I was recently on the IU Alumni Association (IUAA) website and I thought, why am I doing all of this stuff? Why do I update my profile, check on events, and so forth?
Other than the obvious "what if it's like college and there's free food" answer (which I asked, and it's not), I really feel that that connection is important. I spent 4 years at IU (probably more pretty soon, but that's a different post entirely), and I'm a lifetime memeber of IUAA. But those don't really matter.
What really matters is being able to offer the kind of help for current students that didn't get as much. Sure, I know of alumni, especially out in D.C., who lent helping hands to get into the 'business' but it wasn't an investment in my future--it was temporary (though I'm grateful for their advice).
There's an element of pride in being an alum of a school like IU, and I'm proud that I went there. But for anyone, who went to any school, being a successful college graduate may also have to do with who you help out once you're gone. It's not going overboard, but always being an advocate for your school and the current students--that's the real success story that colleges want to be able to tell.
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