Last Thursday, Sept. 19, the Humanities Student Ambassadors (HSA) held Fordham University’s second annual Humanities Day, sponsored by the Fordham Alumni Association and Fordham College at Rose Hill. HSA is a relatively new club on the Rose Hill campus, specializing in professional development for humanities students so they can feel confident in their post-graduation job search. HSA co-presidents Mia Guzzo, FCRH ’25, an English major and women, gender, and sexuality studies and marketing minor, and Ciara Bavis, FCRH ’25, an art history and communications major, organized the event with the help of the HSA advisor and the Career Center’s Assistant Director for Student Engagement Allyson Blatz.
“I came to the humanities fair to meet employers in the field and network with professionals, as well as learn about opportunities. Since I’m graduating in the winter I would like to get ahead on the job search,” said music and mathematics major Erin Seidman, FCRH ’25. The two-hour event started at 4:30 p.m. with a panel of alumni speakers who had majored in the humanities during their time at Fordham. The speakers included Cameron DeChalus, FCRH ’20, a political science and Spanish language & literature major; Camila Gomez, FCRH ’22 and GSAS ’23, a political science and theology major and Master of Arts in ethics and society; Liam Otero, FCRH ’21, an art history major; and Lily Keiley, FCRH ’21, a history major. The panelists took a series of questions from the HSA co-presidents, covering everything from their participation in extracurriculars at Fordham to their advice on how to apply their “soft skills” in post-graduate careers.
After the panel concluded, the panelists each went to a separate table and students got to do some “speed-networking,” where they rotated around the room in groups to talk to each panelist, asking further questions and making connections. Macmillan Publishers and Meaningful World Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention also had representatives there for students to speed-network with.
During the event, the panelists shared their experiences in the humanities and offered advice to the students. Gomez discussed how she started as a biology major but quickly realized she was more interested in studying public health instead of medicine. She pivoted to a bioethics minor, which led her to earning a graduate degree in ethics and society from Fordham’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and, eventually, her current position as policy and planning manager at God’s Love We Deliver, a nonprofit organization that provides medically-tailored meals to the chronically ill. Pivoting into unexpected opportunities became a common theme throughout the event, as panelists discussed their individual journeys from arriving at Fordham to graduating to finding fulfilling careers.
DeChalus discussed his path to his current job at consulting firm Accenture and encouraged students to define what personal success specifically looks like for them and not be afraid to pivot when one’s goals or circumstances change.
Otero discussed how engaging with his professors and peers on campus and his interest in Japanese art helped him make valuable connections. While at Fordham, he founded the Fordham Art History Society, giving him valuable experience that he continues to apply while pursuing his Master of Arts in art history at Hunter College.
Keiley emphasized how her humanities degree helped her hone in on her own interests and desires and develop the critical interpersonal skills needed to navigate delicate conversations in her current position as a developmental assistant in the Major Gifts department of Harvard Law School. “Rejection is redirection,” said Keiley, in her final remarks at the end of the panel. All of the panelists voiced similar sentiments, encouraging students to be bold, not be discouraged by rejection and focus on themselves, their strengths and their passions.
Even after the HSA thanked the panelists and called the event to a close, many students and Fordham community members continued to hang around to talk and make connections
“I want humanities students to know that they have — not even just resources because that’s what we provide with HSA — but that they have this community. So many of my friends came because they wanted to support me, and I want people to have that sort of network too. I really wanted to build people’s confidence and get them connected with the people who want to help them,” said Guzzo.
The Humanities Student Ambassadors meet weekly on Wednesdays from 3-4 p.m. in the Career Center on the second floor of the McShane Campus Center, and those interested can contact them at [email protected].
