Alumna Jessica Kubasak (BS ’03, BA ’05) skypes with a Loyola student she met through LUConnect, an online platform that allows students to seek career advice from alumni. SUPER CONNECTOR
A new online platform is helping students tap into one of Loyola’s greatest resources for career advice—our alumni • BY JENNY KUSTRA-QUINN
L
oyola senior Nikki Devens knew she wanted to pursue a career in law. But there are a lot of options within the field, and Devens wasn’t quite sure which area she wanted to focus on. Getting advice from practicing lawyers proved difficult, since most were too busy with their own workloads to make
time to talk to a college student. Then Devens discovered LUConnect, a growing online
platform that gave her access to a vast network of Loyola alumni willing to provide exactly the kind of perspective the aspiring lawyer was seeking. She ended up contacting six different lawyers—all Loyola alumni who had signed up with LUConnect. All were happy to have a conversation with a fel- low Loyolan looking to break into the legal profession.
Devens asked them what they wish they had done as
undergraduates to better prepare for law school, and she gained helpful insight on what life is like for law students and lawyers. When she talked to a lawyer who specializes in immigration justice, “a light bulb went off,” Devens says. “And I just knew this was what I wanted to do.” It has been her focus ever since. Most college students grapple with the same kinds of
life-changing questions—what their first step should be on the career path, whether to go to graduate school—and LUConnect is making it easier for students to navigate these questions with support and guidance from alums who have been there and done that. An easy-to-navigate website allows students to quickly find alumni who share their inter- ests and have already committed to helping students in the
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