A 2013 AQ graduate, Rachel Bartels’ experience at Aquinas prepared her for where she is today in not only her career, but also in life. As a student, Rachel worked at in Career and Counseling Services as well as serving as a Student Ambassador through the Admissions Office. These positions helped prepare Rachel for her current job with Hello West Michigan where she is using the skills she learned at AQ in her work every day.

Rachel graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a marketing concentration and a communication minor. During her time at Aquinas, Rachel was a thrower on the AQ track team, spending 15-20 hours each week practicing and competing with the team. College athletics can teach lessons and skills that one doesn’t always find in the classroom. Through being a student athlete, Rachel learned that time management, group communication, flexibility and dedication are also taught on the field or in the locker room.

Getting to visit with mentors she admires is one of the perks of staying in Grand Rapids post-graduation. Rachel regularly sees her bosses from Career and Counseling, Associate Director Annmarie Post and Director Sharon Smith, as well as Assistant Track Coach Neil Reilly. “Neil saw me at my best and my worst and helped me through all of it,” said Rachel. “Neil and I still have our traditional pre-track meet breakfasts at Wolfgang’s.”

“Because of Aquinas, I can present to a group of board members and also have technical skills like accounting and computer skills,” she said.

Rachel felt confident in her communication and technology skills before Aquinas, but it was her time at AQ that showed her the importance of being able to do both well. “In the professional world, it’s not good enough to have the technical skills if you don’t have the interpersonal communication and writing skills to back them up. People would be shocked if they knew how much time I spend writing carefully worded emails to ask for something from a business or thanking someone for their work. That is an important skill. Students may be taking a class right now that they think is unrelated to their major, but it’s not unrelated to life. You’ll probably need what you learn in that class later on.”

Through her position as the Program Manager at Hello West Michigan, Rachel handles the marketing, event planning, social media, website content, member communications, and member trainings for the organization. The goal of the organization is to educate people about the region and help those interested in moving to West Michigan. In her job, Rachel gets an up-close view of businesses and industries West Michigan while learning about all of the fun things you can do when you live in the area.

While in college, Rachel never imagined she’d be working for a non-profit. She saw herself at a corporation or agency, but besides enjoying her work, Rachel said it is fulfilling to know that the work Hello West Michigan is doing is improving the community and the lives of the people they help relocate.

As a student, Rachel remembers working so hard to graduate, but has since learned that graduation is just the beginning. “Aquinas was the beginning of a lot of great friendships, experiences, and my career,” she said. “As a member of the Aquinas College Alumni Advisory Council, I look forward to giving back to the school that has given me so much.”