Over the summer, I worked in the Oakwood Alumni Office with the Director of Alumni Relations, Christie Guevara. Having just graduated a month prior in June of 2023, being exposed to how dedicated and caring Christie is about her relationships with alumni, young and old, was inspiring and eye-opening.
It was motivating to connect with the alumni community by writing letters to alumni donors and to help prepare for the October reunions. I flipped through yearbooks and old photos, dating back to the class of 1973, and was exposed to how life has changed on Oakwood’s campus over the years. And how it has not. Despite the differences, I felt connected to the people in the photographs because we shared similar experiences. That’s why alumni networks are so important.
I learned how valuable it is to foster and nurture these relationships—it benefits both the alumni involved and the current students attending Oakwood. I deeply valued my time at Oakwood as a student, and my goal was to stay connected as an alumna. Helping out in the Alumni Office emphasized how easy this goal was to achieve and how important it was to the larger Oakwood community. Staying connected is not only a way to have a social network and support system, it’s also a way to share stories, keep in touch with the past, and build each other up.