The notion of a road trip…is there anything more exciting or evocative of the college years?
Many of you may have memories of trips taken during semester breaks, but how many took the approach that college itself was a sort of a road trip, with the final destination being a career that you enjoyed or admission to a graduate program that would help further your goals? For those of you who did, or wish you had, what would have been the logical thing to bring on this trip? A map, of course!
About 18 months ago, the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) came to the realization that our incoming freshmen could use a road map to help them navigate the coming four years. And the result is our Roadmap program for first year students.
The program debuted in the fall of 2016 with a group of bright, motivated freshmen who were ready to delve into the whole business of figuring out their majors, developing their resumes, learning about career options, and generally becoming comfortable with the career development process and our office. We know that the Career Center at any college can be an intimidating place for students and that freshmen in particular often think it is not for them. However, the one-on-one meetings our staff had with the freshmen in this program went a long way toward proving that this is not the case!
By the end of the year, when we celebrated the Roadmap students’ achievements with an Etiquette Dinner (quick: which fork do you use to eat your dessert with?!), we had about a dozen “graduates” who had a pretty clear idea of what they wanted to major in, were getting involved with clubs and service opportunities on and off the UMW campus, and knew how to talk about their accomplishments on paper (resume and cover letter) and in person (“elevator pitch”).
We are looking forward to working with this year’s Roadmap group and are confident that they will also become active and involved on campus and in planning their futures.
If your student did not apply for Roadmap, please don’t worry! Any student can make appointments with our staff to discuss the exact same topics that are covered in Roadmap. Whether your student is seeking a major, interested in an internship, or trying to write a resume, we are here to help them! They may not have to struggle to elegantly eat a Cornish Game Hen come April, at the Etiquette Dinner, but maybe that isn’t such a bad thing!
Mary Becelia, Career Coach, Center for Career and Professional Development