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Quotes from Former Students

Has someone told you that the only thing you can do with a degree in philosophy is drive a cab? Well, you could do that, but our alumni have chosen many other careers.

The following list will give you some idea of the jobs our alumni have actually chosen, along with what they have to say about the benefits of majoring in philosophy. If you are interested in seeing what other alumni are doing, check out our Alumni Newsletter.

Quite a few of our graduates are attorneys. Here's what some had to say about the benefits of majoring in philosophy:

Dana Matthews has been working for the United Way, and will be starting law school in the Fall:

• "I'm proud to say I scored in the top 1% on [the LSAT] and can attribute that to the education I received throught the Dept. of Philosophy."

John S. Paul practices law in Bryan:

• "When I went to law school, I was told by all my professors that they were going to teach me how to 'think like a lawyer.' I soon found out that I already knew how to do that; I had learned to do so as a philosophy major."

D'Andra Hankinson is an attorney for the U.S. Treasury Department:

• "I love my job - it involves the same type of work I did at A&M getting my philosophy degree - reading, writing, communicating with others, researching, analyzing information, and critical thinking."

Many graduates have gone into careers in business. Here's what some of them say about the benefits of majoring in philosophy:

Earl Seitz is an Account Operation Manager:

• "A degree in philosophy helped me a great deal because it taught me to think outside the perimeter of normal convention. In today's evolving business environment this is most important."

Tommy Attaway, Jr. is a Project Management Specialist in Switzerland:

• "The quality that Philosophy graduates possess and that is lacking in non-graduates is the ability to examine a selected subject, identify key components and their relationships to each other, and assess the consequences of a component change. It is this analytical ability of philosophers that gives them the edge over their contemporaries in the modern environment."

Kim Feazle is an Investor Relations Consultant with Hill & Knowlton. She credits her rise in the field to:

• "my ability to logically think through problems and my writing skills (both items I attribute to my philosophy classes at A&M)."

Paul Hasse is CEO of CAT Limited, a property catastrophe reinsurer based in Bermuda. He says that the primary value of an education in philosophy is that:

• "... it teaches one to distinguish 'what is rot from what is not.'"

Here are quotes from a couple of graduates who had military careers:

Randy P. Durham, Lietenant Colonel (Retired), U.S. Air Force says of his philosophy degree,

• "It made me a better leader, a compassionate authority, and a good judge of right and wrong. I wouldn't trade the knowledge it gave me for any undergraduate degree."

Marc Benedict spent many years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, and is currently a civilian instructor for firearms qualification at Tinker Air Force Base. Of his first military assignment, as a Missle Launch Officer, Benedict says,

• "I and my fellow officers had the power to release mass destruction on the world at the command of the President. Most of the officers never thought about the force they held; they'd probably go a little crazy if they dwelled on it too much. I had a chance to see this system and analyze it. I came to terms with my responsibility because of my background and instruction in philosophy."

Here's a sample of a few other careers pursued by our graduates, and the benefits they gained from their degree in Philosophy:

Courtney Noell is in the midst of her medical residency. She says of her philosophy degree:

• "It enabled me to think about things in many different ways and come to realizations about others, the world, & myself which I otherwise might not have had. ... I absolutely feel that it was beneficial to me in the long run, even if I had not quite as many pre-med courses when I began medical school."

Stephen Medvic is an Assistant Professor of Political Science.

• "When friends ask why I was a philosophy major, I tell them that those courses taught me to think. As pollyannish as that sounds, I do feel that my philosophy training gave me the analytical skills I needed to succeed in graduate school."

Andrew Dunks is an Episcopal Minister.

• "'What can you do with a philosophy major?' Learn to think clearly about important things, and pursue the quest for the meaning of life!"