VIDEO & PHOTOS: Nearly 350 student-athletes network with alumni, professionals at Averett's 'Scoring Big In Your Career' event

DANVILLE, Va. — Nearly 350 Averett University student-athletes were able to network with alumni, administration and leaders of the local community during the Department of Athletics’ “Scoring Big In Your Career” event held Sunday evening in the Grant Center. 

Averett student-athletes were given the opportunity to connect with professionals, ask questions and seek advice in a roundtable format. Each of the 32 tables included alumni — many of whom where student-athletes — as well as university administration and local business leaders. For more than an hour, student-athletes participating six-minute sessions at numerous tables, and then had the opportunity to mingle with any of the presenters, take a professional headshot and learn more about the resources offered by Averett’s Center for Community Engagement and Career Competitiveness (CCECC).

Senior Hannah Heath, a member of the softball team, said she liked being about to create relationships and get their insight from the professional world.

“Sunday’s event definitely gave me a better understanding of what employers look for in an employee and what to expect when I start interviewing for jobs,” Heath said.

Men’s soccer junior Alexander Soerensen also thought the event was helpful.

“An event like this helps us students understand what it’s like to be a professional amongst potential employers,” Soerensen said. “We are preparing for life after college, and their knowledge is helping us answer the questions we are trying to figure out.”

The fact that many of the presenters were Averett alumni was important, according to numerous student-athletes who attended.

“What I liked most was that it was mainly all alumni,” said senior Corey Baldwin, a member of the men’s basketball program. “You know when you first come in as a freshman and they talk about having a strong relationship with alumni, you may not really pay it any mind. But being a senior and actually seeing the proof of it all is amazing. It helped me because I got to hear real life advice from those who were once in my shoes. I got to hear the real talk and got to ask real questions that will help me in my life.”

Women’s volleyball freshman Brenda Light also enjoyed that she was able to speak with those who have been in her same shoes as an Averett student-athlete.

“We were all able to get feedback on the best ways to be successful in the future, as well as gain personal connections with those in our community,” Light said. “Having this opportunity was an amazing way of seeing what the outcomes are when working hard inside and outside of the classroom.”

Seeing that Averett athletics alumni have gone on to successful careers beyond their collegiate playing days was beneficial, and understanding the impact that Averett made in that process was something women’s basketball junior Talia Prosper felt was important.

“What I enjoyed the most was definitely seeing how Averett made an impact on alumni’s lives and provided a bridge to many graduates of all different classes,” Prosper said. “To see the vast amounts of fields and studies that these alumni have now reached after graduating from Averett has helped me see the potential that I have by simply being a student here.”

The “Scoring Big In Your Career” event was the fourth of its kind at Averett, but because of COVID-19, it hadn’t been held since 2018.

“One of the key pieces that I may have missed the most during COVID was getting people together and talking about live skills and career development,” said Meg Stevens, Averett vice president, director of athletics and campus operations. “As student-athletes, so many times we talk about academics and athletics, but really it is about getting them into a career that they love. I’m so thankful that so many of our alumni, local business owners and Board of Trustees came back to spend a Sunday evening with our students and helped them think about their careers.

“I’m impressed on both sides. Obviously, I’m a really proud athletics director in terms of our current students. They are asking really good questions, they’re engaged, they’re shaking hands, they’re making eye contact and they’re learning how to interact. I’m also equally as impressed with our presenters and our alumni who sat at these tables six or seven years ago as part of this event and are now here teaching the next generation. When we’ve talked about Averett as ‘One Team, One Family’ this is truly part of that. You don’t stop being part of the family. There is that connection and we are seeing that.”

Among the alumni who returned was Taylor Dix Paschal ’16, a softball alumna who was recently inducted into the Averett Athletics Hall of Fame.

“I remember doing this when I was a student here, and I remember getting a lot of helpful tips when leaving Averett and going into the working world and a career,” Paschal said. “It’s really cool to come back and see students asking those same questions and what to expect.”

Paschal, who is now an athletics director at Clover Garden School, said her advice included not being scared to apply for jobs even if you don’t check all of the qualification boxes and to be able to sell yourself and your skills when applying.

“I remember being in their shoes and knowing what I wanted to do but not knowing how to get there,” said Dr. Samm Chandler ’18, Averett women’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer is a doctor of osteopathic medicine and pediatric resident at Greenville Memorial Hospital. “To have those people back then to look up to was awesome, and to now be that person that other kids here can potentially look up to was really rewarding. I talked to them about how being a student-athlete has helped me in life. I think it really prepares you and you don’t even realize it when you are a student-athlete. The time management skills, the leadership skills — all that carries over no matter what you want to do in life.”

Football junior Jonathan Thomas said it was extremely helpful to meet people with a broad amount of experience in various fields. 

“It was also very interesting hearing their stories of how they got to where they are today,” Thomas said.

Jalen Burnett ’19, who was a member of the men’s basketball program while at Averett, said many student-athletes asked him what to do if they don’t have something lined up immediately after graduation.

“I told them that I was in the same boat and it ended up being one of those ‘who I knew’ situations,” said Burnett, who is a travel basketball organization founder, a food broker and a screen printer. “I was really emphasizing networking and building connections with people as you go along in life. That’s how I got in the career that I’m in now. I told them to stay focused and don’t give up. If you don’t get that job you want right then and there after you graduate, you have to keep pushing. It’s going to come, even if you may have to take a different route.”

Taking a different path was something Jon Walker ’10, a former Averett baseball player and assistant coach, talked about to his table throughout the night. Walker was a physical education major but is now doing completely different from what he studied in school. Walker is a local business owner with ventures in athletics training, real estate and a restaurant.

“Going into business for yourself is very exciting, so that’s probably why a lot of people wanted to talk to me,” Walker said. “They see that I’m an entrepreneur and there were a lot of kids here tonight that were very eager to learn and make something of themselves. I heard a lot of questions asking about how I got started and what made me successful and what advice would I give. What I told a lot of them was that I think being attentive to detail, managing your time, setting a standard of how you want your business to be run and finding the staff to execute that properly is what will make your business successful.”

Walker was one of many presenters who stayed beyond the end of the event to answer additional questions.

“I liked how we got the opportunity to talk to so many great people,” said Jake Braun, a sophomore on the baseball team. “Getting the chance to sit down and have a conversation gave me the opportunity to ask questions and learn about business opportunities as well as experiences.”

Women’s soccer alumna Katie Abelseth ’16 enjoyed how engaged the current student-athletes were during the event.

“I think this is a great event,” she said. “I think it really exposes student-athletes to different career paths. Some are maybe a little bit interested, but until they come and really speak to someone who is in the field, they may not know what it entails or what the job actually is. This gives them the opportunity to get to know and open the door to different ideas and pathways to that.”

Averett hosted “Scoring Big In Your Career” also in 2015, 2016 and 2018 as part of its student-athlete programming to help develop Cougars on and off the field of play.

“I’m very happy with the turnout of the event,” said Emma Olsson, Averett athletics’ program coordinator. “We had more student-athletes than we’ve ever had before and more tables. We had some returning alumni who were students themselves when we held this even in 2015, 2016 or 2018. That was really neat to see that circle of coming back. We have been excited about the growth of the event and we continue to talk about how we can make it bigger and better each time. I’m excited to see what we can do with it in the future.”