This month’s staff member in the spotlight is Nick Bragin, Associate Director of Strategic Planning and Implementation at the Career Development Center. We asked him a series of questions, and here’s what he had to say (responses may have been edited for concision and clarity):
What is your name and what do you do; how long have you worked here in OVPUE?
Nick Bragin – 6 years with OVPUE; 10 with IU
What three traits define you? 
Curious, social, & forward looking
What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t doing this?
I would either be doing something in performing arts/venue management or work as a financial planner/coach. My academic background is in non-profit management and arts administration. In graduate school, I really enjoyed my assistantships and internships that involved venue and performing arts management. I love studying about retirement investments, and I just can’t escape the interest in coaching.
If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
I would love to train to be a sommelier! The science, history, geography, and nose & tasting notes behind wine is fascinating to me.
How do you define success?
Success is setting a goal and achieving it. With that being said, there is so much importance in the process of completing the task. Success doesn’t have to be clean. The messiness and setbacks are where I have learned the most.
What do you do in your spare time?
I am a father to a 3 year old and almost one year old, what’s spare time?
I really enjoy camping, backpacking, and hiking. I am a sports enthusiast. I like playing tennis, golf, and have been known to risk my physical safety playing adult league softball. I also love cheering on IU Athletics and the Chicago Cubs. My wife and I love to travel. I enjoy planning dream trips involving some sort of adventure, exploring a new country, or visiting top restaurants in new places.
What’s the coolest (or most important) trend you see today?
There is a new found resilience and flexibility across all generations. While COVID has forced us to adapt and embrace a new way of doing things, I haven’t encountered a single person who hasn’t met it head on and looked for new ways to succeed.
What is your favorite thing about working at OVPUE?
I love our commitment to students.
I really enjoyed reading more about you Nick. I especially appreciated the smile you put on my face when you said, “What’s spare time?”