Caroline Wilkerson ~ Staff Writer
On Friday, Oct. 18, at 3:00 p.m., 19 Hornet to Hornet panels will be held across the University of Lynchburg campus featuring alumni.
Executive Director of Career and Development at the University of Lynchburg, Beverly Reid, said, “The Hornet-2-Hornet panels have been occurring since 2013, for about 6 years.” She also noted, “The panels are geared towards students’ majors. For freshmen and sophomores, it helps them discover majors and careers they are interested in, while for juniors and seniors, it helps them network for potential careers.”
According to Reid, faculty in each department reach out to University of Lynchburg alumni to speak of their careers and job search following graduation. She said, “There was a time, during homecoming, where students and alumni never interacted. Alumni would be hanging out in the beer garden, while the students would be down at the field watching a game. I felt like there was a real opportunity where lifelong hornets could talk to current hornets and could help network. It took 13 years to fight for it, but since its existence, students have had many success stories.”
In one success story, Emmy Yarmy, a senior at the university shared, “A mandatory activity for the women’s lacrosse team my freshman year was to attend the Hornet-2-Hornet panel. I kept in touch with one of the speakers via LinkedIn and he helped me throughout my job search. It was a valuable opportunity to make an in-person connection that I would have not otherwise made.”
Elena Fergusson, also a senior, said, “I have attended Hornet-2-Hornet panels ever since my freshman year. Even though I have a career set-in-mind, I still enjoy attending and hearing about all of the different careers that alumni have gone in to. Last year, I attended the humanities panel,
and boy, did it have a variety of different careers and majors. One of my favorites was hearing about museum studies. Typically, one does not think about that kind of career, and it was super cool to hear about.”
In a school-wide email sent by Beverly Reid on Oct. 14, she wrote, “This is the most exciting event at Lynchburg all year, a great event for all classes, Passport approved, and your professors may be giving extra credit for attending!”
Following each panel, there will be a reception at 4:00 p.m., giving students the opportunity to speak with the alumni and network. Attire for the event is casual.
