Trine Alumni Clare Danner Enters the Adult World

By: Meghan Schrader, Executive Editor

Trine University 2019 graduate Clare Danner has recently joined the Trine workforce as the new Director of Student Leadership. 

Just two weeks after she graduated last May with a degree in English and communications, Danner began working for MedPro Group as an associate underwriter, but found that job just wasn’t for her. 

“I really was not a fan of sitting in front of a desk for 8 hours and looking at screens,” Danner said. She became aware of the open position at Trine through fellow humanities major and sorority sister, Kennedy Brough. Danner remarked on her admiration for former Director of Student Leadership, Alex Rossmann: 

“When I heard that it was open I immediately had to apply because I would, as a student, see Alex doing these things with students…and all these different events that she got to be apart of and go behind the scenes of,” Danner said, “I would always look at her and be like ‘I would love her job’ and so when I saw that it was open, I knew that this was going to be a great fit for me and that I had to give it a try.” In this job, Danner is responsible for overseeing sorority life and Student Government, is the advisor for the National Society for Leadership and Success, and is responsible for planning and executing SOAR. 

Danner is excited to be back at Trine University and to see so many familiar faces everyday. She remarks that she has always been drawn to the setting of higher education and the energy surrounding it. 

“I think I'm really looking forward to continuing to meet new students to help them figure out that this is the right place for them,” Danner said. 

Her favorite aspect about being out of school is the absence of homework and the addition of free time that is all her own. With all of this extra time, Danner has been able to dive into her fitness goals, and has run two 10k’s since graduation. 

“[It] doesn’t seem like much, but it’s such an accomplishment for me,” Danner joked. In addition to hitting the gym, Danner has been traveling more, visiting college friends in various states. On the other hand, Danner misses the close aspect of friends found on a college campus. 

“It’s nice to be able to just walk down the hall and see people that you love,” Danner said. She also misses interacting with HAC professors and students, and being able to (or forced to through coursework) to read. The hardest part of adulthood for Danner was managing finances for the first time and navigating a new city, but she’s since gotten the hang of it. 

“I’ll give some advice to future graduates: I think that I had a hard time in my first job cutting myself slack. I think, no matter what kind of industry you land in, or whatever kind of role you land in, really don’t be too hard on yourself. Especially if you’re surrounded by people that are, you know, five-10 years already into it. Just don’t be too hard on yourself, and love yourself,” Danner advised. 

Danner hopes to obtain a masters degree of business administration and/or a graduate degree in higher education student affairs one day, and to continue navigating the many opportunities found in the higher education career field. Stop by her office in the LINK to say hi!