An idea that has been around for a while finally came to fruition thanks to ’18 alumni Chris Hastings and Stephen Hayes. Alumni and current team members have the opportunity to create a SAFE online profile and some background information about themselves. The idea is not only to find mentors and mentees, but to connect alumni in general, especially for professional purposes. In Stephen’s words:
Chris Hastings and I developed an alumni/rower database site called VRA Connect and we invite you to sign up!
This site will grant registered rowing alumni access to a database full of alumni willing to offer advice about professional goals, rowing, or just general guidance in life. We have alumni around the world doing incredible things and this site will serve as a resource for current rowers to receive personal testimonies/advice regarding career paths they are interested in. By signing up, you are letting rowers know that they are welcome to contact you with a question and expect to hear a response (within a week or two, if possible). You might never be contacted, but your information alone could help a student who is dealing with a lot of uncertainty. The current rowers understand your contact information is sensitive and will not leave the team. We have discussed this site extensively with Frank Biller and he is really pushing for alumni to participate, as an exclusive alumni network will also serve as another recruiting tool for future novice classes.
Everyone can access the site’s homepage, but to view the alumni/rower database you need to create an account. Just click the “login page” and request an account. We will approve you ASAP (you will receive email confirm) and then you can login and create your profile!
We are still in the early stages of the site. I gathered some initial interest at State of the VRA but we need more profiles! We are trying to get a broad spectrum of alumni from different classes to participate. I’d really appreciate everyone taking a few minutes to update their profiles with succinct and informative responses.