SOPHIE BELLONE

Has the the thought “What am I going to do after I graduate?” ever crossed your mind? Well for these recent grads, it definitely did. So what do Asesha Dayal ‘17, Ryan Polk ‘17 and Chi Nguyen ‘17 all have in common, besides studying Economics? Exactly that. Luckily, Denison had the answer.

Ryan Polk was an economics major from Bloomflield Hills, Michigan. He found out about the year-long Fellowship position through his work with the Annual Fund as an undergrad. Now, he works in Institutional Advancement as a Programming Assistant in Alumni and Family Engagement- a position held by other alumnus before him. Polk is responsible for coordinating events such as Big Red weekend and keeping in touch with alumni.

“It’s really awesome to be able to interact with [other] alumni, they want to hear from people who are passionate about the university. It really shows a commitment to the school and it something I feel really passionate about,”.

As it turns out, seven out of the nine employees working in Institutional Advancement are alums, a testament to the appreciation Denison’s alumni have for the school. “It’s good to bring recent student perspective in, especially as an employee”, Polk says.

Asesha Dayal, another member of the class of 2017, works as a Digital Producer in the communications house. Dayal grew up in Mumbai, India and studied economics as well at Denison before eventually becoming a communication major.

In the communications house, her job is curating content for Denison’s website, while making sure everything stays up to date and is accessible to users.

“I love the Denison community, but the job itself was one I was actually really interested in, the different components of the skill-set that was required.” says Dayal, “For my job, I’ve always enjoyed some of the stuff, but never really looked at is something I could do and have a job with.”

Her communications degree was able to give her transferrable skills that she could bring to the job, such as teaching her the value of her work. Dayal says her favorite thing about Denison was that “There was always something to do here, and that something was always helping me grow in some shape or form,”.

    Chi Nguyen was greatly involved involved in the Denison community during her time as an undergrad, so it’s no surprise she was interested in working here, as well.

Nguyen was an international student from Vietnam and majored in economics and environmental studies. Now, she works as an Investment Analyst aiding the director of the investment office in distributing Denison’s eight hundred million-dollar endowment as well as providing an operating budget for the school.

“I chose the job because it’s a good opportunity and I can learn a lot about what I haven’t learned in college, [such as] in finance and investment, because I studied economics and it’s a very theoretical major, so having more exposure to more practical experience in the field helps a lot” Says Nguyen. “I think Denison has given me a lot, so it’s also a good opportunity to give back,”.

It’s safe to say the appreciation for Denison runs deep in these alums, putting the ‘Super’ back in Senior!