Beyond the Bubble: Navigating Professional Life After College

Garrett West (‘15) Associate Attorney at Paul Weiss Law Firm The Philosophy of a Career in Law On this week’s episode of Beyond the Bubble, Garrett West (‘15) shares about his experiences working for Paul Weiss within their appellate group. On a daily basis, he works on drafting briefs, conducting research, and helping prepare for argument. He talks about his transition from Hillsdale to law schoo...

As a Classical Education Instructional Coach, Trinity Wright’s (‘17) primary job is to observe teachers and help them improve their ability to teach classical curriculums. She also uses her knowledge of classical education to upgrade curriculum and teach additional classes. Listen now to hear Trinity explain the importance of gaining exposure to teaching as an undergraduate and the value of minori...

As an Account Coordinator at Altus Marketing, Gracyn Hawkins (‘22) serves an integral role in managing events, fundraising, and communications for nonprofits helping youths facing homelessness. Listen now to hear how Gracyn combined her prior experience as a Court Appointed Special Advocate with her skills in marketing to continue driving positive, impactful change on a daily basis. See omnystudio...

On this week’s episode of Beyond the Bubble, Hank Prim (‘17) shares how he blended his interest in teaching with his passion for law enforcement as a Supervisory Special Agent & Training Administrator. In his daily work, he functions like a teacher as well as a police officer through his responsibility for the education and training of South Dakota law enforcement officers. Hank also talks through...

As a Certified Financial Planner, Jimmie Plaskey (‘12) loves the variety that he gets in his daily work. Join Beyond the Bubble this week as Jimmie talks about the ways to break into financial planning, the importance of soft skills like personability, and the excitement of helping other people achieve their financial goals. He also shares tips on how to stand out as an applicant in finance. See o...

Beyond the Bubble is back for the semester! On this week’s episode, join State Representative Andrew Fink (‘06) as he describes his journey from Hillsdale College to the Michigan Legislature. He walks through a day in the life of a legislator, shares how his experiences as a Judge Advocate for the Marine Corps helped shape his passion for politics, and offers insightful advice for students looking...

On this week’s episode of Beyond the Bubble, listen to Ryan Goff (‘21) share about the variety of work he does as an M&A Analyst at a middle market investment bank. He also explains the value he found from participating in extracurriculars like The Collegian, Investment Club, and the ACG Cup as well as how useful strong writing skills are in the workforce. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Ben Thompson (‘09) spends his day hunting down the best barrels of oil and negotiating the price as a Crude Oil Trader at Shell Trading. He explains how companies make money through trading and talks about the basics of the industry, entry options, and how he utilized his finance degree in a highly technical field. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a Director at Spell Capital Mezzanine, Stephen Hann (‘08) works to manage investment portfolios, source and underwrite deals, and build relationships across a wide range of industries. He talks about the importance of developing soft skills in the communication and articulation of complex concepts as well as the necessity of practicing math, excel, and modeling skills for success in an exciting...

Scott Keenan (‘07) innovates on a daily basis as the head of growth strategy for a startup merging real estate with hospitality. Scott shares how his different interests and love for problem solving led him from a chemistry major at Hillsdale to environmental consulting and finally to driving growth for a company restructuring the traditional approach to hospitality. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Ally Eads (‘19) took her passion for running and turned it into a career at New Balance. Ally describes how she utilizes the communication skills she learned as a team captain for Hillsdale’s Track and Field team and shares how speaking with alumni helped her pursue her interests as a career. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, Christy Hirsch (‘16) serves on the Church & Ministry Alliance team advising clients on religious freedoms and preparing clients to defend religious liberty lawsuits. She shares how she utilizes the skills and values she learned at Hillsdale in her work on a daily basis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a Criminal Investigator for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Caitlin Watson (‘07) uses the skills she learned at Hillsdale College on a daily basis to prevent export violations. She speaks about what a job in national security looks like, shares tips for pursuing a similar career, and explains how Hillsdale’s classes helped her develop the critical thinking capabilities she needs for her job. S...

Lauren Peacock (‘14) shares her experiences working as an Art Director for AHC Hospitality. She explains the importance of finding objective opinions for reviewing creative work as well as learning how to communicate with clients and work as part of a design team. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Through her job working with the Hillsdale Football team, Lix Laux (‘19) turned her enthusiasm for football into a career. She shares about the importance of internships and networking to build genuine relationships as she explains her biggest takeaways from working in professional sports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott McCallen (‘18) shares how his experiences at the Collegian helped him move from financial analysis at Pepsi to reporting breaking news on Michigan and Minnesota fiscal policy. He explains the importance of writing consistently and pursuing real-world feedback for aspiring journalists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alexandra Whitford (‘17) explains how her passion for media marketing and nonprofits led her from directing Hillsdale student activities to managing TV “spots” for Direct Donor TV. Listen to hear why she thinks identifying passions and developing relational skills early on is critical to success in marketing. She also shares tips and tricks for aspiring social media marketers. See omnystudio.com/l...

Bob Boyle (‘03) talks about his unique professional experiences that led him across the country, and across careers. Listen as he shares how he went from working as a baseball Umpire to a VP of Logistics. He discusses the impact of flexibility, a work-life balance, and how his History degree helped him develop the critical thinking skills he needed to thrive in the corporate world. See omnystudio....

Greg Rybka ('17) shares about how he has gone from studying marketing at Hillsdale to working in sales with prosthetics and how his personal experiences led him to this job. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PeggyDee Fleck shares her experiences figuring out the right profession. The 2012 biology graduate works in the administrative side of medicine; however, that wasn't always the plan. She talks about her career path from Hillsdale to administrative work, food service management, and now project management in the medical field. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lucas Miller ('01) shares about his path to determining whether ministry was his calling and his subsequent work through seminary and as a pastor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Leah Savas talks about working as a reporter for WORLD News Group. She began her post-graduation career in marketing and then shifted to journalism. She shares about that process and what her day-to-day work looks like. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interested in what life is like as a chiropractor and how to get there? Dr. Brian Vear '15 shares about how his experiences as a football player led him to go to chiropractic school and practice. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When moving to DC, many young people dream of working with an elected official to assist them in serving constituents. Katelyn Pay ('11) was no different when she came to DC after graduating from Hillsdale. She currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR) and shares about life on Capitol Hill, her career from DC to Oregon and back, and how her time at Hillsdale prepare...

Work isn’t always a clear trajectory. Joshua Cameon (‘17) found this out as he has worked in positions neither he, nor his company, envisioned him in at first. He shares how he has been able to find ways to create value for his company beyond the expected and how his studies in the liberal arts at Hillsdale prepared him for his various positions at Automated Logistics Systems. See omnystudio.com/l...