Tapping Into My Resources

            In the Liberal Arts Career Development Office, we have one of our biggest events of the year coming up: Career Week. Career Week will take place April 11^th through April 15^th, but we’ve been planning for it all semester, if not longer. Since this is a week-long event, we all have certain days or parts of the week that we are in charge of, and for me it’s Tuesday (with another intern, Lisa B.).

            The theme for the Tuesday of Career Week is Bulking Up with Core Training, and we have four workshops planned for the afternoon. We started the semester with an ideal line-up of guest speakers that we wanted to lead the workshops, but things don’t always go as planned. For one workshop in particular, I spent weeks trying to get in contact with multiple potential speakers. Eventually, we only had about a week (maybe even less) left before our information was due for our speakers and workshops, and I still had that one spot to fill.

           While I understood that cancelling the one workshop was a potential solution, I wasn’t willing to give up trying. Suddenly, everyone I met was an opportunity to fill this spot. Every time I met someone new or spoke with an old friend, I’d ask myself: “Would this person be a good speaker for this topic, or do they know someone who would be?” Sometimes the person was a great speaker, but wasn’t qualified to speak on the topic. Sometimes the person was just a fellow student, but they were in organizations that had connections to someone who would be a great fit. Sometimes the person had been there all along, and I just didn’t think of it. And sometimes, the person I met was exactly what I needed. Everyone and every interaction was suddenly an opportunity.

           Given the option, I would have preferred to save myself the stress and have the Tuesday schedule locked in as soon as possible. However, adversity is a great learning opportunity. My new outlook on my tasks was successful, and I was able to fill all four spots just in time. I found that this form of thinking that focused on my current network and tapped into resources I already had was the most successful method for getting my job done. Looking forward, I am much more aware of how I can tap into my personal life to accomplish my professional tasks, and I am more willing to speak up with the people who can help.