Free Drinks, Free Food, Free Advice Offered
By Robert Wear
Seniors have been gathering every Tuesday night to discuss life after Santa Clara. The Alumni Association has been organizing Life After SCU to help soon-to-be alumni get ready for the real world.
Each event, only open to seniors, offers free food and free beer or wine. So far, the series has been quite successful. Every event has been nearly full.
The topics thus far have included Living in the City, Living Healthy, and Personal Finance.
Scott Terrill, a graduating senior, has been to all of the events so far.
"The pizza and beer are the main reason I came in the first place, but since then I've found that this series has offered me a perspective into the real world that I hadn't considered before."
According to Alumni Director Taylor Thorn from the class of 2008, the RSVP and attendance numbers are almost twice what they were last year.
"The goal of the series," explained Thorn, "is two-fold: to present relevant topics that have significant importance upon graduation and to provide a space for graduating seniors to gather with one another, enjoy a glass of beer or wine, and engage in thoughtful conversation."
This week, Professor Frederick Parrella spoke about the theology of marriage.
This past Tuesday, Parrella talked about how marriage has evolved with modern society to become what it is today. Some of the topics he discussed included how life expectancy of the average human is much longer now, and therefore, there should be less pressure to marry at a young age.
He explained how modern society has changed the concept of marriage, detailing how it has become less sacred and more of a promise to one another than to God.
Another session revolved around personal finance, as Tony Nguyen from the finance department addressed students and their financial responsibilities. He advised how to manage your personal funds and how graduating students should prepare to live on their own.
According to Nguyen, the turnout was much higher than expected and the students were genuinely interested.
"It was evident that personal finance and investing are huge priorities for these students," said Nguyen.
He explained that it was good that students from every discipline attended because everybody makes financial decisions that impact their lives. These graduating seniors can make more informed decisions with some foundation of personal financial knowledge.
There are still three more events to come: Entertaining on a Budget, BBQ Basics and Wine Education. They provide an insight into what life is going to be like after graduation and ways to cope with it in unintimidating and manageable ways.
Contact Robert Wear at rwear@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.