I was a transfer student. People have this idea that you need to attend a four-year university to have the ultimate college experience, but it was a fantastic decision for me. I started at a community college, raised my GPA and had time to figure out what I was passionate about.
What I love is speaking to people! I have this knack for public speaking and building connections. I didn't even know communication was a major. But when I transferred to St. Kate鈥檚, I fell in love with it. It was probably the best decision I made.
For me, education was the most important thing. I wanted a school where I knew my voice would be heard. I felt at a coed college, I wouldn鈥檛 be able to speak up as much. That鈥檚 why I picked an all-women鈥檚 college. It鈥檚 not old-fashioned at all. The things they鈥檙e teaching in classes are the most forward-thinking things ever.
My transition into the university was great. I had this energy and drive to get super involved in clubs and organizations and had such a fun time. Eventually, I even became the transfer student coordinator! We have designated people who help transfer students have a seamless experience. Just because you transfer in doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e getting any less opportunities, it鈥檚 just whether or not you take them.
Now I work for a tech company as a sales account manager. I wanted to sell something I knew was making an impact, where I could build on relationships. I manage about 50 accounts and I love it. It's crazy how I ended up here. I was one of the frontline interns who started at 3M during the pandemic. At the end of my internship, I had five offers from 3M in different states. Within 24 hours, they went into a hiring freeze and all offers were revoked. That sent me into kind of a spiral.
I reached out to my four closest professors. I can't even explain how cool they are. They're the most humble, amazing, awesome people. I wrote an email asking if we could put together a game plan to help me move forward. Within 15 minutes, I'm getting phone calls saying, this is what we're going do, or I have places you can apply, or I know XY and Z person. That was the most amazing thing ever. Just knowing I have that support in my back pocket. Within two weeks I had another job. It feels good knowing I'm at the right place now.
I think a lot of what my department did was try to make our classes as real-life as possible. We never sat there and just listened to a lecture. We always had someone from another company telling us about opportunities that were available. We learned so much about negotiation and what that means. I think what set me up for success was knowing my worth before I left the university. That was probably the biggest thing they did for me.
There鈥檚 a sense of worth I feel when I talk about my St. Kate鈥檚 experience. I would give anything to that institution. I鈥檓 starting my grad program in a couple weeks and it鈥檚 going to be awesome to be back at school. I鈥檝e missed it.