![\"Dave](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/David-Duryea-766x889-1-258x300.jpg\")
Dave Duryea ’83<\/p><\/div>\n
Retired Rear Admiral David Duryea \u201983 spent 31 years in the U.S. Navy, having received his commission through the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s NROTC program. Duryea served the Navy as a combat systems officer, a force engineer, and the commanding officer for the USS Florida. Later in his career, he served as the Commander of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI, which employed 6,500 civilians around the U.S. and overseas.<\/p>\n
After retiring from the Navy, Duryea spent about three years at SUNY Cortland as vice president for finance and management. In 2018, Duryea joined Systems Planning and Analysis (SPA) Inc<\/a>.\u2014a national security consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia\u2014where he manages a team that supports national security objectives focusing on Naval and undersea warfare.<\/p>\n \u201cAt SPA, we employ people with expertise in project management, systems engineering, data science, operations research as well as strategy and policy,\u201d says Duryea, who is also a member of the University\u2019s Veterans Alliance<\/a>. \u201cThese are the kinds of skills that help the federal government\u2014including the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security\u2014solve hard problems.\u201d<\/p>\n In his spare time, Duryea helps Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ students\u2014many of whom are majoring in areas important to SPA\u2014get a jump start on their careers. He is aware of many federal government related career opportunities which Rochester students might not be familiar with. And, he knows that Rochester educates and graduates the kinds of students who would excel in these roles.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why he reached out to Rochester and the Greene Center for Career Education & Connections<\/a> a few years ago. \u201cSPA hires 12\u201315 paid interns every year, mostly undergraduates, but also a few graduate students,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are very selective, but when we find the right fit, we offer security clearances and provide our interns with great opportunities to learn, grow, and contribute. In exchange, they help us do our work and learn valuable skills. Everyone wins.\u201d<\/p>\n Sara Apanavicius ’20<\/p><\/div>\n Sara Apanavicius \u201920, a chemical engineering major, was one of those students. During her junior year, she realized graduation was approaching and she hadn\u2019t had\u2014and really wanted\u2014an internship. Apanavicius knew of Duryea through a friend of hers who had met him through The Meliora Collective<\/a>\u2014an innovative online platform that empowers members of the University community to pursue their professional passions through personal exploration. She then reached out directly to him.<\/p>\n \u201cDave read my resume and said that if SPA didn\u2019t have any opportunities that he\u2019d connect me with some of his other contacts in D.C.,\u201d says Apanavicius. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that someone I didn\u2019t really know would be so willing to help.\u201d That connection helped Apanavicius land an internship at SPA during the summer between her junior and senior years.<\/p>\n At the end of that internship, SPA offered Apanavicius a job as a technical program analyst after graduation. She\u2019s been there since July of 2020 and loves it. She\u2019s now even getting calls and emails from Rochester students looking to her for career guidance.<\/p>\n \u201cDave\u2019s been a great mentor to me,\u201d she says. \u201cHe\u2019s helped me prepare for interviews, consider different job opportunities, and think about what\u2019s important to me\u2014I had no idea that my first conversation with him would lead to where I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n Cole Sonett ’19<\/p><\/div>\n Cole Sonett \u201919, a mechanical engineering major, feels the same way\u2014he and Duryea are currently part of The Meliora Collective mentorship program. This program brings together enthusiastic alumni and students to help prepare mentees for their professional futures. Mentors provide real-world context, personal insights, and ongoing support to help mentees achieve short and long-term personal and career goals.<\/p>\n \u201cI signed up for the mentorship match program because I wanted to talk with someone impartial who works in a field related to my interests,\u201d says Sonnet, who currently works as a project manager for climate intelligence startup, Setpoint.ai, in Brooklyn. His goal is to someday start his own company. \u201cI really needed an experienced person to bounce ideas off of, provide me with fresh perspective, and help me figure out the next steps to work toward my career goals\u2014Dave has been so helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n Duryea knows how important networking is. \u201cI\u2019m not a hiring manager, but if I can point students and young people in the right direction at SPA or elsewhere, I\u2019m happy to do so,\u201d he says. \u201cSo much is up to the students, though\u2014fortunately, Rochester attracts and graduates people who will make a real difference in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlumni Relations and the Greene Center offer so many career resources,\u201d says Joe Testani, assistant dean and executive director of the Greene Center. \u201cIn addition to The Meliora Collective and the mentorship match program, they offer a variety of virtual events, an alumni online business directory, career coaching, career webinars, recruitment support, and much more. We encourage our broad community to get involved\u2014doing so could help advance your career or someone else\u2019s.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” background_color=”#e9e5d7″ css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1619451918404{padding-top: 35px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;}”]<\/p>\n Dave Duryea offers the following advice to students\u2014relevant during the pandemic and beyond:<\/p>\n Seek out hands-on experiences.<\/strong> \u201cExperience is valuable,\u201d he says. \u201cTake on an internship and pursue research opportunities\u2014they will mark your life and set you apart.\u201d Duryea vividly recalls some of his experiences at Rochester. For instance, the ROTC program taught him about leadership, teamwork, and discipline. He honed those skills on the squash court, too, as a member of Rochester\u2019s team for four years and captain for two. Duryea also participated in memorable research experiences, including one professor-led program in Canada that involved sleeping in a rustic cabin over fall break and conducting research including water analysis tests on a local lake. Another research experience took him to St. Croix for a semester to scuba dive, study marine biology, and learn about marine geology and ecology.<\/p>\n Remember that people want to help.<\/strong> \u201cPeople generally like to help each other out. Don\u2019t be afraid to start building and then using your network.\u201d He adds that the only way students will learn is by doing, so students should talk to their parents\u2019 friends, alumni, whomever could open doors to them. He recommends using The Meliora Collective, signing up for LinkedIn, and then reaching out to people. \u201cThe worst thing that could happen is that someone doesn\u2019t respond,\u201d he says. \u201cThe best thing is that a connection could lead to an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Be open to new ideas\u2014or as the Navy says, \u201calways be courageous.\u201d<\/strong> One friend of Duryea\u2019s was an investigator for the Environmental Protection Agency. She led scientific teams and helped clean up toxic waste sites. The intelligence community, which is comprised of 16 agencies, is another area that needs people with diverse skill sets. No matter what your major is, Duryea suggests looking into opportunities with the federal government. Here are some places to start: \u2014 Kristine Thompson, April 2021<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Retired Rear Admiral David Duryea \u201983 spent 31 years in the U.S. Navy, having received his commission through the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s NROTC program. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":30892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[272,232,712],"class_list":["post-30522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-alumni","tag-recent-alumni","tag-the-meliora-collective"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Sara](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Sara_A_885x874-300x296.jpg\")
![\"Cole](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Cole_Sonnet_851x765-300x270.jpeg\")
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Career building tips<\/h3>\n
\nUSAJOBS<\/a>, www.intelligencecareers.gov<\/a>, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers<\/a>, and other federal agency websites.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”23px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” background_color=”#e6f3fa” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”5px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]Together for Rochester<\/a> is a yearlong campaign designed to make life better. Get involved by helping our career centers to open doors for students\u2014recruit Rochester graduates, offer internships, full-time jobs, post-graduate fellowships, and career-building volunteer activities.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1619113143105{border-top-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;border-top-color: #999999 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”]<\/p>\n