The "ah-ha" experience
Preparing for my best friend’s wedding this fall, I dug out a box full of grammar school mementos at my parent’s place to locate our 8th Grade Memory Book. While I was enamored by the fact that her fiancé’s most favorite memories happened to be the WORST moments of her life (such as Geri Halliwell’s departure from the Spice Girls), it was just as amusing to look back on what we all thought we would be when we grew up. She wanted to be a teacher, and now is teaching a 3rd grade in Baltimore. I, on the other hand, wanted to go into Broadcast Journalism.
If it weren’t for a scheduling conflict and needing to take yearbook in my junior year in high school, I may have pursued something other than Business and Marketing in undergrad. I was still interested in Broadcast Journalism, so I interviewed for an internship at a communications company that manages several radio stations in Western New York. Completing this internship as a rising senior, I thought “This is great – I can prove myself, network and get a job here after graduation.” However, I had interned there for 5 weeks and had been given no work to do, no matter how many times I had asked.
I didn’t know it at the time, but my boredom led me to my first “ah-ha” moment. On Tuesday during that 5th week, I went online to find information about the upcoming county fair. To my surprise, they were hiring for marketing interns to work with the media during the 12-day event. I submitted my materials that night, and got a call the following morning to come in for an interview. On Friday afternoon, I was offered the internship in conjunction with a part time job in their office leading up to the fair working the front desk. I was thrilled! I gave my notice and began my career in non-profits.
The moment I submitted my application, I didn’t expect my life path to change. However, I knew the moment my college career advisor told me to look into higher education as a career path that it was about to change again. I had enjoyed working with other students as a TA so much in the Career Resource Center during my senior year that it made perfect sense. Within 3 weeks, I applied and was accepted into the program I graduated from two years later.
I encourage all of you to start test-driving paths the moment you are ready to. I managed to figure out what I wanted to do by pursuing internships, having informational interviews and talking with people who knew me well about what made me happy. The Career Development Office here at Kenyon has some pretty amazing resources, like The Kenyon Career Network, that can help you network and job shadow to see what it is like on the other side.