Each year, the Student Alumni Connection hosts “Dinner for 10 Cougars,” where students have the opportunity to dine with alumni and network. | | Courtesy of Ruben Vasquez
The Student Alumni Connection is having its annual event “Dinner for 10 Cougars,” a program that aids students in making connections with UH alumni professionals who are now in the work force.
Students will have the opportunity to meet former students alongside their peers and get a firsthand perspective on the current workforce in various fields.
“The annual program has been running for more than 25 years,” Student Alumni Connection President Raj Thaker said. “I like this program because it’s nice to know about various studies in our diverse university and get a real outlook on getting jobs that students might not find out in class alone. We have representatives from business to chemistry and architecture.”
In this program a student is placed with an alumni volunteer who takes the participants to dinner, talks about their employment experience and provides advice for current Cougars.
The program runs from Monday through March 5. Participants will select a day where they will have a meal at an alumni-chosen restaurant or home of an alumni host.
This program presents an opportunity for students to gain more wisdom about their fields and establish relationships with potential employers and co-workers.
“I like the fact that students get to create avenues for themselves and even establish friendships, possibly mentors that they can look up to in their scholastic as well as their professional careers,” Thaker said.
Students will gain a better understanding of goal setting for better career planning by seeing what it takes to be successful in their various fields of study straight from UH alumni hosts that have already gone through the steps.
An opportunity like “Dinner for 10 Cougars” is considered by many as a viable asset to one’s professional career, one where an alumni contact can turn into a potential job opportunity.
“Advice from a person who has already gone through the steps in their own succession, is so valuable in today’s economy and work place; that’s what students are lacking coming out of college,” local Avance employer Luz Flores said.
All UH students are eligible to participate and there is no fee.
Interested students should apply by faxing a “Dinner for 10 Cougars” student form, which is retrievable from the UH Student Alumni Association Web site, by Wednesday in order to schedule a dinner.
Placement can be dependent on the field of study or concentration that the various alumni hosts possess.
“Often times when students have burning questions about their careers they keep them inside, or are intimidated to speak-up,” Flores said. “And it’s usually the small questions that make a world of difference in a career.”
