As I approach the end of my fourth year in Career Development, I am continuing to fight the battle of how to make our office relevant to our current students. This is especially tough considering we are a two-person professional staff with a limited budget. Even with this challenge, I needed to go beyond the resume reviews and finding a full-time job and discuss student concerns within careers.
I came to realize this the previous year. One of my student interns that worked in another office on our campus was putting together the annual student leadership conference. The day before the conference, a presenter backed out and my student intern begged me to put together another presentation for that conference. She asked me to present on my experiences in the gender leadership gap and how it has impacted my life and career. I interwove my own experiences and the studies about the gender leadership gap for all women.
When I presented it the next day, I did not realize how much it would impact my students. It opened the opportunity to meet with students that I had struggled to get to my office because I talked to them about a topic besides getting a job. I talked to them about my own struggles and that their own fears were equally valid when it comes to the next steps after college.
As I end my time on the OCPA executive board, I want to continue to challenge myself to do this. Go beyond how to write a resume or how to interview. Look at the current struggles that students are facing such as racism, sexism, and mental health issues. To not be afraid to acknowledge the fact that in some cases I am in the privileged sector and that I recognize the importance of addressing those issues and how I can help be the advocate for individuals who don’t have that privilege. Students appreciate the fact that you are willing to make yourself vulnerable and open to discussing challenges much more than we give them credit.
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