Lessons from Core for the Years Ahead

One of the hallmarks of the Scripps experience is the three mandatory semesters of Core. Every Scrippsie knows the trials and tribulations that the Core experience puts us through. Yet, the skills learned from our participation in Core can be applied to and help us with our four years at Scripps, as well as beyond the 5C classrooms, in our careers.

1.Life is interdisciplinary:

Core, at its core ;), is interdisciplinary. It is all about the profound connections between different fields of study, and how examining one subject area can enrich our understanding of larger concepts. Identifying and analyzing commonalities is a great skill to have. No matter what field you choose to pursue, interdisciplinary thinking will be an asset. The strongest thinkers are the ones that have a broad scope of the world. They don’t have academic tunnel vision. Instead, they are masters at using their extensive understanding of their discipline to inform and enrich their understandings of other disciplines. Whether it be in your other courses, or in the workplace, it is an advantage to be able to pull outside knowledge to the issue at hand.

2.Collaboration with peers and professors:

In core classes, collaboration is integral, and unavoidable. In the very design of Core I, discussion and lecture collaborate to provide revelations about the texts. In discussion, students collaborate with one another to arrive at conclusions by examining, and sometimes challenging, the texts. The professors’ lectures, ranging in disciplines, serve to illuminate the texts. Often, professors collaborate with students by posing questions for deeper thought in lecture or in smaller discussion. By lecturing, professors are able to explain why community matters to them and to their discipline. Essentially, they are a part of the larger discussion that is Core. Interacting with both our peers and professors about delicate identity issues that often relate to sexual orientation, gender, race, class, or nations prepares us for “the real world” where consciousness of diverse experiences is one of the largest assets in a workplace. Perhaps one of the most important teachings from Core isn’t in the content of the course, but in the skill of good-natured debate and discussion-based collaboration that it demands. Knowing how to present your ideas to peers and employers, both verbally and in writing, is a skill that Core trains us well in.

3.Core makes you a better human being:

Core I’s focus on the concepts of the nation, community, and identity provide great tools for being working members of society. As soon to be college graduates, it is vital that we put into play our newfound understandings of civilization and inequality in our endeavors. This learning can be enriching to our more advanced courses later on at Scripps or in graduate school. This learning can also enhance our pursuits in our careers, perhaps by aiming to include historically excluded identities from the academic and work-related careers we create and become parts of. For example, Professor Rachlin’s recent lecture to Core I students, “The Class Closet: How Do We Get In and Why Don’t We Come Out?”, supplies us with an awareness for the wealth disparity in our nation. This study can be applied to how we–who are lucky enough to go to college–should move through the world with a deeper understanding of class in our heads. Professor Rachlin’s lecture also provided us with the language to talk about tough issues like class with our peers and professors. Knowing the correct language to use to collaborate thoughtfully and respectfully is essential to going far in our careers.

Creating the Job You Want When Working the Job You Need

This past summer I worked as a sales associate at one of my favorite stationery stores. I succesfully found and secured an intterview for the job by using a site that functions similarly to Handshake. When I was hired for the job I was expecting to learn how to do new tasks since it was my first, and probably only, retail job. To be honest, although I was excited to be working at a stationery store, the basic job description did not sound particularly engaging at first. As expected, I learned how to engage with customers, work the register, and discuss product. Yet, it was what I brought to the job from prior experiences and my own passions that made me excited to go to work every day.

On one of my first days of work, my manager asked me off-handedly if I happened to have good handwriting. I replied that I thought so and would love to give any special projects she had a try. She handed me a blackboard and a chalk marker, and I headed to the back table to work on what would become my first masterpiece.

After that, I became the regular signage creator at the store. While working on the register I would be simultaneously creating signage for the store. I blended the expected responsibilities of the position with the new tasks I adopted. Soon, I was helping create window displays and crafting models to advertise what customers could make in our workshops. I felt like I was creating in a meaningful way. What I was spending time crafting was seen my hundreds, even thousands of customers, and added to the atmosphere of the store. I loved being creative at what could’ve been “just a summer job”.

Beyond designing my job to be an outlet for creativity, I was able to teach kids at the small arts camp we ran. My manager asked me to help the kids craft with her, and from that day forward my shifts were scheduled so that I could cover the hours in which the kids camp was being taught. I learned how to engage with our youngest (and custest!) customers while having patience, compassion, and a smile. I had so much fun working over the summer, and it was all because of the duties of the job that I did not even expect to be doing. Perhaps most importantly, I felt a purpose in seemingly arbitrary skills like good handwriting in a world where we list skills like Word and Excel on our resumes, not calligraphy.

I learned that just like any situation, jobs truly are what you make of them. You can think of your summer job as “just a summer job”, or as an opportunity to learn new skills and to take on the extra responsibilities that you specifically enjoy. Ultimately, it is what you choose to do in your workplace that will be the bullet points on your resume. But beyond that, what you choose to do is what makes your workday enjoyable.

Taking Initiative in your Internship

So you want to stand out in your internship position? Well if you do you’re at the right place. Because who doesn’t want positive recognition? The classic advice is to take initiative. Seize opportunity. Much easier said than done, especially for some of my introverted friends out there (love you guys!). Coming into an internship or first job you may not know exactly what it is you want to ultimately do. So how do you target and find opportunities that will be helpful? I suppose the answer is, what’s the harm in trying? In perusing any opportunity that comes your way. The primrose path is rarely straight and you never know what will ultimately lead you to what you want to be doing. I came into my internship with an unclear idea of what I wanted to do, explored a ton, took on responsibilities, and now I can take that knowledge into the future. But I never would have had some of the most amazing experiences if I never took initiative.

The first few weeks in my internship were really spent learning what my place was and learning the basic expectations and responsibilities of my role. And it is of course imperative to perform the tasks you are given to the best of your ability. Make a name for yourself as someone reliable. Someone that will not only do what is required, but do it efficiently and with their brain turned on. How can you make the lives of those around you easier? People tend to remember little things. Things that don’t even require much effort on your part. Like if you are asked to gather and organize information, presenting it in an easy to read fashion. Once you have developed a name for yourself as a reliable worker and quick thinker, don’t be afraid to ask if you can help with anything.

For example, I was brought in as a Film/TV Development intern which mostly consisted of reading scripts and providing written feedback reports on them to executives. But there was also a Virtual Reality division of the company and I was dying to know more. Although I knew very little about VR at the time, IT LOOKED SO COOL! So I saw the team working on a project one day and asked if they needed any help. I didn’t know it at the time but I would end up learning so much about this emerging industry. But not only that, it furthered my reputation as someone who was invested in making the most out of my time. And that initiative will help you stand out in people’s minds in the future. Maybe those who have been working longer will have a better perspective on this, but from what I experienced, it is the little things that make you stand out.

Saturday Night Live GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY

Life Lessons from the Theatre

Moving to a new city and working full time, while only for the summer, was a challenge.  And while many things changed I found that a few lessons that I learned outside of the workplace have been surprisingly applicable in it, especially in the intern role.  Here are a few life lessons that I learned from Theatre that have served me well in the workplace…

Finding Neverland The Musical GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY

People want results, not excuses.

When something goes wrong, excuses are many people’s first response.  It’s a way to defend ourselves from personal attack when things don’t go according to plan.  By placing the blame for a mistake on outside forces, we make our egos feel better.  But blaming things outside of our control doesn’t help with our personal growth or increase other’s trust in our abilities.  Mistakes happen.  Everyone understands that and everyone has made stupid mistakes.  In my experience, you earn far more respect by owning your mistakes and following through on promises to make amends.  If you can follow up a mistake by doing better next time, people remember and respect that.  They don’t want to sit around listening to excuses all day, they want to know what you’re going to do about it going forward.  Like in theater, you can say “I missed my cue because I was grabbing a prop” or you can say “I’ll be there on time next run through”.  With the second response you acknowledge the mistake and show how you’re going to improve going forward.  I find it’s the same in the workplace.  As an intern because you’re often asked to do new projects at the drop of a hat.  As you are still learning, mistakes happen, and by following them up with an appropriate response, you can show your employers your maturity and ingenuity.

Mrw GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY

Prepare what you think is going to be helpful, not what’s going to boost your ego.

With a natural desire to impress your superiors or stand out in some way, it can be tempting to try and work on the coolest and most innovative project aside from your daily tasks.  Something where they will praise your innovation.  And while creating something amazing can be really impactful, I’ve discovered the best way to make a positive impression on your employer is to spend your time on projects that will serve a need in the company and not on projects that are flashy or cool.  People are very appreciative when you find a way to make their lives easier.  Like in Theater, simple things like coming on time and being prepared, learning your lines ahead of time, and solving small problems before your superior has to will earn you respect.  So you don’t have to be a genius innovator to stand out in the workplace as an intern but if you pay attention and can find simple ways to leave the company better than when you found it, people will remember you.

Season 6 GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY

How Being a Camp Counselor Taught Me Invaluable Skills

While my peers were studying for the SAT, finding summer internships, and perfecting their resumes, I was gearing up to spend two months with hundreds of elementary and middle school youth.

In the summer of 2014, I spent 2 months as a Counselor in Training (CIT) at a summer camp in Santa Rosa, California called Camp Newman. I have gone there every summer since the age of eight, and my mom, aunt, and uncles even went there as well. The summer ended up being some of the two best months of my life, and so naturally, I spent the next two summers as a counselor.

Camp is a silly place, and my friends and I often joked that one day we would need to get “real jobs.” Being a camp counselor is super fun: you get to hang out with your best friends and in many ways relive being a care-free and fun-loving child. However, being a camp counselor is also hard work. There’s no way you can prepare yourself for all of the tough situations and shenanigans that you will inevitably find yourself in. So despite not seeing it as a bona fide “real job,” I actually learned some really valuable skills and lessons during my time as a counselor, lessons that can translate over into any workplace endeavor.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the skills I learned:

How to Problem-Solve on the Spot.

Every night before bed-time, my co-counselors and I were supposed to plan a “cabin-time” which is a special time of the day when our cabin of 10-13 campers would engage in some quality bonding. One night, my co-counselors had been really busy all day and had forgotten to plan one. I panicked, because we literally had 5 seconds to come up with something before a bunch of un-easily impressed 14 year olds came waltzing in. Plus, the campers had already been here for over three weeks, and we were starting to run out of fresh ideas.

I did the first thing I could think of: I reached under my co-counselor’s bed and grabbed some Oreos. When the campers came in, I announced that we would be having an “Oreo eating contest.” The rules? Come up with the most creative way to eat a Oreo. Everyone looked utterly ridiculous coming up with their new Oreo-eating methods. We had a blast, and everyone went to bed with satisfied tummies. Even though the cabin-time wasn’t as planned or rehearsed as it could have been, I stayed calm and acted quickly, which is sometimes the best you can do in a last-minute situation.

How to Divvy up Responsibilities and How to Ask for Help

There was one cabin of 4th graders I had my first summer as a counselor that was particularly difficult to manage. There were a lot of big personalities, and a lot of them were going through difficult stuff at home. One day in particular, literally half the cabin was crying for different reasons: Two of them were upset because one of their cabin-mates was excluding them, another was homesick, another had a high fever but was throwing a fit because she didn’t want to go to the infirmary and risk missing out on activities, another had fallen and was bleeding everywhere, and another was upset about her parents getting divorced. Plus, one of my other co-counselors was busy working at the climbing wall, and my other co-counselor was on a day-off.

I simply couldn’t be in multiple places at once, and give campers all of the individual attention they needed. Thus, I learned the importance of drawing on one’s resources, and asking others for help if an extra pair of hands or eyes is needed. Similarly, in a workplace setting, it’s always important to work-hard and accomplish your tasks, but there may be times when it is simply not possible, and you can’t be in multiple places at once. In these situations, it’s often better to ask others for assistance, rather than try to get it all done, but risk doing it poorly.   

Learning to Prioritize Sleep

Nothing will make you prioritize a good night’s sleep more than being a camp counselor. If there is one thing younger campers enjoy, it’s waking you up for no reason at all. Even if your eyes are obviously closed, and you are as limp as a rock, campers often have no problem nudging you awake to ask you if “you can go with them to make a PB&J.” I learned the art of taking naps out of necessity for my well-being.

Being well-rested is crucial for any job, and making time for some shut-eye is entirely necessary if you want to stay focused and alert.

Other things I learned:

Responsibility, flexibility, patience, how to collaborate with others, how to go out of my comfort zone, and much more.

Moral of the story: you can always learn valuable lessons from jobs and volunteer experience that might not be considered “professional work.” As a high schooler and college student you have the rest of your life to get a “real” job, so have fun while you can, and always be eager to learn and grow from every opportunity you experience.

One of my co-counselors and I proudly staying hydrated in our CIT jerseys.