Advice to graduating seniors: Stay involved in the ESU community

By Joseph Fite
ESU Alumnus

In less than two weeks, Penn State football coach and 1995 East Stroudsburg University graduate James Franklin will be standing on a stage at this year’s commencement, imparting words of wisdom to those of you who have made the effort to earn a degree and are standing on the doorstep of the rest of your lives.

Coach Franklin is one of tens of thousands of folks who have stood where you are standing right now.

When given the signal, they all moved their tassels from one side of their mortarboards to the other and with dreams and hopes in their hearts, they became alumni of East Stroudsburg Normal School, East Stroudsburg State Teachers College, East Stroudsburg State College and East Stroudsburg University.

This has been going on since 1893 and will hopefully continue for many years to come.

There have been countless memories made over those years and the East Stroudsburg University Alumni Association is here to help keep those memories alive.

During your years in the Poconos, the Alumni Association Board of Directors has been a presence on campus whether you saw us or not.

Whether it was one of us giving you a helping hand moving into your room at the start of a new school year, manning a table with giveaways during the Homecoming Football game, helping celebrate when students received well deserved scholarships or running a golf tournament to help fund those scholarships, we were there.

Perhaps you were present in a class or event when an alumnus came to campus to talk about what life in the real world of working every day was all about.

And we will continue to be there for you as an alumnus.

Through alumni engagement coordinated by Brooke Donovan and Abby Behrends at the Henry A. Ahnert Jr. Alumni Center, we help you stay in touch with classmates and friends through reunions in various areas of the country, the Homecoming tailgate and football game, help with career development and various discounts and benefits as a member of Warrior Nation.

So now with diploma almost in hand, please consider becoming an active alumnus and perhaps even serving as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

We always welcome new blood with new ideas.

When you receive a zipper pull from an alumnus before commencement practice, think about us and how you can remain an active, thriving member of the university community.

You are one of us now. Best of luck with the rest of your life.

Email Joseph at:
fitey@verizon.net