After graduation, one of the things that Michael Geleff and Heather Hewlett, respectively president and vice president of the Fox Online Student Association (FOSA) plan to do is get together and play board games.
Despite their physical distance, the two Class of 2021 graduates are friendly, joking with one another, reminiscing about their achievements in FOSA and debating the merits of Gmail vs. Microsoft Outlook.
The goal of FOSA, and by extension the goal of Geleff and Hewlett, is to create an online forum where topics and ideas related to being a Fox BBA student can be shared and discussed. The student professional organization (SPO) is also dedicated to creating community across time zones, age ranges and professional backgrounds.
“One of the things we did this year was work with the College Council and other SPOs to build workshop opportunities, speakers or workshops,” says Hewlett. “We met with other officers from organizations to discuss how to bring new members or students who are new to online learning due to the pandemic. We talked about what we could provide in order to bring them into the fold.”
Geleff and Hewlett are both nontraditional students. Hewlett pursued an undergraduate degree after raising her family and putting a degree on hold for 24 years, and Geleff is hoping to pivot in his career with a stepdaughter in college and responsibilities within his church and community.
In thinking about how the Fox School has helped them along the path of personal and professional development, for Geleff, it still comes back to the importance of community.
“What I got out of Fox was the knowledge and leadership—I have come out of school a better leader,” says Geleff. “I’ve tried leadership roles in my other lives, but coming here and being part of FOSA reinforced all of that. And just being able to connect with the community also is what I got from it, even though it’s online, I think we still connected in a good way. I had classes with people that were in Italy, Japan, India, and it was really interesting to be able to talk with other people, and come together to get things done.”
Hewlett is grateful for the connections, both colleagues and mentors. “I appreciate every opportunity we had to work together—not just the knowledge of what you’re being taught but also the connections with professors. I feel like I’m going to be connected with some of my professors for a long time.”
Geleff hopes to use this leadership experience and networking connections to start his human resource management. Working in healthcare now, he is grateful for his knowledge of the healthcare industry and getting insight into how doctors think and research. But through his work with the Temple University Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Geleff helped produce a podcast, which reignited a long-held interest in working in media.
“I was in media in high school, working in video production,” says Geleff. “It’s a really interesting field for me, so I am excited to be able to go into it from a human resources perspective.”
After graduation, Hewlett plans to take a month off and travel across the country with her partner in a camper, visiting friends and family along the way. “My wife is going to be the owner and operator of her truck—she is a long haul truck driver. That may lead to me using my experience to help her business. I am going to be looking to supply chain positions in the area. It’s exciting. I’ve been itching to get back into the workforce—I was a stay-at-home mom for so long. But before all of that, we’re going to have an adventure.”