VESTAL, N.Y. – The Binghamton Athletic Department continued its Homecoming tradition on Friday night with its fifth annual Alumni Networking Panel, which was held in the TAU Room of the Events Center. Coordinated by both the Varsity Club and the Student Athlete Success Center (SASC), the event featured four alumni athlete panelists who spoke to current senior student-athletes about making the transition to life after college.
The Alumni Networking Panel has become a staple of Homecoming Weekend for the Binghamton Athletic Department. The combination of bringing alumni back to campus and helping the current senior student-athletes has made the event in more ways than one.
Linda Reynolds is an Assistant Athletic Director at Binghamton University and has been part of the SASC since the Alumni Networking Panel was first introduced in 2013. She has seen first-hand how the event has since taken off.
"This is a great opportunity for us to combine a lot of things," she said. "It's a chance for us to not just bring back alumni on Homecoming Weekend but also for them talk to seniors who are facing the unknown of life after college. They have been in (the current students') shoes, can relate to them and give them good advice."
This year's panelists included Michael Lane (Class of 1989) Kristen Stone (Class of 2013), David Tauber (Class of 1994) and Meghan Taylor (Class of 2006).
Lane was a member of the men's tennis team which won the 1988 and 1989 SUNYAC championships. He has worked for over 25 years in the financial services business and is currently the Global Head of Strategic Retirement Initiatives for Dimensional Fund Advisors.
Kristen Stone played women's lacrosse during her time at Binghamton. Today, she is a supplier engineer for Raytheon Company.
David Tauber was a member of the 1994 men's swimming & diving team that won the SUNYAC championship. For the past 11 years, he has worked at New York Life in the company's home office in Manhattan.
Taylor, meanwhile, was named the 2004 America East Tournament Most Outstanding Player as the women's soccer team captured the conference championship. Currently, she is the Mid-Hudson Regional Director for Empire State Development Corporation as well as the Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.
For nearly two hours, the four alumni shared their experiences with the senior student-athletes. They gave practical advice from networking, putting together resumes, interviewing and making the most of the life skills they learned from being student-athletes at Binghamton.
"It's a huge honor to be back here," Lane said. "I learned a lot as a student-athlete and sharing some of the insights I learned and how I took it into the workplace was something I really enjoyed."
"It was great to be asked to come here," Taylor said. "We talked about how they can take advantage of networking capabilities and utilize the alumni here in Binghamton. We want make sure they have great opportunities in the future."
The current senior student-athletes left the Alumni Networking Panel appreciating the experience of hearing from the panelists.
"Tonight was really good for us upperclassmen to hear from alumni who are out in the work world," senior baseball player Nick Wegmann said. "They stressed that we shouldn't be pigeon holed by our majors and that there are a lot of opportunities out there."
"I was really excited right from the start," senior softball player Stephanie Bielec said. "It was great to listen to some of our past alums. They all had different paths that they took to get them where they are. It was great to hear that there are so many options out there."
