Jamila Pringle-Fynes ’11 Jamila Pringle-Fynes graduated from Brooklyn College in 2011, planning to go into journalism. With a B.A. in the subject, and a minor in political science, she tirelessly sent out her résumé. Given a tight job market, and without crucial connections to media professionals, Pringle-Fynes found that her sought-after job eluded her. But another interesting opportunity came her way: the chance to intern with Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke’s communications director. She took it. And so her career began, albeit a little differently than she had imagined. Common Themes Wide-ranging discussions with three relatively new Brooklyn College alumni reveal some common themes in their advice to current students: Be persistent. Be flexible. Take the opportunities that come to you, even if they aren’t exactly what you envisioned. These alumni offer their own varied and rewarding careers as examples. Pringle-Fynes used her background in journalism to secure the communications internship. This step led to the next. Clarke’s communications director left to start her own public relations firm and, impressed with Pringle-Fynes’s work, asked her to come along. Pringle-Fynes did and helped build the firm from the ground up. After that there was a stopover at Universal Music Group; then a return to government, working in communications for New York State Assemblywoman Diana Richardson; and subsequently a role in the communications office of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. There, says Pringle-Fynes, “we were fixing everything you saw in the newspaper” as well as “managing electeds, managing agencies, managing a lot of different pieces.” At the end of the de Blasio administration, Pringle-Fynes moved into the private sector but stayed involved in the political world. She is on the leadership council for the Biden/Harris 2024 campaign and is one of the leaders and founding members of the New York City Black Women’s Political Club. Today, Pringle-Fynes brings all of this experience to mentoring Brooklyn College students. She does so because she remembers what it was like to send out almost 300 résumés before getting a job. “One thing I’m big on,” she says, “is to lead with compassion.” At a Magner career luncheon earlier this year, Pringle-Fynes remembers connecting with a student “who was at a transition point.” The student was interested in government work. “As someone who has dealt with so many transitions,” says Pringle-Fynes, “I understood her journey and wanted to support her.” Through her mentoring work at Magner, she encourages students to “think bigger and also to persevere.” Part of that perserverence is to “find ways to be flexible in situations, even if it might feel like a bit of a pinch at the moment that you’re in it.” Unexpected Opportunities Ryan Mitchell ’12 This is advice alumnus Ryan Mitchell also imparts in his work. Mitchell graduated from Brooklyn College in 2012 with a B.A. in political science, “looking to go into corporate law or do political research.” But as he was searching for jobs, he “ended up stopping and saying, ‘You know what? I need to pay the bills.’” Mitchell decided to take a part-time job that came his way with the nonprofit New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL). Co-founded 54 years ago by tennis legend Arthur Ashe as the New York Junior Tennis League, the organization provides tennis and educational opportunities for the youth it serves. “I started off being in the classroom part time,” says Mitchell, “working as an activity specialist at the NYJTL elementary school program in Crown Heights.” Although the job was “supposed to be a landing stop,” he has moved up in the organization over the past 12 years. He is currently program manager of staff development and training for NYJTL’s afterschool program. Responsible for education-department staff development, including corporate training, Mitchell also manages nine kindergarten through eighth grade afterschool programs. He recently obtained his M.A. in youth studies from the CUNY School of Professional Studies. Mitchell describes his relationship with the Magner Center as “a symbiotic partnership.” By participating in Magner career events, he is able to fill part-time positions for his organization from a pool of motivated, responsible students looking to pursue careers in education, while those students get paid experience in their chosen field. At career events, Mitchell is open with students about his unexpected career path. “I’d be lying if I said that, at 21 or 22 years old, I knew that any of this was on the horizon,” he says. “But had I forgone the opportunities that didn’t seem congruent or match where I thought I was headed, I wouldn’t have even seen those possibilities unfold.” Career Switching Maximillian Re-Sugiura ’13 M.S.Ed. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2006 and gaining experience as an operations manager for the clothing brand American Apparel, Maximillian Re-Sugiura M.S.Ed. ’13 made a career switch to education. He became a New York City Teaching Fellow in summer 2008, graduating with a master’s in education from City College (CUNY) in 2010. Working for the Department of Education as a special education teacher for several years, during which time he attended Brooklyn College, Re-Sugiura then became an assistant principal in 2015. He took on his current job as principal of the High School of Art and Design in 2019. The child of two artists, Re-Sugiura says he was “an artist of sorts, and still kind of am.” He does consulting work in film and animation, which allows him, as principal at an arts school, “to stay fresh and relevant in this space.” In addition, his experience in special education has been helpful at a school where many students have learning differences—a strength in an arts-based environment, says Re-Sugiura. From his position in education, Re-Sugiura understands mentoring as “a framework for getting to know people so that you can actually help them realize the best version of themselves.” Appreciative of the energy and commitment of his own teachers at Brooklyn College, he “pays it forward” by participating in Magner’s career luncheons, Zoom sessions, and one-on-ones with students. At a Magner luncheon last spring, Re-Sugiura recalls a student who was nervous about the administrative demands of the job. “My response, based on years of observing first-year teachers and recalling my own experience, was to take a personal inventory of values,” he says, “and prioritize the instruction of young people first, before the secondary parts of the job.” Quick to say that “mentoring’s not hard work,” Re-Sugiura notes that not everyone realizes this. And he dismisses the idea of a busy schedule as a reason not to mentor. “Take a little bit of time,” he advises. “It’s so impactful when you just acknowledge a person.” Magner Career Center Director Natalia Guarin-Klein couldn’t agree more. “As a first-generation Latina myself, I had limited access to professionals,” she says. “I realize now how much I missed by not having a mentor when I was in college. Since then, I have seen the transformative experience a mentor can have on a young person’s life.”
