Thirty-six Parker alumni returned to their alma mater on Thursday, March 28 for Parker’s first annual Career Day, in which alumni and parents co-led information sessions related to their respective careers to expose students to various professions.

Associate Director of Alumni Engagement Joe Bruno organized the half-day event while consulting Upper School Head Justin Brandon for advice about feasibility, including scheduling and classroom use. The two, who started collaborating in September 2018, intend to establish Career Day as an annual tradition to bridge the gap between the student and alumni communities, both of whom—according to Bruno— profoundly enjoyed the connections they created.

Brandon found, in particular, an overwhelmingly positive response from alumni. “The alumni community loved the experience,” Brandon said. “They were excited that Parker was doing something like this. We had a handful of alumni who actually flew in for Career Day. The only reason they came to Chicago was to talk to Parker students. That’s pretty meaningful.”

According to Brandon, compared to his experience with a virtually identical career day at Moorestown Friend School in New Jersey, Parker alumni were extraordinarily excited to engage with the students. “It says a lot about what alumni think about their experience at Parker and how they want to support future alumni,” Brandon said. “My prior school didn’t have that kind of support from the alumni, so it says a lot.”

Parker parent emeritus and Board Chair of the Legal Services Corporation John Levy delivered the opening keynote presentation of Career Day, quoting “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss and discussing his experiences with Barack and Michelle Obama, both of whom he hired early in their careers. “We asked John Levy because he has so much history at Parker,” Bruno said. “He is so accomplished. I love his story about Barack and Michelle. John is such a good guy and has done so much for this school. It was just natural that he would be on the list of folks to bring in to begin the day. We got a lot of positive feedback about him from the students who filled out the survey.”

Students also provided Bruno, who divided the 170 juniors and seniors into 14 information sessions based on career interest, with positive feedback about their experiences in those sessions. “I enjoyed meeting professionals in areas I was interested in pursuing that were also Parker alumni,” junior Jared Saef, who attended the Human Resources and Real Estate sessions, said. “Because of that, I felt it was easier for me to relate to them. In terms of forming an idea, it did help me see what being in the fields I was interested in was actually like.”

Junior Rohan Jain had a similar experience. “I particularly loved the business panel, not because of the expertise and background they shared,” Jain said, “but because of the insight and advice they shared about transitioning from Parker to college life to the workforce.”

Brandon wants to take experiences like Jain’s and Saef’s a step forward next year with the inclusion of internship opportunities for students. “We are hoping to have alumni come in knowing that our students are going to be here, looking to learn, and have opportunities to either intern or shadow at least,” Brandon said. “That’s a goal. We want a pipeline to be created for our current students to work with our alumni.”

Brandon and Bruno attempt to build the “pipeline” without worry about inadvertently applying pressure on students. When planning Career Day, Bruno did not consider stress an issue. “I’m constantly asked ‘do you know an alum who does this?’ or ‘can you connect me with an alum who does this?’” Bruno said. “Career Day is such a popular thing at schools. It was more about learning about life after Parker and what alumni have done and how Parker has influenced it and not ‘you have to immediately be thinking about a career once you’ve left here.’”

Alumni seized the opportunity to teach students about lives after Parker. Of those to whom Bruno reached out, every single alum showed up. “That’s really unheard of,” Bruno said. “I think they were really excited to come back and talk with the students. These alumni love Parker.”

Career Day further exposed Brandon and Bruno to the alumni’s appreciation of Parker. “The alumni loved it,” Brandon said. “They were so happy to be back in the building. It was nostalgic for some and hopeful for others. It was great to see that a lot of the mission is still being carried out from when they were students. Everyone talks about Parker students being able to be mature, carry conversations, ask very intelligent, thoughtful questions, and that all came out from our alumni.”

Brandon’s experiences with the alumni attendees instilled in him hope for Career Day next year. “There was such a great positive vibe from all of the adults around,” Brandon said. “We’ll have to look at how we can build the event even bigger.”