Arcadia’s School of Global Business hosted its annual Alumni Panel, welcoming back former students Nicholas Bon Tempo ’24, Michael Ferrence ’17, Salma Bah ’19, Kenneth Marshman ’22, Morganne Dee ’25, Thomas McAdam ’22, and Kristina Pakrul ’16, ’18M. 

Our alumni reminisced on their time here, whether they were athletes or they studied abroad. Bah made a point to mention her experiences with Preview and Study Abroad, and how that was an eye-opening experience for her and her plans for the future. She noted not to be afraid to create your own space if it doesn’t already exist, as she did in starting a club on campus and studying business with an eye towards fashion. 

Every single member of our panel also made a point to say that you MUST take advantage of the school’s resources, and that those resources are something that can be used outside of school. Dee suggested using tools like Handshake for future or current job opportunities. 

Marshman said that coming out of college, your career path will change multiple times and in multiple different ways, and that you need to be prepared and able to accept all of these changes that come throughout the years. McAdam, similarly, said it can take a very long time to find jobs related to your field of study, and finding the exact job title you want will take even longer.

Pakrul pulled from her experience working in HR, saying that there is great importance in tailoring things like your LinkedIn for the current job market, and highlighting things like your study abroad and other resources and events that took place while you were in school. 

All of the panelists focused on experience, and Bon Tempo made sure to mention putting things like study abroad and clubs on your resume, which really makes you stand out from the other candidates. He specifically thanked Dr. Teta Barry for her knowledge and demonstration of the different fields in healthcare.

Ferrence spoke about the rise of AI in our economy and how it cannot be fully relied on in the job market, and you need to fact-check all of your sources in your job. He also said not to be discouraged if things don’t go according to your plans because you can still put those experiences into your future career. 

One of the last things we asked our panelists was what their favorite or most fulfilling part of their job was at this point. Most of them talked about the joy of being able to help people in need, connecting with people and getting to know them, educating people, and seeing people achieve their goals.