Leadership Opportunities Make the Difference

If you’re looking for an example of a young person making the most out of life’s opportunities, look no further than Nick Hefty.

The Platteville, Wis. native, who graduated in May 2015 Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Political Science, is one of those students that everyone knows. His commitment to his college experience has left a positive mark on campus. And even bigger opportunities are just around the corner.

“I was an RA (resident assistant) for three years, served on Student Government Association for three years, I was president of Student Government this year, and I was the Senior RA this year as well,” he says. “There are so many leadership opportunities. Each time I turned around there was an opportunity to do something different.”

Nick says that’s one of the advantages of Edgewood College. He says with a smaller school “it’s really easy to immerse yourself in what’s happening on campus. At a place like Edgewood College, you can find yourself on a task force or committee with faculty, staff, and other students. I’m not sure there’s a ‘seat at the table’ for students at larger schools in the same way.”

The critical thinking, the problem solving and the ‘people’ skills made Nick especially attractive to a major Dane County employer. This spring during Career Week on campus, he took advantage of the opportunity to participate in ‘mock interviews,’ sessions of practice interviews with HR professionals from employers in Greater Madison. His ‘mock interview’ happened to be with Epic Systems, a medical software company based in Verona, Wis.

The practice interview session went very well; he starts his career with Epic as project manager in June 2015. 

“When I thing about my college experience, yeah I think about the work in the classroom. But I also think about what I was able to accomplish through leadership, through volunteering, and through advocacy for my fellow students. Those skills are every bit as important as what we did in the classroom. When I think about the activities I did, those are the things that really benefitted me in a big way. They really shaped who I’ve become now. And those were big benefits when it came time to start applying for things.”