I’ve found my niche on campus.
At the beginning of the semester, I dabbled with the idea of switching majors to Secondary English Education. It seemed logical: blogging is my favorite part of the week, honors composition is my favorite class, and a few of my favorite women teach English. However, my work-study position granted me a new perspective.
As Clinical Assistant in the Communication Disorders and Deaf Education department, my job description sounds like I partake in the typical hum-drum processes of office work: filing paperwork, answering phones, making copies, brewing coffee. But, it is so much more than that—I am immersed in the Speech Pathology culture.
Every morning the graduate students start to trickle in around 8 o’clock. Even with heavy coarse loads, they are dressed to impress and eager to begin their days. Shortly after their arrival, the hallways are filled with laughter, clomping feet, and exhausted moms trying to keep up their energetic kiddos. This excitement is only intensified when our graduate students greet their young clients. Everyone is eager for therapy to begin.
While I am witnessing everything from behind a desk, I can’t help but be reminded that this will be my life in 3 years.
I don’t know if it is the serenity of the sage green walls, or the dedicated graduate students, but something here is comforting. There is so much going on, but the peaceful aura is never lost.
I know this is where I am supposed to be.
Tagged as:
career,
Education,
speech-languge pathology
The more I think about my future, the more I realize I’m clueless. My response to this state of cluelessness is to seek out other people to talk to; current and former professors, close friends and significant others, parents, randomly trustworthy strangers… why not?
The thing is, I want to do SO MANY things. I’d love to work a bunch of different jobs for a while, and not even particularly glamorous or well paying jobs. I’d like to work in a loud, noisy, dangerous factory for a while, for the experience. I’d like to work as a waiter for a while for the practice in interpersonal skills. I’d like to work at a printing company to learn more about the printing process and see what goes into the process we so often take for granted in our packaging. I’d like to work as an electrician because wiring things up is just cool, and I’d love to get the skills and know-how to fix up my own house – for the same reasons, I’d like to work as a plumber and an auto mechanic and a carpenter, so I can do so many things myself. I’d like to work as a landscaper and a construction worker to get outside and do things with my hands and sweat. I’d like to be a salesperson, both door-to-door and in a store. So many things! It’d be so cool!
On top of that, of course, there’s the “real” jobs, the jobs where my college-earned credentials are important. I’d love to work in advertising, of course, as an account executive, but also maybe as a planner, a media buyer, a research analyst… And more recently, I realized how much I’d enjoy being a professor, teaching advertising and sociology.
The cool part is when I think about all this, I’m not scared at all. Right now I don’t know where I’ll be in three months, six months, a year, three years… No clue! But I’m not scared. I’m realizing how much I’ve learned at Fontbonne during my time here that isn’t just random skills and useless facts. I’ve learned so much about critical thinking and problem solving. I’ve learned how to learn new things, if that makes sense. So I know that wherever I end up and whatever I end up doing, I’ll be okay.
And that, that’s pretty exciting. So… where are you headed?
(Fifty-two days ‘til graduation!!)
Tagged as:
career,
Graduation,
Student Life,
The Future,
Trade Jobs
May 21, 2011 is a date that looms over my head every hour of every day of this spring semester. It is only 53 school days and roughly 120 hours of class away from this exact moment. That is it: the day of my graduation from Fontbonne University. I know that most of my peers look at that day as one of freedom, celebration, excitement, liberation from homework, but for me, it is a deadline. That is when I have to decide what I want to do with my life, where I want to live and how I’m going to support myself. And that is the day I will no longer be a student at Fontbonne and become an alumni. I’m incredibly proud of this change in title, because I am incredibly proud of my university, but all I want to scream is, “What am I going to do?!?”
Again, my crisis with my future plans doesn’t stem from the negative in my college experience. It is indeed the opposite. I am too inspired by all the amazing, interesting ideas, jobs, and markets that I’ve been exposed to to choose between all of them. As a prospective grad student or young professional, Fontbonne groomed to be a perfect candidate: tons (and tons) of student involvement from student government to service to professional development, a great internship, a great academic background and a community of helpful and guiding faculty and staff. But, there’s one drawback, I don’t want to leave!
They can’t make me. I love my school so much that it is breaking my heart to let it go. I feel like I’m losing the love of my life and the place I call home all at once. All the mentors of campus (I have ten, because everyone is just so amazing), keep telling me that I’m going to go so far and am so prepared, which is encouraging. I just can’t decide which wonderful or exciting place to go first.
First and foremost, FBU instilled in me a love of service and a longing to serve those who haven’t been as fortunate as I have. From that, I am looking in jobs in non-profit or possible a stint in Americorps. Second, the Communication department (my degree program) has opened so many opportunities for me to get work in my field, I know I would love any job I could get. And third, all my extracurriculars have shown me what I think may be my “real passion:” Higher Education. I am obsessed with the workings of a college from the academics to student affairs to athletics to administration. I want to learn and work with it all.
So, here I am with a deadline and an array of enticing options to decided between before d-day: Saturday, May 21 at 2 p.m. This is where I have to look away from the numbers, away from Fontbonne and into myself. I have to find what will make me happy. I know college has definitely provided me the tools as both a student and a future alumni to do that. I will be a very happy Fontbonne graduate.
Tagged as:
career,
College,
Fontbonne,
Graduation
Choosing a major is a very difficult action for college students. Many students change their major several times during school. However, I have always wanted to study biology. Biology is simply the study of life. How can people not be interested in life?
I chose to be a biology major for several reasons. First, I have always wanted to become a medical doctor in order to care for the sick and suffering of the world. Ever since I can remember, I have felt deep empathy for people less fortunate than me and have wanted to make a difference. Second, biology is a great major because it keeps my options open to other fields. I have the opportunity to pursue jobs in dentistry, botany, and biotechnology if I change my decision about wanting to become a doctor. Third, biology and the complexity of life never ceases to fascinate me. I enjoy learning about how the human body functions as well as the concept of evolution and the relationships between organisms.
When I was younger, I began studying different animals and learned to love them. Consequently, becoming a veterinarian or a zoologist is also a possibility for me in the future. I enjoy going to the zoo and doing whatever else I can to show support for the animals of the world. In the future, I see myself traveling to poor countries and exotic places to help the sick and suffering. Doctors Without Borders is definitely an organization that I am interested in joining. Finally, a minor reason I chose biology as a major was because I love challenges. Biology is one of the most difficult majors to undertake in college, and it has challenged me in ways I never foresaw. The road will be long, but I will make it through. I will be successful because of my education, and I will make a difference in the world. I will not be a wealthy man materially but spiritually because I will use my knowledge to help those in need.
Tagged as:
Biology,
career,
Major
