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From Campus to Career: Alumni reflect on their journey to a fulfilling career

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Mehlville School District wants every student to graduate with a wide range of values and skills that will lead to successful professional and personal lives. The skills and values identified in the district's Portrait of a Graduate include:

  • Critical and creative thinker
  • Collaborative communicator
  • Compassionate
  • Reflective and self-aware
  • Resilient

In our From Campus to Career series, we spoke with five Mehlville High School and Oakville High School alumni who are early in their careers about how their experiences in the Mehlville School District prepared them for life after graduation.

Morgan Schmidt, MHS Class of 2020

After graduating from Mehlville High School in 2020, Morgan Schmidt attended Missouri State University to study early childhood education.

When she had the opportunity to return to the Mehlville School District as a student teacher, Schmidt jumped at the opportunity. She student taught at John Cary Early Childhood Center, a school that she attended as a child, and has since been hired there as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher.

Schmidt has had a successful start to her career. She was named the Mehlville Early Childhood Teacher of the Year in her first year in the classroom.

She credits her success to her involvement in the leadership class and student council during her time at Mehlville High School. Schmidt says it helped her to develop leadership skills, particularly how to lead when you're not in a typical leadership role.

Her advice for current high school students is to live in the moment and to not overlook the present by focusing too much on the future.

Emina Muratovic, OHS Class of 2019

When Emina Muratovic graduated from Oakville High School in 2019, she already had 30 college credits because of the dual enrollment classes and Advanced Placement classes she took at OHS. She planned to study medicine, and choosing rigorous high school classes helped her get ahead.

But just a few days into her undergraduate career, Muratovic realized she didn’t have a passion for medicine, and transitioned to study marketing and sports business. She continued her education at the University of South Florida, earning a Master in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Sports and Entertainment Management.

She immediately started networking and getting involved while she was attending her masters program. Muratovic worked with the USF football team, the Bradenton Marauders (a Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates) and the Tampa Bay Lightning. During the final year of her program she was an Insights and Strategy Fellow for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

She then transitioned to a similar role with the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium. She now works as a Marketing Analyst, assisting the Dolphins, the Miami Open tennis tournament and the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix with all aspects of their digital product, like social media, paid advertising, trend watching and the marketing budget.

While she didn’t end up using a lot of the information she learned in science classes she took at OHS, Muratovic says having a rigorous class schedule in high school taught her how to work hard. She also says she learned that it’s okay to pivot and make changes.

Her advice for high school students is to begin networking and making meaningful connections in their area of interest as soon as possible.

Sean Gallagher, MHS Class of 2022

Sean Gallagher first fell in love with playing trumpet in the band room at Washington Middle School. That passion has turned into a career that he hopes to enjoy for the rest of his life.

After graduating from Mehlville High School in 2022, Gallagher attended Oklahoma City University to study trumpet performance. He is starting at Yale University this fall on a full-tuition scholarship to earn his master’s degree in trumpet performance.

Gallagher hopes to spend his career performing in an orchestra or wind ensemble. He also enjoys teaching the next generation of trumpet players.

He says he wouldn’t be where he is today without Tony Brown, his band director at Mehlville High School. Gallagher credits Mr. Brown with constantly searching for new opportunities for him to improve his skills.

His advice for current high school students is to find something that they love and pursue it as hard as they can.

Veronica Mohesky, OHS Class of 2017

After graduating from Oakville High School Class of 2017, Veronica Mohesky attended Journalism School at Mizzou. She quickly realized that she was miles ahead of her classmates when it came to experience because of her three years in the broadcast journalism program at OHS.

She already had used cameras, spoke on camera, and wrote and edited broadcast stories. Many of her classmates hadn’t had those opportunities in high school.

After graduating college, Mohesky returned to the St. Louis area producing digital content for Nine PBS in a part-time role. She helped Nine PBS build its following on Instagram and TikTok, continued to build her skills and take on more responsibilities, and has now worked as a Producer since 2023. Mohesky received an Emmy Award in 2024 from the Mid-America Chapter of National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her work on the program “Power of the Pitch.”

Her advice for current students is to create opportunities for themselves. If they’re working in a role that doesn’t have enough responsibilities for them, be creative and do additional things that align with their interests.

Alyson Piskulic, MHS Class of 2019

While attending Mehlville High School, Alyson Piskulic knew she was interested in a career in medicine. She took many of the health science classes at MHS and attended St. Louis Centers for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) during her senior year.

Following graduation in 2019, Piskulic attended Missouri State University on a full-ride tennis scholarship. She studied cell and molecular biology, chemistry and medical humanities. She also earned her EMT license and worked for six months in St. Louis before beginning medical school.

Piskulic is now in her third year of medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She plans to practice pulmonary critical care.

She credits the science classes that she took at MHS, particularly the dual credit courses, with helping her to get a jump start on her undergraduate degree. Piskulic also says that St. Louis CAPS provided her with unique opportunities, like observing surgeries, that few students have during high school.

Her advice for current students is to build strong relationships with their teachers. A lot of the studying she does now is independent, but she appreciated having teachers to rely on and help her in high school.