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Where’s Rocky?
ALUMNI Roundup NEWS FROM USF’S VOLUNTEER-LED ALUMNI GROUPS
Psychology alumni participate in a number of events with students, including a recent book drive for refugees.
Psyched to help students
GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE IS A CHALLENGE in itself, but psychology grads face an especially intimidating job market because of the many options — not all of them readily apparent. To ease the transition to post-graduate life, the Undergraduate Psychology Alumni Society connects with students to help them find a career.
That helped the society win the Most Improved award at the 2020 Alumni Academy, a USF Alumni Association event that honors alumni groups and leaders.
“Winning the award was a big achievement for us because we tried to get more involved in different events,” says society co-chair Samera Ahmed ’13. “One event we’re a part of is USF’s Undergraduate Conference and Psych Expo for undergraduate psychology students. We tabled that event — and other similar ones — to let students and graduates know that they can be involved with our group before and after graduation.”
It’s a great opportunity to invite alumni to join because the group will also support their research she said.
Bridging the gap between alumni and students is a key pillar in the group’s foundation.
“It really helps new grads feel like they are a part of something after they graduate,” Ahmed says. “It’s important in the field of psychology because it’s so broad, and there are a lot of ways you can go. It helps undergraduates feel less intimidated when they have us to help them find a path.”
Watch for the society’s “love languages” event — coming soon! — and meet fellow psych Bulls by visiting the USF Undergraduate Psychology Alumni Society page on Facebook.
- ERIN RYAN ’20 | USFAA
Volunteer spotlight
Alumni group volunteer
Lisa Ann Gidula, MPH ’10 and MA Gerontology ’14, Life Member USF Tallahassee Alumni Chapter
Career: Florida Department of Health government analyst
Favorite Travel Destination: Belize
Hometown: Chicago
Favorite USF memory: Taking my 80-year-old dad to his first USF football game – War on I-4!
Pets: Two dogs, Ryder and Roulette
Favorite USF event: USF Day at the Capitol
Hobby: Golf
WHEN MARRIAGE, BIRTHS AND JOB changes swept her fellow chapter leaders out of their volunteer jobs, Courtney Hawk was suddenly the last Bull standing.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time. She was working full time and finishing up a master’s degree. Then the pandemic hit, so she had a young child home all day.
“I had our Alumni Association staff liaison, Samantha Cleveland, who’s a big help, but as far as volunteer leaders, it was just me,” says Hawk, ’16 and MLA ’19, a member of the Sarasota-Manatee Alumni chapter. “I didn’t have the time, but I didn’t want to let anyone down.”
During the annual Alumni Academy in August, when chapter leaders gather (virtually in 2020) for workshops and awards, Hawk asked for help.
Delia Jourde, ’00 and MA ’07, quickly responded.
A volunteer with the Latino Alumni Society, she put together a communications and marketing strategy for revitalizing the Sarasota-Manatee group and attracting new leaders. Through the fall, she, Hawk and Cleveland, ’16, Life Member, re-established the chapter’s social media presence, surveyed local alumni, organized meetings.
“Now we’re absolutely kicking butt,” Hawk says. “We’ve got new leadership, new ideas, and a lot of events coming up.”
Jourde, who lives in Tampa and never attended USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus, says she helped because that’s what Bulls do.
“We’re all USF. The alumni groups are all good people in it for the greater good.”
Adds Hawk: “Not only were we using the skills USF gave us, we were uniting. We watch out for each other; we’re a Bull family.”
Hawk Jourde
- PENNY CARNATHAN ’82 | USFAA
