In 2018, the College celebrates 20 years of the Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts, a groundbreaking undergraduate curriculum that has influenced the direction of college education throughout the United States.
But, more importantly, has the Wagner Plan influenced Wagner students? Starting with the class of 2002, Wagner students have spent their college years engaged in interdisciplinary learning communities and real-world problem-solving. What difference has this educational approach made in their lives?
I have started to reach out to that group of alumni and gather their stories. A full report is planned for the fall 2018 issue of Wagner Magazine. (If you graduated any year from 2002 to 2018 and would like to share your story, please email me.)
Here, I’ll give you a preview of what I’m hearing from them.
In 2007, Wagner Magazine featured four seniors, asking them to reflect on their educational experiences.
One of them was Molly Judge ’07, an English major and journalism minor from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In 2007, she told us, “The thrill of being an English major is that, although many people presume I would want to teach, I have no intention of teaching at all, but rather the door is wide open. I can venture into public relations, journalism, media, and even law school. The possibilities are endless!”
Her first job was as an account coordinator for Coyne Public Relations in Manhattan.
Today, she oversees project management for Lytx Inc. in San Diego, using the cutting-edge technology of video telematics to promote safety in transportation. She is married to Steve Dixon ’06, a Marine Corps pilot, and they have two daughters, Charlotte and Nina.
After working in public relations and marketing, Molly Dixon (as she’s now known) decided to try project management about eight years ago. The communications and people skills she honed at Wagner, starting in her First-Year Learning Community, are key to her success in this field, she says.
“I didn’t know at the time I entered college what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t one hundred percent sure when I left college, either,” she says. “I just knew what I was capable of and what my skill sets were, and I wanted to find something that would leverage those.”
Well-prepared by the Wagner Plan, and assisted by the Wagner alumni network, she has found a niche where she feels happy and fulfilled.
— Laura Barlament, Editor, Wagner Magazine
