As a second-year student taking PW courses, I recently had the opportunity to meet with Michael Batdorf, a sales support executive at Messer and a member of the PW advisory board.  The reason for the meeting was that I was tasked with interviewing a PW advisory board member to gain insight on how the PW practices and techniques I am learning now apply to careers and life beyond college.  Mr. Batdorf went above and beyond simply allowing me to ask him some questions, he brought me to his workplace and gave me a full tour of the building.  He introduced me to some of his coworkers, including members of the marketing team (relevant because I am also studying marketing).  Mr. Batdorf showed me many examples of what he does at Messer, and the ways he applies professional composition and graphic design into the projects he oversees. 

I believe that having the opportunity to connect with Mr. Batdorf was an amazing experience, and it opened a whole new career path in the professional writing community that I did not even know existed beforehand.  I look forward to learning even more from him in the future, and I am thankful that I was able to gain such a valuable experience and connection due to my affiliation with the PW program!

-Zach Sisler, RPW major