Sororities host career seminar

The end of college can generate anxiety, happiness, fear or relief in a graduating senior…. The end of college can generate anxiety, happiness, fear or relief in a graduating senior. But too often these feelings mix together and breed overwhelming uncertainty about the future.

Sororities Theta Nu Xi and Alpha Kappa Alpha teamed up on Wednesday night to sponsor “Prep for Your Life after College.” The seminar was held in Dining Room A of the William Pitt Union and featured advice on writing effective resumes and applying to graduate and medical schools.

“Sometimes it’s kind of intimidating when you go to a college job fair,” Lisa Peterson, a Pitt senior and education chair of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, said.

She said the seminar was designed to create an intimate setting where students felt comfortable asking questions.

Representatives from the Katz Graduate School of Business, Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, and Pitt’s Medical School answered questions about the GRE, MCAT and job placement after college.

Each representative valued direction as a key trait in a prospective student. Franki Williams, the assistant director of minority programs at Pitt’s Medical School, advised the mostly female audience to plan for their career goals early on and take the appropriate steps to achieve them.

Lorie Johnson-Osho, the assistant dean of graduate student programs and academic integrity at the School of Arts and Sciences, said graduate school isn’t the right choice for every student.

“One reason not to go to graduate school is because you can’t find a job,” Johnson-Osho said.

It is important for students to have a clear objective in applying to graduate school, and personal goals are indicative of a student’s drive and direction, according to Cliff McCormick, the associate director of admissions at the Katz Graduate School of Business.

He said that 51 percent of their class is made up of international students, 3 percent is made up of minorities and 38 percent is made up of women.

Some students were surprised by this percentage of female students.

“I kind of thought it would be lower,” Peterson said. However, Bettina Prophete, a junior and vice president of Alpha Kappa Alpha was not surprised by this percentage and said that women are faced with the same concerns in making decisions about their post-graduate careers as men.

The sororities wanted to target non-Greek students, and Prophete said that at least 20 of the people in attendance were not sorority members.

She added that the point behind Greek organizations is to bring services to the student community.

She said her only concern was that students might think that Greek-sponsored events are exclusively open to sorority and fraternity members.

“It’s only a part of you, it’s not all of you,” Prophete said. “We can only try to disprove it in real life with events like this.”