Back to the grind

This week marks the beginning of the class of 2012's final major semester of our undergraduate careers. The end is in sight, and there are just 6 classes and a trip to Hawaii standing between me and my degree. I have had all of my classes now except Strategic Advertising, which is a 3 hour Thursday night class and so far the classes seem to have interesting material but are going to be a lot of work. Now that the general degree requirements are out of the way, I can finally take the interesting business classes and learn about the topics that I came to college to pursue. After the past 2 and half years of being an undergraduate business student at Elmira College, I am more convinced than ever that I want a career in business. I remember being a senior in high school and a freshman in college stressing about whether I chose the right college and panicking that I would choose a major that I would end up hating. My advice to high school students, people who are thinking about changing careers, or people who are thinking about enrolling in college is to get as much experience in as many different fields as possible whether its through internships, community service, volunteer work, or part-time jobs if you have any doubt about what you want to pursue as a career. I was one of those kids that went through high school throwing random potential professions around in my head wondering what I wanted to pursue in college. Not knowing what you want is very frustrating, but narrowing it down by process of elimination through gaining experience and knowledge is the best possible solution. In high school, I had finally narrowed my options down to lawyer, veterinarian, or business but I could not make up my mind. In the course of 3 years, I took a summer internship at a local courthouse as a court clerk, worked as a veterinary assistant at an animal hospital, and worked as a shift leader at a dollar store so I could get personal, insider experience in each field to help make up my mind. It was a lot of work on top of school, but it was the best decision that I had ever made, and I would recommend it to anyone who feels unsure about what career they want to pursue. During my experience at Elmira College these past few years, I have noticed that the students who do not succeed are the people who are not motivated to learn the material they decided to pursue because they were not as interested in the field as they originally thought they were and never had a back up plan. There are many events coming up this month including the first Marketing and Management Club meeting for the second term and my 21st birthday, so stay posted for updates!