Steve Lewis (’05)

Sociology/Anthropology Major

What co-curricular or extracurricular activities were you involved in?

College Democrats, Sociology club (then rebranded to Students for Social Change).

 What are you doing now?

I’m a Software Implementation Consultant.  I live in Singapore, though most of my work is in Europe, so I do quite a bit of international travel.

How did you get to this place in your life/ career?

Great question….  I started working at Epic Systems a couple years after graduation.  It is a large software company in Madison Wisconsin  Epic is a very different company- they don’t look for particular technical skills or specific experience.  They look at personality and aptitude, and then train employees on specifics for the job.  A strong academic record is very important, if you don’t have a GPA over 3.5 you won’t be considered.  They like Truman as well, there were several other Truman Alumni there when I worked there.  While working at Epic (I was there for 8 years), I pursued every international opportunity that I could.  That lead me to relocating to the Netherlands after 5 years, and I continued working for Epic in NL for a couple years.  When I wanted to move on, I joined a small start-up of former Epic employees in Amsterdam.  Then a year ago my wife’s job moved her to Singapore, so I followed.  I started a subsidiary of my Amsterdam firm in Singapore.

I always knew I wanted to work internationally, but didn’t know how I could do it.  A couple things were key.  Most important is simply pursuing it, finding a company that operates overseas, and making it known you are interested. My first opportunity was a trip to Brazil with our President and CEO, and that was all because I spoke Portuguese and offered them information on how they could be more effective while working with Brazilians.  Don’t let anyone tell you that foreign language skills aren’t important anymore because machines will translate everything- it’s not true.  The cultural understanding that comes from thinking in another language and communicating with people in that language is something that a computer will never replace.  Studying cultural anthropology certainly doesn’t hurt either. 😊

Have you been to graduate school? If so, where did you go? Did you go right after graduating from Truman?

No graduate school.

Do you have any advice for Truman students who are interested in going to graduate school? 

Don’t go to graduate school just “because it’s the natural progression of what you’ve been doing for the past 16 years.”  Make sure it’s really something you want to dedicate the time and effort to, having considered all of your other options.  Being afraid of entering the job market is not a good reason.  I wanted to go to grad school, but couldn’t really decide what discipline, so I decided to take some time to work and travel, and to be outside of academia for a bit.  I haven’t gone back.  I’d still like to go to graduate school at some point, but until I can say exactly what I want to study and exactly why, I’m not going to.

How has the education you’ve received from Truman helped you?

Thinking critically is immensely important.  Being able to communicate your ideas and perspectives clearly to others is just as important.  Interdisciplinary studies are particularly interesting because in most jobs and professions you’ll need to think about things from different perspectives; I think the JINS concept is a fantastic part of Truman.

Is/are there any particular class(es) that you’re glad you took? Did you like it/them at the time?

The one I think about most frequently is JINS Weird Science with Dr. Edis.  We talked then about creation science (anti-evolution), UFOology, etc.  It was a focus on how people believe things that are fanciful, and it’s a useful framework for thinking about the anti-climate change movement now, for example.  At the time, Social Stratification was probably the most meaningful SOAN class that I took in terms of how it changed me as a person.  I was already relatively socially aware of privilege in the American social system, but that drove the point home very well.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Truman?

Oh lots of great memories….interesting debates with other students in class or outside of class, Kirksville in the summer when you can see the community in a different way, studying in the library….

Why is Truman a good school at which to study?

Lots of reasons, but if I have to be short in one sentence: Truman takes academics very seriously without being arrogant about it, and also cares about keeping the overall cost of education down.

Do you have any advice for someone wanting to go into the same line of work as you? 

A lot of companies will turn you down, but don’t get discouraged (easier said than done!)  Just keep trying to find the right fit, a company that recognizes what you have to offer.  Once you have the job, be ambitious.

What do you miss most about campus life/ living in Kirksville?

The cost of living!  Pagliai’s pizza! Walking to most places you need to go (as opposed to driving).

If you could teach current students one thing, what would it be?

It’s very valuable to understand people very different from you.