Earlier Monday afternoon in the Longwood University Barnes & Noble bookstore, the Academic Career and Advising Centerand the Office of Annual Giving and Balfour set up tables and program information for the Commencement Fair, organized to allow graduating seniors to be aware of the available opportunities offered before the transition into the real world job market.
Balfour, a company that offers personalized handcrafted class rings and announcements for high school and college students, was available for students to order their Longwood class rings that are meant to "celebrate your academic achievement," as stated on the Balfour website.
On flyers handed out to students who attended the event, it stated, "Each ring symbolically captures the essence of Longwood, featuring the University seal. The seal depicts the Rotunda, Longwood's signature building, which was destroyed by fire on April 24, 2001." Only Longwood students who have completed at least 56 credit hours and achieved junior or senior year standing are eligible to order a class ring.
Entitled, "The Longwood Ring Tradition," each class ring also offers personalized engraving of each recipient's name or initials, up to 18 characters.
In a letter to students printed on each Balfour flyer, Nancy Shelton, director of alumni relations, commented on the importance of the class ring, saying, "Our ring evokes special memories of Longwood places, occasions and traditions -- the Rotunda, Brock Commons, honor code signing, graduation, strong friendships and the unique Longwood spirit. The ring is a symbolic reminder of Longwood and a link with other graduates."
Dianna D'Angelo, territory associate for the state of Virginia for Balfour, commented on the popularity of class rings and announcements, saying, "It's sort of like a celebration for them that it's time for them to graduate."
Adding on how important her own class ring was to her when she graduated from high school, D'Angelo said, "It was like a representation of what I had worked for and achieved."
Speaking for the Academic Career and Advising Center, Sarah Hobgood, assistant director, attended the event to offer information on future workshops, job fairs and information on graduate schools available to Longwood students.
Hobgood commented that the most common problem seniors haveis not giving themselves enough time to job search, saying, "You get really busy with the end of your semester and finishing out classes [so] it's hard to think about job searching. It kind of gets easy to push that aside."
"So, if they start earlier to better prepare themselves, [they] give themselves more times to look. It does take a good while to find a job. We often say, 'Finding a job is like a full-time job.' You've got to devote time to applying for opportunities, getting resumes together, following up on applications, interviewing. So, it's good to start early," said Hobgood.
Hobgood said how beneficial it is for seniors to achieve an internship before graduating, saying how positive it is that Longwood requires internships to be able to "leave here with some type of experience on their resume, but also any other work experience that you have."
She added that, "There're a lot of transferable skills you gain just from being involved in organizations or doing stuff in the community that's teamwork. It's communication. It's being able to take tasks and do them on your own. So, employers really value … those skills."
Kelly Rhoades, assistant director of annual giving, provided information for the Senior Challenge Campaign. She said, "The senior challenge is where we ask seniors to give back to Longwood before they graduate, and we have different giving levels. You can give $5 and get an honor message in the commencement program. And then if you give $10, you can get the honor message and koozie. But if you give $12 in commemoration of your graduation year, you get those two things plus an honor cord for graduation."
The honor cord offered to students who contribute $12 or more is decorated with the Longwood's school colors, blue and white, and also offers an extra color, red, to represent the red class. Next year, Rhoades informed, the extra added color will be green to denote the green class.
Rhoades also informed of additional contributive opportunities offered to students such as Philanthropy Week during the week of March 19, following Spring Break.
Free and open to the public, below are the events organized during Philanthropy Week:
"Spirit Day Photo Booth"
Monday, March 19 in Lankford Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Come show your Lancer Spirit and get a photo taken with Elwood!
"Change for Longwood"
Tuesday, March 20 in Lankford Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Come take a look at what past students have done for Longwood!
"Props for Profs"
Wednesday, March 21 in Dorrill Dining Hall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Send your favorite Longwood faculty/staff member props!
"Show Your Spirit"
Thursday, March 22 in Lankford Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Show your Longwood spirit by making your own Rotunda cookie!
Also, if interested in learning more information on job fairs and workshops hosted by the Academic Career and Advising Center, go online to www.longwood.edu/career. Also, if interested in ordering your class ring or announcements, go online to www.balfour.com.
