{"id":54709,"date":"2012-02-10T10:59:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-10T15:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=54709"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:14:37","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:14:37","slug":"husky-pride-runs-in-the-family-for-recent-grad-stephen-fortin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/02\/husky-pride-runs-in-the-family-for-recent-grad-stephen-fortin\/","title":{"rendered":"Husky Pride Runs in the Family for Recent Grad Stephen Fortin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Recent<\/a>
Recent graduate Stephen Fortin outside Mansfield Apartments, where he established a composting project. (Ariel Dowski '14 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the daunting job market facing today\u2019s college graduates, Stephen <\/strong>Fortin \u201911 (BUS) is beginning his career as a financial analyst for IBM only one month after his December graduation.<\/p>\n

And at the same time Fortin starts work at the corporate giant, a composting project he spearheaded while still a student at UConn is coming to fruition.<\/p>\n

Friendship and flexibility combined with Fortin\u2019s qualifications as a finance major to land him the prestigious position. A friend from UConn\u2019s professional business fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi, was interning with IBM and recommended him for the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 9 p.m., my friend texted me and said he\u2019d spoken to a human resources manager,\u201d Fortin says. \u201cLater that night the manager called, suggesting we meet the next day. So not even 24 hours later, I sat down with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most entry-level IBM\u2019ers with a finance background are placed in Minnesota, and the manager asked Fortin if he would work in the North Star State. \u201cI said, \u2018Why not, I\u2019ll explore the possibility.\u2019 That\u2019s how I deal with everything, leaving myself open to as many opportunities as I can be,\u201d Fortin says. \u201cYou never know where anything will take you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He got a second interview; IBM put him up in a hotel, and Fortin was interviewed throughout the next day. Two weeks later, IBM offered Fortin the job \u2013 working in its Somers, N.Y. facility. \u201cI\u2019m really happy,\u201d Fortin says \u201cbecause that\u2019s not too far from my hometown of Stamford.\u201d<\/p>\n

Launching his career semi-locally also makes it easier for Fortin to ensure a smooth transition as he cedes leadership of the composting project at Mansfield Apartments to current UConn students. The residents of EcoHouse, UConn\u2019s learning community for students interested in environmental issues, will do the work as part of their commitment to community service.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have that fear that you put a lot of work into something and after you leave, there goes all your effort,\u201d says Fortin. \u201cI wanted to be sure if I started a composting project it would be sustained after I left. That makes my work worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortin became \u201cmore cognizant of the waste side of everything\u201d while sharing an apartment with three roommates, dealing with grocery shopping, cooking \u2013 and spoiled food. He discussed composting with his fellow Mansfield Apartment residents, and they formed a council to work on the issue. A year passed, and Fortin didn\u2019t see any progress being made, so he started making phone calls himself.<\/p>\n

Eventually he connected with Dennis Pierce, director of UConn\u2019s Department of Dining Services, who offered to fund the project. He also knocked on apartment doors to create a distribution list for the compost bins he\u2019s now buying, and worked with the Town of Mansfield\u2019s recycling coordinator.<\/p>\n

By the time Fortin took the lead on the composting project, he was accustomed to making things happen in other areas as well. Fortin set the tone for the snare-drums in UConn\u2019s Marching Band; as section leader he embraced the eight-hour weekly practices, ensuring that everyone was prepared for weekly football game performances. As a leader in Kappa Kappa Psi, the band\u2019s service fraternity, Fortin also did the heavy lifting on behind-the-scenes operations that make the on-field show so impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pride of Connecticut Band is the largest student organization on campus, and it\u2019s essentially student-run,\u201d Fortin says. \u201cIt\u2019s really amazing how much is left to student leaders to set up and get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n

University pride runs in the Fortin family. He\u2019s the youngest of four brothers to graduate from UConn, and his mother attends classes at UConn\u2019s Stamford Campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Fortin ’11 (BUS) is proud of his UConn degree, his Marching Band experience, and a composting project he started that will help the environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[43],"class_list":["post-54709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 17:56:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54709"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55184,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54709\/revisions\/55184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/54499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54709"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=54709"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=54709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}