The Alumni Way allows us to build our growth mindset. We open up to new opportunities and draw on our learning experiences. We invest hard work and effort on the journey. Developing an Alumni Way mindset is more than something to do. It is something that we have, something that we are. The Alumni Way challenges us to think beyond our titles, identities, and personas, or, at the very least, adds an extra one: alumni. By developing our alumni capital, we can explore other parts of ourselves. We can examine networks and ideas that connect us. We find our passion and place to give service.

Once we embark on the journey, our alumni citizenship serves us. We can think of all our formal, shared experiences differently. Our connections to institutions, organizations, sports teams, associations, and schools are all different. Relationships are meaningful exchanges. We can draw from institutions and they can draw from us. We are not alone. We are empowered to choose the experiences in our lives that hold the most meaning in our lives.

Our alumni citizenship is as fluid as we are. Our university alumni identity may be strong early in our career. As our needs change, we may develop a yearning to seek our ancestral home, to reconnect with childhood friends, to dust off the tennis racquet. Another alumni identity takes prominence.

It is easy to remain in the status quo and to decide not to change. ‘Many people with the fixed mindset think the world needs to change not them,’ Carol Dweck cautions. ‘They feel entitled to something better – a better job, house or spouse. The world should recognize their special qualities and treat them accordingly.’ This fixed mindset stunts our growth. It takes special effort to embrace challenges we may encounter after university: a new career path, a fledgling business, finding a healthy balance in life and our go-to place to find inspiration, our alma mater and our networks. We all have shared experiences that impact and shape our lives. Some examples on how to seize our alumni status are in this book. Some aren’t. The alumni actions and activities in this book help with this process of discovery. Be creative.