Life After Bates
Life After Bates is a workshop series brought to you by Purposeful Work & the OIE. It is geared toward seniors, but open to students from all class years. These workshops aim to collaboratively engage with students about a variety of complex situations they may encounter outside of Bates. Our awareness of the challenges faced in life after Bates is constantly evolving, and we invite our campus community to contribute to our development of future workshops.
Workshops | 2023-2024
Taxes
Deadlines, deductions, and student loan credits? This inevitable element of adult life doesn’t have to be a mystery! This workshop was presented by Bates’ Dean Reese for students to learn how and when to file taxes.
Cooking and Groceries
What’s for Dinner? Meal Planning, Cooking Demo, and the Secrets of Eating Well on a Budget.
In this interactive workshop, Bates Dining’s cooking team shared how to plan, shop, and cook a week of delicious meals on a budget. There was also a cooking gadget give-away!
Budgeting & Personal Finance
This workshop, reviewed how to create a budget, manage money, and think about the financial aspects of life after college.
Unpacking the Job Offer
Unpacking the Job Offer, Benefits, Retirement and Wellness Programs
Did you know there’s more to a job offer than paycheck? Students heared from experts in the Bates Human Resources office to understand the elements of a job offer, benefits packages, and other perks that employers may provide.
Roommates and Rentals
Wondering what to expect or ask while looking for an apartment? How do you decide whether you will have roommates or not? Join us for a panel where Bates alumni share their experiences finding housing in Life after Bates.
Alumni Panelists:
Mary Corcoran ‘22, Sanika Shah ‘22, Ben Conner ‘22, Tyler Shambaugh ’23
Facilitated by: Lucy Del Col ’24
Past Workshops:
Financing
Budgeting and Personal Finance
Students learned how to create a budget, manage their money, and think about the financial aspects of life after college. This workshop was presented by Sam Abrahamson ’11, Bates grad and founder of onomy.co, a website with free, bite-sized video lessons that teach about personal finance, career readiness, and more.
Taxes
Deadlines, deductions, and student loan credits? Several mysteries of the tax process were reviewed with Bates’ Dean Reese as well as how and when to file your taxes.
How to Invest with Sam & Sam from Onomy
401k or 403b? Ethereum or Bitcoin? And who is IRA Roth, anyway? Investing 101 with Sam and Sam, co-founders of onomy.co (Here’s what onomy has to say about investing)
Credit Cards & Debt
Good and bad debt, good, better and best credit cards, and how to stay (or climb) out of debt with Lauren Thomas of the Credit Abuse Resistance Education network. (Read ahead: Here’s what onomy has to say about credit cards!)
Dan WIllsey ‘18, El Khansaa Khaddiou ‘20, Topher Castenada ‘20 talked about how they’ve created a budget to fit their lifestyles in the cities of Lewiston, Portland and NYC.
How to use credit wisely and avoid the debt debacle
Featured speakers from the Credit Abuse Resistance Education program:
Rich Goldman ’76, P’16, JD, Bankruptcy Attorney
Randy Creswell, JD, Shareholder, Perkins Thompson, P.A.
See the Fall 2016 presentation slides here. See the Spring 2016 video here.
Taxes How-To
Deadlines, deductions, and student loan credits? No reason to dread tax day any longer! Senior auditor Andrew Murry, CPA/MBA, spoke about who, how, and when to file your taxes.
Financing your 20s: Budgeting and Saving
Featured Experts:
Helen Andreoli, Bates ’92, VP of Wealth Management, UBS (Fall 2016)
George Carr, Bates ’07, VP and Portfolio Manager, RM Davis (Spring 2016)
Kelsey Gillespie, Community Marketing Manager, Casco Bay FCU (Spring 2016)
Nate Hull, Associate, Verill Dana and speaker, Credit Abuse Resistance Education (Spring 2016)Download tips from past speakers of Financing your 20s.
Residence & Social
Roommates and Renting
Wondering what to expect or ask while looking for an apartment? How do you decide whether you will have roommates or not? Students joined a conversation on planning and brainstorming strategies for renting and living with roommates.
Friends and Fun: Finding Community After Bates
We know, we know. You don’t want to think about it. But you’ve told us loud and clear that when it gets real, your biggest fear is how to make and keep friends after Bates. How does it work when you’re not 24/7 living and eating with hundreds of your peers and your best friends? We’ve got your back.
Renting in NYC and Beyond
Moving to a city after graduation? Learn about apartment shopping! This presentation offered great advice for thinking about working with landlords, finding an apartment, and affording what you find – using New York as the example for what to consider with any large city. Featuring NYC Realtor Lauren Carter from Cooper and Cooper Real Estate. Topics included: Neighborhoods & Subways, The Application Process, Paperwork Requirements, Income & Credit Guidelines and more. See slides here.
Life After Bates: How to Survive and Thrive
A frank talk with recent Bates grads about how they transitioned from life after Bates and share tips and tricks for students who will soon be in their shoes! Topics include: friendships, wellness, apartment living, work-life balance, and more!
How to Apartment
Featuring:
Vince Ciampi, Bates ’12, Broker, CBRE The Boulos Company
Hawley Strait, Bates ’00, Real Estate Attorney, Bernstein Shur
All you need to know about leases and contracts, rental insurance, finding the right place, communicating with landlords, getting your deposit back…See the event video here…
Career Steps and Benefits
Benefits and the Job Offer
Unpacking: Did you know there’s more to a job offer than paycheck and vacation days? Join us to hear from Bates experts who work on Benefits in the Human Resources office. Whether you have an offer for after graduation already, or you’ll be seeking in the future, join us to learn more!
Grad School 101
Interested in graduate school but not sure where to start? Come learn all about the application process and deadlines as well as how the Bates Center for Purposeful Work can help you with graduate school after you have graduated. This workshop will cover all different types of graduate school options, not just law and medical school.
Other LAB Events
Cooking and Groceries
Bates Dining’s Executive Chef Owen Keene led this hands-on demo of Life After Bates at the grocery store and in the kitchen! He demonstrated how to cook a couple of Commons favorites; reviewed smart and healthy shopping, prepping vegetables and meats, and shared recipes to take home.
First Generation Cat’ Chat
Join first-gen Bates alumni, as they share their first-generation stories, Bates experiences, and offer advice for entering the workforce. This discussion will be moderated by Charlene Holmes, Assistant Dean for First Generation Student Support.
Alumni: Afroz Baig ’11, Associate Attorney at McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP; Mike Hogan ’85, Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer CSIM at Charles Schwab; and Trustee Chris Barbin ’93, Venture Partner at GGV Capital, Entrepreneur & Advisor
Identity in the Workplace
Larry Handerhan ’05, President of the Alumni Association, and fellow panelists Kim Trauceniek (Student Life), Roy Montgomery (OIE) and Carolyn Starks (Admission), led a discussion about how, when, if… to be yourself in the workplace. Larry is the Chief of Staff for the D.C. Department of Human Services, previously worked at HUD for several years, and holds an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
Questions? Suggestions? Dri Huber, Marianne Cowan or Amy Jaffe