On February 22, 2017, the Aviation Alumni Society participated in Dinner for 12 Buckeyes.
Dinner for 12 Buckeyes is a program that brings together students and alumni in specific fields over dinner, held at the Longaberger Alumni House on OSU Campus. These dinners enable undergraduate students to meet with alumni who have similar fields of study and interests. Alumni have the opportunity to share their knowledge and insight into their fields, thereby aiding students’ college and professional careers.
The event was held at the Longaberger Alumni House where 16 Clubs/Society's were represented. The AAS had a a table for 8. AAS Board of Governors Scott van Ooyen and David Sands were joined by alumni Kim Madaris(AA Airlines), Lisa Swarthzwelder(L Brands Flt Dept) and Kimberly Peplow (Flight Safety Columbus).
3 students: Lauren Tamilia, Anna Jennings and Yasmine AbuArab.
Everyone gathered in the lobby area for meet and greets for 30 mins. They then went into the dining area and sat at each society's respective tables. A introduction from the OSUAA coordinator who accounced what groups were present. Some included all three ROTC Society's, Pharmacy, and Medicine. The event started at 6:00pm and ended around 8:30pm.
After that, the tables were excused for the buffet dinner (Build your own macaroni/cheese bar). A very popular food buffet for the students at Ohio State.
Scott spearheaded the conversations with introductions, backgrounds for everyone, and had the three students talk about themselves and how they found OSU Aviation. Throughout the dinner the alumni offered advice, road blocks for females entering the aviation community, how to monitor their social media input, career advice, and a host of other things to expect coming through college and post graduation.
This was a very unscripted venue and it worked extremely well. Everyone had great input and the alumni all stressed to the collegians to stay in touch with all of them and Aviation Alumni Society.
Dinner for 12 Buckeyes will become a regular event for the Aviation Alumni Society. It helps the alumni connect immediately with the students in an informal setting and immediate mentoring has developed.