“Never forget where you came from, even when you get to the top,” Buna Dahal, an alumna of College of DuPage, said as she spoke to a class at COD. All eyes laid on the small, blind woman who filled the room with her booming voice and soothing words of wisdom.

Dahal was one of the eight alumni who was recognized at the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Reception on Nov. 13.

Dahal is an accomplished motivational speaker and leadership strategist who has spoken at the United Nations. She graduated from the college in 1996.

According to the COD alumni program, the Distinguished Alumni Award Program started this year as a way to commemorate the achievements of some of the college’s over 100,000 alumni.

Cathy Brod, the executive director of the College of DuPage Foundation explains that the creation of the program was inevitable.

“We have so many alumni doing great things,” Brod said.

Brod says that the alumni were nominated based on “how alumni contributed to their professional careers.” The alumni also had to have either earned a degree or certificate from the college or completed over 30 credit hours and had graduated over 10 years ago.

After sifting through nominations, an alumni committee selected 40 finalists from which eight were given the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Along with Dahal, seven other accomplished alumni were selected: U.S Army Attorney Bryan T. Green, former Redback Networks CEO Dennis Barsema, “Chicago Fire” Actress Robyn Coffin, acclaimed music composer Amy Beth Kirsten, professor of speech communications Lauren Morgan, Vice President of global sales for Hyatt Hotels, Gus Vonderheide, and Director of Women’s Health at Prentice Women’s Hospital of Northwestern Medicine, Dr. Kim L. Armour.

Each individual who was presented with the award was required to do some sort of student engagement with COD students to give back to the college.

This enabled students to hear stories and ask questions from professionals who were sitting in the same seats years ago.

Nikki Maas, a music major at COD, said the experience made her feel more centered.

“It is really cool to see where COD can take you. It makes me feel like I am in the right place,” Maas said.

Maas, attended a class where Amy Beth Kirsten spoke. Kirsten is an accomplished classical music composer who was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship among other accolades.

Kirsten, after being inspired by the faculty and organizations at the college, would definitely agree that COD is the right place to take students above and beyond in their careers.

“My parents wanted me to go to COD to figure out that I didn’t want to be a music major but the opposite happened I was really inspired by the music professors here,” Kirsten said.

One experience in particular that Kirsten counts as defining was when COD’s choir performed the first piece that Kirsten composed.

“I got to hear it, it was such an amazing experience and was sort of the beginning of figuring out I wanted to be a composer,” Kirsten said.

One thing that many of the distinguished alumni agree with was COD’s influence in their life.

Bryan T. Green, an attorney for the U.S Army, felt COD was able to give him the basis he needed for the rest of his life.

“I learned time management and take advantage of opportunities, I wish it was a four-year school because I would have stayed ” Green said.

Opportunity is something that COD provided for more than one of its distinguished alumni.

For Robyn Coffin, an accomplished actress who has appeared in several TV shows and national ad campaigns, the COD was her only chance at an education.

“I had no money and no plan. COD was my only option,” Coffin said.

Her only option ended up being her best option as she says her professors became life-long mentors who still advise her today. The skills she learned from her professors ended up being impressive wherever she went.

“When I got to Columbia College, they thought I had trained at Juilliard,” Coffin said.

In the future, Brod hopes to expand the Distinguished Alumni Awards as well perhaps have a more unified way of contacting and reaching alumni.

“Everyone felt good about the event, we have plans for a more formal alumni program soon,” Brod said.

From the sentiments of the distinguished alumni, it is clear to see that the COD is highly regarded in many of its past students hearts.  Kirsten hopes that more than anything students can realize how great of a resource that students have right in front of them.

“There is a wonderful resource here in the faculty, they all have the experience of being professionals, tap into the resources that are already in front of you at COD,” Kirsten said.

Correction: The original version of this article, both online and in print, misspelled alumni Dennis Barsema’s name.