Kate Caldwell’s favorite part of her job is hearing the success stories. Caldwell has been with St. Lawrence’s for seven years, during half of which she has served as the career services alumni coordinator, planning programs to connect students to Laurentians who have already graduated. Her hope is that the union will eventually lead to a successful internship or job opportunity. “It’s a strong connection that people hold to St. Lawrence -- the willingness to help,” she says.

Part of achieving that connection is “Shadow-a-Saint Day,” an event Caldwell coordinates that gives students a chance to spend a day with a graduate in his or her place of employment. “The purpose is to evaluate career options and build valuable networking connections,” she explains. “We’ve had more alumni than ever agree to participate for this year’s cycle.” Also responsible for the Laurentians-in-Residence series, Caldwell sees to it that a different group of Laurentian professionals visits campus every semester to participate in classroom presentations and a panel discussion on a specific career field.  

Though she works often on connecting students with others, Caldwell also enjoys one-on-one time with undergraduates herself.  Each semester she helps teach a small group of sophomores a six-week course on “charting your career path,” which teaches them to evaluate themselves in a way that will help them successfully declare a major. “By the end, most if not all have gained some clarity about themselves that will help them to choose a career path that they’ll be happy with,” she says.

Students are always free to visit the career services office and explore internship opportunities in their desired career field, something else for which the extended St. Lawrence family is most happy to be of help. “We have a database of roughly 2,000 alumni who have volunteered to be a resource for job and internship postings,” Caldwell points out. “Connections here are incredible in ways they aren’t other places.”