Alumni stories

Trajectories, told honestly

89% employed or in further study within six months of graduating — Class of 2024 graduate survey — 74% of graduates responded, so treat this as a strong signal, not a guarantee. All figures on this site are illustrative. The three stories below are what that statistic looks like as actual careers: first jobs included.

Sofia Reyes · Class of 2019

Business Administration (BBA)

Now: Regional operations manager, Fielder & Sons Grocers

From studio client coffee runs to running 14 stores

Sofia's first Small Business Studio client was a two-location bakery with a scheduling problem. Her first job after graduating was nothing glamorous — an entry-level operations coordinator role she found through a studio contact. Five years and three promotions later, she manages operations for fourteen grocery stores across the region. 'The studio taught me that operations is just caring about details on someone else's behalf. Turns out that scales.'

“My first job out of Caldwell paid $46K and I did inventory counts at 6 a.m. Every job since has been that job, bigger. Nobody skips the ladder — Caldwell just taught me to climb fast.”
— Sofia Reyes, BBA '19

Liam Chen · Class of 2021

Software Engineering (BSE)

Now: Staff developer, Freightline Logistics

Two co-op terms became a nine-person team

Liam did his second and third co-op terms at a twelve-person logistics startup in Arden Falls, mostly fixing an unglamorous routing system. They made a return offer before his final year started. Four years on, Freightline is 160 people, the routing system is the product, and Liam leads the nine-person team that builds it. 'The co-op terms were the interview. By the time they hired me, we'd already worked together for eight months — both sides knew exactly what they were getting.'

“The degree got me the co-op. The co-op got me everything after. If I could tell first-year me one thing: the boring internship codebase is the opportunity.”
— Liam Chen, BSE '21

Grace Adeyemi · Class of 2018

Nursing (BScN)

Now: Clinical nurse educator, Arden Falls Regional Hospital

From ICU nights to teaching the next cohort

Grace spent five years in the regional ICU — including the hardest stretches of the pandemic — before moving into clinical education. She now trains new ICU nurses at the same hospital where she did her fourth-year preceptorship, and she precepts Caldwell students every spring. 'I tell my students the truth: some shifts will empty you out. The preceptorship model matters because you learn to refill before you're the only one holding the line.'

“Caldwell's clinical groups were eight people. My instructor saw every mistake I made — which is exactly why I stopped making them. Now I'm that instructor, and I don't let anything slide either.”
— Grace Adeyemi, BScN '18

These are illustrative composite stories — the people are fictional, like everything on this sample site.

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Trajectories, told honestly

Three graduate stories

From studio client coffee runs to running 14 stores

Two co-op terms became a nine-person team

From ICU nights to teaching the next cohort

Your trajectory starts with a shortlist