NYU Alumni & Friends Connect

June 15, 2021

Alex Richey (CAS ’12) [he/him]

“Being an alumni club member has introduced me to new friends and connections,” says Alex Richey (CAS ’12) [he/him], a member of the NYU Alumni Club in Seattle. Attending school during the Great Recession, Alex was unsure what his post-graduate life would look like. After landing a job in Seattle, he wanted to expand his connections on the West Coast and learned about the benefits and resources of the NYU Alumni Association. After connecting with some fellow Violets, Alex is now an active member of the Seattle club which has hosted a range of events from whiskey tasting and trivia nights to outdoor excursions and theater performances. Read why Alex got involved in NYU Alumni Clubs as well as the benefits of connecting with alumni across industries and generations.  

What inspired you to get involved with the NYU alumni network?
I moved to Seattle a little more than two years ago and didn’t know a soul in the area when I arrived. I signed up for the NYU Alumni in Seattle mailing list with the intention of meeting people and got an email with a request for volunteers. I was interested in volunteering, so I jumped on the opportunity.

How has being an alumni club member shaped your life after graduation?
An unexpected benefit of being involved with the club is the opportunity to connect with older NYU graduates who have more or different types of experiences. Usually, when I talk to someone who is more senior than myself, there’s a degree of deference and formality. But when I connect with someone at an NYU event, we can connect as peers in the NYU alumni community. I’ve had a number of conversations with alumni about how New York has changed over the years, what it was like when they attended NYU, and their careers. These conversations have been a surprising source of fun and insight for me.

How has being an alumni club member kept you connected to NYU?
Being an alumni club member has kept me connected to the university by keeping me connected with NYU people. Out here in Seattle, it’s very comforting to have a community of people who can relate to each other about spending time in New York and attending the same university.

What is your favorite memory with your alumni club?
My favorite memory was at an NYU alumni event in Belltown when I got in a conversation with a few alumni about living in New York versus Seattle. One alum had gone to NYU in the 90s, another in the early 2000s, and myself and a few others had gone in the early 2010s or later. It was really interesting hearing about other people’s experiences in NYC and why some prefer (or don’t prefer!) Seattle.

What has been your favorite alumni club event?
Our whiskey tasting at Westland Distillery.

What advice would you give to new graduates?
When I graduated from NYU, if I’m honest, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get a job or that I wouldn’t measure up in the professional world. These feelings may have been influenced by the recession at the time, but I think these fears are pretty common among recent grads at any time. To new graduates who feel that way, what I would say is: don’t be afraid. In most cases, the professional world is far more hospitable than people make it out to be and I think that, for a lot of new grads, there’s a very high likelihood that, in comparison with the coursework you had to do at NYU, your first job will feel easy.