GREENEVILLE – As Tusculum University students become career-ready professionals through their studies, the higher education provides a forum for them to meet with potential employers or explore further educational opportunities.
Tusculum student Landen Locklear meets with a vendor.
Tusculum student Angela Sanchez, left, speaks with Tiffany Greer, a Tusculum alumna, who works for First Horizon, at the fair.
Tusculum held its annual Career and Graduate School Fair Wednesday, March 12, in the Scott M. Niswonger Commons. Students had the opportunity to visit about 35 vendors and speak with them about jobs and internships or graduate schools and other professional programs.
“This event represents an important step in our students’ preparation for the next phase of their lives,” said Kathy Hipps, Tusculum’s coordinator of career services and director of the Thomas J. Garland Library. “Students have an opportunity to make connections with the representatives of the various entities who join us and gain more insight into the process of searching for jobs or looking for that next degree. We are grateful to all of the vendors who supported our students by giving us their time.”
Among the vendors were health care organizations, such as Ballad Health and the Crumley House Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center; financial institutions, such as First Horizon and Apex Bank; several state departments in Tennessee, such as children’s services and revenue; as well as other businesses, such as Vector Marketing.
Multiple higher education institutions in Tennessee attended, including Tusculum’s Business Division, which offers a Master of Business Administration, and Education Division, which offers a Master of Arts in Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Arts in Organizational Training and Performance Management and Master of Arts in E-Learning Leadership. Representatives of Tusculum’s Master of Sport Management and other online programs were also available to speak with students.
One Tusculum student who participated in the event was Hunter Hartman, a senior in the business administration program, majoring in accounting, business management and entrepreneurship.
“I wanted to reach out to all of the businesses around here to see if I can find a career here in the next six weeks before I graduate,” said Hartman, who is eyeing the business, corporate and individual tax sector. “I felt like I was able to talk to people today, interact with business managers, learn the types of questions they ask and hopefully provide the answers they need.”
Left to right, Tusculum students Nara Santos, Luis Coelho and Ruben Santos meet with a vendor.
Left to right, Tusculum students Caleigh Greene and Brynna Johnson; Dr. Chuck Pearson, Tusculum’s assistant dean of math and science; and Jevon Joseph, director of recruitment and outreach at Lincoln Memorial’s DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine talk at the fair.
Two other students who attended were Brynna Johnson, a junior who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology, with a pre-medical, dental and veterinary concentration, and Caleigh Greene, a junior who is seeking a bachelor’s in biology with a focus on microbiology. They came to the fair as part of their Junior Seminar class. It is a class for all science students to discern whether they want to go directly into the workforce or enroll in additional academic studies after graduation. Students also develop their résumés and learn to craft elevator speeches about their qualifications.
At the moment, Johnson is eyeing a career as an oncologist or infectious disease physician or potentially a physician assistant. She talked to medical schools at the fair.
“I want to help people, and I want to be able to be the person when someone is in distress and they don’t know what to do can come to me, and I am able to provide competent care to them,” she said. “I am looking for them to have trust in me as a provider.”
Coming to the fair lessened her concern about the process of applying for an academic medical program. Johnson said it turned out not be as scary as she thought to speak with people who might be involved in determining whether she is accepted. But the fair showed her she also has additional options she could consider, such as going to pharmacy school or perhaps pivoting and pursuing a master’s degree instead.
Greene’s ambitions are to obtain a master’s degree in microbiology and then work in a lab growing and identifying bacteria. She enjoyed being able to ask questions about academic programs and learn about the acceptance rates and the students’ opinions of them.
“It was helpful to talk to a couple of different schools that have graduate programs in microbiology,” she said. “I also liked speaking with the pharmacy schools. I enjoyed being able to talk to people and get out there a little bit.”
Tusculum student Federico Belintende, right, meets with a representative of the Greeneville Flyboys.
Tusculum student Skylar Lane, left, meets with a vendor.
Tusculum concentrates on undergraduate science programs, and Greene learned about the many partnerships the university has established with medical programs at other institutions for subsequent study. Tusculum has signed agreements for students to have direct admission into Union University’s College of Pharmacy and a guaranteed interview for admission to Lincoln Memorial University’s DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, that university’s physician assistant programs and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy.
In addition, Tusculum students in the biology, chemistry, psychology and sport science programs are eligible for an interview with Emory & Henry University’s School of Health Sciences.
Dr. Chuck Pearson, assistant dean of science and math at Tusculum, said it was vital for the students to attend the fair.
“Part of the Quality Enhancement Plan at Tusculum is ensuring that students explore completely their options for their career to ensure appropriate levels of career preparedness,” he said. “The career preparedness piece is an active part of the Junior Seminar course in natural sciences. Examining career options in an environment like this fair is an essential part of that exploration of career opportunities that students are engaged in.”
To learn more about Tusculum, please visit www.tusculum.edu.