How Are You Presenting Yourself?

Hello wonderful people!

As I mentioned earlier in the week, since graduating from Florida State University (Go 'Noles!) I have earned a position as a Career Development Center Manager at a Florida College. There are many reasons that I could list for being completely excited about this opportunity, one of them being that I am still working with first-gens! 

What I wanted to talk about this week is the topic of "presentation". I have noticed over the past month that many of the students that I have come in to contact with have over-looked the simple notion of presenting themselves well. I am not only talking about how one dresses, although that says a lot about a person before they have the chance to talk to others. I am also referring to their attitudes, the way they talk to others, and the way they show their commitment to being a student.

Consider this. If you were a Professor and I came in to your class in leggings, pajamas, or simply under dressed, what would that "say" to you? Simply stated, it relays a sense of laziness or disinterest. We can argue all day long about you being the one to pay for your classes, you being there to learn not to be concerned with what you are wearing, or you not having to worry about that right now, but I can say with confidence that one day you may choose to ask your professor for a letter of recommendation, or for information that they have on internships. How likely are they to refer you to an internship or give you a stellar recommendation when you cannot even show up to class in proper clothing attire? Presentation folks. It goes a long way.

Now. Attitude. Not always, but sometimes we first-gens do not come from the best of situations. I get that. We had a crappy childhood, come from the wrong side of the tracks, or were made to feel like we would never amount to much. Well congratulations, you made it. Drop the attitude. We all have baggage, behaving as though you are that fragile child that could break at any minute under the pressure of your anger is not ok. School is not the place to work out our adolescent problems. Come to school knowing that you are amazing! You made it! You are changing the future not only for yourself, but your family! Try not to be disrespectful to those in authority positions, they are around to help you, if you commit to helping yourself. Your Professor is just that. Your Professor. They are not your counselor or friend. How we present ourselves and what attitude we bring in to class is also going to impact how willing the professors are going to be at making those recommendations or refering you to great opportunities! Not to mention, those people you are sitting next to? That is your future  professional network! 

Lastly, when one comes to class barely awake or cannot put their phone away long enough to hear what is going on, that is just plain silly. It's a waste of your time and money, not to mention that it is completely disrespectful to your professor and classmates. Welcome to college guys, you're an adult. If you don't feel like one, fake it 'til you make it. The time of following others who want to behave like children is over, we are not in high-school. We are not sitting through classes so that we can be cool, make friends, or impress others. We are there to learn and to graduate so that we can be successful. If you cannot commit to your class while you are there because you have had a family issue, or because you are experiencing life, let your Professor know and consider missing class so that you are not a distraction to others if you can't compartmentalize the issue until class is over. 

I chose to talk about how one presents themselves today because this is not something that we are taught in high-school. What seems like common sense to those who are a little more experienced in life is not common sense for those with less experience. I should know. I was the student showing up to class late, turning in  homework as an undergrad that I had done the night before, and showing up in pajamas. I speak from experience guys! And now as a professional I need you to know how to behave so that you can find your success. I believe in you, now you have to show others that you believe in you.

Update

Hello first-gens! Great news! Since graduating I have earned a wonderful position as a Career Development Center Manager at a State College in Florida!! I am super excited to talk with you more about the experience, and will be back on-line this week!

Graduation!

For this first-gen, my looming graduation is causing me to feel both excitement and fear! It has been confusing to be both proud of myself and worried that I won't be hired on at a reputable institution all at the same time. How am I relieving some of my anxiety? Research of course!

I have come across a few helpful sites in my time as a Career Advisor at Florida State University and I wanted to share some of them with you.

First of all O*Net is a very good resource for learning about various job titles. You will find information on tasks, interests, work setting, income and more about specific jobs here. It's very user- friendly, and has helped me become more informed about occupations of interest.

Also, Salary.com has proven to be very useful for me while I have been engaged in my own job search process. Information can be found on career development, salary, and education topics here, and the site also offers a very handy cost-of-living calculator.

Lastly, for today's post I wanted to tell you about Rileyguide.com. This site offers great templates for resumes, insights on how to create an effective job search process, and more!

If you haven't made it to graduation, these sites can also be helpful to use when learning more about occupations and fields of interest. If you already know, for example, that you want to be in actuarial science, you may use these sites to help you map your school career, gain information on skills to learn while in school, help you decide where you want to live (if income and access to jobs are a concern), and more!

You may also find some current advertisements via sites such as indeed.com so that you can become more familiar with what skills, education, and qualifications the types of jobs you are interested in are looking for. Happy information hunting!   

UNC Chapel Hill Knows What We're All About

Check out this awesome YouTube video! UNC Chapel Hill knows what first-gens are all about! It is nice to know that universities understand what it's like to be the "new kid", sometimes the one that feels lost or completely excited to get involved but doesn't know how! 

Student Run Organizations!

Today I would like to focus on getting involved on your campus! Many students are very concerned with their grades (and rightfully so), however some students neglect to identify the importance of involvement and experience. Some have heard the adage (I know I sure have) that "you can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without a job!" 

I would like to present a different opinion! One can get experience without a job. We have talked about volunteering, let's talk about getting involved on your campus with learning what student run organizations (SROs) are located on campus! I know at Florida State University (go 'Noles!) we offer a list of current SROs on our campus via the FSU homepage search tool, and I will go out on a limb and say that many other colleges and universities do, too. If you are interested in gaining valuable experience you may choose to locate your schools list of SROs so that you may identify a few you would like to research! 

I encourage you to consider the reason you want to get involved. Is it to network? Make friends? Learn about your field of interest? I would consider these types of questions so that you may get involved intentionally with the SRO that will provide you with the satisfaction you want. 

I have created a sample list of SROs from around the U.S., but keep in mind that there are many, many more. SROs may be nationally recognized, locally recognized, be established, or more of a grassroots-newcomer. Which ever SROs you choose to get involved with, I say do your research and get involved with a goal!

Name of SRO/ University	Website	Brief description	Services offered	Sample list of skills to put on your resume
AIESEC/Nation wide	https://aiesecus.org/about-aiesec/	AIESEC is focused on helping students at universities to develop leadership skills and global initiative	The AIESEC site boasts that “society needs leaders who are entrepreneurial, culturally sensitive, socially responsible, and who take an active part in their own learning.” AIESEC places students in internships around the globe in an effort to engage them in building leadership skills.	Leadership (uh, hello!) Teamwork Communication Specific technical skills that are learned at your site Organization (i.e. time-management) Life skills
LGBT Health Interest Group/Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis	http://medadmissions.wustl.edu/ StudentLife/studentrungroups/Pages/Student-Run%20Activities%20Groups.aspx	LGBT Health Interest Group engages medical students at Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis in serving and learning more about the LGBT population. Educating the students on special considerations, as well as working to improve their cultural competence.	This SRO works in their community to educate “medical students on health disparities in this population and the many factors that affect LGBT access to care as well as quality of care. We also train medical students in ways to make health care settings a safe zone and ways to build trust in the physician-patient relationship.”	Communica-tion Social awareness Teamwork Technical skills (medical related)
Amnesty International/ International	http://www.amnestyusa.org/	AI focuses on bringing awareness to human rights violations, while also working to prevent abuse.	According to AI’s website, this organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and helps to transform societies to create a safer, more just world.	Social awareness Leadership Teamwork Organizations skills (especially if you help organize an event!)
Student Government/ University of Texas Dallas	https://www.utdallas.edu/sg/	Most student governments focus on ensuring that a school’s student body is represented and that student interests are being served within the school.	Student Government will often times be involved in various causes on campus. This SRO gets participants involved in contributing to important on- campus happenings, making decisions that impact their body of students, and teaches students to interact with faculty and staff on campus.	Various professional skills, including: Teamwork (with other high achievers) Communication (with other students, staff and various important people on campus) Leadership Prioritizing Organization Program development or management
National Association of Women MBAs (WMBA)/ Smeal College of Business at Penn State	http://mbastudents.smeal.psu.edu/student-organizations/mba-women-international-wmba	WMBA at Smeal boasts that their mission is to enhance the personal, professional and economic development of graduate business women and promote professional, philanthropic and social networking opportunities.	WMBA is dedicated to linking their female MBA students to networking opportunities and professional development experiences. They facilitate a blog for WMBA members, encourage attendance at various events, and remind their members of the contributions that women throughout history have made.	Teamwork Communica-tion Leadership Networking Social Awareness
Equestrian Club/ Vassar	http://vsa.vassar.edu/activities/organizations#Equestrian Club	Vassar’s Equestrian Club brings riders together to train and participate in IHSA events.	This SRO seems to be focused more on bringing riders together and engaging them in competitions while enrolled at Vassar. Although they do not advertise a commitment to a certain cause, they may donate their time as a club to important causes within their field.	Discipline Teamwork Time-manage-ment Technical skills (related to riding) Networking
Various Sororities and Fraternities/ Nation Wide	Sites are going to vary depending on the sorority/fraternity and the school where the chapter is located	Sororities and fraternities offer a great avenue for networking, developing a social support, getting involved on campus and off campus. They often times encourage high standards of academic achievement, and more!	Depending on the sorority or fraternity, there will be varying degrees of community involvement, charitable work, entrepreneurial experiences, networking events, Social opportunities and much more! The ways to get involved are not limited typically, and the social supports and connections could last a lifetime.	Teamwork Leadership Communica-tion Social Awareness Organization Time-manage-ment Networking
Legion of Black Collegians/ University of Missouri	http://mizzoulife.missouri.edu/legion-of-black-collegians-lbc/	LBC states that they are the only Black Student Government in the country. Whether that is accurate, I am not sure! It would be worth looking into, though. Their site reports to be run in similar ways as other student governments; however their body is all of Black students.	LBC’s missions is one that works “to develop a lasting appreciation of social, moral, intellectual, and most of all, cultural values that will uplift the Black student in the pursuit of academia, and heighten the cultural consciousness of all students in all aspects of student life.”	Networking Teamwork Leadership Communication Organization Program management (especially if you get involved in planning events!)
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)/ San Francisco State University	http://www.sfsu.edu/~cse/wise/wise_sf_state.html	This club focuses on themes that empower. Be it in education, equity, and support across practices, or research, WISE is focused on being there for their women students in science and engineering. It’s quite cool.	This SRO links its members with research in the field, scholarships, networking opportunities and more.	Technical knowledge Research awareness and knowledge Communica-tion Teamwork Leadership Social Awareness
Dicks & Janes	http://www.umich.edu/~dandj/about.html	The About section of this SRO’s web-page highlights that “in the Spring of 1998, a musical theatre student named Marc Smollin decided to form an a cappella group. His goal was to have a musical ensemble that not only would perform contemporary a cappella, but also would explore musical tastes that were less mainstream at the University of Michigan, such as blues and vocal jazz.”	This SRO gets its members involved in competitions, practice, creating albums and more.	Communicat-ion Skills related to their art (singing) Time-management Teamwork Leadership

Avoiding Burn-out

For many of us in college burn-out issues become more prevalent as we near the end of each year (or even the end of each semester!). As I have met with students over the past few weeks, and as my cohort nears our own graduation, the topic of feeling "spent", "done", or "completely burned-out" has consistently come up.

So what is burn-out? Burn-out is “a combination of exhaustion, depression and negative feelings about oneself” (Emma, 2014). Sound familiar? The danger with feeling burned-out is that it can lead one to believe (sometimes erroneously) that they are in the wrong major or field. When in all actuality, symptoms of burn-out can be brought on by multiple stressors coming at you all at once!

I ask you to consider what you have going on in your life right now. Work? Academics? Friends? Family? Kids? Memberships in clubs or organizations? The list could go on! My point? Sometimes it can be helpful to identify where the stress or negative feelings are originating. Once you have done that, it can be easier to find ways to cope with the feelings. I have found an article that may help alleviate burn-out. Click here to browse the article, and see if there are some suggestions that may be of interest.

And of course, sometimes the symptoms of burn-out can actually be something more serious. If you have struggled with feelings of sadness, anxiety, or some other type of negative feeling for awhile, I encourage you to consider reaching out. You aren't alone.        

Awesome Apps!

Name of App	Cost	How many *’s	Brief description
Viber	Free	PC Mag rates it excellent with 4 of 5 stars	Viber lets you call out, text, send pics and video to other Viber members. It’s free (for others with the app) and easy to use; great for those that aren’t near family and friends at college.
Dropbox	Free, although some online review providers want you to pay for it. Don’t! Find the free one.	CNET editors’ give it a ‘spectacular’ 5 star rating, while 189 users rate it with 4 out of 5 stars.	Dropbox lets you sync files and share them with other users. It allows you to work on a project/paper with your group members simultaneously.
LinkedIn	Free	PC Mag rates it excellent, with 4.5 out of 5 stars.	LinkedIn is a professional Facebook. It allows you to connect with personally known professionals, read articles of interest, highlight your experience and skills, and follow businesses.
Dictionary	Free (shock!)	Recapp gives this a 5 of 5 rating. I mean, this is a seriously useful app folks!	This app allows the user to search the meaning of words. I know, I know, didn’t see that one coming did you?
College Study Buddy	Free	Google Play users (188 in all) give this app a 4.3 out of 5 star rating.	This app is one that gets you organized! It’s a planner on a convenience steroid. I like it even more since it was developed by a student.
Zillow	Free	iTunes users (4072 in all) rate the most current version it with 4.5 out of 5 stars.	This app takes the hassle out of house hunting! New to town? Not sure where to look for rentals? This app is awesome! It gives you info on apartments, houses, duplexes; basically a ton of places.
I Can’t Wake Up! Alarm Clock	Free (seriously, who has money to throw away?)	13,233 users have rated this a 4.5 out of 5 star app.	Get this: this alarm clock app makes you complete 8 different tasks before you can shut it off! No more being late to class.
Thesaurus Free	Free	iTunes users also gave this a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. (Would I tell you about a sucky app?)	News flash! It lets you look up synonyms and antonyms for words. It’s pretty prodigious!
MyFitnessPal	Free	Jefferson Graham of USA Today chose this app over the Lose It app because of the available restaurant menu item counter.	This app lets you track what you’re eating, how much water you drink, daily exercise and more; and once you input your weight goal it tells you the calorie intake needed to meet that goal. It even has a scanner so that you can scan bar-codes and skip the data input. It’s pretty great for getting in-shape once the ‘rents are no longer in charge of your meals.
Mint	Free	Investor Junkie rates this a 3 out of 5 star (the author is in the tech industry)	This app allows you to create a budget, track spending, get alerts prior to accruing late fees, and sync with your online accounts. It’s pretty cool, and from what I’ve read it’s no less secure than your desktop computer. But I am definitely not an expert.