Eliot Circular

Class of ’14 Begins Quest for World Domination

By Randall S. Barton
Class of '14 Six Months Later

Snapshot of the class of ’14 six months after graduation, based on a study by the Center for Life Beyond Reed. The knowledge rate for the survey is 85%; in other words, the destinations of 15% of the class remain unknown.

Like wildflower seeds on the wind, the class of 2014 has dispersed to the far reaches of the globe in search of work and opportunity.

According to a survey conducted by the Center for Life Beyond Reed (CLBR) six months after graduation, of those who responded that finding a job was their primary destination, 76% had found full-time or part-time employment, 10% were in grad school, and 4% were doing service work such as AmeriCorps.

Their activities span everything from monitoring human rights in Mexico, to working in the district attorney’s office in Portland, to promoting sustainable textiles in Tibet. More than 30 are doing research of one kind or another and about two dozen are teaching or tutoring.

Physics major Prakher Bajpai ’14 is now employed as a first-year analyst in the risk department at Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO) in Irvine, California, and is tickled to have landed a rewarding first job.

Prakher’s job is no coincidence. An international student from Nepal, he was hell-bent on going to graduate school in physics. But in his sophomore year he began to ask whether he might be more suited to a career in finance or engineering. A career counselor at CLBR encouraged him to reach out to alumni. He contacted Reed trustee Jane Buchan, CEO and managing director of PAAMCO, which specializes in constructing diversified portfolios for institutional investors.

“Jane was instrumental in turning me towards finance,” Prakher says. During his junior year, Prakher was one of eight students who traveled to New York City on a Financial Services Fellowship arranged and sponsored by Buchan. Students met with financial journalists, sales and trading analysts, hedge fund managers, and other industry professionals.

Whether they start their careers as snowboarding instructors, radio reporters, or motorcycle salespeople, we look forward to watching the class of ’14 take root—and blossom.