The Denison Difference

Professional

“As a Denison student, I was expected to think critically, write cohesively, grapple with some complex problems, and meet tight deadlines in and outside of the classroom. Because of those rigorous academic standards and training, I am now able to thrive in a very fast-paced and deadline driven environment. In addition, my Denison education has taught me how to apply acquired knowledge and analytical skills to new situations and career opportunities and that has been a great benefit to both my personal and professional life.”

Professional:

My liberal arts experience at Denison has really helped me to adjust to law school. Denison’s small classroom sizes and emphasis on student participation prepared me for the classroom demands of law school. Through my years at Denison, I learned how to articulate my thoughts and contribute to meaningful discussion, which eased the anxiety that comes with class participation at times. Moreover, the abundance of leadership opportunities at Denison provided me with the ability to feel comfortable in those types of roles at Moritz. More specifically, my time as a Resident Assistant built the foundation for a lasting commitment to leadership roles at the school that require a lot of responsibility. Not only did my Denison leadership positions make me feel prepared, but they also made my employers and advisors feel as though I am qualified for new responsibilities.

Civic:

Denison’s emphasis on involvement in civic activities planted a commitment in me to work in furtherance of others and not just myself. With law school comes loads of debt, but making money has never been my end goal upon graduation. After my involvement in Legal Aid Society through Denison Community Association, I knew that I wanted to provide my services to those most in need. This was solidified even more after my time abroad in Santiago, Chile. Thanks to this wonderful opportunity provided by Denison, I learned more about my passions and decided to pursue a career in immigration law. Through connections made at Denison, I currently clerk for an immigration firm in Columbus, helping others follow their dreams in the United States. As an added bonus, I get to put my degree to good use and practice my Spanish every day.

Coming to Denison I was undecided about what career path I wanted to pursue after college. The liberal arts experience allowed me to gain versatile experience that is transferable throughout many fields. Gaining valuable writing skills, presentation of research, and participation in various clubs and organizations prepared me to grow in the corporate world. My Denison connections and education ultimately helped me get a job with Columbus’ biggest employer, Nationwide Insurance. My role as a Claims Analyst has allowed me to travel to other states and assess catastrophic losses after weather disasters and while in Columbus, I get to use the skills I obtained in my economics courses and analyze claims data as well as brainstorm with other associates on how we can improve our processes. Thanks to all my extracurricular involvement and collaborations with organizations on campus during my time at Denison, I am able to bring these skills to the conference room and contribute to Nationwide’s growth and development.

“Who I am as a person today is tied, in no small part, to my time at Denison. My core values— justice, social responsibility, and a pursuit of knowledge— were all cultivated at Denison, and were similarly valued by my fellow Denisonians. The conversations I had at Denison instilled within me a sense of empathy that acknowledges the common humanity of individuals, which has been invaluable in divisive social climates.

The wealth of resources provided by Denison ensures that students are able to experience an extraordinary degree of personal, educational, and social growth. The kind of mentorship Denison offers is unparalleled, as is the caliber of its educators; I would not be pursuing my current educational goals if it weren’t for the deep admiration I have for my professors and advisors, as well as the encouragement they provided.

The myriad of available options enables a “choose your own adventure” path of development, creating a diversity of thought, even within the same socio-political spheres. At Denison I had difficult, but necessary conversations about social divisions, economic differences, and mental health. However, I could still tap into a strong support system of peers and mentors, which empowered me to draw personal boundaries, acknowledge my limitations, and seek help, when needed.”

“My training in math and physics at Denison (including summer research opportunities) prepared me well to handle graduate coursework and research. The liberal arts curriculum at Denison also strengthened my interpersonal skills. And in academia, relational skills are just as important as research skills.”

This past year I taught the English language to 8th through 12th-grade students in eastern Bulgaria, a challenge for which Denison most certainly helped me prepare. In addition to leading students in speaking and writing exercises, I was also expected to teach about my own “American experience,” an experience significantly shaped by my time at Denison.

My four years at Denison helped me sharpen the intellectual tools and practical skills to appreciate other cultures and global narratives. My Geography classes with Professor Frolking, and courses in my two majors, History and International Studies, piqued my curiosity about how other people live and think. My senior research projects in History and International Studies pushed me to analyze a subject inside and out and consolidate what I had learned into a (not so short) cumulative paper and final presentation to faculty and fellow classmates. Winter break trips to Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Birmingham introduced me to the complexities of education and immigration outside of Ohio and my native Minnesota. I have Denison to thank for introducing me to classmates hailing from Granville, Ohio to Seoul, South Korea. These assorted intellectual and social opportunities that Denison has offered me have ultimately strengthened my planning, writing, speaking, evaluating, and coaching skills which have been key responsibilities as a teacher in a foreign community.

Denison helped me prepare tremendously for the post-graduate chapter of my life by emphasizing the values of life-long learning, embracing and succeeding in uncomfortable situations, and demonstrating compassion regardless of my profession.

Professional

“I believe my Denison experience has definitely prepared me well for my professional journey, especially in three aspects:

1. Never just say “I don’t know.” Say “I’ll look into it” instead. In other words, attitude matters. In my first official job review, my boss told me that my attitude is my biggest asset. When tasked with something new or daunting, I said, “I don’t know how to do it, but I’ll look into it.” My employer was a young entrepreneurial company. We were just launching a new open source CRM system. Nobody wanted or had the time to study the 600-page admin manual. So I said, “I’ll look into it”, and I finished reading the whole manual in a week and started practicing what I learned. When the company was looking to streamline our core business process, I built a new module with our CRM so that two teams can connect with each other seamlessly. I never knew I’d become an IT guy. It’s my research experience at Denison that makes me more prepared to take on new challenges. Teaching myself new things from scratch is not daunting to me, because that’s how I learned when doing research or taking research classes at Denison. It’s just different subjects in professional life.

2. Work with people. I worked a lot and did a lot of extracurricular activities at Denison, most of which involved interacting with other people. I worked in groups with other students in some classes, with professors and peer researchers to complete semester-long research projects, and with fellow RAs and HRs when I was on the Residential Education staff. I learned a good team is so much more than the sum of all the individuals in it. So when I started my professional life, it’s very comfortable for me to work with other people: co-workers, bosses, clients, or external contractors. This makes me very effective in leveraging bigger projects. Working well with people is very important because projects at work take more than one individual to complete. You have to work with other people to get it done. If you enjoy that and know how to make people work better as a team, then you are in a very good place. There are self-help books that teach you how to do better teamwork, but it’s nowhere near the experiences I’ve had from the four years at Denison.

3. Follow your heart. After working full time for less than a year, I was offered partnership by my employer but decided to quit my job instead to start my own company. I saw a need and envisioned a better solution for communication and collaboration between companies engaging in international trade. They need something better than email to orchestrate the complicated processes to get their products across the ocean and borders. I think I came up with one such tool that could do just that. Staying longer with my previous company wouldn’t necessarily help me in getting that tool built and tested, so I decided to quit my job and return to China to give it a try. I call this following my heart. When I was at Denison, I picked most of my classes following my heart; applied for jobs and clubs that interested me the most, and talked with great people who followed their heart and never regretted it. Those experiences turned out to be very influential in the way I think, behave, and treat people. So when I faced a tough decision, the Denison experience made the decision-making process much easier. So I followed my heart. In that sense, my Denison education supported my professional effectiveness.”

“My Denison experience helped prepare me for success in many ways. I learned how to properly communicate both efficiently and effectively, and I also honed my ability to think outside of the box. The different classes that were made available while I was a student (such as learning how to use Excel pivot tables) provided me with the different skills needed in the professional world. This along with a plethora of other things helped prepare me for my new career, and I urge every student to take advantage of the opportunities that Denison provides.”