We talked to four faculty and staff members about their first jobs, advice to new grads and what they’ve learned since graduating.
Becky Klein-Hunke ’99L, ’09A
Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs
What advice would you give to students graduating today? Do you have special insight as someone who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Doane?
My advice to new grads is not to get down when you can't find the perfect job right out of school, or any job in your area. This is a tough economy, so apply and interview for lots of jobs, just the experience of interviewing will be good for you. You shouldn’t stop looking for something related to what you studied, but you shouldn’t discount opportunities because they don’t meet everything you want.
And as a mom of a Doane alum, how can parents, family and friends continue to support their Doane graduate after today?
The mom of three Doane alums, plus my husband and I are alums, I call us the 5 for 5 Hunke's!
Use the Doane resources/connections out of school. Sometimes it is not what you know, but who. Keep in touch with the alumni office and the CLS [Career, Leadership and Service] office for opportunities. Come back for Homecoming and graduation. Keep in touch with your college friends; those are special relationships.
What was your first job out of college?
My parents owned a Dairy Queen and I ran it for them before and after I graduated. I finished my degree as a non-traditional student. I got married, had my first son and it was just easier to go to school at night. I spend many hours on our Lincoln campus so both campuses hold a special place in my heart.
What surprised you about life after college?
Nothing amazing happens when you get that diploma but the self-satisfaction of knowing the hard work you put into your education. Everyone should be proud of themselves, no matter the degree level. It's what you do with that degree/knowledge that makes your life after college. We gave you the tools; now go out and do good things.
What’s a memory you have of this graduating class?
There are great kids in this class. Every year I say that I cannot believe they are graduating already. It seems like Fall 2022 was just yesterday. I am still close with my LAR 101 class from Fall 2022.
How do you think your Doane degrees have helped you in your career?
Doane challenged you to grow and learn, the ability to respect and emphasize with others different from you, and that your degree encompasses more than what you faced in the classroom alone. You built an identity here, and you have a toolkit to do the same as you get older.
Karla Cooper
Assistant Professor of Practice & Chaplain/Coordinator of Service Programs
What advice would you give to students graduating today?
This is salient advice that my mother shared with me that I didn't quite fully understand until years later and I share this wisdom with you: don't be afraid of yourself. In other words, believe in the gifts and talents that are yours. Nothing beats a failure but a try. Don't shrink to make others comfortable, don't over inflate your ego because of insecurities. We are all on a journey as works in progress, stay nimble and flexible because rigidity is when we break. And if we break, use the brokenness to mend to start again. Do something you love and you will never work a day! Stay present rather than projecting to the next because you might just miss the blessing that is right before you!
What was your first job/internship out of college?
I moved back home because I needed a quick reset after losing one of my high school friends to a tragic car accident. I really wanted to figure out what I was supposed to do. This was the first time that I experienced the death of a peer and it was really transformative. So rather than going to graduate school, (I had been given two grad assistantship opportunities at the University of Iowa as well as LSU) but I needed a brain break. The first six months post collegiate graduation, I babysat my sister's fraternal twins! I suppose my first career experience, (I wouldn't call it a job because it was so much fun!) was working at KBOA/KTMO country radio station writing commercials and as an account executive! I loved every minute. I suppose the next experience that impacted/informed my public service trajectory was working with the Sisters of Charity as a paid mentor to pregnant and parenting teens. We receive national attention for the work from Harvard JFK School and Government and the Ford Foundation.
What surprised you about life after college?
To my surprise, life after college is exactly what you make it to be. You are the captain of your soul and destiny, navigating the seas of wherever you find yourself realizing this is exactly where you are supposed to be in that moment. The phrase "adulting" wasn't in the lexicon when I graduated more than 30 years ago, but it certainly makes sense today.
What’s a memory you have of this graduating class?
For those that I have had the pleasure of teaching, thank you for educating me in so many nuanced ways. You have made it through some pretty tough times and your resilience, compassion and ethic of care is just what is needed to imagine a better world.
Phil Weitl
Professor
What advice would you give to students graduating today?
Don't worry about the next fifty years; focus on the next step. I received this advice myself from a mentor nearly 25 years ago, and still today I find myself paying it forward with new generations of students. Robert Frost writes in "The Road Not Taken" that "way leads on to way," which is to say the future will take care of itself as long as you take care to give yourself fully to each opportunity that presents itself.
What was your first job/internship out of college?
As a senior in college, I worked as an intern on the Mike Johanns for Governor primary campaign in 1998. It went well enough that he offered me a job on the general campaign after I graduated, so I spent that first summer and fall working as a field operative on the campaign, traveling the state, walking in parades, passing out stickers, putting up yard signs, and more. We were fortunate to win the election in November of that year, and soon after I was hired as the governor's speechwriter and deputy press secretary.
What surprised you about life after college?
Time. You have time. Your life is not a story but a long novel filled with chapters, each of which will feel like the biggest and most important story of your life. Until the next one.
What’s a memory you have of this graduating class?
I will remember this senior class for their courage and creativity. Doane is a different place than it was four years ago. There are obvious examples of this evolution that anyone can see, but I will remember this senior class for inspiring my colleagues and I in the English Department to look forward in ways that will benefit students for years to come. This senior class was always ready with insightful questions, always curious, always ready to experiment with ideas. They came along with us as we started to ask new and bigger questions, like why do stories matter in the age of AI? The answer we discovered together is that to know how stories work on the page is to know why stories matter beyond it. More simply, to know how to write is to know how to live.
Felicia Nofuente
Assistant Professor of Practice
What advice would you give to them [students] on the day-of [commencement]? What should they know?
Today I did meet with one of my students and my advice was to get involved. Find what you're passionate in, because learning doesn't end when you graduate, it keeps going.
Do you remember your first job?
I started off as a para. When it comes to education, you don't know until you're in it. And you don't know until you're in elementary school or middle school or high school to understand how the systems work. So I started off as a para and an internship there, and then after graduating, I was a high school social studies teacher then went straight into subbing, which was really fun, because you get to see different things and get to see students in a different way. And then after I got my graduate degree, went into school counseling, which is where I fell into my passion.
When did you discover that pivot to counseling that you wanted to do?
As a classroom teacher, I had a lot of students disclose things with me. As a classroom teacher, you're limited to what you can do. [...] If the student has suicidal intention, or if they are having eating disorder, or if their parents are divorcing, or they're going through a tough time, there's only so much you can do as classroom teacher, but as counselor [...] you have more power to support them outside the classroom.
I think that's where my pivot was. Initially, before education, I wanted to get into law. It was a good meshing of social work and human services and then education. School counseling was the sweet spot where I could support them with a community and be a bridge.
