Bessie Wilson graduated in May 2018 with a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations, and triple minored in Spanish, Marketing & Journalism. She was also a student in the Honors Program. Currently, she is the Digital Marketing Specialist at Waccamaw Publishers/My Horry News. She states, "I work for an amazing company with great co-workers. I'm extremely blessed to have been offered this job right out of college. I was very lucky to get offered a job in my field straight out of college. I think I graduated on a Friday and I started working a week later. Naturally, I was nervous to begin working "in the real world," but the classes I took while attending CCU successfully prepared me for my future. I did not do an internship while I was at CCU for undergrad. However, I utilized Career Services when they held their LinkedIn seminars and Resume workshops. Both of which were super helpful! I love being able to apply what I learned in college every day at work. I feel like sometimes, while in college, students think, "when am I ever going to use this in the real world?" Trust me you'll use the skills and lessons that you learn throughout school in your career, so listen to your professors!" Bessie made sure to utilize the resources available to her at the CCU Career Services Center. She has this to say to current students and graduates, "Career Services offers amazing resources for students that are about to make the transition from college to the real world. They are there to help and assist in any way possible. My advice to current CCU students would be to make connections and network. Make connections with your professors. They are there to help you and teach you. All of the professors live locally so more than likely have connections within the community that could lead to a possible job or internship. I would also suggest going to the career fair. That's how I found my job. The career fair is an opportunity to hand out resumes and do an impromptu interview. My last piece of advice would be to not settle. Don't settle on the first job offer you receive. Keep your options open and accept a job that you want and that you'll enjoy doing. If I accepted my first job offer, I would not be working at a great company that I'm with now."

James Koch, a 2015 Coastal Carolina University BSBA graduate in Management, recognized real career potential when he met Patrick Quilter, the founder of a small but growing technology company in Myrtle Beach called Quilmont Solutions. Now, several years and an acquisition later, he is making sure to share that career potential with over a dozen CCU interns and graduates with FogChain, a fully integrated, end-to-end software development life cycle (SDLC) and quality assurance solutions provider. The latest "CCU to FogChain" career success story comes from Kiley Lamagdeleine, a 2020 May BSBA in Marketing graduate and former FogChain marketing intern who is now working as a full-time marketing professional for the company. "I posted the internship position on CCU Handshake, and she applied within the first 10 minutes", Koch said. Lamagdeleine was actively looking for an internship to get marketing experience, and she immediately applied as soon as she saw the posting. "I got the internship position and had a great experience. Now, in my full-time role, I do a lot of social media marketing and content development-things I really enjoy", Lamagdeleine explained. Thanks to Koch's efforts to stay connected with the Coastal Carolina University Career Services office through Handshake, career fairs, career center networking events and social media, FogChain (and Quilmont Solutions) have hired over a dozen interns/staff over the years. He predicts that with the growth in the technology industry and the increasing need for cloud based business solutions, Fogchain's hiring needs will continue to grow with opportunities for a wide variety of majors. As the latest link in the CCU FogChain legacy, Lamagdeleine expressed her gratitude and excitement for her new role as a full-time professional. "I am so happy and grateful for the chance to work from home and be a part of this company. I know a lot of recent grads who are facing a lot of uncertainty", she said. Koch and Lamagdeleine offered some advice for current Coastal students and recent graduates as well. "Be open to possibilities-I never imagined that I would work in the technology industry, but I love it!", Lamadeleine offered. "Get internship experience, and don't overlook remote work options, especially now", Koch said. Finally, they both recommended using resources like CCU Handshake and getting Career Services office help with resumes and other internship and job search issues. CCU Career Services are free to all CCU students and alumni. Online resources, events and details on how to make an appointment can be found at www.coastal.edu/career .

Cassidy Brown, a senior marketing major, will start a new position at Amazon as an area manager in Spartanburg, South Carolina, upon graduation from Coastal Carolina University in May.

Fifteen CHANT411 student employees answer questions for students, families, faculty, staff and visitors who want a need information about the University.

More than 100 students work at Coastal Carolina University as resident advisers within University Housing, serving as live-in peer leaders and role models. The RAs are assigned to a wing, floor or building to serve the residents who live there.

Thirteen Coastal Carolina University students have been accepted as Solar Ambassadors for 2018-2019 in a program that partners with a nonprofit organization called RE-volv, which focuses on creating sustainable development teams at universities across the country.

Four sport and recreation management majors at Coastal Carolina University had the opportunity to work the popular Monday After the Masters celebrity golf pro-am in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on April 9.

The Lib Jackson Student Union has promoted five (5) student assistants to building managers for the fall 2017 semester.

Coastal Carolina University welcomes its 2018-2019 cohort of junior associates in the CoBE Institute. The Community and Business Engagement (CoBE) Institute, housed within the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, is a student-led organization pairing high-achieving undergraduate business students with business consulting projects to give them workplace experience. Students selected as CoBE Associates will receive instruction, mentoring and a unique opportunity to gain valuable work experience through participating in real-life business projects, commonly referred to as consulting practicum experience.