By Michael Leavy
Love what you do and try everything.
That was Tuesday’s takeaway from the first Colonials Alumni Mentoring Program at Morristown High School.
Twenty-four MHS graduates from 11 career fields spoke with students at an evening organized by the school’s Alumni Association and the Morris Educational Foundation.
In his keynote address, Joe Daniels, ’90, president and CEO of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, encouraged students to get a mosaic of experiences and take from them.
It was a common thread throughout the night.
“Take the next three- to four years to be a kid and explore different things,” advised Thursa Hyland, ’89, who hosted an Entrepreneur track with Peter Lorenzo ’90.
Hyland is president and founder of Hyland Global Solutions, which specializes in international trade development. Lorenzo is the owner and founder of Cluttercrashers, an organizing company.
Eric Sellin ’79, who led the Arts track with Andre Woolery ’99, wrote in a handout that he would rather work 80 hours a week at something he loved than 40 hours a week at a job he hated.
The program consisted of three half-hour forums. Students could hear from alumni who work in the arts, athletics, business, civil service, communications and media, education, entrepreneurship, law, medicine, nonprofit pursuits and science/technology/engineering/math.
In the engineering forum, Paul Boyadjis ’80 and Fiorella Rodriguez ’04 shared tips about advanced placement classes and preparations for college.
They too said that while one should have a passion for the technical side of engineering, it wasn’t necessary to enter college knowing exactly what field to pursue. How you learn is as important as what you learn, the engineers emphasized.
The message seemed to resonate. “They all told us to go out and experience different things to find what our passion is,” a student said.
Debbie Sontupe, executive director of the Morris Educational Foundation, felt the evening was a success and said she looks forward to growing this event in the years to come.
