IA Alumni Panel

IA Alumni Panel

4 November, 2020

For this event, IA alums, Sam Harris, Alex Northrop, Brandon Hofacker, and Courtney Johnson answered a series of questions about their time as IA Scholars and how OSU and being an IA Scholar affected their career paths. Sam Harris is studying at Harvard Law School, Alex Northrop is studying at Columbia Medical School, Brandon Hofacker works for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation in Washington D.C., and Courtney Johnson works as a Communications Specialist at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington D.C. This event relates to IA because they were a panelist of incredible alumni that were able to give us insight into how the program was beneficial for them and how to make the program beneficial for us. At this event, I learned about the different organizations that these alumni were in besides IA Scholars and how those experiences helped shape their post-graduation plans. The alumni that was of the most interest to me was Courtney Johnson because I hope to work for the Department of State or the CIA in the future. She discussed how she became a Boren Scholar, which along with IA Scholars, led her to the position she holds now. I liked being able to see someone who was once in my position, reach the place that I want to be in the future. It was also nice to hear from others like Brandon Hofacker and Alex Northrop who explored many things before reaching the place they are now. They emphasized that it is okay to search for a little bit and that sometimes the things you want will not work out, but the right thing will come along eventually. Overall, all of the alumni emphasized how pivotal being an IA Scholar was in their college experience, which makes me happy to be a scholar myself.

 

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