Tag Archives: professional development

Summer: How to Keep it Professional

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Summer vacation is anything but a break from our career development.  No matter what you are doing this summer, take the time to focus on your professional goals.  I achieved my short term goal: find an internship that involves a passion of mine.  I love marine life, so coincidentally I am going to be working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  While short term goals are great, I know that I need to start thinking ahead.  I have developed a check list to keep in mind during the summer to make sure I stay aware of my career development:

  1. Pay attention to how I feel about the daily tasks I perform at my internship.  If there is a special project I am assigned that I absolutely love, why did I love it? Was it the topic, the type of work, or the team I was working with that made it fun? Paying attention to your gut reaction to work projects or tasks, no matter what job you have, is a great way to learn what you may be good at or what type of work you want to do in the future.  Similarly if you end up hating something then maybe that career path is not for you.  For example, say you had to make a presentation and present it to a board of people. You loved creating the presentation but hated standing in-front of everyone to actually present it.  Perhaps research and project management is a great skill set for you to develop, but you know that you will not be pursuing a career in public speaking.
  2. Always keep my network in mind.  Everyone I meet could play a role in my career path further down the line, you never know!  I need to keep in mind the importance of building and maintaining bridges.  Whether or not that is with my parents’ high school friends or with my new coworkers, keeping track of my connections is a great way to start thinking about next summer and who I may want to reach out to for an opportunity.  If you are staying in a new city, then reaching out to Scripps Alumna in your area could be a great way to find and create connections to help you navigate your new temporary home.  Check the Scripps Network for alumna who work in the same city as you.  Most people are willing to help a college kid out in their professional development, so keeping that in mind is never a bad idea.
  3. Keep it creative.  This is a personal summer goal, because I am pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.  I spend a lot of time writing research papers, studying lab result, and reading political theory in college.  I am not complaining, I find my academic tasks very interesting.  However, there is little room for me to exercise creativity, like creative writing or film.  I enjoy coming up with projects to work on during my free time over breaks just to exercise the right side of my brain.  Writing short stories, drawing, and even briefly learning an instrument only to forget it during the school year are some of my favorite creative tasks.

    With my career-development checklist in mind, I am ready to start summer break.  Unlike this past year, I plan on starting the academic school year next fall with a decent idea of where I want to work and what I want to do my summer before senior year.  I learned a lot about my professional goals this last semester, I and cannot wait to see what summer has in store for me.

Fullbridge Overview

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Over the next few days of The Fullbridge Program, I found myself busier than usual, with less time for journaling than usual. So instead of continuing the itinerary today, I will be taking a slight detour before returning back to the usual format of my narrative. In this post, I will try to list an overarching set of pros and cons I noticed and heard from my colleagues during The Fullbridge Program. Keep in mind this is a subjective list, and is solely my own opinion.

Work Day: The amount of information you learn is up to you, and may also depend on the prior knowledge with which you enter the program. Coaches make themselves available to you all day long, so feel free to drop by with any questions or concerns. My coaches were approachable and friendly. On another note, I recommend bringing a bottle of water or a thermos of tea with you every day, and perhaps a snack as well.

Free time: After six P.M., we were free to roam around and make the most of our free time. Most of us usually headed straight to the dining hall, often sitting with other Fullbridge participants. The coaches and guests joined us at times, more so during lunch than at dinner though. Back at the dorms, people watched movies, seniors worked on thesis, and generally did whatever it is college students do during the school year.

Here’s a pic of some of us hanging out after work:

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Food: Personally, I was quite pleased with the food selection. Oxy opened up one dining hall, which served a variety of food, from custom-made sandwiches to salmon burgers. Breakfast foods, such as yummy French toast sticks, were often offered even during lunch. And the open fridge was well-stocked with typical drinks as well as more expensive choices such as aloe vera, Naked juice, and coconut water. Vegetarian options varied by day; the salad bar is always available.

Accommodations: I would describe the residence halls as quite standard, with two twin-XL beds and two desks each. Blankets and pillows were provided by Oxy, though these weren’t adequate enough in the winter chill, even in So-Cal. On an average day, the temperature in Los Angeles drops below the average in Claremont. We were split up into doubles and triples, and all lived on one floor. Everyone shared two bathrooms on the same floor, which worked out without any trouble. Each room controls its own A/C. People tended to hang out in one person’s room to play cards or whatnot. Kitchens were open, but quite vacant. Oxy sports teams also occupied the residence hall, but we had little interaction with them. I didn’t check out the laundry room; I assume they were fine, since I didn’t hear any complaints. The campus’ terrain contains minor slopes and hills, so I did a lot of walking uphill in my dress shoes.

Transportation: To my surprise, several students brought their cars with them to campus. People sometimes drove out to the nearby CVS, and even out to Griffith Observatory on our one day off. Within walking distance, the downtown area offers a selection of stores, cafes, and shops. During the year, students have access to Bengal buses, but these weren’t available to us since it was winter break at the time.

Have any further questions? Comment below and I’ll answer them in my next post. 🙂

If It’s Not Broken, Don’t Break It

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We’ve all heard the common adage, “If it’s not broken, then don’t fix it.” But what if I proposed to you that this way of thinking was actually inhibiting your growth potential? What if I said that in certain situations, it’s more sustainable to continually fix something, even when there is no danger present? Would you believe me? Well, if you still need convincing, please read on…

There are times in life where things are just going to be amazingly good. We’ll have the best significant other, have just landed the coolest job ever — complete with an amazing salary. For some people, just being able to finally shave their legs or do their laundry is enough to constitute a really amazing day, week, or even year.

With all that awesomeness surging through your veins, however, it can be pretty easy to get comfortable and complacent, and that is where the danger lurks. I had a friend once tell me that the only constant thing about the future is that it’s always changing. Getting too comfortable with how something is working in the present might create adversities for adapting to changes in the future. For me, personally, I found that the best way to stay flexible to these changes is to be, well…paranoid.

If you glanced at my resume, the first question you would probably ask is, “why has she done so many professional development programs?” INROADS, Deloitte, Fullbridge, Scripps’ Emerging Professionals Program; you name it, and I’ve probably done it once, if not twice. And I can see the “why” formulating at your lips. Wouldn’t I be just as good with just one of those programs? Doesn’t it start to get redundant after a while? And the truth is, sometimes. But my paranoia has led me to develop FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) Syndrome.

Yeah, doing one program is fine, and I’m sure there are components that will be similar in the second program, but…what if there’s something more? What if I miss some crucial piece to this World of Work Puzzle?  For instance, what if there’s an alternative way to shake your interviewers hand that the first program didn’t teach, but the second one does?! I’m being facetious now, but this past winter break my paranoia did, in fact, bring me a huge payoff.

I remember making inquiries in the fall about the Fullbridge Program, a start-up program that is dedicated to providing liberal arts students with the transitional education they need to go from the classroom to the workplace. I remember being told that with my extensive background in professional development, I already had enough experience. But, of course my FOMO tendencies still drove me to sign up for the program anyway. Sure, there were many parts of the program that I knew like the back of my hand as a result of my participation in other programs. However, just as predicted, there was that one thing that I was paranoid about missing out on; the opportunity to network with a group of employers at the end of the program. It is through that event that I was hired the next week to work as an Intern in the Digital Strategy Department at ID, one of the premier entertainment industry PR/brand communications firms in the country.

Me on my first day at ID.

So, I would say that even if life is going super well for you right now, it will never hurt to keep fixing yourself and taking advantage of new opportunities for growth.  As the saying should go, “If its not broken, don’t break it.”