{"id":10344,"date":"2025-05-14T10:06:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T10:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=10344"},"modified":"2025-05-14T10:13:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T10:13:39","slug":"most-dear-to-me-are-the-friendships-reconnecting-with-cardiff-decades-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/2025\/05\/14\/most-dear-to-me-are-the-friendships-reconnecting-with-cardiff-decades-later\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMost dear to me are the friendships\u201d: reconnecting with Cardiff decades later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joseph Rapoport (MA 1990) is an IT Systems Engineer based in Houston, Texas. 18 years after finishing his master\u2019s in History at Cardiff, he set up a LinkedIn group bringing together fellow alumni in the U.S. Here, Joseph reflects on staying connected with Cardiff, even from the other side of the Atlantic.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, every now and then I grow homesick for my second home \u2013 Cardiff,\u201d Joseph says.\u202f\u201cI thoroughly enjoyed my time at the university and have lots of great memories with friends.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having studied his undergraduate degree in Texas, Joseph was aware that Houston locals would occasionally get together to watch collegiate sports games. In fact, alumni associations are very popular in the U.S., offering a helpful path to staying connected with a college community. This inspired Joseph to bring together Cardiff alumni \u2013 whether for a drink, some conversation, or a bit of networking. The result was a LinkedIn<\/span> group, where Joseph could organise meetups, share news, and keep in touch with friends back in Wales.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since starting his group in 2008, membership<\/span> grew to over 5,500 alumni and student members based all over the world. <\/span>Joseph has even reconnected with friends he\u2019d lost touch with since he graduated in 1990. \u201cMost dear to me are the friendships I have made and kept,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve weathered distance and time after 36 years, and they\u2019re still going strong.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following Joseph\u2019s lead, an official LinkedIn group is now open<\/a> to Cardiff alumni<\/span>. Offline, international <\/span>Alumni Chapters and groups<\/span><\/a> also offer a chance to reconnect and network \u2013 from New York to Hong Kong, Cardiff communities come together to share news and opportunities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the future, Joseph would love to see further <\/span>events<\/span><\/a> organised via LinkedIn, much like his familiar Houston get-togethers. \u201cI visited Cardiff in the early 2000s and reunited with my professors and lecturers, as well as enjoying great food with my friends who still lived around Cardiff,\u201d he recalls. Since then, hundreds of alumni have come together for lively \u201cRe-Freshers\u2019 Nights\u201d in <\/span>2022<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>2024<\/span><\/a>, and this August, 1980s alumni are <\/span>invited to turn back the clock<\/span><\/a> at the Students\u2019 Union.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph looks back fondly on all the friends he met and the places he lived during his own student days. \u201cMy first year, I lived in University Hall and spent a few nights at their pub playing pool and meeting new friends. My second year, I lived in a communal house on Colum Road with students from France, Cornwall, Poland, and the Philippines. The exposure to different cultures and foods was a great experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you choose to return to Cardiff or get together with alumni in another city, reunions are a great way to stay connected with your alma mater. Joseph is certainly an advocate for trips to the Welsh capital.\u00a0 He lists off the highlights: \u201cI loved my trip to Barry Island with Dr Chris Williams and his family, feasts with friends at Bo Zan, and wonderful Italian meals at Lucianos. I also saw the Royal Welsh Theatre perform Pirandello\u2019s Henry IV, with the masterful Richard Harris in the lead role.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing\u2019s for sure \u2013 whether you\u2019re keen to sample the Welsh arts scene, take a foodie tour of Albany Road, or perhaps take a trip down Chippy Lane, Cardiff will gladly welcome you home.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ready to join our online Cardiff alumni group? Head to LinkedIn<\/a>. You can also <\/span><\/b>find an Alumni Chapter near you<\/span><\/b><\/a> or reconnect with old friends via <\/span><\/b>one of our alumni Facebook groups<\/span><\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in organising your own reunion, take a look at some <\/span><\/b>key tips and resources<\/span><\/b><\/a> to help you plan your own event. And for more Cardiff memories from our alumni community, <\/span><\/b>visit our YouTube channel<\/span><\/b><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joseph Rapoport (MA 1990) is an IT Systems Engineer based in Houston, Texas. 18 years after finishing his master\u2019s in History at Cardiff, he set up a LinkedIn group bringing together fellow alumni in the U.S.","protected":false},"author":904,"featured_media":10350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,39,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-stories","category-cardiff-connect","category-news"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/904"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10344"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10351,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10344\/revisions\/10351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}