Thursday, October 17th, 2019.
A reflection.
"The Career Meet Up Program is a resource students should take advantage of to help them prepare for career success. Career Meet Ups are quick, 30-minute small group sessions focused on specific career and industry topics that are led by career coaches and industry professionals" (UNCC, Career Center)
In the meet-up, we had a wonderful chance to talk to the director for Planned Parenthood Federation of America - Ms. Tanya Harris.
It was a virtual meeting since she was not in North Carolina at the time. We learned about her education and career path, which was inspiring.
The lessons that I love the most from the meeting with Ms. Tanya are:
- Life brings us many twists, we should be open-minded and try different opportunities.
- It's normal that many college students do not know what they really want to do after graduating from college.
- There is no direct path from school to the dream career. Try to think holistically.
- Volunteering, internships, working, etc, will help developing networks and one day, it may bring some supportive connections that lead to a wonderful job.
I did not understand the meaning of "thinking holistically." Therefore, I looked it up on the internet and I found a good demonstration:
"As a holistic thinker, you approach everything as a part of the whole. Nothing stands alone and nothing is linear in time or in space. This means that things can happen at the same time, alternating, never independently but always as a reaction to some form of stimulation which is all part of the whole. It also means that what happens in one spot can have an effect on something in a totally different unrelated spot. Holistic thinking has so many different aspects that it is completely mind blowing. This is also why holistic thinkers are usually misunderstood" (Kendall, Z., 2017)
Ms. Tanya shared her experiences working and how she got into the position where she is. Her stories and her sharings have opened my eyes, given me hope and motivated me.
I am grateful for having a chance to meet up with a professional, and I'm also thankful for the resource provided by the career center.
References:
Kendall, Z. (2017, April 26). Differences In Linear And Holistic Thinking And Operating. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://permaculturenews.org/2017/04/27/differences-linear-holistic-thinking-operating/.
University Career Center. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://career.uncc.edu/meetups.
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