Wheaton News

These seniors already know what comes next

“What are you going to do when you graduate?”

It’s a question that wearies and worries every college senior, if only because it comes up so often—in conversations with family members, friends and even casual acquaintances.

We asked anyway.

In talking with members of the Class of 2025, we heard about plans for graduate school, summer jobs and full-time positions in technology, business, education and finance, to name a few.

Here are their stories.

Jack Board, an economics major from Westborough, Mass., will be taking on the role of customer relationship advocate at Fidelity Investments.

“I’ve known ever since I can remember that I wanted to be involved in the finance world. Growing up, I was always enamored with the stock market and its functions.”

Asked to name some his favorite courses, Board mentioned a half dozen classes before spotlighting “Investments” fir providing a thorough introduction to portfolio management as well as some of the more complex equations used in evaluating investments.

“It often felt as if I was trying to piece together a puzzle when, for example, finding portfolio variances or the correct weight of each asset for particular risk levels, which made every problem slightly different and it was incredibly rewarding to arrive at the right solution,” he said.

Beyond classes, the member of the men’s lacrosse team said that he also learned a great deal as an economics teaching assistant and as a Wheaton Athletics Mentor.

“These experiences reshaped the way I view learning. I came to realize that everyone learns differently,” he said. “I believe this will be extremely helpful in my career when working with coworkers and clients, allowing me to step back, reevaluate my approach and better adapt to different learning and communication styles.”

Eliana Goodman, a business and management major with a concentration in human resource management and diversity and inclusion in organizations, will be working as a disability education specialist at New Hope in Attleboro, Mass.

The position reflects Goodman’s interest in work that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion. She discovered her desire to work in that field while studying abroad in Valparaíso, Chilé.

“I realized how much I really enjoyed interacting with other cultures,” said Goodman, who is from Scarborough, Maine. “At the same time, it gave me an understanding of what it feels like to be an outsider and that got me interested in making sure that everyone feels included and treated fairly in their workplace.”

An Eliza Wheaton Scholar who graduated with honors, Goodman said her time in Chilé was exceptionally enriching. “It was really valuable in every way. I had a wonderful host mother who I stayed with. I took my classes at a Chilean university so I really got a sense of immersion that helped me so much with my Spanish skills.”

When she returned, Goodman tested her interest with several internships, including in the diversity program operated by the convenience store chain Wawa. “I’ve had a really full experience in internships while I was at Wheaton, and I’m so appreciative to the Life and Career Design Institute as a resource for helping me,” Goodman said.

Delia Knox, a biology major with a minor in animal behavior and a pre-health concentration in veterinary medicine, will be studying at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Ohio State University.

“Wheaton has a lot of valuable resources and faculty who have helped to prepare me for vet school,” said Knox, who expressed appreciation to Professors Hilary Gaudet and Laura Ekstrom for coaching her through the application process as well as for other learning and research opportunities that they offered.

A member of the field hockey team and a Wheaton Athletic Mentor, Knox also enjoyed venturing beyond the sciences.

“Because of the Compass Curriculum, I took a variety of classes outside of my major,” Knox said, citing World Music Eurasia and Religion and Sexuality as her favorites. “For World Music I had the opportunity to make a website about a music movement that I’m passionate about, for which I chose Riot Grrrl Music, and I had so much fun.”

“I’ve had a lot of really fun experiences and internships, but one of the best was my time volunteering at Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary,” said Knox, an Eliza Wheaton Scholar who graduated with highest honors. “I had the opportunity to build connections with the other volunteers and the animals (especially the goats!), which was not only a great experience for applying to veterinary school, but just a wonderful opportunity that I had a lot of fun doing.”

Jacob Knox, a double major in American history and secondary education, will be working and studying at the same time.

The Cumberland, R.I., native earned entry to a program that will cover his tuition in pursuit of a master’s in secondary education at Providence College while he teaches at a local Catholic school. He will be teaching middle school social studies in North Attleboro.

“I had several teachers that helped me become a more motivated and successful student,” he said. “I would like to help students who struggle in school come to view it as a place where they can develop both academically and socially.”

Knox credited Wheaton and faculty in the humanities with helping him feel prepared to handle a new job and graduate school simultaneously.

“Without a doubt the class that has helped me prepare me the most for my career in education was my spring student teaching,” said Knox who spent more than 440 hours planning and teaching eighth grade civics.

He also will draw on many other courses. “In particular, the Junior Colloquium with Professor Bezis-Selfa taught me how to write more purposefully,” he said. “Without a question, the history major at Wheaton has transformed my writing skills and I feel confident that I can tackle any assignment that graduate school throws at me.”

Darin Johnson-Sweet, a biochemistry major with a pre-health concentration in optometry and a minor in psychology, will be pursuing a doctorate in optometry at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

“This career appeals to me as there are so many areas of optometry to explore, and I am especially interested in low vision rehabilitation and ocular diseases,” said Johnson-Sweet, an Eliza Wheaton Scholar who graduated with highest honors. “It is also a very flexible career and optometrists are in high demand.”

The experience of serving as a research assistant to an optometrist and ophthalmologist while studying abroad confirmed his decision, he said. “This experience really allowed me to discover and explore all the options I had for a career in vision science and healthcare, and after thinking and reflecting for a semester, I decided that I was really passionate about optometry.”

He credited Wheaton with helping him feel well prepared for optometry school, through his coursework and internships as well as his on-campus job in the Admission Office.

“I have been able to improve my communication and public speaking skills through interacting with prospective students and their families. These skills are essential when seeing patients in a healthcare setting,” he said.

Josephine Mortrud, a psychology major from Cottage Grove, Minn., will be providing care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities as a member of the direct care staff of Attleboro Enterprises.

The position grows out of a connection that Mortrud made with the organization while taking an education course with a fieldwork component during her first year at Wheaton. That experience morphed into several new opportunities, including helping to launch a new program that serves adults with autism.

While Mortrud took plenty of education and psychology courses, she also found an abundance of food for thought outside the major, particularly the religion class, Smells and Bells: The Sensual Dimension of Religions.

”In that class, the main work you’re doing throughout the semester is writing blog posts reflecting on different sensory experiences and how they connect to the course readings, and to your lives,” she said. “I think every one of my blog posts reference my work at Attleboro Enterprises. So that was a really valuable experience.”

Hazel Salazar, a computer science major from Storrs Mansfield, Conn., landed a position as a commercial business development representative for Memfault, a cloud-based platform for tech developers.

“I have been fascinated by technology from a young age. I loved the challenge of taking things apart, and trying to put them back together again,” said Salazar, an Eliza Wheaton Scholar and a Global Scholar who graduated with honors. “I became especially determined when I entered high school, and found myself as one of very few women interested in technology and computers.”

Salazar said the coursework in computer science and in business and management proved fascinating and challenging. But she also relished electives, such as the philosophy course Capitalism and Social Pathology that she took during her senior year.

“I have always had an underlying interest in thinking beyond what is set in front of me, and thinking further on what it means to be a human being,” she said. “This class, though it required a lot of skills I am unfamiliar with, and was emotionally taxing at times, expanded my perspective of the world and myself in amazing ways.”

Overall, she said, “Wheaton has helped me in a multitude of ways. … And every professor I have spoken to has offered their continued support, and provided contact information to stay in touch, which I feel, truly highlights the unique opportunity students have at Wheaton for attention and assistance, every step of the way.”

Ellie Thomas, a business and management major with a concentration in finance and business analytics, will be starting her career as a financial advisor at Prudential Advisors.

The position builds on an internship that the Oak Bluffs, Mass., native held while spending a semester with the Semester in the City program.

“I worked at a sustainable investment firm, which solidified for me that I do want to work in finance,” said Thomas, an Eliza Wheaton Scholar. “I’m not sure if I want to specialize in sustainable investments, but I’m sure that I want to be in that type of environment.”

In addition to investment classes, Thomas said that she believes the course she took in Organizational Behavior will be very helpful. “Understanding how a company functions and being able to analyze its culture is so important,” she said. “Along with the investment courses, I think those give me a strong foundation.”

Outside of class, Thomas said the four years she spent dancing with Trybe shaped her experience. “I’m going to miss dancing with Trybe, having that community with people who know how you move and also know who you are.”

Jackson Walsh, who is the first student to complete Wheaton’s new digital media and communications major, has been named the director of broadcasting and media for the Sanford Mainers baseball team.

A right-handed pitcher for the Wheaton Lyons baseball team, Walsh said the position will allow him to return to the team for which he played during the summer of 2024. “I’m ecstatic to have an opportunity to join the Mainers again,” he said.

“I started doing broadcasting during COVID in high school and luckily there were no student broadcasters at Wheaton so I had the opportunity to call a lot of games,” he said. “I fell in love with the industry because of the passion and detail broadcasters need to narrate a game effectively.”

The Cumberland, R.I., resident spent a good deal of time as an undergraduate honing the craft, calling games for online broadcasts of fall and winter Wheaton athletic contests. Combined with his coursework, Walsh said he’s ready for the challenge.

At the same time, Walsh knows that he will miss campus life.

“After graduation I will miss the tight-knit community that Wheaton features. When walking across campus, I felt like I would stop and say ‘hi’ to almost everyone,” he said. “I was looking for a small school with a good baseball program, and I found the perfect place.”