The Center for Life Beyond Reed - CLBR

Considering a path in medicine? Already on the pre-health path? Come chat with alums who are current medical students, nursing students, and medical residents about their experiences transitioning from Reed College to their respective fields.

This is a great opportunity to hear about the unique challenges and benefits involved in these transitions and to ask questions about what that journey may look like for you.

Thinking about grad school? Want to become a stronger communicator? Donald Asher ’83 is coming to Reed for two sessions designed to help you prepare for what comes next.

💬 SOFT SKILLS: THE KEY TO SUCCESS & ADVANCEMENT
Hard work and expertise matter—but so does knowing how to connect with people and communicate what you know.

In this interactive session, learn how to make genuine connections, navigate small talk, use body language effectively, tell compelling stories about your work, shine at academic conferences, and explain complex ideas to non-specialist audiences.

As AI changes the way we work, skills like presenting, persuading, listening, and communicating clearly are becoming even more valuable.

📅 Wednesday, Sep 16 | 6-8 PM
📍 Psych 105

🎓 BOUND FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL
Thinking about a PhD, Master’s, MBA, Law, MD, PsyD, MFA—or another graduate or professional degree? Donald Asher ’83, author of the bestselling Graduate Admissions Essays, will break down how to navigate the admissions process and build a competitive application.

We’ll cover finding the right programs, writing application essays, using AI appropriately, securing strong letters of recommendation, finding funding and mentors, negotiating offers, and more.

📅 Thursday, Sep 17 | 6 PM
📍 Vollum Lounge

Both events are open to all class years and alumni, regardless of field or career stage.
Registration information: https://reed.joinhandshake.com/stu/events/2003118; https://reed.joinhandshake.com/stu/events/2003115

Just one week left until the Watson internal deadline! If you're working on an application and want a second set of eyes, meet with a CLBR staff member or come to Watson drop in advising (check Handshake for date and time) this week and next. You're also welcome to attend if you just need a quiet place to work with an advisor on standby for any questions. We're here to help support you however we can!

The President's Student Showcase is just around the corner! Please join the Reed community in celebrating the accomplishments of your fellow Reedies on Sept. 3rd from 4-6PM! This can be a great way to see a small sliver of the possibilities that lie ahead when you apply for and receive Reed funding! Light refreshments will be served.

While Alyssa came to Reed planning to study economics and eventually go to law school, she ended up writing a psychology thesis on social anxiety, drinking motives, and alcohol use in gender-diverse communities. In this episode, Alyssa shares about her experience discovering clinical psychology at Reed and taking on a complex statistical analysis project that, despite her best efforts, didn’t always cooperate with her intentions.

Tune in to hear Alyssa reflect on how she learned to let go of preconceived notions of the “senior thesis,” how she has been continuing her psychology research post-grad, and how her senior year taught her to occasionally step away from the computer and touch grass.

🎧 Hear from Alyssa on Spotify (or listen to Burn Your Draft anywhere you find podcasts):
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1WB7edSOexwhy3NaGqkncT?si=1dc31e1997d643f0

This is the last episode that our student producer, Ace Lackey ’27, will produce for the podcast. We’re sad to reach this end, but excited for Ace to start their senior year next year, and who knows, maybe they’ll be back to do a mini-episode for us while they’re working on their thesis.

Listen to interviews with dozens of Reed alumni and learn about their thesis years on our website:
🔥📜🔥 reed.edu/burnyourdraft 🔥📜🔥

Reed College

Class of 2026, Alumni Relations is throwing you party 🎉

Come celebrate the end of your Reed era before Commencement weekend begins!

Date: Friday, May 15
Time: 3-5 PM
Location: The Quad

What to expect:
🍕 Food
🍹 Drinks (including NA options)
🎟️ Raffle prizes
🕹️Games
⏳A class time capsule you’ll open at your 25th reunion

Bring a classmate and something small to add to the time capsule

Ace sits down with Emilie Kelly ’25 to discuss Berlin’s war memorial Neue Wache, or New Guardhouse, the centerpiece of Emilie’s anthropology thesis. Following a semester abroad in Berlin, Emilie became fascinated by the cultural rituals surrounding war memorials, and how these memorials—and the administrations that govern them—play an important role in constructing our collective memory.

Tune in to hear Emilie and Ace explore the complex relationship between history and memorialization, from past regimes to the rise of authoritarianism around the world today. In addition, Emilie reflects on how her archival research, ethnographic fieldwork, and cohort-style thesis experience at Reed came together in her thesis—a project which, as she and Ace put it, “doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be done.”

🎧 Hear from Emilie on Spotify (or listen to Burn Your Draft anywhere you find podcasts):
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1A4oKuKp0RYMFbJMI9Gsmr?si=942ad4e135604f2a

Listen to interviews with dozens of Reed alumni and learn about their thesis years on our website:
🔥📜🔥 reed.edu/burnyourdraft 🔥📜🔥

Reed College

Ace chats with Lucas Forshee about his thesis on the molecule strychnine, which, despite being poisonous, was used as a stimulant for athletes in the 1904 Olympics. Lucas shares a bit about the chemical composition of strychnine, why it's such a complicated molecule, and why it's so fascinating to researchers.

But Lucas's research didn't just take place in the chemistry lab: a big part of his project was developing a written history of strychnine. Tune in to hear Lucas reflect on synthesizing the humanities and science in his thesis, and how this process gave him a renewed love for writing and a desire to return to graduate school (eventually).

🎧 Hear from Lucas on Spotify (or listen to Burn Your Draft anywhere you find podcasts):
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Hmn7LhPOgO1NY36lYqLHO?si=672a0bb709544c2c

Listen to interviews with dozens of Reed alumni and learn about their thesis years on our website:
🔥📜🔥 reed.edu/burnyourdraft 🔥📜🔥

Reed College

In this episode, we hear from Caleb about the central theme of violence in McCarthy’s 1985 novel Blood Meridian and its relevance to modern times. Responding to the grimness of McCarthy’s book, set in the 19th-century American southwest, Caleb explores questions such as: What is the significance of violence in society, and how can we resist its inevitability? How can we make meaning, as readers, to respond effectively to violence in our society today?

Tune in to hear about Caleb’s process of literary analysis, how his background in Religious Studies showed up unexpectedly in his thesis, and how he found glimmers of hope amidst the bleakness of McCarthy’s novel and, at times, the modern world.

🎧 Hear from Caleb on Spotify (or listen to Burn Your Draft anywhere you find podcasts): https://open.spotify.com/episode/7sKoUibFDDcK5fu0svBiPq?si=ed2e67a0937c4c3d

Listen to interviews with dozens of Reed alumni and learn about their thesis years on our website:
🔥📜🔥 reed.edu/burnyourdraft 🔥📜🔥

Reed College

🚗 🌲 Seattle, anyone?

Join CLBR x Alumni Relations for a Reedies in Tech trip to Seattle and connect with alumni at the first-ever reunion.
This is a chance to build connections, explore career paths, and see what life after Reed can look like!

🗓️ April 19 | 7 AM - 5 PM
⚠️ 21+ ONLY
🔗 Register at the link: https://forms.gle/YdDLUsQYAzzyBCTD8