Alumni Profile: Beth Snyder '94

Beth Snyder’s time at Hope didn’t just prepare her for her career in global human resources. It also gave her the desire to give back to the Hope community which she feels gave her so much during her four years of undergraduate education. “ Hope has been an active part of my life in the D.C. area,” she said. “I served for the past seven years on the college’s Alumni Association Board of Directors.”

As part of her time on the Alumni Board, Beth was president of the Alumni Association from 2004 to 2006. She also volunteers for Career Services.

She enjoys her continued participation in Hope’s community. “Being known and cared for by the faculty, staff, and students of Hope created incredible situations to learn and grow in for four years,” she said. “It’s been important for me to stay involved and give back to a community of people that taught me, challenged me, and helped me reach my goals.”

As the Career Services office helped her identify sociology and psychology as likely fields of interest, Beth quickly found a perfect fit. She even had a job on campus that coincided with her studies. “My time working in the Carl Frost Research Center expanded my understanding of social science research,” she said.

At Hope, Beth learned skills that became necessary to her—first in graduate school, where received her degree in business and human resources, and now in her career with ExxonMobil. Beth currently works as global human resources advisor for ExxonMobil for the Fuels Marketing division. “At Hope, I learned how to multi-task, manage competing priorities, and develop leadership skills,” she said. “Hope provided me with an environment to learn how to effectively work on teams and keep many ‘balls in the air.’ The college pushed me to meet challenges I didn’t think I could meet, and to stretch myself.”

“Hope students and faculty are the most generous, giving, friendly people. There’s a core value at Hope that relationships matter, people matter, community matters,” she said. “When you come on Hope’s campus, you sense it. Hope has it. You can’t sell it. You can’t recreate it. It’s just there, and it’s great.”

This profile was written by Megan E. Dougherty, a 2007 Hope College graduate from Normal, Ill., for the 2007-08 Hope College Catalog.

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