College of Arts & Science at Miami University
Alumni Videos
Listen and watch alumni reflect on the Miami experiences that were influential in their career paths.
Alumni Videos
Listen and watch alumni reflect on the Miami experiences that were influential in their career paths.
Miami Helped Me To Think Critically
Probably the best thing I've brought to my clients is my critical thinking skills. And I credit Miami a lot for the critical thinking skills that I've developed ... having to have that type of very broad base of education, helps you just as a thinker.
[Listen to Laurie Moline talk about the value of her Miami education, as well as give advice to current students.]
Seize the Opportunities
Miami prepared me technically for what I do now. It gave me the statistical background, the technical background, and skills that I need for my job right now ... Learning to stick with it and work hard to solve a problem was an important skill that has helped me in my career.
[Listen to Jill Montaquila describe how her Miami experience prepared her for her career.]
Network, Network, Network!
One of the greatest strengths I learned at Miami was to network. To network with current students, to network with professors, to network with anyone I came in contact with within the industry ... I've actually been surprised sometimes at how many doors it has opened for me.
[Listen to Toni Beaty talk about how important the Miami experience was to her career path.]
Dig In and Realize the Opportunities
The professors were always so available to me to consult with, I felt as though they were really a part of my education and we were working together to figure out the best approach for me as a student, as someone who was a creative writing major who was finding my legs, finding my voice as a writer. And those things I carry with me today in my writing as a journalist and editor.
[Listen to Jenny Rooney talk about the rewards of her career in journalism and reflect on her time at Miami.]
Experience as Much as Possible
The thing that Miami prepared me to do, and specifically the education of liberal arts, is help me to think laterally ... The ability to think laterally is something that no one can ever take away from you, the ability to organize thoughts, and write well, is really important, and it comes into so many aspects of you life.
[Listen to Kevin George talk about how he discovered Miami and fell in love with the "quintessential college."]
You Can Do Amazing Things
The professors were first-rate and I felt like I got a great education. I took courses in a variety of different areas: American politics, comparative politics, international relations; I found all of them fascinating in different ways. And I also had professors that ended up giving me really good advice.
[Listen to Darrell West talk about how he chose Miami and how his education here formed the foundation for his career.]
Work Your Hardest in Whatever You Do
Miami prepared me for what I am doing now by instilling an extremely hard work ethic with the difficulty of the program, and understanding that I needed to study hard to obtain the masters that I wanted to achieve. And knowing that's applicable in real life, you need to set out to work your hardest in whatever you set out to do.
[Listen to Bryan Bell talk about how he came to Miami and how his degree provided him with the foundation to launch a successful business.]
Everything a College Should Be
When I first visited campus I absolutely fell in love with the brick buildings, it just seemed like everything a college should be, there were undergrads walking all over the place having a good time; it looked like everything I envisioned college to be.
[Listen to Jim Heinen talk about his time at Miami and the important role alumni can play in the lives of students and recent graduates.]
Still Always Feels Like Home
There's still a tradition here about Miami when you walk around—the architecture, the philosophy, the people, the engagement around undergraduate education, the bricks downtown in the street. You know, it just still always feels like home.
[Listen to Howard Hershey talk about why he came to Miami and what it's like to return to campus.]
Scientist as Businessman
I moved from a pure scientific job and pure scientific interest into a mix of science and business ... by asking questions ... How does a business work? How do you convert science into medicines, into business, into providing new treatments for patients, both from the bench into the clinic and then on the market?
[Listen to Steve Gilman talk about how he has parlayed his science background into a career in business.]
Helping the Next Generation
Miami is a wonderful university ... I am confident that every single professor, assistant professor, instructor, and lab technician is totally dedicated to helping their students get to the next level—whatever that level is, whether it's getting into graduate school, getting into business, getting into medical school.
[Listen to Richard Blath talk about why he and his wife, Lorry, chose to endow a scholarship.]
The Miami I Carry with Me
When someone asks me about my experience at Miami, the first thing that always comes to mind is the relationship between professors and students and how engaged professors are in the lives of students and how much they really care about the ways in which students learn and how their experiences outside the classroom impact what they bring into the classroom as well.
[Listen to Whittney Barth reflect on her Miami experience and talk about what it's like to return to campus.]
Miami Was a Real Gift
My four years at Miami, were truly some of the best years of my life ... those four years were that time that I grew up, that I became an independent person, that I learned to stand on my own without my parents' support. But, yet, it was a very happy, relaxed, good time.
[Listen to Jeanne Matson talk about how she came to Miami and why she urges alumni to reconnect with the university.]
A Unique Legacy
You don't realize when you're here at Miami as a student just what a wonderful opportunity it is… You will never in your life have another time or place that offers what this undergraduate college experience, particularly here at Miami, offers.
[Listen to Scott Glaser talk about how undergraduates have the opportunity to figure out what they love and what they're good at doing.]
Stepping Into Your Community
Since I left Miami, I have become a banker and a member of the Air Force and Ohio Air National Guard. Each of those roles also encouraged me to be involved civically within my community.
[Listen to Woody Stroud talk about the importance of community contribution and participation.]
Miami and NROTC Set My Career Path
The Navy chose the direction for me, because I went from Miami right into the Navy's nuclear power program… It was a combination of the ROTC and the major in physics that really set my career path.
[Listen to Russ Starkey describe how his Miami experiences provided the foundation of his career in the U.S. Navy and the power industry.]
My Serendipitous Career
What I would recommend to students is being very open to being influenced by your teachers and by your peers, by alumni that you have the opportunity to meet.
[Listen to Patrick Jones talk about the role serendipity plays in a career path.]
Study Something That You Love
The skills that I picked up learning to be an historian probably helped me: the ability to find data, to amass data, to analyze data, to be critical of sources.
[Listen to Robert Essner talk about the connection between his major at Miami and his ensuing career.]
Support the College
