City Year alumni take many different paths after their corps year. No matter what path our alumni take, the skills and experiences that they have as a City Year corps member prepare them for any career they wish to pursue.
To learn more about what City Year alumni are up to now, check out these alumni profiles:
Adam Schwartzbaum '08, City Year Washington, D.C.
Attorney, White & Case
Q: What was your motivation to do a City Year?
A: I took an undergraduate course on Wealth and Poverty with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. For my final exam, I wrote a policy proposal advocating for national service as a solution to alleviate the gap between the wealthy and the poor. As I wrote, I realized that in order to be a credible activist and advocate for service for the rest of my life, I needed to perform service myself.
Q: What role did City Year play in your career progression?
A: I believe my City Year experience was a strong factor in my admission into the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the significant Levy Scholarship award I received. I recently began work for White and Case, one of the largest law firms in the world, and one that dedicates 10% of its billable hours to pro bono cases. Coupled with my education, my experience with City Year made me an attractive candidate for White and Case.
Q: What lessons from City Year do you bring to your work as an attorney?
A: The City Year mantra, 'Spirit, Discipline, Purpose and Pride,' can be applied to any profession. I practice this philosophy through everything I do. During my City Year, I learned to work with diverse groups to achieve complex goals, to be a better listener, to adjust to different communication and work styles, and to be a more compassionate co-worker. Now I approach tasks with greater discipline and take pride in my work.
Nick Barnes '05 & '06, City Year Columbus
Attorney, Allen Kuehnle Stovall & Neuman LLP
Q: What role did City Year play in your career choice and progression?
A: It was my time working with City Year and in the community that I found that I wanted to go in to law to help people. I currently practice law working with civil litigation cases, credit and debtors rights, insolvency, and complex class action cases in Columbus, Ohio.
Q: What skills or lessons did you take away from your City Year experience?
A: My biggest takeaway from my City Year experience was a new perspective on my own life. I worked with City Year’s Young Heroes program doing community work in the schools, and I saw a lot of plight in the city. It made me want to help, and gave me the ability to stay grounded and remain calm during times when my life seemed stressful.
Q: Do you stay involved in community service today?
A: I am the Co-Chair of City Year Columbus Alumni Board, the National City Year Alumni Advisory Board as well as the City Year Columbus Advisory Board. It is refreshing to go from corporate law practice, where money is the most important thing, to working with the diverse types of people you meet through City Year.
Matthew Tow '11, City Year Boston
Law Student, Boston College Law School
Q: How did City Year prepare you for law school?
A: I always knew I wanted to study law, but City Year helped me sharpen my focus and hone my management skills before I went to law school. I was able to write my application essay on education in law, and discover my interest in public service.
Q: How did your City Year experience influence your career path?
A: City Year knows how to put its members into positions that will challenge and train them. I learned how to look at the big picture and think more responsibly. City Year is great at putting its members in a position to succeed. While in the corps, I was invited to work at a networking event that put me in front of hiring managers at major law firms and was able to establish some important connections.