I have spent the majority of my life in a classroom, preparing for the day that I would graduate from college and start a “big kid” job. In my head this would be simple, I would work hard in school and a job would just create itself for me. As my last semester of undergrad came around, it became pretty clear that a job would not just appear out of nowhere. I felt completely unprepared for the world outside the classroom. I had done everything that people said you were supposed to do to guarantee a job after graduation. I had held several internships, kept decent grades, studied abroad, and finished in four years. Still, I felt that there was something missing. Looking at job postings I was either significantly underqualified or overqualified for the positions that were remotely interesting to me. I think this was one of the most unsatisfactory experiences of my life. I had just spent so much time and money on a four-year degree and a job didn't just land in my lap. My friends around me were finding jobs right away and seemed like they had their lives put together. I, on the other hand, was struggling to decide what my next step would be. Moving home vs. staying put. Graduate school vs. “big kid” job. It was hard for me to conceptualize the fact that I would not be returning to school in the fall. Up until this point, my path was pretty laid out with only a few choices, elementary school to middle school to high school to college then a job. I was having trouble with the freedom of job hunting. I thought at this point in my life I would know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I didn’t.
So after graduation, I took a break from thinking about the long term and picked up my usual summer job. For the past three summers, I have spent my time in a classroom for students with Autism as a paraprofessional. It was the first time that I maintained a full-time job. For four weeks, I greatly enjoyed my time as a parapro, and it’s something that I’m happy I was able to do, but it was not a forever job. Knowing that this position was only temporary, I went back to the drawing board on the job hunt.
The job search was overwhelming because I had no idea what I wanted to do. I enjoyed my time with my internship in the nonprofit sector, but the positions that I wanted were nowhere to be seen or were at organizations I was not interested in. Then, I stumbled across a position online that caught my interest, which happened to be an AmeriCorps position. AmeriCorps had never been out of the realm of possibilities, but I didn’t think they had a position that quite fit. It turns out, I was happily incorrect; it opened a whole new world of possibilities. All the AmeriCorps VISTA positions caught my attention. I felt that AmeriCorps’ focus on capacity-building complimented my undergrad degree in Community Leadership where I gained communication and time management skills. The AmeriCorps positions seemed as though they would provide the hands-on experience I felt I was missing regarding those skills. I ended up applying to about nine openings and hearing back from two. One was the Community-AID Lab, where I could not be happier. I feel that I will be able to develop research and professional skills that I had previously been lacking. I was looking for a place that would be a good transition from school. While I am not in school anymore, I go to work at the university which keeps me in my comfort zone while gaining skills that take me outside that zone. The work we do every day allows me to incorporate what I learned in undergrad into the “real world.” We serve students and programs in Lansing and all the way to Florida. I’m so excited to support organizations whose projects are so inspiring. I can’t wait to see where this year leads me!
So after graduation, I took a break from thinking about the long term and picked up my usual summer job. For the past three summers, I have spent my time in a classroom for students with Autism as a paraprofessional. It was the first time that I maintained a full-time job. For four weeks, I greatly enjoyed my time as a parapro, and it’s something that I’m happy I was able to do, but it was not a forever job. Knowing that this position was only temporary, I went back to the drawing board on the job hunt.
The job search was overwhelming because I had no idea what I wanted to do. I enjoyed my time with my internship in the nonprofit sector, but the positions that I wanted were nowhere to be seen or were at organizations I was not interested in. Then, I stumbled across a position online that caught my interest, which happened to be an AmeriCorps position. AmeriCorps had never been out of the realm of possibilities, but I didn’t think they had a position that quite fit. It turns out, I was happily incorrect; it opened a whole new world of possibilities. All the AmeriCorps VISTA positions caught my attention. I felt that AmeriCorps’ focus on capacity-building complimented my undergrad degree in Community Leadership where I gained communication and time management skills. The AmeriCorps positions seemed as though they would provide the hands-on experience I felt I was missing regarding those skills. I ended up applying to about nine openings and hearing back from two. One was the Community-AID Lab, where I could not be happier. I feel that I will be able to develop research and professional skills that I had previously been lacking. I was looking for a place that would be a good transition from school. While I am not in school anymore, I go to work at the university which keeps me in my comfort zone while gaining skills that take me outside that zone. The work we do every day allows me to incorporate what I learned in undergrad into the “real world.” We serve students and programs in Lansing and all the way to Florida. I’m so excited to support organizations whose projects are so inspiring. I can’t wait to see where this year leads me!
