group in a down to earth tone, reminiscing about the most important things that PSU had taught him. He started at PSU majoring in history then changed his major to communications. The switch happened because Alex felt that he wanted to interact with the modern world and not become a product of the past. He learned communication not only through classes, but also through public speaking, the Internet, and Lambda PI Eta, of which he was President during his junior year. Alex also managed to work as an intern at White Bridge Farms during his time at PSU, as well as studying abroad in Australia.

"College is a learning period," said Alex, easing the nerves of the attentive upperclassmen. The most important part of PSU to Alex was the help and support of his professors, like Morgan Murphy, who Alex met in Lambda and still stays in contact with.

After Alex graduated, he set his sights for Los Angeles as a good place to flex his communication muscles, but with the majority of his knowledge in the field coming from the textbooks of college, he still needed more experience before turning his major into a lifelong career. So, Alex ended up attending graduate school at Boston University, and is currently working hard at completing his masters degree in communications.

Like all of us, Alex had to get jobs or internships to help him through graduate school. He made it clear that there are a lot of jobs out there that people don't want, remembering his brief time as an accountant. Alex hopes to become a screenwriter for sit-coms after he's finished with his education. His teachers are delighted to see Alex grow from an unsure freshman into a confident and excelling young man. 

"Students are always suffering from uncertainties," said Dr. Eun-Ho. Even though this is Alex's fist time coming back and talking to students, similar events have been put together by Lambda PI Eta and have taken place on campus. Last semester mystic Robin Alexis, who was also a returning alumni to PSU, talked to students about life after college as well. She performed at the Silver Center, demonstrating her mystic call-in radio show and talking about her successes outside of college. But unlike mystic Alexis, Alex had only been gone from Plymouth for only three years.

Right now Lambda plans on holding more events featuring successful and charismatic alumni like Alex in the near future. What Dr. Woldermarian and Dr. Eun-Ho hoped for out of this assembly was to connect more with the students, and their goals seemed to have been amply fulfilled. Alex still keeps in contact with some of the friends he made at PSU, stating that it's important to him to see how much they had grown since life at PSU. The experiences that Alex shared helped troubled students put into perspective that the world isn't as scary as it seems, a message that, to many, is invaluable.