Alumnus Chris McKoy reflects on proactive post-grad job searching

For traditional college students like myself, the thought of entering the “real world” can be quite overwhelming.

Experts claim that the current generation of college students will have seven careers in their lifetime. Not seven jobs. Seven entirely separate careers. The idea of acquiring a new skill set to attract employers is intimidating to most. I began to grapple with these challenges last summer.

It was at that point I realized the story on my resume said nothing about marketing. If I was going to get hired, I needed to assess where I fit into the marketing world and demonstrate it with action. I took off, creating a spreadsheet of people I knew and asking them who they knew in marketing. I attended networking groups, job search groups, and researched careers in my field. I was on the hunt for experience and advice, a search that culminated in an internship at the Denver Pavilions and 70+ professional contacts in my field that I continue to tap for advice.

When it comes to a career search, Metro State’s tagline couldn’t be more true: “Success begins with you.” I’ve never been that proactive. My tendency has been to stay in my comfort zone and not try anything new, but in the last year I managed to obtain a marketing assistant position in a highly reputable business association and get more involved on campus. I started the Student Marketing Association for Metro State, with a great deal of help from Professor Kristin Watson and several incredibly committed students. This expanded my leadership roles in and out of the classroom. It is amazing to me that I’m coming out of college with a year of valuable experience and demonstrated leadership just by focusing in on my career development.

A famous hockey player ascribed his success in the rink to one main factor. He said, “I don’t go where the hockey puck is. I go where it is going to be.” Over the past year, I’ve come to realize that is exactly how to get positioned in a career. The resources on this campus can help a student set a trajectory for where they see the job market and their industry going and prepare for a desirable, exciting career.

- Written by Chris McKoy
Metro State Alumnus ‘10

Know any students or alumni that want to write about their career experiences? Please have them contact Sarah Senter at 303-556-3664.

IWSS faculty Jacqueline St. Joan publishes novel

Award- winning writer and editor, lawyer and Metro State adjunct faculty member, Jacqueline St. Joan recently published her first novel, My Sisters Made of Light. This is a fictional account of the extraordinary courage of ordinary women living in the closed society that is contemporary Pakistan. It explores the country’s myriad cultures—from the mystical Sindhis in the South to the noble Pathans in the Northwest Province, the Punjabis in the East and the Balochis of the West.

“This novel is a means for Western readers to learn about Pakistan in a broad sense and at the same time relish the story of a hero's journey, a love outside the boundaries, a travelogue of a diverse, struggling country,” St. Joan stated in a recent email. Though it started out as a non-fiction story, as St. Joan did more research on the lives of women in Pakistan the story transformed. The process took some time, with the re-writes and publicizing. However, she added, it has been worth it.

“At last this story has its own life,” she stated. “It's a cliche, but it is like raising a child who can finally find her own way in this world. People will treat her well, or they won't. She will overcome, or she won't. You can only hope that the thing itself has the stamina to survive and thrive.”

St. Joan was inspired to write the book after meeting a “remarkable” Pakistani woman, who taught in that country for 25 years and who made efforts to prevent honor crimes against her students. The woman, Dr. Tahira Khan, authored the book, Beyond Honour, and also taught classes at Metro State. Kahn commented that St. Joan did a good job blending reality with fiction, telling “stories of realities seen in Pakistani newspapers every other day.”

St. Joan is now the Public Education Chair of the Asian American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization in the U.S. that works to support Pakistani efforts to end human rights violations. Half of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to SOIL, a grass-roots community organization in Pakistan, to pay for the construction of a safe shelter for abused women and children. Copies of My Sisters Made of Light are available at The Tattered Cover, Press53 http://www.press53.com/ and the Auraria Campus Bookstore. To read more about the book, click here.

What's Up? A New Alumni Relations Executive Director ,

Alumni Relations Executive Director Mark Jastorff weighs in on the changes happening at the Alumni Association and the new benefits we are offering our alumni.

The very best of the holiday season to you and yours. I want to thank the entire Metro State family for the warm welcome to campus.

There is little that I can tell you about our campus that you already haven’t heard. So let me affirm what you know – Metro State is rising. This is a great time to be a Road Runner!

Our goal as an alumni staff is to make sure that we offer you the kinds of opportunities that enrich your life, enhance your professional opportunities and provide you with the chance to meet new friends. In the coming months, you will see your Alumni Association unveil plans for increased professional and career advisory services, a Young Alumni Council, a return of the Student Alumni Association and more opportunities to celebrate Metro State with your family and friends.

For those of your looking to strengthen Metro State – there are lots of “quick ideas” – start with wearing Metro Wear, take the opportunity to talk with your neighbors, relatives and friends about the great things happening here, suggest the College to those who might benefit from the Metro State experience, and of course, chat with your legislators about the importance of higher education in Colorado and of Metro State.

We’re looking for your ideas and suggestions. If you have something that you would like to see from your Association, just drop us a line at alumni@mscd.edu, call or stop by the office.

Beep Beep!

Mark Jastorff
Alumni Relations Executive Director

New Article from the Metropolitan about Alumni and current students taking over E.C's printmaking studio.

Alumni Amy Odorizzi is one of eight current and former Metro State art students who have taken over Good Thieves Press, the studio formerly run by Professor Eldon Cunningham. She began in the industrial design program, but switched majors after taking an entry level printing class with Cunningham. According to Odorizzi, with her changed major came a changed perspective of herself.

Along the studio’s single room’s northern wall is a row of mostly abstract print image — the studio’s current show on display. The show commemorates the life and work of Eldon “E.C.” Cunningham, a Metro State art teacher of 27 years, who committed suicide Oct. 1, 2010. Cunningham specialized in printmaking, a highly technical medium involving the use of a press to print handmade images onto a surface, sometimes made of metal or stone. He was the coordinator of Metro’s printmaking program.

Gillian Waggoner, another Metro State art alumna, also helps run Good Thieves Press. She met Cunningham early in her education and was mentored by him during her last year at school while looking into a master’s degree. She agreed with Odorizzi about Cunningham’s passion and spoke about the high standard to which he held his students.

“You’ll do 100 things that he’ll just kind of frown at,” Waggoner said, describing working in his class. “And you’re just working and working to get better and finally you get that moment where he just cracked a smile and you knew that you had done well … He really pushed you technically and you can see that in his work.”

Waggoner said she actually failed Cunningham’s printmaking class the first time around, but throughout her time at Metro continued to go to him for critiques on other projects.

About the show, Odorizzi said it was only natural for them to celebrate Cunningham’s life considering how instrumental he was in all of their artistic growth.

“We wouldn’t have existed without E.C.,” Odorizzi said of Good Thieves Press. “I couldn’t be more different in my art style from E.C.’s. But I am as good at printmaking as I am only because of him.”

The Good Thieves Press show will be open Nov. 11–14 at 2401 Stout St.

Read the rest of the article by Gabrielle Porter at The Metropolitan Online

Metro State Alumni and Veteran Nominated for MillerCoors Líder of the Year Award

Sgt. Dean Sanchez is a decorated Marine who has served his community and country. Sanchez, who has done three tours in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan, was nominated by the Mile High Chapter of the American GI Forum as MillerCoors Líder of the Year. These are people nominated by MillerCoors Hispanic non-profit partners for their unwavering commitment to the advancement of the Hispanic community.

The Líder will be announced on Nov. 16 and will be awarded with a $25,000 grant to be used for a community leadership program. If he wins, Sanchez has some inspiring plans for younger soldiers. “We would do a leadership conference for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans partnering them with veterans from older generations and fostering our future leaders,” he said.

Sanchez spoke to La Voz Nueva about his decision to join the Marines. He said that after the 9/11 attacks, he decided to leave during his senior year at the Metropolitan State College of Denver and enlisted. “When 9/11 happened I thought it was everybody’s duty to protect our country—serve their tour of duty. So I dropped out of college and enlisted in the infantry Marine Corps,” said Sanchez in La Voz article. “The Marine Corps has given me a level of self-worth and pride that no other company, no other job could ever do.”

Read the complete article written by Bertha Velasquez at La Voz Nueva here

Denver Post Article features Metro State alum Vince Phason

North High coaches stick by volunteer Alumni Vince Phason even if DPS won't

Metro State Alumni Vince Phason was recently denied clearance to continue serving as volunteer assistant coach by Denver Public Schools and saying he no longer can be in the bench area at games. However, he still shows up for the Vikings' practices several days a week, and is still determined to help inner-city kids learn to play football.

Phason heads across town to Denver North High's football practice — a practice at which Phason, a former star Canadian Football League defensive back paralyzed in a 1998 auto accident. There, he is with head coach E. Paul Kelly Jr., who also is the school's attendance and discipline monitor, and defensive coordinator Dave Sidwell, 64, a legendary former high school head coach who won two state championships at Mullen and now helps out at North.

The Vikings are 3-6 heading into their final game Saturday, against Kennedy at All-City Stadium. This is not about building a football juggernaut. This is about trying to influence young men at a still-struggling school in an eclectic neighborhood bouncing back around it.

"I was blessed to survive my automobile accident, and I had a dream at that time that life is about helping people," Phason, a graduate of Manual High who played college ball at Arizona, said in his living room. "I feel like young men, our young people, period, need the most help. Football is my avenue, where I can be the most use to the community — and especially in Denver, where I was raised."

To read the complete article by Terry Frei on The Denver Post Website, click here.

What's Up?

Metro State Alumni Association Board President Jim Garrison discusses the board’s role at the College and why he serves. Garrison joined the board in 2005 and was elected president in September 2010. He feels it’s a rewarding experience that affords him the opportunity to “stretch” himself in new ways. The Office of Alumni Relations caught up with Garrison recently to ask him a few questions.

Metro State: How has being on the Board enriched your life?
Jim Garrison: I have had the opportunity to meet and work with many dedicated and quite capable fellow Metro alumni. I have been exposed to a different (for me) environment (higher-education) than I had been involved with prior to now. I have met a number of current Metro students and have had the benefit of learning about the experience they are having now.

MS: Why did you decide to become board president?
JG: I believed it would be a privilege to serve in this position, and felt I can help the board move forward.

MS: Why have a BOD?
JG: The Alumni Association has the obligation to meet its charge as defined in its Bylaws. The association must be managed so that this duty is met. Not only is a board of directors required by law (in order for the association to be a legally chartered not-for-profit corporation), it provides several advantages. A board enables a wide diversity of experience and knowledge that can be brought to bear on issues facing the association, and having a board raises the likelihood of continuity of activity and preservation of important historical institutional knowledge.

MS: What exactly does the Alumni BOD do?
JG: The Alumni Association board is largely advisory, but works closely with the leaders of the college as well as the board of the Foundation. The board sets policy that is designed to build value for all Metro alumni by way of benefits and programs. The board occasionally takes an official position on critical issues that could affect Metro and therefore alumni.

MS: What are some of the most relevant issues facing Metro State’s alumni and how does the Board address those issues?
JG: Increasing the engagement of alumni with other alumni and with what is going on at Metro right now. Delivering services to alumni to build the value of a Metro degree. Any of the pertinent issues with which Metro State is currently engaged also are relevant issues for the Alumni Association.

MS: Is there anything I’m not asking you that you want to share with me? (Or, are there any questions I haven’t asked that you think are important to ask?)
JG: The Metro State Alumni Association is set to soar in a new direction with a dynamic group of dedicated and talented board members along with new staff leadership. The next few years will be fun to watch!

What's up next month? In the December issue of the Roadrunner Review, we sit down with the new Alumni Relations Executive Director Mark Jastorff.