Two years after graduation…

Charley Blount’s sights were set on a career in politics. He majored in leadership studies and political science, but by his sophomore year, a series of political internships — including one as a page in the Mississippi Senate, a three-month stint in the Virginia Senate Majority Leader’s office, and two internships at a political consulting firm — led him to realize politics wasn’t the right fit.

“I found myself wanting a career with a more analytical focus,” he said.

Subsequent internships helped him find a new path. Through the UR Summer Fellowship program, he landed an internship with Culleywood Capital, a community development financial institution and affordable housing operator in his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.

“I was immediately hooked,” he said. “I like that it was finance-driven, but I wasn’t dealing with abstract numbers. I could see the impact we were making on our community. That’s when I realized I could be interested in doing real estate finance after college.”

When the internship ended, Blount began networking with Richmond alumni and others in the field. One of the first Richmond grads he spoke with was a 1999 Jepson alum and attorney at Freddie Mac. “I found B.A. Spignardo, through LinkedIn, and connected with her once I had already applied to the underwriting internship at Freddie Mac,” Blount said. He also spoke with other UR alums at the company, who provided additional insights.

Among the helpful alumni was Class of 2020 Robins School graduate Sarp Ergun, a Freddie Mac employee at the time, who provided Blount with a referral for the underwriting and credit internship he ultimately landed the summer before his senior year. The 11-week summer internship served as a long-term audition for a full-time offer.

“In the final week of my internship, I had an informal interview with the head of underwriting and credit for the Southeast region, which I’m sure played a role in the company’s decision to offer me a full-time role. I enjoyed my internship and my colleagues so when I received the full-time offer in early September, I stopped looking for other job opportunities post-graduation,” he said.

He began full-time employment with Freddie Mac as a real estate analyst right after graduation, in June 2023.  This past August, he became an underwriting associate in the multifamily division, evaluating the performance and condition of rental housing to assess the creditworthiness of potential borrowers.

Blount said that among the things that convinced him to accept the job were the work-life balance and the team of like-minded, young professionals that helped him transition more easily from academia to a work environment.

“For a lot of college juniors and seniors, your top priority is to find a job, but I think fit also deserves credit,” he said. “You spend the majority of your week with these people, and it’s important that you like them.”

Three years after graduation…

Zariah Chiverton came to Richmond with the goal of graduating and becoming a lawyer. She majored in philosophy, politics, economics, and law, hoping that it would provide her with a solid academic foundation. “But then COVID happened during my freshman year, and it changed everything,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t focus on school. I knew when I graduated that I wasn’t ready to go to law school.”

Chiverton finished her undergrad program in three years because of the college credits she earned in high school. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in May 2022, she decided to extend her stay at UR based on a discussion she had with Chair of Liberal Arts in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies Erik Nielson, who helped her gain clarity. She began her SPCS graduate program in the fall 2022. 

Since the Master of Liberal Arts program featured a series of multidisciplinary core classes, Chiverton focused her studies on her long-term career goals and created a program tailored to the legal field. She designed her MLA courses around sports and entertainment law and enrolled in two electives in sports leadership. She became interested in researching the impact of NCAA policy and rule changes on athletes, an interest that culminated after managing the women’s basketball team. “There are so many legal ramifications with the NCAA, and it’s so complicated, so it’s good to have that legal experience and knowledge.”

Chiverton also secured an internship with the Athletics Department’s compliance office, which ensures the school follows NCAA and conference regulations. This experience allowed her to gain first-hand professional knowledge of how law and sports intertwine on a college campus. She worked closely with Mark Stanton, associate athletics director for compliance, who earned his law degree from Villanova Law before coming to Richmond. “He let me know that, if I was interested in working in sports and entertainment law, that I was on the right path,” she said.

By 2024, Chiverton earned her Master of Liberal Arts degree, making her a double Spider graduate. She said that the extra time at UR helped her become much more prepared and confident. “After going through the program, taking another year and a half and maturing, my future didn’t seem unattainable anymore,” she said.

Chiverton is currently a paralegal in Washington, D.C., working at a fast-paced litigation firm. Her colleagues have encouraged her to take her time and make the most of the learning experience. That kind of advice has been crucial as Chiverton continues to work toward law school.

Acknowledging that her UR professors and others at Richmond have been an invaluable resources, she said, “It’s important to be open because you don’t know where life is going to take you. There are so many avenues out there that I didn’t even know existed.”