Sweet '16: Skidmore seniors find success
Nearly 600 members of the Class of 2016 are about to join Skidmore’s alumni network. Some students will begin their careers in their chosen industries, some will start postgraduate research in the sciences and other fields, and others will take time to see the world. No matter their paths, they leave Skidmore as engaged liberal learners, equipped with creative thought and ready to take on a new journey—like these six trailblazers:
Bennett Beutel
What sets this Texas-born varsity lacrosse player and management and business major
apart from the crowd is his passion for creating jewelry from personal sketches—a
passion he nurtured in Skidmore's art facilities. After graduation Beutel will be making jewelry for the NYC-based company Jet Set Candy, and in August he'll go overseas as the programme assistant for Skidmore's London FYE program.
Stella Langat
Stella Langat feels strongly about underwear. Langat grew up in Kenya, where she, like most women, couldn’t afford new, clean underwear. To change this, she founded Double Dee’s, Kenya’s first indigenous undergarment business, and has been taking the business world by storm. Among her credentials: first place in the Freirich Business Plan Competition in 2015, finalist status in the New York State Business Plan Competition, and second place at the Harvard Women in Business Innovation Competition.
Lisa Fierstein
In 2014 NPR’s Serial podcast made talk radio "cool" for a new generation of listeners. But for Fierstein, audio was always cool. She wrote her senior thesis on storytelling and American identity in NPR’s This American Life, hosted by Ira Glass. Now she has accepted a position with a Michigan NPR affiliate, producing audio and video documentaries and lending her musical background to a classical radio show. Not bad for a student who took her first Intro to Audio Documentary course just this year.
Elizabeth Worgan
Where else but Skidmore could a student plan a Star Wars-themed fashion show? Inspired at age 6 by Queen Amidala's wardrobe, Elizabeth Worgan took that fashion show to the next level and founded AllStolen Apparel during her junior year on campus.
She's currently designing a new collection, but this summer Worgan is taking time for herself, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.
Skye Elliott
The sky's the limit for this Liberty League All-Academic member of the men’s crew team. Elliott is the recipient of the 2016 Karsen Prize in Spanish and is a double major in physics and Spanish. At Skidmore, he fostered his passion
for astrophysics working collaboratively on research with faculty member Mary Odekon.
He will soon begin a Ph.D. program in aerospace engineering at Notre Dame.
Alexander Nassief
Since he was a teenager, Nassief wanted to make an impact on the economy of his native country, Dominica. His solution: founding Rum Dogs, Inc., a company that uses a patent-pending technique to reduce the time required to age a premium rum. After entering Skidmore's Freirich Business Plan Competition four years in a row, Nassief took home first place this year. He plans to expand Rum Dogs and help revitalize the Dominican economy.
Approximately 80% of Skidmore alumni are employed one year after graduation. Read more about alumni who have found success after Skidmore and see stats for the Class of 2015.
