How do you get to be a 华盛顿邮报》 记者, a renowned marine biologist, an orthopaedic surgeon, head of your own public relations firm, or become a decision-maker at Black Entertainment Network (BET)? In our new speaker series, “我是如何来到这里的。,” Poly taps our 校友 和 parent community to share their career journeys with our students.

保利受托人 Sang Lee P’22, ’23  和 Kareem Raymond P’31, ’33 were the inaugural guest speakers in the school’s new “我是如何来到这里的。” speaker series, which introduces students to accomplished professionals across a variety of fields. 学生 卡廷·利伯德，21岁 served as moderator. The new initiative provides an opportunity for 上学校 students to get unique firsth和 perspectives about the careers enjoyed by some of our talented parents, 校友, 和 other community members.

“The idea is to empower students with a window into what potential pathways exist for them after Poly,” 凯尔·格雷厄姆, Associate Head of School, Enrollment Management 和 学生 Outcomes. The series is a joint effort by Poly’s 上学校 deans 和 the Advancement team. “All of our students expect to go to college,格雷厄姆说, “but we want to open their minds to the range of opportunities available after college. We want students to dream broad 和 dream big.”

“We want students to dream broad 和 dream big.”

凯尔·格雷厄姆, Associate Head of School, Enrollment Management 和 学生 Outcomes

学生 were invited to the virtual event to hear about Lee’s 和 Raymond’s journeys in the fields of law 和 finance. Lee earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University 和 her JD from Georgetown University. She is the founder 和 CEO of 你的. Raymond earned his bachelor’s degree at Harvard University 和 an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Managing Director at 高盛(Goldman Sachs).

Afterward, Lee said of the students, “I was impressed by the sophistication level of their curiosity. Their questions evinced a thoughtfulness that suggested a broader worldview 和 I found that exciting 和 encouraging for the future!”

Lee said she tried to convey to the students that they should, “practice developing relationships with mentors 和 advisors.” She told students, “being comfortable with teachers, 教授, future managers—being able to look them in the eye, to ask for clarity, 对self-advocate, to humanize—will enable you to more readily develop the kind of meaningful professional relationships that will sustain 和 advance your careers.”

罗伯特·马格纳斯，21岁 was part of the audience for the inaugural event. “It was interesting to hear their stories about what they have worked on 和 how they got to where they are,马格努斯说.  Their presentations gave him “a glimpse into the type of work they do on a daily basis.他补充道, “It was also interesting to hear how being non-white has impacted their career experiences.”

“然而,马格努斯说。, “they both said that knowing how to code in a computer language is one of the best skills to have because the jobs that their companies are trying to fill require that skill.” That being said, Magnus added he would like to see a computer programmer among the future speakers.

Our next installment in the 我是如何来到这里的 series is scheduled for 10月7日 和 will feature our 校友 community including entrepreneur Sam DiGennaro ’88, who specializes in public relations 和 marketing 和 is the founder 和 CEO of DiGennaro Communications (DGC) 和 Jeanine Liburd ’88, P’21, ‘24, BET Networks’ chief social impact 和 communications officer. 山姆·根纳特，21岁 will serve as moderator.