I’ll discuss a highly requested topic in my second-to-last blog. With school starting in just two weeks, I’ll be giving tips on gaining and maximizing school resources.
Ask your professors if they know about any opportunities.
Your professors aren’t only there to teach! You’d be surprised at all the events and internships they know about. It was through talking with my professor about a school retreat I wanted to attend that I found out about the scholarships it had. She told me about the experience when she heard about it and how she could even write me a letter of recommendation. I didn’t even know that was an option. I also found out that she and the woman hosting the retreat were good friends. Professors work at the school, so if they’re there more than you are, it’s highly likely they know about hidden opportunities.
Some professors even run their own internships. My friend emailed one of his old professors to check in on how he was doing, and that opened a door. The professor reached back out, explaining his new internship and his search for interns. My friend has been working for him for two years now.
Follow your school's social media pages.
If you’re anything like me, then when it comes to school, you’re out of the loop. I’m only a sophomore, and I can’t even count how many things I missed out on simply because I didn’t know they were happening. For example, I know I missed football games, workshops, book readings, and study sessions. All happening at Kean while I was there! I used to have to ask people if there were any events coming up and how they were finding out about them. Someone told me to simply follow all the school's Instagram pages. At first, I thought it was ridiculous because, one, I didn’t feel like following more pages than I do (especially school), and two, I thought, how would this even benefit me? But I’m so glad I listened. It was because of this that I was able to go to a Knicks game for free, attend a poetry reading with Chiroma Urama, and see when things had been rescheduled. I’ve been able to DM the accounts and apply for things directly through Instagram. It might seem small, but everything counts when it comes to your school journey.
The pages I follow are: @keanEnglish, @keancheer, @keaninvolvment, and @keanyoga.
Take courses outside of your major.
USE YOUR ELECTIVES! This is where you gain experience outside of your field of study. I’ve networked with so many people because of the electives I chose to take. Take electives that you’d consider your outside passions—ones that you’d think you’d pursue if other things didn’t take first place. I took art, yoga, and philosophy electives when my major was English. In art, I met art majors who said they’d help me with whatever sketch I needed. Through yoga, I was able to connect with my yoga teacher. She told me about a crossover event where we’d practice yoga and then write poetry for a contest. I ended up winning that contest. I’m taking a philosophy class this fall to become more open-minded and see other perspectives students have. You can add all of these classes to your resume, which leads me to my next point.
Add everything to your resume.
Everything you do counts as experience and could be added to your resume. I got this idea from an acting course I took. I didn’t have actual acting experience, so they told me that this class counted. Anything you put your time and effort into counts as experience, even if it’s not considered professional yet. Attend as many workshops, events, volunteering opportunities, and club meetings as you can and include them on your resume. Ask yourself, what did I learn from this? What can I take with me from this experience? Will this look like I devote my time to whatever I’m applying for? You obviously don’t want to bombard your resume with every little thing you do, but many people think that because they've never done anything professionally, they don’t have experience. But you can still use all these resources to get there professionally.
Last but not least, NETWORK!
This is key for anything you’re trying to do, including school. If you want the best resources, first dibs, and scholarships, you have to network. It doesn’t have to be a major where you go and introduce yourself to every faculty member. But everything I previously mentioned is a form of networking. Connect and get to know people; actually care what they have to say; and don’t be shy about talking about yourself. This is how people find out what you’re interested in and if they have anything to offer. Try not to overthink it too much; most people are trying to do exactly what you’re doing.
If you have no idea how to do this at school, there are three ways I find work the best. Talk to your professors, make friends with your classmates, and snoop around the office on each floor. I found that the career services floor was where I got the most help. I asked about their office hours and scheduled an appointment with my career advisor. They like to see that you know they’re there and that you care. Networking is probably the most important out of all of these. Good luck :)
I hope this helped and I’ll see you next week for my last blog.
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