Congrats Notes Create Alumni Connections
Updated: Jan 7, 2020
The first thing she opened from Mizzou was her acceptance letter.
Lauryn may have expected the second letter — the congratulatory note — but it wasn’t the standard boilerplate, insert-name-here letterhead. Instead, the future journalism student had a personalized note from Mike Solakian (BJ '10), fellow Baltimore resident and executive producer for WBAL-TV, Baltimore’s NBC affiliate.
“We arranged a day for her to come to the station, and she was able to shadow all the anchors to see how things went,” said Mike, smiling. “She asked a million questions!”
Last year, nearly every admitted student received a congratulatory note from an alum encouraging them to attend Mizzou. That’s over 14,000 letters — and alumni have been more than willing to step up as enrollment grows. Volunteers write a minimum of 10 letters each, but many end up requesting to do more.
Since receiving her note, Mike and Lauryn have stayed in touch, with Lauryn sharing updates on all her Mizzou “firsts” — her first class, her first football game, her first Homecoming weekend. With a whole semester under her belt, she’s now looking to work a part-time job into her schedule — maybe something at KOMU, if she can make it fit.
Mike donated a few minutes of his time (and a postage stamp) to write that letter to Lauryn. She’s now a lifelong member of the Mizzou family — and we can’t wait to see what she does next.
If you’d like to welcome a few new Tigers to Mizzou, visit the Mizzou Alumni Association to learn more about the Congrats Notes program. The next signup deadline is January 31st, 2020.