{"id":13662,"date":"2021-10-07T18:52:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T18:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2021\/10\/07\/keep-an-open-mind-an-interview-with-recent-graduate-salma-chowdhury-21\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:33:09","slug":"keep-an-open-mind-an-interview-with-recent-graduate-salma-chowdhury","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2021\/10\/07\/keep-an-open-mind-an-interview-with-recent-graduate-salma-chowdhury\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019: An interview with recent graduate Salma Chowdhury \u201921"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><html><body>Salma Chowdhury &rsquo;21 graduated from Clark with a double major in economics and political science. She&#8217;s now working as a human resources professional and loving it! We checked in with her about her journey since Clark.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-16543\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021-GOLD-newsletter-salma-chowdhury-2.jpg\" alt=\"Salma Chowdhury '21\" width=\"400\" height=\"358\">When did you graduate and what did you study at Clark? Did you participate in any student groups?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I graduated in June 2021 and double majored in economics and political science. During my time at Clark, I was a part of the South Asian Student Association (SASA) for three years and served as secretary my final year. I also held a position at Clark&rsquo;s Investments and Trading Society. During my sophomore year, I was a peer adviser.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you have a favorite professor or class?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My favorite professor was Professor Kristen Williams from political science. My favorite class with Professor Williams was my capstone seminar, &ldquo;Gender and Conflict&rdquo; &mdash; she taught with so much energy and passion.<\/p>\n<p><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your favorite memory of Clark?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some of my favorite times were enjoying lunch on the campus green with my friends during the beginning of the school year, when it is still warm outside.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Where is your favorite place to eat in Worcester?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I actually have two! I can&rsquo;t choose between them: Da-Lat and Hacienda Don Juan.<\/p>\n<p><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Where are you now? What have you been up to?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I live in Michigan now, and I&rsquo;m working full time as a Human Resources coordinator at a financial institution called Towne Mortgage Company.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What about hobbies? Do you have any new or developing ones?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since graduating, I have been getting back to reading for pleasure. And I&rsquo;ve been enjoying trying new recipes at home!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you have any &ldquo;adulting&rdquo; tips or advice you can share with your fellow Clarkies?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Working from home &mdash; and the 9-to-5 life &mdash; can get repetitive and boring, so I like to spend the weekend doing at least one activity. I encourage all Clarkies, especially those working from home, to spend some time outside the house!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you have any career advice for recent Clark graduates?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Keep an open mind during the job search process. Personally, I did not see myself in an HR role, but keeping an open mind helped me find a career I genuinely enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you stay involved with the Clark community?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I follow the Alumni Association&rsquo;s social media pages, where I can get updates on any virtual events!<\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Salma Chowdhury &rsquo;21 graduated from Clark with a double major in economics and political science. She&#8217;s now working as a human resources professional and loving it! We checked in with her about her journey since Clark. &nbsp; &nbsp; When did you graduate and what did you study at Clark? Did you participate in any student [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13663,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":13663,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223],"displayed_author":[391],"featured":[],"topic":[252,389],"class_list":["post-13662","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","displayed_author-drashhti-bilimoria-21-mba-22","topic-alumni-stories","topic-gold-council"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019: An interview with recent graduate Salma Chowdhury \u201921 | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2021\/10\/07\/keep-an-open-mind-an-interview-with-recent-graduate-salma-chowdhury\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Keep an open mind\u2019: An interview with recent graduate Salma Chowdhury \u201921\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Salma Chowdhury &rsquo;21 graduated from Clark with a double major in economics and political science. 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