During 9/11, Paul J. Schmick was working as a District Manager for a telecommunications firm in New York City. After working in Ground Zero’s harsh conditions led to a family member’s diagnosis with lung disease, Paul felt an urge to serve his country. Looking for a place to start, Paul pursued a low wage job in the private security industry to gain experience.

Paul Tanpitukpongse is an engineer-turned-patent attorney currently working with Meunier, Carlin & Curfman LLC, a legal firm located in Atlanta, GA. A self-described ‘tinkerer’, Paul participated in the automotive club, science fairs and engineering competitions in high school.

Scott “Skottie” Miller has been working in technical industries for over thirty years, namely for aerospace and entertainment companies. He currently serves as a Technology Fellow for Infrastructure and Architecture at DreamWorks Animation. This role allows him to focus on researching forward-looking strategies that can be implemented as new systems to improve the movie-making process.

Robert Sheldon is currently a Concert Band Editor for Alfred Publishing Co., Inc, a music publishing company based in California. Throughout this career, Mr. Sheldon has also attained great success as a composer, and is even recognized as one of the most performed composers of wind band music today.

Soma Mei Sheng Frazier is an East Coast Native living in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she presently serves as a 2017 San Francisco Library Laureate and final judge of the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest.

“If where you’re going in your career tends to scare you a little bit, chances are you’re going in the right direction.”

“Keep a clear vision of what you want to achieve in your career, be self-motivated in achieving this goal, and don’t get distracted but adapt to whatever unexpected challenges may be thrown your way.”