Alumni Return to Campus for Career Day

Last Friday, more than 50 alumni—representing classes from 1962 to 2014— returned to campus to participate in Upper School Career Day, an all-day event for alumni to share their career experience and offer advice to Upper School students.

The day kicked off with a keynote address from Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley ’92, who spoke highly of her time at Parker and how it shaped her to be who she is today. “I would not have agency without the soil I was rooted in at Parker,” she stated.

Pressley talked about her road to Congress and how she creates change today. “Policy is my love language,” she said. “People closest to the pain should be closest to the power. We need to replace systems of hurt and trauma with systems of upliftment.”

Following Pressley’s keynote address, students went to their first of two panel sessions of the day. Twenty different panels offered industries such as public affairs and government, civil rights and social justice, engineering, finance and healthcare.

Dr. Harold Fogel ’02, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, led the healthcare panel. He described his journey, from majoring in political science to his current position, and the necessary pathway to becoming a doctor in his given specialty. Dr. Fogel reassured students with the advice, “If you have zero clue what you want to do, that’s okay.”

On the Mental Health and Wellness panel, Marnie Leahy ’03 offered advice related to her experience at Parker. “Parker definitely prepared me with the sense that we could do anything,” Leahy said. “There is always someone here to nurture you at Parker.”

Alumni take the lessons they learn at Parker and thrive in their respective careers across several fields. Their return to campus inspires current students to follow their passions, encourages them to ask questions and assures them that their Parker experience will set them on a path to greater things after graduation.

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