Nine WardlaLAartridge alumni/ae spanning five decades returned to their alma mater last Thursday, April 4 for Career Day. The afternoon program was designed to give students in grades 9-10 a glimpse of various career fields with an emphasis on how LA helped shape the future of the presenters.
The alumni presenters included Carlin Schildge ’17 (Marine Science), Yumna Naqvi ’17 (Artificial Intelligence), Donald Sidun ’01 (Project Management), Stefanie Singer ’98 (Entertainment), Kelly Coleman ’98 (Education), Sachina Lyons-Brown ’89 (Veterinary Medicine), Laurie Molina ’88 (Business Management), Gil Childers ’73 (Law) and Ginger Boyle ’70 (Real Estate).
Maxime Sinal, English Department Chair, and Andrea Barnett, Science Department Chair, opened the program with a welcome and introductions in the Berry Performing Arts Center.
Ms. Schildge delivered an inspiring keynote during which she discussed her career and reflected on how LA prepared her for the future. She works as a Cultivation Specialist at the regenerative aquaculture company, Atlantic Sea Farms, a job which entails conducting novel research, scientific writing, community outreach, and lots and lots of cleaning in the company’s seaweed nursery. After sharing details of her work, Ms. Schildge spoke about her LA days. She highlighted writing skills as one of the key aspects of the LA experience.
“The writing skills you are learning now are so important,” Ms. Schildge said. “You’ll be grateful in two years, five years, 20 years, that you’ve had this preparation to be a good writer.”
Carlin added that the LA Capstone program helped her complete a research fellowship and that “having a taste of that process at LA helped prepare me for a research based career.”
She concluded the keynote by sharing three character values LA instilled in her: versatility, resilience and ownership. She encouraged the students to “embrace the small community and take pride in what you’re doing.”
Students attended two breakout sessions in Upper School classrooms to learn more about the various career fields. Many of the presenters are seasoned professionals with decades of experience and valuable advice to share.
Ms. Molina is the owner of River Financial Management in Edgewater NJ. Her company provides business management services to professionals in the entertainment industry. Services include bookkeeping, reporting on financials, bill payment, managing money, properties and the day-to-day operations of their clients.
Ms. Naqvi is a research fellow at Stanford University's RegLab, which harnesses cutting-edge advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence to construct and assess inventive solutions for government agencies. Currently, she collaborates with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to engineer and implement a machine learning model that utilizes satellite imagery to autonomously pinpoint polluters of the nation's water supply.
Ms. Coleman is thrilled to be working at her alma mater. From vintage clothing store business owner to LA Lower School STEM teacher, Ms. Coleman’s career path is a journey of twists, pivots and resilience.
Mr. Childers has been a lawyer for 43 years in New York and New Jersey. He has held a number of different jobs in the legal field working in government, a law firm, and as a business attorney. He’s currently a Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he counsels the firm on reputational risk management.
“My main focus was that law is an incredibly wide open profession that allows someone to pursue any interest they may have,” Mr. Childers said. “I hope that the students took away that they can use a law degree in an infinite number of ways to follow their passions in any direction they are taken.”
Mr. Childers shared that professionals in his field can pursue a career in environmental law, human rights law, immigration and immigrants’ rights law, housing law, international law, criminal defense, criminal prosecution, corporate law, family law, and others. The choice of employer is also wide-open with jobs available in government agencies, non-governmental organizations, law firms and other companies, in addition to the option of self-employment.
“I found the students to be quite engaged and they asked a number of good and thoughtful questions,” Mr. Childers said. “We had some fun when I asked who had a favorite movie or television show featuring lawyers. The answers ranged from Law and Order and My Cousin Vinnie to Legally Blonde.”
After five years with Johnson & Johnson, Ms. Boyle became a realtor (1984-present). She works for the only lifestyle real estate company in the country, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate, and loves helping people realize their real estate goals.
After many years performing on the WardlaLAartridge stage, Ms. Singer knew that she wanted to pursue a career in television. Upon graduating from college, she was immediately hired to work in the casting field. She spent many years scouting out the best talent for some of today’s hit reality shows.
Mr. Sidun is a Project Manager at DPR . His company managed the construction of American Dream, MetLife Stadium and other notable sites.
Dr. Lyons-Brown knew what she wanted to do from a young age. She was an Animal Science major at Cornell and went to veterinary school after graduation at the University of Florida. She has been in small animal private practice for more than 20 years with a focus on surgery and dentistry.
The day provided current LA students with guidance and support as they begin to consider their career paths and a happy homecoming of sorts for the alumni/ae.
“It was great to be back at LA and see some familiar faces as well as see all the amazing changes!” Ms. Singer said.