Who Our Graduates Become
For all in the BUA community who marked the end of Ramadan last week, we hope that you enjoyed a blessed and happy time with your families. Eid Mubarak. Thank you to the members of our Middle Eastern and North African Student Association (MENASA) for organizing a community potluck celebration this evening.
I’m just back from two days in New York visiting alumni from across the three decades of BUA’s history. It is inspiring to see the people our alums have become. We heard stories from our college-aged alums at Columbia, NYU, and Barnard about the advanced coursework they are taking, the research and internships they are engaged in, and the ways that their experiences at BUA and BU help them make the most out of their new homes. Alums in the working world represent a wide range of pursuits: law, pharmaceuticals, technology, finance, consulting, academia, medicine, music, public service, and more – a beautiful reflection of the polymath nature of our community. Across those fields, two themes emerged. Many of our graduates acknowledged that they had risen further and faster than their colleagues of similar ages, and credited the skills they had honed at BUA: strong writing, confident and concise oral communication, the ability to engage empathetically around a conference table, sharp critical thinking skills, getting along with peers that they might disagree with; those habits and soft skills, rather than technical expertise, had made the difference. The other strain that ran through those conversations was a desire to give back and do some good in the world. Many of the alums we talked to nodded to the fact that they were the beneficiaries of gifts – an exceptional education, a loving family, caring mentors. They wanted to make sure that they found a way to pay that forward. For some, that meant choosing a career with a clear and positive social impact. For some, it meant becoming a mentor within their company or to younger BUA alums. For many, it meant contributing financially to BUA to make the school accessible to the next generation and volunteering their time to strengthen the community that nourished them. I am so proud of our graduates and grateful to them for their support.