At Westminster, getting involved made all the difference for Alyjah. From hosting the Skinny on Westminny to playing on the volleyball team to competing with the Speech and Debate team, she made the most of every opportunity on campus. Those experiences helped her build the confidence, leadership, and professional skills that launched her career as a Treasury Analyst at Propelis—proving that saying "yes" to involvement at Westminster can open doors in ways you might never expect.

You're from New Hampshire—how did you find Westminster? 

It was a long process, but to quickly summarize: both my parents and two older sisters attended Grove City College, so I was already familiar with the area around the college. But when I toured both schools, I loved Westminster's campus and could see myself as a student here, and that's what made me realize it was the right place for me. 

Do you remember what you were looking for in a college at the time? 

Something my mom said to me while I was college-searching really stuck out to me: "You can be a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a big pond." And after visiting the campus, I decided I wanted to be a big fish. I wanted that smaller, tight-knit community in my college experience, and Westminster also offered me some great scholarships, which made me realize this choice was the clear winner. 

It's easier to get involved here, even though we're small, because you get to know the community better. At a bigger school, there might be tons of clubs and activities, but you might not necessarily know about most of them because you don't run into the people involved in them daily. Here, we have people who are passionate about certain things and want to bring those passions to life. And eventually, you'll cross paths with them, learn about the club/organization, and want to get involved too. Because we are such a close community, you'll notice it's even easier than you'd think to get involved because you have the support coming from every direction you look in between our faculty, staff, peers, mentors, and everyone in between. 

What were you involved in during your time as a student here? 

I was a four-year student-athlete on the volleyball team, the Vice President and eventually the President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a member and then the President of the Westminster Entrepreneurship Center (WEC), a competitor on the Speech and Debate Team which led to holding a position as Historian, a student-worker for the Westminster College Marketing Department as the 'Skinny on Westminny' host, a general member of the Campus Programming Council (CPC), and the Secretary of the Rotaract Club. 

You come to college knowing some things about yourself, like your passions, but once you get here, you start learning more about what you love and what you enjoy. I planned to focus on volleyball because that was my passion in high school, but after my freshman year, I realized I had more to give past that. I found myself interested in doing more, and it's amazing that Westminster offered me that opportunity. 

How did you manage all of that as a full-time student? 

Time management is so important. It's easy to find yourself with a lot on your plate, so you have to decide for yourself what the most important things are and move forward in those involvements. But you'll start to realize, the more involved you get, that you need to prioritize the things you're most willing to dedicate your time to, and eventually you'll find yourself making them a priority and weaving them into your time management schedule without even realizing it. 

What kind of travel opportunities did you take advantage of? 

I've gotten to travel to Arizona through Speech and Debate, where we got to compete in the national tournament, and I also had the chance to go to Greece for two and a half weeks through the Honors Program, which was the coolest experience I've ever had!

Where do you work now? 

I work at Propelis, a newly merged entity of SGS and SGK, as a Treasury Analyst. Propelis is an international marketing and packaging company that works with almost all major brands (e.g., Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Target, etc.). I keep track of the company's daily cash flow, accounts receivable aging reports, and intercompany loans, and I report this data, usually in a graph, to the company's higher financial officers. 

Do you feel like Westminster prepared you for your current job? 

In so many ways, yes. The Westminster Entrepreneurship Center (WEC) gave me, and every other student involved, a mentor—someone in the real world who shared their resume expertise and networking opportunities with us—which helped me land three internships as a student. And it helps that there are so many organizations and people on campus who want to build you holistically into a well-rounded person, not just a college student. 

Westminster has done an incredible job at preparing me for interviews and teaching me workplace etiquette. In fact, I was fortunate to have met my current boss at a Westminster College Philanthropy Dinner, where I was invited to represent my class as the student speaker. I impressed him at the event with my speech and through my extracurricular activities and academic achievements on my resume, and he offered me the position on his team!

I'm constantly applying what I learned at my job today from the Business courses I took, including Finance, Accounting, Data Analytics, and MIS. The takeaways from those courses are imperative to my ability to perform my job. 

What advice would you give to a high school student who is considering Westminster? 

I would say to give it a chance. I didn't necessarily think Westminster was right for me at first, given where I'm from and where my parents went to college, but the second I set foot on campus, I knew it was right. Give yourself the room to make that decision after you visit, meet some of the faculty and students, and experience what your life could really look like here. You might surprise yourself when you discover what you really want from a second home. Choosing a college is already a hard decision, but it does really shape you, and I couldn't be more grateful that I chose to be a big fish in a small pond! 

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