Life after college is a scary thought for most undergraduates, but the Academic Advising Center hopes to sweeten your planning for it with "Professors and Pastries."
The popular program made its return to campus on Thursday, targeting students interested in health careers with "Life Sciences and the Health Professions." The event introduced students to Boston College alumni, physicians, and faculty from biology, chemistry, psychology, nursing, and social work, among other fields. (The gourmet pastries, tea, coffee, and mulled cider didn't hurt the conversation, either.)
The brainchild of Academic Advising Center associate director Rory Browne, the series aims to provide students with direction as they consider different academic goals and career paths. Representatives from the Career Center, the Office of International Programs, and Campus Ministry attend these events, but students are often most excited just to talk to their professors outside of a classroom setting.
"Among the faculty, there's a lot of good will and desire to meet and help students, and a lot of students want to meet with faculty," Browne said. "But they don't take advantage of office hours because they fear that they don't have a specific or definite question to ask."
The Professors and Pastries series provides a comfortable setting to encourage those conversations - as well as discussions about career fields students might not have considered. Browne said he hopes the events will broaden undergraduates' "limited view of academic and career options," noting that medical schools, for example, accept students from a variety of academic backgrounds. The BC faculty and alumni who attend Professors and Pastries can convince students of the many roads to a career by sharing their own experiences - and providing valuable networking opportunities.
This month, three Professors and Pastries events will cover "The Study of the Humanities and Preparing for Law," "Living Ethically and Contributing Socially," and "Studying, Working, and Living Abroad." In December, a special holiday edition will focus on "The Fine and Performing Arts." Next semester, Browne hopes to revive one of last year's most popular events - "Suddenly It's Summer," a joint effort from the Academic Advising Center and the Career Career about summer internships.
Each event is open to the entire University community, not just students interested in the topic being covered, so make a point to stop by for a few minutes if you can. "There's no commitment," Browne said. "You can come for five minutes or for the entire event.
"It's like a cocktail party, without the cocktails," he continued. "Necessarily so."
Spring Break
