Kiera McGuire
Managing Editor
On Friday, Sept. 19, at 4 p.m., The College of Wooster opened its doors to current students, alumni, families, staff and faculty to hear alumni success stories in the inaugural Scots Under 10 panel discussion. The Scots Under 10 program is a newly instated program that highlights accomplished alumni who have graduated within the last 10 years. Located in the Alley, this event connected alumni with current students and served as an opportunity to hear about alumni’s careers and post-graduation experiences. This panel discussion was held as part of the Homecoming and Family Weekend, from September 19-20.
Steve Crawford, assistant vice president of alumni and family engagement, opened the panel discussion by welcoming those in attendance. This discussion was made possible by the Advising, Planning and Experiential Learning office (APEX), as well as by Jen Bowen, dean for curriculum and academic engagement, and Ashleigh Best, director of career planning. Attendees could grab a pamphlet with information about the alumni speaking at the panel and were encouraged to write questions for the honorees throughout the panel, with provided slips of paper that were collected throughout the event by Paul Seling, associate director of career planning.
Before introducing the alumni, Crawford detailed the importance of this event, emphasizing that it’s the first Scots Under 10 panel hosted at the College. “A Wooster education prepares you for anything,” Crawford said. “[The alumni] will show how powerful a Wooster education is.”
The alumni present included chemistry major Bailey Bowers ’17, anthropology major Annelisea M. Brand ’21, women’s, gender & sexuality studies majors Meonyez Goodwin ’18 and Emily Hrovat ’16, political science major Patrick T. Mohorcic ’18, international relations major Lincoln Plews ’15 and international relations and anthropology major Stephanie Sugars ’15.
Best led the discussion by asking questions about the alumni’s job experiences, including what their first job positions were post-Wooster and what setbacks and challenges they faced in their first five years after graduating from Wooster. Best also asked alumni about their favorite memories of the College, the impact their Wooster education had on their jobs and advice they have for current students. Best called on a few alumni per question, garnering a wide range of answers for each question.
Hrovat, who joined AmeriCorps after college and worked to support high school and college students before becoming a senior economist and long-range financial planning analyst for the state of Colorado, emphasized the importance of embarking on new adventures. “I would say my journey since graduating has been kind of unexpected,” Hrovat emphasized. “Say yes to everything and see where that takes you.”
Plews, a U.S. District Court’s judicial law clerk and former organizer of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign in central-western Ohio, also noted the importance of “saying yes to everything” and reflected on Wooster’s liberal arts education. “My journey has been incredibly varied, which I think heavily reflects some of the great things about a Wooster education,” Plews said. “You can go in many directions and end up where you want to be.”
Sugars, currently working as a senior reporter at Freedom of the Press Foundation, highlighted the political science department for helping her learn how to ask questions and make information accessible. “[The political science department] was wonderful in training me how to take qualitative information and make it quantitative,” said Sugars. “Having that curiosity and asking a question … [is valuable] for digging deeper and deeper into something.”
Bowers and Goodwin underlined the importance of failing and growing. “I wish that I recognized that getting a B-minus in organic chemistry was representative of a lot of hard work, actually,” Bowers, a chemistry professor at Oberlin College, laughed. “I think it wasn’t until I got to Wooster that I struggled academically … and this environment made me feel okay with that struggle.” Echoing that statement, Goodwin, who works as assistant director of student governance at Tulane University, explained how she tells her students that they “are the driver of [their] own vehicle” and should embrace failure to grow.
Mohorcic, the executive director for Lake Development Authority in Willowick, Ohio, emphasized the community he had built at the College as a member and team captain of the Fighting Scots football team. “I share all these great memories at Wooster with my best friends,” said Mohorcic. “I remember the people the most.”
Brand, the information and digital asset manager at the World Monument Fund, implored current students to speak up when they don’t understand something. “I was the first in my family to go to college,” Brand said. “It will get you way further, way quicker, to have the courage to ask questions.”
After the panel concluded, attendees were encouraged to network with the alumni and ask follow-up questions.