Launched in fall 2022 to support undergraduate career exploration, the Emory College Pathways Center has amplified its message for student discovery of purpose by engaging alumni in cities across the country.
More than 150 Emory alumni attended Pathways events last year in Washington, D.C., alone. There — and at location-specific programs in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco — recent and established graduates shared their non-linear career paths to broaden student horizons for life after Emory and while also reinforcing their ties to campus.
“I’m a little jealous we didn’t have Pathways when I was there,” says Will Johnson, a 1995 graduate who leads Verizon’s regulatory and international policy teams as the firm’s senior vice president and deputy general counsel. “It’s a huge upgrade having a center dedicated to forging creative ways to offer students exposure to different paths or the idea that these paths even exist.”
Part of the liberal arts excellence of Emory College of Arts and Sciences, the Pathways Center offers undergraduate students immediate access to career coaches and Career Communities to guide their discovery as soon as they arrive on campus. Networking Nights allow students to mingle with Atlanta-area alumni and leaders from different industries.
“Emory College students immediately gain access to the vast Emory alumni network from day one,” says Branden Grimmett, vice provost and Emory College associate dean who leads the Pathways Center.
“Many universities prevent students from contacting alumni directly, especially early on,” Grimmett adds. “At Emory, we believe student-alumni engagement is the key to gaining career clarity and perspective about the world of work, especially for liberal arts majors.”
Pathways expands Emory’s reach beyond Atlanta during each fall and spring break with Career Treks, traveling with small groups of students to meet with alumni working in specific industries and cities. The summer Pathways Scholars program supports student interns in designated host cities, offering a more intimate connection with alumni and non-alumni industry leaders.
D.C. was the setting for both programs this past year, connecting students with some of the nearly 6,400 Emory alumni working in the region in government, nonprofits and international relations. Applications recently closed for the summer 2025 Scholars program there.
On the Career Trek, students visited city landmarks and met with panels of alumni working at different government agencies and firms like Verizon and King & Spalding.
The Scholars program featured similar opportunities, including a small group that met with Chad Maisel, a 2007 Spanish and political science graduate working on the White House Domestic Policy Council.
“Most jobs, it’s really about engaging people and building communities of people with whom you can effectively collaborate,” says Maisel, whose resume includes stints as an economic policy advisor to U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and different roles with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “My biggest piece of advice is always to take your time and take the opportunity to explore lots of things before committing to a particular path.”
For Cara Waite, who graduated with a political science degree in December 2022, that meant a willingness to explore during and after her time at Emory.
Armed with significant policy experience, including working closely with Emory political scientist Bernard Fraga to examine voter behavior and an internship with the Georgia attorney general’s office, Waite expected a clear-cut path to law school.
Instead, she works at Deloitte, consulting with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“If I could explain to my first-year self at Emory what I’m doing, she would most likely respond with, ‘What is Deloitte?’” Waite says.
Talking with Pathways pre-law advisor Carol Riddock, along with Emory upperclassmen and alumni, steered Waite to the job where she feels she makes a difference by helping with agency business operations before, during and after disasters.
As she has shared with dozens of Pathways students, Waite is moving forward with law school plans — newly open to the idea of specializing in regulatory or administrative law for an eventual return to consulting.
“As alumni, we understand how daunting it can be for students to face uncertainty about their future and the crucial role mentors play in achieving success,” Waite says. “I hope that I, along with other alumni, can be a resource to help students feel more confident about their choices. Any career involves adapting and learning new skills, and Emory is home to exceptionally intelligent individuals who embrace learning.”
Learning that uncertainty is part of the process
After always envisioning law school in her future, junior political science major Aavni Deval had a similar clarifying experience as a Pathways D.C. Scholar last summer. Talking with alumni and working for the South Asian Bar Association of North America helped her realize the breadth of possible jobs beyond the courtroom or white-shoe firms.
“As a child of immigrants with no lawyers in my extended family, I needed guidance on potential career paths after law school, so having alumni tell me about their day-to-day lives was so helpful,” Deval says. “Hearing the amazing things humanities majors are doing makes me want to take some time after graduation to work, either at a nonprofit or government agency. I want to see if what I think is my career path will change.”
Alumna Donna White says she is always “blown away” by the caliber of students who quickly incorporate the conversations into career strategies, especially given her own career pivots.
She entered Emory certain of a pre-med major and future as a physician. She was considering law school or the Foreign Service when she graduated with an international relations degree in 1994.
Her epiphany came while working at a recreation center the summer after graduation. Intended to be a filler job, that work fulfilled White in the same way that her tutoring and volunteering did as an undergraduate.
So began a career in higher education and non-profits focused on youth development. White, who also earned a master’s degree in nonprofit administration, has served as president of the AnBryce Foundation in Washington, D.C., since 2023.
“It’s great to have an idea of what you want to do, but it’s also important to take advantage of all of the things that may not be academically focused,” White says. “Some of the phenomenal things these students do, just as a hobby, and the organizations that speak to them, help build who they are and what they may become.”
White’s perspective inspired junior Lola McGuire, a dual history and political science major who has yet to settle on what she will pursue — in part because too many would-be careers resonate with her.
A love of researching and writing, honed working at the Emory Wheel and editorial internships, had McGuire considering journalism, then law. Working as an Orientation Leader and nanny revealed a talent for teaching.
She was weighing nonprofit work abroad when she attended the D.C. Career Trek last spring. After a Pathways-funded internship at the Atlanta History Center last summer and coursework with Emory historian Yami Rodriguez, she has decided to apply for graduate study in history. But that, too, may change.
“Talking to the alumni, you see the struggle and the learning and the growing that happens after graduation,” McGuire says. “I feel that staying open and curious will serve me more than anything else.”