I can’t believe it is the end of another week already. I’m really not sure where the time goes. I am sure you are all familiar with being so busy you don’t even know what day it is (maybe that is an exaggeration, but you get my point). One of the things I find really frustrating is not being able to take advantage of a lot of the opportunities that Penn State has to offer. There are so many events that take place each week and a lot of the time it is difficult to set aside the time to take advantage of them, especially once you’ve already established a routine. I did manage to fit a few things in this week.
This past Monday, the College of Ag Sciences hosted a study abroad fair. Normally I wouldn’t really consider going to that because I am not currently in the College of Ag and I didn’t think I was really into anything related to it. However, because of my recent epiphany, which I talked about last week, and the new major I am considering, Community, Environment and Development, which is in the College of Ag, I decided that I really had no reason not to go.
Anyway, I headed up to the ASI building to check it out and it actually turned out to be quite a good decision. I ended up talking to a professor who is helping to lead a two week embedded study trip to Paris in May 2014. The course is about comparing French and U.S. Agricultural and Food Systems. Although this doesn’t really pertain too much to my majors, it would be an interesting opportunity to learn about something I really know nothing about, plus, since I am a self proclaimed Francophile, why not? The best part is that instead of taking the class, the professor said he would be interested in having me T.A. instead. I would maybe be able to give some mini French lessons, practical phrases and knowledge that could be used during the trip to France, and the go-to person for any questions revolving around French culture.
This is something I am seriously considering for next semester. Being a T.A. would be a new challenge for me and I really think I would enjoy it quite a lot. It would also allow me a chance to share my love of the French language and culture with other students, some of whom may just be discovering it. I am really hoping that this will work out.
The second “event” that I attended this week wasn’t really an event per say but it was a new experience for me. I decided to head to the Bank of America Career Services for drop-in counseling. I think this was probably the best decision I made all week to be honest. I went because after looking at the list of employers attending the involvement fair and seeing that they all seem to be looking for engineers and business majors, I just wasn’t quite sure where to even begin my search.
After about 20 minutes with the advisor I realized that I don’t have to give up before I even go. She told me that even though many companies list specific types of students they are looking for, that doesn’t mean they are closed off to students that study other things. It doesn’t hurt to go and talk to potential employers and get a feel for just how open they are and anyway, it will be a good practice for future events that are similar.
One of the other great things about my visit at Career Services were the resources that I was exposed to that I honestly had no idea existed. On the Career Services website there is a link called “What can I do with this major” and once you click on it, it comes up with so many possible career paths to explore. Here is the link in case you too were not aware of this awesome resource: http://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/.
If you haven’t been to Career Services yet, I strongly suggest it. What I have been realizing lately is that even though I don’t know exactly what I would like to do after school, it really helps to talk through many different ideas. This is a place that you can do that and the counselor can also give you ideas that fit your interests.