Alumni Career Panel

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Wondering Why You Should Major In Modern Languages And Literatures?

Watch our alumni discuss their careers, and how their major helped them reach their professional goals.

2018 Alumni Panel

Ali Famigletti '14 (Italian) Reservations Executive, Perfetto Traveler
Shawn Hassett '10 (French and German) Senior International Sales, Ulbrich Steel
Klevisa Kovaci '14 (French) Operations Coordinator of the Youth Assembly at the United Nations Program for the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation
Jennifer Rolinson '01 (Spanish) Registered Nurse, St. Vincent's Medical Center

Introduction by Dr. Sara E. Diaz, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Introduction by Dr. Sara E. Diaz, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Zach Gross (Spanish, 2012) Senior Program Manager, Simply Smiles

Zach graduated from Fairfield University in 2012 with a B.A. in Spanish and a triple minor in English, environmental studies, and Latin American & Caribbean studies. His first volunteer experience with the not-for-profit Simply Smiles was in Oaxaca, Mexico as a high school student; he then returned to Mexico as an intern during his summers in college. Since joining Simply Smiles full time in 2012, Zach has—among other things—learned how to test fecal samples for intestinal parasites, earned his bus driver's license, and dressed up as Santa Claus for the organization's annual Christmas party on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.

Alexandra Criscuolo (Spanish, 2012) Business Analyst , GE Capital Americas

Alexandra majored in Finance, minored in Environmental Studies and Spanish, was a member of the swim team, and studied abroad in Seville, Spain. The summer before her senior year of college, she was a summer analyst and GE Energy Financial Services and joined their rotational program upon graduation which she completed in two years. Upon program completion, she took a role in risk at GE Capital Americas as a Business Analyst where she is currently aiding with the dissolution of the business and managing remaining assets. Alexandra lives in Stamford and enjoys triathlons, photography, and travel.

Carol Chiodo (Italian, 2006) Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University

Carol is the inaugural Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Digital Humanities Lab and the Institute for Sacred Music at Yale University. She received her B.A. in International Studies and Italian from Fairfield University in 2006 and her Ph.D. in Italian Language and Literature from Yale in 2014. Her research explores how the material and structural changes in the reproduction, storage and transmission of texts impact the ways we read, write and learn.

James Costa (Italian, 2006) History Teacher, Xavier High School

James graduated from Fairfield in 2006 with a double major in History and Italian. After Fairfield James studied and taught in Italy under a Fulbright Grant before entering into a Master's Program at SUNY Binghamton. While at Binghamton James studied Early Modern Italian History and presented his work at conferences in the U.S. and Italy. In 2008 he presented a paper in Palermo, Sicily at The International Federation of Institutes of Medieval Studies (FIDEM) Conference, which FIDEM published in 2014. For the past six years, James has worked as a History Teacher at Xavier High School in New York City.

Jennifer Rolinson (Spanish, 2001) Registered Nurse, St. Vincent's Medical Center

Jennifer graduated from Fairfield in 2001 with majors in International Studies and Spanish. She worked in a NYC foster care agency for a few years and then earned her Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from Fordham University. Jennifer went on to work at Lawyer's For Children, a children's law firm which represents children in foster care, adoption, custody and visitation cases in NYC. She then went back to school and earned her BSN in nursing from UCONN and has been an RN for four years, currently working at St. Vincent's Medical Center.

Daniel Guzman (Spanish, 2008) Account Manager, KAYAK

Over the past 4 years, Daniel has been doing his part to make the travel industry a little bit better with KAYAK. At KAYAK, Daniel has recently been tasked with building out the LATAM team. With a presence now in BR, AR, MX, CO, CL and PE, the LATAM region is a big initiative for KAYAK. A Stamford, CT resident, Dan enjoys donuts (lots of them), superhero movies (big nerd) and spending time in the gym where he is a personal trainer and a physique pro for the WBFF.

Careers in Modern Languages Q & A

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