Giving Day 2021- Drew Parent

Virginia texts, one of the more renowned geology programs in North America. So you know, the Houston along take a lot of pride in in giving back and due to their generosity and in continued support of our department. They, they essentially fun a few graduate students every year to go down to Houston network, get to interview with companies, present their research. And so thanks to the donations from our alumni, were able to get down to Houston pretty painlessly. The department and the College of Science really take care of the logistics and put together a really awesome schedule where we get to meet all of these geoscientist that at 1 or another, whether it's for undergraduate or one of their graduate or both of their graduate degrees. Went through our department here at Virginia Tech and are really at all stages of their career. So early career Geo scientists all the way through, through people that have just most recently retired. So really, really invaluable experience not just to network with companies, but even more so to kind of build a network of just VT geoscience alum's and get advice on a more personal level. You had that connection of both being from our department from Virginia Tech. And so you just kinda feel a more sort of intimate connection with the alum's, with these professionals. And really the the time down, any advice that you get is, is, like I said, it's a value, a nice sit down dinner with about 15 to 20 alumni. And that one really ranging from early career former classmates of mine all the way up through through through folks who had just retired. And so that was about a two or three hour dinner where we were able to exchange our experiences getting to Virginia Tech, being at Virginia Tech and then hearing all of the stories of, of, of these folks who come from different parts of the country, different parts of the world, made their way into Virginia Tech, got their education and we're able to get to Houston in kickstart. Yeah.