While this was not the first time I’ve met with a Gordon Career Center Advisor, I thought that I would once again meet with Pam Grande, as when I first met with her she mentioned that she knew a student who pursued a University Major and said was willing to give advice. I also decided to meet with someone who wasn’t associated with a particular field as the one I’m thinking of pursuing isn’t immediately transferable through a Wesleyan pre-established major. I felt that in talking with her, I was able to discuss a scary unknown future in a safe and comforting environment that made it less so, generally less intimidating and more approachable. In speaking with her, she helped me access some tools and directed me to ways to find answers that she might not have immediately been able to answer. This was super helpful as it essentially gave me an in/a place to start making connections. Since discovering the Wesleyan Alumni Directory, I’ve gone through and looked at individuals who’ve followed career paths that I’m interested in. While each has a certain aspect or identity that I’m interested in learning about, I’m hoping to reach out to one to include as part of my CSPL alumni interview requirements, which I’m super excited about. Additionally, in simply talking about my interests and their wide range, I was able to hear expertise and advice that the Gordon Career Center has accumulated from the diverse range of Wesleyan students that they help, which was super beneficial because it gave me a new perspective and opened up my mind to what is even possible.
Aside from the career advice, it was nice to talk to someone on campus more about my ambitions, and feel that the help and conversation were really targeted and tailored around me. It was also helpful to get a refresher on all the resources that Wesleyan has to offer and the real attempts they make to get us integrated into the working world as seamlessly as possible. I’ve been able to meet with a peer career advisor to briefly look over my resume and get advice on how to make it its strongest self.
Now feeling and knowing that I have someone “in my corner” on campus, I think that I’ll be less hyper-focused on doing all the right things to figure out how to be most efficient with my time and instead focus on really studying what I’m interested in. In getting out of my head and worrying about running out of time due to my ambitious goals, I feel that I’m able to take advantage of the help that’s always been available, but I’ve been too preoccupied to utilize it.
I’m grateful for the opportunity that this mandatory career advising meeting provided me as it’s allowed me to re-ground myself and realize that I don’t need to have it all figured out, even if it seems like others have and that I should.
