Fourteen alumni return for Connections Weekend

Graduates provide insight on preparing for the future
Fourteen alumni returned to LSMSA Oct. 13-14 for Connections Weekend to discuss their experiences at the school and to provide insight on what students need to know to prepare for their future.

Speakers were Jeff Carollo (’01); Matthew Claiborne (’07); Dr. John B. Cole (’90); Misty Millen Cole (’92); Melissa Guilbeau (’97); Rachael Hebert (’03); Rance Johnson (’02); Dr. Benjamin Mabry (‘01); Ashley Cespiva Martin (’91); Tom Matuschka (’90); Brett Ray (’93); Amy Swickheimer (’99); Zendra White (’98); and Erick Yellott (’08).

Jeff Carollo is originally from Mandeville and now resides in Mountain View, Calif. He is a staff software engineer at Google, where he works on search and recommendation systems. He discussed how to choose a university and major and how to get internships.

Matthew Claiborne is an award-winning journalist and producer for ABC News. He is originally from Opelousas and now resides in New York City. He dove into the topic of fake news.

Dr. John B. Cole is a research geneticist and acting research leader in the Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, ARS, USDA, in Beltsville, Md. He is from Harvey originally and now resides in Bowie, Md.

Misty Millen Cole is a working textile artist, educator and entrepreneur. She will discuss the starving artist and other myths. Originally from Blanchard, she now resides in Bowie, Md.

Melissa Guilbeau is a certified planner with a passion for public service. She is currently the senior planner in charge of long-range planning for Jefferson Parish. She discussed the field of planning, an overview of geographic information systems and the joys and frustrations of public service and working for local government. Guilbeau is originally from Baton Rouge and now resides in Mandeville.

Rachael Hebert has served as the president and CEO of Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response, or STAR, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual trauma, improving systems response and creating social change to end sexual violence, since 2012. She spoke about her journey as a community activist, non-profit director and licensed clinical social worker. Hebert is originally from Houma and now resides in Baton Rouge.

Rance Johnson is a high school math teacher, basketball coach and track and field coach in Irving, Texas. Johnson spoke on the topic “Plans are meant to be broken, but you still need one.” He is originally from New Orleans and now resides in Denton, Texas.

Dr. Benjamin Mabry is the current program director for the public administration degree and pre-law advisor at Louisiana College in Pineville. He spoke about preparing for advanced degrees and planning for post-graduate testing. He is originally
from Metairie and now resides in Pineville.

Ashley Martin worked in a hospital laboratory setting for 10 years as a generalist then had four children in five years and went back to work in private practice as laboratory supervisor of a toxicology laboratory at Anesthesiology and Pain Consultants, whre she has currently worked for seven years performing analytical chemistry through LCMS analyzers. She is originally from Lake Charles and now resides in Lafayette.

Tom Matuschka serves as the vice president of business development and philanthropy with the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center. He is originally from Baton Rouge and now resides in Natchitoches.

Brett Ray is the owner of an import and distribution company in Memphis, Tenn. He discussed the importance of personal and professional decisions for future success, shaping pitfalls to avoid and explaining the dangers of the ‘golden handcuffs.’

Amy Swickheimer currently works part time as a freelance paralegal in transactional law, handling real estate, business and estate planning matters. She discussed the importance of furthering education beyond the classroom and providing key take-away lessons learned to help students prepare for their future. She is originally from Houma and now resides in San Diego, Calif.

Zendra White is the former co-principal flutist of the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra, where she lived and worked for 12 years. She explained how LSMSA helped her to grow as a person and made it possible to live and teach in a foreign country. She also explained the importance and power of the arts and music in society. She is originally from Abbeville and now resides in Merida, Mexico, Yucatan.

Erick Yellot is a software engineer for BuzzFeed based out of Austin, Texas. At BuzzFeed, he has helped launch a platform to easily deploy to Amazon’s cloud, developed tools to manage internal traffic and created a data pipeline to help BuzzFeed forecast how many users they can reach. He talked about building modern software and different careers in tech. He is originally from DeQuincy and now resides in Austin, Texas.

To hear what advice the group offered during the Friday night panel discussion, watch at livestream.com/lsmsa.
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