I suppose I need to start the first discussion. How about we all introduce ourselves, and hopefully others will follow suit when they join. My name is Andrew Marinik, I graduated from lake State in 2003 with a BS in Fire Science and a BS in Chemistry. I am currently employed by the Virgina Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech) as a researcher in the field of hazardous materials transportation. On the side I run with the Blacksburg Fire Department, and currently serve as a company officer (Lieutenant).
I started this group for two reasons; primarily to facilitate discussion amongst students and alumni, and secondly to generate more publicity about the program at Lake State. As for the discussion, I think there will be more value for some than others. Many of you have probable grown up with family in the service, and probably worked with a local department prior to starting school. In that sense, you may not have a lot of questions about the service outside of school, or at least you have someone you can talk to. For those of you like me, no family history in the service and no experience before school. I would have liked the opportunity to ask questions, and discuss interests in an open forum. In either case, I hope this group can be beneficial for everyone. At the very least, I hope that as we attract more alumni members (and some of you graduate) we can create a group to help people find employment opportunities, internships, etc through networking.
So please, chime in, let us know if you are a student or alum, year you graduate(d), emphasis (generalist, HazMat, Engineering Tech.). Also, please don't hesitate to start threads to discuss your interests.
Thanks for joining,
Andrew