I am so happy to know that first-generation college students have their paths cleared for us by people willing to provide proper coaching and preparation. I personally have always known what I wanted when I got older: to be rich. The million-dollar question is how? When I feel like I have gotten it all figured out, I either come across pessimistic people who make things worse or I come across information that makes it hard for me to move forward.
The conference I attended, “The Intersection of First-Gen Students, Career Readiness, and Leadership Development” at Eastern Washington University, was an eye-opener for me, and I hope everyone learned from the powerful presentations as much as I did. The two speakers, Dr. Fredenburg and Dr. Bates helped me change my mind about career options. I honestly used to worry about what I was going to do next. Watching the presentation about how to make college move us towards a career and passion, has helped my fear of uncertainty go away.
Their guidance helped me understand how my future will look and many of my worries and doubts have been cleared. Dr. Bates and Dr. Fredenburg talked about a lot of different things, but they all led to one thing: connections. Many times, we see or know exactly what we wanted to do, then suddenly go off-track. Our direction changes. The reason is because we interact or network with the wrong people and things. Creating good relationships with people in the career of your choice is an advantage. Even when we have amazing plans, sometimes we lack direction. Without direction, it is hard to know where we are going. The good thing is that we have people to correct and guide us and we really appreciate it. We often overlook people like mentors, but studies show that they have played a vital role in molding the lives of successful individuals. Most people often give up on their dreams and ambitions because they lack good advice, and they begin to think that what they want is out of reach or utterly impossible. They are wrong. We are all unique and if we take the time to acknowledge and appreciate that, the world will be a better place. My generation is full of people with greatness, and we are incredibly happy to have people and organizations willing to help us reach our full potential and bring out the best in us.
Another reason people do not really fulfill their dreams is lack of exposure and lack of involvement. I strongly believe that you cannot be what you do not know. What I mean is, that you cannot say you want to be a medical doctor and spend most of your time networking with music producers and artists because the influence is not the same; risking chances to learn specifically about your focus doesn’t help you grow. Also, we cannot choose things that make us forget who we are.
There is a saying that says, “you are what you spend your time doing.” At the end of the day, how you network, what you choose to learn, who you choose to learn from, strengthens your journey. The advice I would give to everyone is to focus on what you want to do, and make sure that you are the best in that field; the work begins now, so work hard and secure your place in the high ranks of society. Our actions can weaken our passions or strengthen our passions. This visit to EWU was an amazing day and the presentations were wonderful.