Author Archives: Gwendolyn Ward

My encounter with church envelopes taught me that in a career train wreck every light in the tunnel is not a way out. At the time, my job was a train wreck pile-up of unchallenging responsibilities coupled with bickering, backstabbing, and bitter co-workers on the management team. I was frantically sending out résumés to escape… Continue Reading

Preparation, Searching and Satisfaction are the lanes on the road to maturity. The ideal path would be: our parents prepare us for life, and then release us to search for who we are and what we want in the world. We stumble around for a while, eventually landing in a place of fulfillment or satisfaction.… Continue Reading

The success of Alumni Associations depends on their ability to build relationships around the evolving needs of graduates with diverse interests and motivation. Since it is difficult if not impossible to appeal to everyone, the challenge is how to appeal to most grads while they are accumulating life experiences. How to create a personal connection… Continue Reading

The three “B’s” through college includes Before, Becoming and Beyond graduation. Before you begin, you pick a major and set out Becoming that by finishing the requirements. Beyond graduation the process of defining your success begins -which will look different for everyone. Some will find their life work and others may find discontent, requiring them… Continue Reading

Career Services + Alumni Relations = whY Alums connect or disconnect after graduation FOOW? asked Alums a series of questions about their Alma Maters’ support before and after graduation and how it has impacted their current relationship with their former school. The *respondents’, ages 22-62, provided insight on the challenge of answering their Now What?,… Continue Reading

We are solving for whY in our upcoming Enews and Blog Series – NOW, THAN & LATER…. FOOW? asked Alums from 21-62 a series of questions about their Alma Maters’ support beyond graduation and they answered CANDIDLY. Our open ended questions explore their career center and alumni association relationships… from continuous career support to their… Continue Reading

FOOW? facilitated our Deconstructing Discontent…Is it you, the job or both?” workshop at George Mason University and we flowed with graduates ranging from 1980 to 2008! The workshop challenged graduates to identify road blocks and the reasons they arrived in Discontent-ville. A FOOW? workshop emphasizes the WORK in shop because it is activity driven and… Continue Reading