Graduate Profile: Joshua Pugh
Majoring in political science at Alma College was just as much of a no-brainer as voting is for Joshua Pugh ’11.
“When I first visited campus, I met with Dr. Hulme and knew that I wanted to pursue political science,” he says. “After taking my first research methods class with Dr. Cartrite, it was clear that I had made the right choice.”
Along with this personalized attention, Pugh says he valued the opportunities and services offered at Alma. In addition to his memberships in Sigma Chi, Interfraternity Council, College Democrats, Orchestra and Political Science Club, he benefited from the Academic and Career Planning Office.
“The staff at the ACP Office provided invaluable assistance at a time when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my degree,” he says. “They helped me find internships, build my résumé, research job postings and prepare for interviews.”
Pugh is now a communications and new media specialist at Progress Michigan, a non-profit progressive communications hub in Lansing. He says working on a wide variety of causes means keeping his mind open to changing gears at a moment’s notice. But that’s where his Alma experience comes in handy.
“I believe so strongly in the value of a liberal arts education because of the parallels between my current job and a typical day for an Alma student,” he says. “Although it may not have always seemed like it, being required to take classes that otherwise I never would have considered was great preparation for the real world. Alma has enabled me to find success in a field that tests me in remarkable ways every day.”
