More than forty alumni returned home to Grand & Warren on Friday, December 8 for Career Day—an annual tradition organized by the Offices of Alumni Relations, Student Life, and Guidance & College Counseling.
The morning began in good company in Prep’s gymnasium with mass celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, an apropos opportunity for our community to reflect on the conception and life of Mary and all the ways we too experience God’s grace and are called to our own purposes, both professionally and personally.
Career Day itself then kicked off with keynote speaker Bill Price, ’87, a Prep trustee, who shared lessons learned both here at Saint Peter’s and in his decades-long career in communications, where he has held notable titles such as Director of Media Relations at Pfizer, Vice President of Media Relations at Johnson & Johnson, and most recently, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Zoetis.
“As you spend today and future days, thinking about your careers, I hope you’ll remember these three lessons,” he said. “First, do what you love, and grow where you shine. Second, don’t be frozen by failure. Be positive, learn, move forward. And third, build relationships, not just your resume. Those will make all the difference in your life and in your career.”
Newly energized to tackle the day ahead, current students then filled rooms throughout Hogan, Shalloe, and Mulry Halls, the Moriarty Science Center, and the English Building for informative 30-minute sessions with Prep graduates. Our alumni represented industries like finance, marketing, entertainment, law and law enforcement, social media, the military, government, medicine, technology, engineering, travel, and more.
Attendees enjoyed hearing how our alumni launched their own paths after graduation, the highs and lows of their careers, and ways to network and grow in their various fields. Each session concluded with an opportunity for questions.
The day then concluded with lunch in the O’Keefe Commons and the opportunity for our graduates to share a bit about how their Prep experience shaped their professional paths.
“We’re a very team oriented career,” Loren Hart, ’91, a Deputy Chief of Operations with the Jersey City Fire Department, said. “We do nothing in a vacuum. We operate with each other, helping each other getting things accomplished. And the one thing that always struck from back when I was at Saint Peter’s Prep [was] that same concept of team, of giving, of others, of being a man for others.”
“It was more than just the camaraderie,” John Johnson, ’78, who spent 30+ years as a member of the United States Secret Service prior to retirement, said. “It was more than just the sports and activities. It was learning how to get along with a very diverse population. It helped me eventually when I started traveling overseas, ended up living overseas—learning how to communicate, talk, express yourself, find commonality amongst others. Prep definitely, definitely helped me when it came to that.”
We thank all our alumni for sharing their insights and advice with our current students.
Alumni: If you are interested in participating in our next Career Day, be sure we have your current contact information so you don’t miss out! You can update your contact information here.