Program helps students connect, explore careers in San Francisco
A group of 25 St. Olaf College students spent part of Interim break in San Francisco, where they explored career opportunities and connected with alumni working at places like Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and the Institute for the Future.
The trip, part of the St. Olaf Piper Center for Vocation and Career’s Connections Program, focused on careers in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.
The Connections Program brings students to cities around the country to meet with alumni and see firsthand how Oles are succeeding in all sorts of endeavors.
“Employers are realizing that liberal arts students have skillsets that allow them to adapt to change, think creatively, and evaluate new opportunities,” says Kris Estenson, an associate director of the Piper Center and the program’s coordinator.
Students on the San Francisco program had the chance to learn about a wide array of growing fields in and around Silicon Valley.
Kirsten Schowalter ’15, a Spanish major, enjoyed learning about the “business” of innovation and the wide variety of opportunities that are available in that ever-changing field.
“Innovation looks different for different places and people, and manifests in different ways depending on the organization for start-ups, multinational corporations, etc.,” Schowalter says.
In addition to visiting companies, students were able to connect with alumni working in a variety of fields — including Zach Schendel ’01, a senior manager of consumer insights at Netflix; Adam Gettings ’04, who founded the robotics company RoboteX and the safety technology company Leeo; Donald Harder ’14, a financial analyst at Hewlett-Packard; and Cody Venzke ’10, a student at Stanford Law School.
“I met and connected with great people who are doing amazing things, and it is inspiring and energizing to now have that community,” Schowalter says. “It is truly creating an Olaf community somewhere beyond the Hill.”
This “community beyond the Hill” is exactly what Estenson is hoping to build through this program.
“While the Connections programs are in cities far from campus, the distance between students and alumni is shortening because of the strengthened communication these programs encourage,” Estenson says.
Other Connections Program trips have taken students to Chicago, Denver, Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C.