How Geography Plays a Role in Alumni Life

For alumni, studying Geography is more than a major or a career path. It has a lasting effect on who they are, where they live, and how they interact with their social and physical environments. In terms of their careers, alumni have done everything from becoming medical professionals to math teachers to lawyers, all of which don’t explicitly involve geography. Others have gone on to work in urban planning and GIS, which may be considered a more direct Geography pathway. Either way, majors find that they are utilizing their geographic education for their careers on a daily basis. To learn more about alumni work experiences, check out our discussion of meaningful work!

Think that a geography major is a purely academic and professional endeavor? Think again! Geography relates to people’s lives in many ways, including their relationships, sense of self, and worldview. As James Hamilton ‘03 put it, “I think as Geography majors, we also see physical space in a different way.” 

Geography students learning to read the urban landscape as a cultural text, Minneapolis, 2014

Past majors have described geography classes as being eye-opening, in part due to some of its nuances and unique tools, including the concepts of place, space, and scale. Many majors have become completely hooked on the discipline after just one course! 

Geography alumni tend to have a unique relationship with place. They make insightful observations about the natural and built environment and seek to understand places deeply. For this reason, majors often have profound connections with a place, and often more than one. Place is more than just where you are or where you live; it can also relate to your family life, cultural values, and career pathway. Alumni find that often a place changes them more than they have necessarily changed that place; after living somewhere new, they might find they have different values than they did when they moved there. Geography majors are also the kinds of people who make place-based decisions and sometimes even decide to move someplace new, just for the sake of change.

Geographers appreciating how watersheds shape place

Hear from some alumni about how they view place and Geography in their post-Macalester life:  

If you dream about flying, you are meant to be here. Because it means that you are looking at things from above and seeing patterns and seeing spaces at a different perspective and your mind is geared towards geography.

James Hamilton, class of 2003

I think that Macalester and my geography experience sparked a curiosity of how spaces are constructed and why they are, and who is profiting from them, and is there something more beyond what meets the eye.

Emma Liliedahl-Allen, class of 2010

I use the spatial lessons and awareness that I learned at Macalester everyday, and I love it. –

Josh Huntington, class of 1998

Explore how geographers connect with specific places in this interactive map: