From Ice Rinks to City Halls, Career Day Inspires Students to Rethink Public Service
Nov 04 2025
By
Ambreen Ali
Source
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
The renowned figures one encounters in a typical public-policy job are lawmakers and public officials, but Melissa Parnagian ’17 spends her days around professional hockey players.
Parnagian, who works for the National Hockey League’s Social Impact, Growth Initiatives, and Legislative Affairs department, returned to Princeton last month as part of Public Service Career Day at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, where she joined two dozen alumni in sharing advice with students on how to pursue public service through a variety of tracks, including the private sector, law, nonprofits, education, local and state government, and finance.
“Sports can reach people at a different scale, in a different way than so many other institutions,” she said. “If you’re trying to influence people to do good and make a positive impact in society, why not explore how sports could be part of that?”
Parnagian’s job is to connect NHL players to the social causes they are passionate about, from mental health to environmentalism. A career highlight for her was helping advocate for Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first Black player, to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
“In the process of helping him get recognized for that honor, we got to share his story with so many more people as an example of what it means to serve others, to use your platform to stand for something bigger than the game, bigger than yourself,” Parnagian said.
Her unconventional path to public service is indicative of what it means to pair one's passions with career interests. Sports has always been a big part of Parnagian’s life: Her father worked at Yankee Stadium for 40 years, and her parents met there.
“I’m excited to see what the current generation of policy students is going to do with their own opportunities to make a difference at a time when I think a lot of creative solutions are needed.”Melissa Parnagian ’17
One-fourth of Princeton SPIA undergraduates are student-athletes, and Parnagian encouraged them to be creative in how they bring together their varied interests.
“I’m excited to see what the current generation of policy students is going to do with their own opportunities to make a difference at a time when I think a lot of creative solutions are needed,” she said.
With about 100 students in attendance throughout the day, Public Service Career Day served as an opportunity for them to ask candid questions and learn about potential career paths. Dean Amaney Jamal and General (Ret.) Mark A Milley ’80 helped set the stage at the start of the day.
“Today’s program is about drawing attention to the many ways you can serve and how to enter into public service in the first place,” Jamal said.
Milley emphasized that point, saying that working for the government is just one way of serving the country, which also needs people who run banks or develop technology, for example.
“[Public service] is some capacity or some duty or some job in which you are intentionally serving others. It’s not just about yourself,” he told students. “There’s a calling somewhere inside of you that says, ‘I want to help others,’ and that’s important. That’s a little flame that’s burning inside of you that needs to stay ignited.”
An alumni panel followed, with several breakout sessions later in the day where students had the chance to ask specific questions related to paths they are exploring.
In the session on local and state government careers, for example, a student asked about how to translate federal experience in national security to the state level. Other topics raised during the sessions included work-life balance, ongoing professional development, and late-in-life career pivots.
“Through this event, we wanted to showcase that careers are never linear. Where you start does not dictate where you will end up, and staying curious and passionate about what you do is what makes a career worthwhile,” said Elizabeth Choe, program director and director of undergraduate career services at Princeton SPIA. “Hopefully, this kind of exposure helps students see what is possible.”