On Nov. 13, Eastern’s Office of Alumni Affairs and the New Student and Family Programs hosted a LEAP (Learn, Explore, Achieve, Perform) leadership training program in the Paul E. Johnson Sr. Community Conference Room in the J. Eugene Smith Library. LEAP’s purpose is to increase student awareness of the range of professions, potential jobs and fields of graduate study available to them.

LEAP seeks to encourage alumni to think about internships or employment opportunities that they could offer to current students; encourage attendees to meet new people and talk about their career interests; and help student attendees make connections and expand their network.

Alumni participating in LEAP included Olivia Puckett ’11, who majored in political science and now serves as a performance auditor for the Connecticut Auditors of Public Accounts; Heather Warner ’03, an English/reading and language arts major who is a middle school language art teacher in Bolton Center; Audriana White ’12, a communications major who is the founder of Noble Gold Events; Alexander Cross ’12, a history/political science major who is associate dean of student life at American International College in Springfield, MA; Jim Konrad ’86, an English major and the executive editor of the Norwich Bulletin; Scott Lambeck, a sport and leisure management major serving as director of camp and facilities at Horizons, Inc.; Brian Magna ’83, a biology major who is now the CEO of Magna Physical Therapy Center in Avon; and Christos Provistalis, a business administration major and owner of Pleasant Street Pizza in Willimantic.

“This is always a wonderful event where students and alumni are able to make connections not only about their majors and careers, but also about their student involvement experiences,” said Casey Kensey, interim director of Eastern’s New Student and Family Programs. “You know it is a successful program when students are continuing to engage with alumni well after the event is over.”        

Michael Stenko, director of alumni affairs, agreed: “It’s great to see successful alumni giving back to Eastern by sharing their career experiences, and we’re fortunate that they take the time to do this.  Launching a career is never easy, and our alumni have great insights that can really benefit our students as they prepare for life after Eastern.”