February 19, 2020

BY ALYSSA GEHRIS ’20

Alumni working in the arts encouraged students to follow their passion to find their careers and to make nurturing their creativity a priority while they’re still in school.

Lauren Flynn ’14 and Craig Housenick ’98 spoke at the panel Careers in Arts Administration during Break Through.

A three-time Emmy winner, Housenick is the owner of CMH Design in Northridge, California. He graduated from SU as a theatre and English major.

When asked what advice they would give to their college selves, Housenick said to avoid unnecessary stress.

Housenick said he spent a lot of his time in college stressing about the future when he should have been using his time as an undergraduate to nuture his creativity.

“It’s not life or death,” he said. “We’re creating art.”

He encouraged students to focus on creating while they can and to “appreciate the moment more.”

Both Flynn and Housenick said they pursued their careers because they were passionate about their choices, not for the sake of a job.

“Following something you’re passionate about will always yield better results,” Housenick said.

Housenick now has his own lighting/media design firm, CMH Design, which provides lighting and media design for live events in the television industry.

At SU, Flynn was a music and philosophy double-major and now serves as the program coordinator at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

About Break Through

Break Through helps Susquehanna students to network and develop contacts with alumni and other professionals in their chosen fields. Each year in February, alumni converge on campus for the student-alumni networking conference. Alumni offer career-specific panel discussions, money management advice, résumé tips, online branding and more. Break Through is organized by Susquehanna’s Career Development Center.