Monica Kasper
Monica Kasper
Class Year
’18
Current home
Brookfield, Ill.
Major(s)
Physics
Current Position
Energy Analyst at Satori Energy
Monica Kasper graduated from Carthage in 2018 with a degree in physics. She works for Satori Energy as an energy analyst, providing clients with the most competitive rates on their electric and natural gas supply costs; preparing and forecasting energy budgets; and analyzing historical usage data.
When Ms. Kasper graduated from Carthage, she wasn’t confident in the direction she should take. She considered attending graduate school and applying for post-grad internships, and applied for many jobs, but was still unsure about the path that was best for her.
“[Professor Jean Quashnock] could tell I was stressed and assured me that I had time to make a decision,” Ms. Kasper said. “He said, ‘You don’t reach your intellectual peak until your latter 20s. You have time to figure this out,’ and I will never forget that. It calms me about where I am in my career now and reassures me that it’s okay to not have all the answers yet.”
Now, Ms. Kasper enjoys being able to focus on one industry and having the opportunity to learn something new each day.
What have you enjoyed most about your career?
“In college, you learn so many things in so many classes that you don’t have much time to focus on one discipline. I have really enjoyed focusing on understanding one industry and constantly learning something new about it every day. About one month after I started at Satori, I remember thinking about how much I had learned about the deregulated energy industry and was amazed at how far I had come in a short time. When you learn something new every few weeks in class, you don’t get to experience that level of comprehension and satisfaction of thorough understanding.”
How did Carthage prepare you?
“The level of community that Carthage has to offer is like no other. Getting to know my professors, faculty, and peers created such a large support system that I knew I could handle anything that was thrown at me. Post-grad, I have mentors, friends, and colleagues supporting me even though I am no longer at Carthage. Knowing that all these people have confidence in my success made the transition from college to the ‘real world’ easier than I could have ever imagined.”
How has your liberal arts education benefitted you?
“My background in physics has taught me to be a very logical thinker. However, my daily responsibilities entail a lot of moving parts and it becomes very easy to forget vital aspects of the job. When I get stuck or something doesn’t seem to add up, what I learned at Carthage is to stop, remember the basics, and look at the big picture. More times than not, I have the answer in minutes (if not seconds) after I have been tackling the minor details for hours. This process to focus on the goal at hand and think about it from a different approach helps me on a regular basis.”
Tips for current Carthage students?
“Others want you to succeed. Putting in the initiative and effort to explore opportunities is a small step to take for a huge payout. In my experience, professors and faculty would go out of their way to help me get what I needed to succeed when they saw my motivation and perseverance. However, you have to make the first move, be persistent, and show them that this is worth their time and they will help in any way they can.”