In May of 2016, I attended my college commencement ceremony. The director of the Northeastern University (yes, Northeastern in Boston, not Northwestern) Alumni Relations Office led a section of the ceremony where we received our alumni pins. It was not my first interaction with Alumni Relations as I had been on the Homecoming Committee for two years. It was, however, exciting to be a member of the alumni community and network at Northeastern.

In the following months I attended our monthly “First Thursday” programs as well as returning to Homecoming events and other opportunities. It was easy then, I was still working in Boston and could get to the Office of Alumni Relations in about a 10 minute walk from my office. Those experiences helped me feel connected to Northeastern as I transitioned out of my time as an undergraduate and into the big, scary world of working full time.

I did not realize, though, how much I valued those experiences until I moved to Bloomington, Indiana. I am a current graduate student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs(HESA) program at IU. I have a graduate assistantship working in Forest Residence Center (Go Trees!) and am currently embarking on the start of a semester-long field experience, called a practicum. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to have the practicum in IUAA, working with the Alumni Communities Team.

Moving to Indiana has left me without many ways to engage with the alumni community from Northeastern. The nearest alumni community is in Chicago, and as a busy graduate student, I have yet to make my way there for an event with the Chicago-based alumni. This helped me realize my interest in alumni relations and the importance of having a life-long connection to the institution you attended, even if you are geographically removed. For this reason, I am thrilled to be working with IUAA in the Alumni Communities team! I hope I can do my small part to support alumni throughout the state, country, and world to feel a sense of connection by supporting our communities as they create opportunities to bring people together to celebrate our shared love for IU.

I’m still confused about what a Hoosier is, but I’m proud to be one, and proud to be supporting other Hoosiers through IUAA!