Do you ever wonder what you will be when you grow up? This question and others swirl in the minds of just about every high school student, which can often cause stress or overwhelm. MICDS Alumni to the rescue! This week, five MICDS alumni joined an Upper School assembly to share information with students about their career paths and advice they would give to their younger selves.
Whitney Gulick Reboulet ’97, VP of Pharmacy Account Management for Elevance Health, served as the moderator, asking probing questions of the four panelists about choosing a career, the steps they took to align with their current job, what it’s like to work in their chosen field, and what they learned along the way.
The panelists for the event included:
- Justin Aylward ’98, P’34, Co-Head of Middle Market M&A at JPMorgan
- Farrell Galt Crowley ’93, P’28 ’30, Director of Media & Analytics, o2kl advertising
- Yasmeen Qureshi Daud ’94, P’23 ’25, Pediatric Hospitalist, Children’s Hospital; Professor, Washington University
- Edward Dowd III ’97, Assistant United States Attorney, U.S Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri
Choosing a Career
With multiple areas of expertise represented, the panel started with introductions and a discussion on how they chose their current roles.
Dowd shared that his family comes from a long line of attorneys, so he initially forged a different path and launched a career in the sports marketing field, even interning with the St. Louis Blues. However, after not experiencing the career growth he wanted, the area of law eventually came calling. After law school, he worked as a prosecutor in the Circuit Attorney’s office. His current role focuses on white-collar crime, organized crime, and fraud/identity theft. He shared, « It was easier to know what I didn’t want to do over what I did want to do. Sometimes you have to try something to determine whether you like it. Young new attorneys don’t often get a lot of cases, but I kept at it; that’s where I got the practical experience I needed. »
Daud’s future prediction was accurate in the « 25 Year Hence » section of the 1994 yearbook. She was the only panelist who shared that she knew from an early age that she wanted to go into medicine. She loves children and is intrigued by the human body’s inner workings. She attended the six-year BA/MD program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, majoring in biology, and became one of the first pediatric hospitalists in the country. She focuses her work on inpatient and acute services and teaches at Washington University Medical School.
A love for math sparked Aylward’s interest in accounting and finance, ultimately leading him from Southern Methodist University to the London School of Economics and Wall Street. « I graduated from SMU during the dot com bust. No one on Wall Street was hiring, and I followed a lot of dead ends. So I postponed job seeking, and graduate school filled the gap. In graduate school, I did many internships, met many people, and leveraged relationships, even ones from MICDS, for job leads. Everyone was willing to lend a hand. »
Crowley admits that she didn’t know what she wanted to do. As a history and political science major, the natural progression would lead to politics. She worked in Washington, DC, for a year under John Ashcroft but knew she didn’t want to attend law school. To keep advancing, she needed to go more into the commercial/corporate world. So she moved to New York City, worked with a placement agency, and became a junior account executive in the advertising industry. « What I love about my current role absolutely ties into my love for history and seeking knowledge, » she said.
Preparing for a Career
The panel shared personal experiences, tips, tricks, and sage advice when asked how they prepared for college and beyond.
Crowley said, « Be an advocate for yourself, do internships, talk to your teachers and professors. That practice helps you develop soft skills and an understanding of how an office works, provides more information on what you want your life to look like, and what opportunities are next to explore. In the advertising world, you have to prove that you are nimble and fluid, check in with others, so they know you’re a hard worker and there to get the job done. »
The « hustle » approach was Daud’s chosen endeavor. « I lived the word ‘hustle’ with a six-year medical school program. I had to show myself off differently to get ahead of my peers. I got involved in pediatric studies, met the right people, did internships, and worked to ‘wow’ them with my clinical experience. When it came to choosing a position, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I just fell into it, and there were no pediatric hospitalists at the time, » she said.
Dowd had been immersed in civil practice and wanted more public service. He said, « I found the websites that listed openings in that field and paid attention to them constantly. I networked and spoke with people in the field and learned the important skill sets for the job. I had the opportunity to interview with a U.S. attorney and shared that I really wanted to be in this field and that it wasn’t just a resume stepping-stone position for me. »
Day-to-Day
After hearing from the panelists on what they chose and how they landed a role in their chosen field, they tackled the topic of what they actually do all day.
Aylward shared, « I work primarily with corporate executives, CEOs, CFOs, and boards. I’m focused on mergers and acquisitions, and I work with an equities group to analyze the financial records for those mergers. In addition, our team evaluates strategic alternatives for companies, including buying and/or merging with other firms, raising capital, or selling the business. I also spend a great deal of time traveling back and forth to New York.
As an inpatient specialist, Daud shared what she does and the skills needed to do it well. « I only see sick kids as inpatients and often see parents on the worst day of their life. I have learned to listen and communicate well with people in high-stress situations. You have a short window to make a good impression. And everything around you is an opportunity, whether writing papers for journals or giving presentations. »
Dowd has the glamorous position of working daily with the FBI, ATF, and DEA. « I work with these and other officials who investigate white-collar crimes, aggravated identity theft, mailbox schemes, and more. So our office is in charge of filing search warrants for digital entry and global activity, and filing documents to obtain or prove probable cause. I spend time with other attorneys to work out cases before indictment, present cases to a grand jury, all while being considerate of people’s legal rights under the constitution, » he said.
Advice & Reflection
When offered the opportunity to provide advice to their younger selves, they unanimously shared how it’s ok not to know what you want to do and to take breaks.
Aylward noted how well-prepared he was when he graduated from MICDS. « You can do almost anything you want. It means that what does really interest you offers an opportunity to explore occupation-adjacent roles. Two classmates bounced around the NFL and ultimately didn’t make it. Still, one ended up working for the NFLPA, and another went into investment banking and advises billionaires and does work in the sports entertainment world. You may not be the star of the show, but you are part of its orbit. And know that in the work world, no one is invested in you. You have to pound the table for yourself, » he said.
With heavy involvement in sports and school, Dowd advised, « There are opportunities all around. I joined Urban Futures, assisting students who lived in underserved areas of St. Louis with homework. I enjoyed being involved in the community. I also wish I had joined Troubadours. » He added, « Mentors aren’t just people older than you. A mentor can be a peer, upperclassman, or a family member. »
Daud shared, « In a room of overachievers, give yourself a break. Take time for mental health and space to reflect and do something you enjoy. Check in on each opportunity to see if it’s the right time. You can’t give your best if you’re not at your best. I thought I had to say yes to everything to move ahead. So it’s important to say no without guilt or shame. »
When you’re facing a career that you may do for a long time, Crowley shared, « Work with balance, don’t stress out, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You’re more prepared than you think, so have confidence. Your job is your job but not your entire existence. A mentor once told me, ‘you work for yourself before anyone else.' »
During the Q&A, students asked questions about people skills and shared curiosity about the panel member’s role models. After the presentation, a few students shared their thoughts on the panel discussion.
« I appreciated hearing about the early ways to find a job, such as who to reach out to and how to leverage your peer networks. I enjoyed hearing first-person about their first experience with a job. Hearing how someone got from one point to the next in their career was valuable. » – Grant LaMartina ’25
« One thing that surprised me a lot was when one panelist said that she knew what she wanted to do from an early age. That is definitely not what I did, but it was good to hear that they all had similar experiences, and it all ended well. – Phoebe Burgis ’23
« It was interesting how they said you don’t have to stress out and do everything right now. Right now, all people can think about is getting good grades, getting into college, and doing everything that comes to them. It was refreshing to hear. » – Alice Ma ’23
Thank you to our alumni community panelists for providing thoughtful and relevant advice to MICDS Upper School students!