Spring Forward Reflection
The purpose of the Spring Forward event was to bring together current students, graduating students, and Appalachian State University Alumni. This event, along with all sessions, was fantastic to attend and the guest speakers gave excellent insights about life after graduation. The event was only for communication majors but ended up offering varying perspectives on industries and work environments. As a current student, I found it comforting to hear that life after college wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be.
During our class meeting on March 29th, we had the pleasure of getting to listen to a guest speaker named Olivia. She was a graduate of the communications department and went on to pursue a career in Public Relations. I found it interesting to hear that she ended up with a PR job in Utah of all places. I thought that most people tried to start locally so the idea of travelling all the way to Utah for a career made me a bit nervous. I liked that she gave us helpful tips on when to start looking for internships and jobs. She told us to look for jobs and internships during the first part of our senior year and keep an open mind. The idea of looking early is great because it allows you to look at multiple listings and helps you look at the options available to someone with your credentials. After coming back to North Carolina, she joined a group that helped her create lasting connections with people in her field. These connections helped her get a different job and helped her make friends along the way. I personally had not thought of this as an idea just because I figured that most connections were made during college. I had no idea that agencies, associations, or even LinkeIn could help me get a job.