For the fourth and final time this school year, freshmen and sophomores gathered for a JagsConnect career panel — closing out a year-long series designed to help students connect who they are to where they might be headed.
On March 11, five JagsConnect volunteers joined the 9th and 10th grade community for a conversation that was as candid as it was varied. The group — spanning a healthcare startup, corporate law, forensic science, global retail, and real estate development — brought one of the most diverse professional cross-sections of the year. What emerged was a portrait of careers shaped less by straight lines and more by curiosity, willingness to pivot, and the ability to solve problems that matter.
Students had been introduced to the panelists in advance through their profiles and arrived with questions in hand. After each volunteer introduced themselves and connected their work to the RIASEC model explored earlier in the year, a clear theme quickly emerged: nearly every panelist, regardless of industry, described their core work as problem-solving. Jon Costin '07, senior director of operations at AndHealth — a Columbus-based healthcare startup serving patients in underserved communities — put it plainly: the easiest way to describe his job is figuring out what's broken and fixing it. For Chris Meyer P '29, a detective sergeant with the Columbus Division of Police who has spent the last five years leading the crime scene unit, problem-solving looks like arriving at a scene with incomplete information and working carefully to fill in the gaps — a puzzle, he said, where you never quite have all the pieces. Uma Setty P '29, associate general counsel at Nationwide, described her role as translating the law into plain English for her clients — helping business teams understand not just what the rules say, but what they mean and how to act on them. Lauren Morr '91, senior vice president of digital engineering and architecture at Abercrombie & Fitch, has spent more than two decades building digital platforms for some of the world's best-known retail brands, and noted that what energizes her most is watching customers vote — in real time — on what she and her team put into the world. Tucker Bohm '98 P '28 of The Daimler Group, who has spent 23 years navigating the complex decisions that go into developing and constructing buildings, perhaps captured the spirit best: "We build boxes for people to do what they do in."
The conversation grew particularly rich during the Q&A, when students pressed panelists on leadership, organizational culture, and what actually brings them a sense of purpose. Costin encouraged students not to wait to be identified — the best advocates for your own career development are yourselves. Setty urged students to get at least one customer-facing job in high school, noting that the ability to actually talk to people remains underrated in an age of AI. Morr pointed to curiosity as one of the most valued leadership qualities at her company. Meyer drew a meaningful distinction between being a supervisor and being a true leader — someone who works for their team, not just over them. And Bohm reflected on the fulfillment that comes from working on projects where the people inside are doing genuinely good work — including, he noted, Wellington itself.
This was the fourth and final career panel of the year for the freshman and sophomore classes. In May, students will complete the series with a closing session led by Liz Kazemi '17, revisiting the career assessments they took at the start of the year to see how their thinking has shifted. It's a fitting capstone to a year of conversations that asked students not just to think about careers, but to think about themselves.
Wellington is grateful to every JagsConnect volunteer who gave their time to the 2025–26 Career Panel series. A special thank you to:
Panel 1: Amber Merl P '29 '31 '34, Meghan McDevitt '06, Steven Paull '92 P '22, Kathryn VanDixhorn Ph.D. P '26
Panel 2: Kate Spirko P '25, Jon Vaughn P '32, Kim Barnhart '12, Maya Hammond '20, Zane Miller '05
Panel 3: Erin Crotty P '27 '29, Greg Davda Sr. '93, Justin Anderson '06, Max Muir '16, Preston Pickett P '27
Panel 4: Jon Costin '07, Chris Meyer P '29, Uma Setty P '29, Lauren Morr '91, Tucker Bohm '98 P '28
Interested in volunteering with JagsConnect? Click here.