A six-hour drive from Kingston to New York City may seem like a long way to go for a baseball game. But for Smith Engineering student Ronan Love, the Mets weren’t really the main draw when he made the trip with a couple of housemates for a Queen’s young alumni event in September.
For him, the voyage was more about meeting Queen’s grads in the Big Apple and imagining what his own path after graduation might look like.
The big highlight? Getting to hear from Mitch Wheatley, Sc’16, PhD’21, and how he forged a path from Queen’s to a leadership role in performance technology with the Mets.
Love has a similar hope of working in sports analytics someday.
“Mitch made it feel a lot more possible to find a job that you actually have a lot of passion for,” says Love. “And that’s the dream, right?”
The evening in New York was one of six young alumni events Queen’s hosted this fall. The others were in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and London (UK).
Young alumni connect at the Toronto event, held Sept. 29 at PwC Canada.
Like New York, all of the events were part of a broader shift in how Queen’s thinks about staying connected with alumni, says Andrea Delgado, Queen’s Director of Global Alumni Strategy.
“Rather than hosting stand-alone events, we’re working with our alumni branches, local alumni, and volunteers to create ongoing opportunities that reflect where graduates are in their lives and what matters to them,” she says. “Whether they’re settling into a new city, building professional networks, or meeting new people, we want graduates to discover the value of being part of the Queen’s alumni network.”
For Delgado, the events are part of a bigger goal for Queen’s alumni branches: creating year-round ways for alumni to connect, contribute, and remain part of the Queen’s community wherever they are.”
“It’s really Queen’s alumni creating community for one another.”
Chris Polson, MBA’07, helped do just that at the Toronto event on Sept. 29, “Beyond the Linear Path: Career Journeys, Connection, and Change.”
He helped secure space at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Canadian headquarters and joined a panel of alumni discussing career pivots and building a career you actually want.
Polson, now Partner, Advisory and Disputes, at PwC Canada, says he wanted to take part because he knows that early in his career, he would have appreciated the advice he and the other panelists were giving.
“It's really difficult, especially in the early years, to understand your priorities and skills and how they compare to others in the market,” he says. “Alumni who have lived and breathed a career or industry for decades can offer great advice.”
Panelists, alumni, and guests gather at the Calgary event, held Sept. 17 at aspiHer Women's Business Club.
That same idea carried through the other events. In Vancouver and Calgary, young alumni heard from graduates about career changes, resilience, and professional relationships. In Ottawa, alumni connected over a brewery tour led by a Queen’s grad. And in London, UK, the branch paired a Terry Fox Run with a welcome social for recent graduates and alumni new to the city.
For Polson, that willingness to share experience is one of the alumni network’s biggest strengths.
“I think graduates would be surprised by how willing alumni are to offer advice or help make a connection for a fellow Queen’s grad,” he says. “Where there’s a genuine Queen’s connection, alumni are typically very generous with their time.”
Love experienced that firsthand in New York.
“I definitely felt inspired and very welcomed,” he says. “Even though you’re in New York, so far from Kingston, it still felt like Queen’s because of the Queen’s community that was there.”
And he’d happily do it again.
“I’d go to more of these events for sure.”
Visit the alumni branches page to find upcoming programming and opportunities in your area.
