Four of the Sustainability Studies Program alums came back to join the current students in celebrating the campus festival of Earthstock in April 2012, for the First Annual Earthstock Alumni 
Panel Discussion. They participated in a panel hosted by the department, and moderated by the Career Center, on what they have been doing since graduation. Students were encouraged to ask questions, and were interested in the variety of the careers. From left: Martha Weller is owner and operator of a landscape design company, Adam Meier is working at a not for profit environmental organization, Ricky Greening is assistant director at a Long Island wildlife rescue center, and Caroline Dwyer is planning to move to North Carolina to attend graduate school at U.N.C. in the fall.
This special event was part of the week long celebration at SBU that recognizes the importance of stewardship of the environment, and education to raise awareness about sustainable practices and ways of living. Sustainability Studies thanks our alums for their ongoing support of our program, and wishes them all the best as they continue to strive toward their goals.
One of the students who attended the session reflected on the experience- Bryan Guthy, a Sustainability Studies minor had this to say:
I attended the Earthstock Alumni panel discussion -I thought the discussion was great and the alumni gave me a good sense of the direction that I can go in after graduating from Stony Brook. I was always in the mindset that when looking for jobs it was all about interviews and sending my resume around while filling out applications. But the alumni talked about how their careers evolved from the volunteer and internship work that they were involved in while still in college.
I am a business major with sustainability minor so entrepreneurship and starting up my own business has always interested me along with environmental issues. I liked what Martha had to say about her own entrepreneur experience. She said that entrepreneurs and business managers are completely different things. Being an entrepreneur is more about creating new ideas and breaking out of the mold to do what you want with your business. I also have a landscaping background so seeing her talk about how she used her experience to start up her own business and run it the way she wanted was very inspiring.
All of the alumni stressed the importance of getting an internship and doing volunteer work that interests you to get started in your career. Both Adam and Richard began as volunteers and were eventually hired by their current employers. Adam is working at the Garrison Institute and Richard at a wildlife rescue center, which both seem like cool jobs to me. It was interesting to hear about their gradual progression from volunteers to full time employees, I always thought that most volunteer work in the environmental field was strictly that, volunteer work. Most things seem to be independent work and not for profit organizations. But both Adam and Richard turned the volunteer work that they were passionate about into their careers. I really hope to follow in similar footsteps one day.
After going to this discussion I realized that I really have to get out to the Career Center and start looking for cool internships and volunteer opportunities that interest me. I always thought of internships as just a good resume builder and unpaid work experience, but now I realize that the contacts that I make through them and the work I do may lead directly to a full time job and possible career opportunity. I am definitely glad I attended this event because I got some good advice out of it…and the free cookies were good too.
