If you had asked any of my friends in high school who would be the least likely to leave Grass Valley the answer most likely would have been me. Everyone else talked about wanting to leave home the day they turned 18 or the day they graduated from Nevada Union. I guess I was so content with where I was. I am so close with my parents and my brother, and I guess I had never really looked for opportunities outside of where I lived. My eyes were quickly opened when my brother went to Weber State- The people were so nice, I researched jobs in the Engineering field and instantly fell in love.
A little background story- My brother went to a community college right outside of where I lived.Needless to say it wasn't in the best area at all so after seeing the experience and transition of my brother my parents really encouraged me to get out of Grass Valley and really shine without it taking me 6 years to go from community college to a 4 year university(not saying that is a bad plan, it just wasn't the plan for me). The longest I had ever been apart from my parents was a week and that was to stay with my grandparents, so this was quite the leap of courage for me. I was very spoiled in the fact that my dad retired at the age of 35. My dad sold his travel agency when we moved from Virginia to California and was very content with the thought of being the Mister Mom to my brother and I (Mom being the bread maker= why I am such a persistent young woman now). Every morning my dad would come wake me up, make me breakfast AND lunch, depending on the time of year he would come pick me up from school to drive me to golf practice, wait for that to be over and make us dinner. So going from this to having to be self sustained was a quite the shock. I can't tell you how many times I would call my parents in tears my first year because I just wanted to see them and I was homesick. So this is where the Number one thing I wish I had known going into college comes in. Roommates. If any of my past roommates are reading this, please take no offense, this is just a quick lesson to others. I wish someone had told me to have no expectation to what it would be like. Movies and TV shows make it look so perfect to live with someone!! I wish I had been told that not everyone was brought up the same way- taught to clean your own dishes, not eat food that is someone else's' and to be quiet when people are sleeping. The other thing I learned is when you live in a place like the dorms, you have absolutely no contribution to how many times you will be moved. In the first year I think I moved 6 times. 6 TIMES!!! The residence halls had certain building that would be open in the summer, I became a Residence Assistant ( great idea btw- I got my housing paid for, and part of my tuition by doing this!) Anyways, very quickly I found out just how much I overpacked for college and how much it sucked to move. The second tip I wish I had known was how often I would come home. Since my hometown is so small, it was hard to justify staying home over the summers. There were very few jobs, most of which would be minimum wage, and this allowed me to get more familiarized in Utah. I was under the impression when I left that I would be home every summer, quite a few times over the year, thanksgiving and Christmas- basically anytime I wanted right! Little did I know that I would make it home maybe twice a year. I have made it home every year for christmas and maybe for a week during the summer. Tip #3- How many people come and go from college. Man, my first year was wonderful! I had a great group of friends, I believe there were about 15 of us. They slowly stopped coming back every semester- it got too hard, was too expensive or they didn't like Weber. I think there are a total of 4 of us that are still in Utah from the original group. The final tip is you learn to appreciate the little things! My mom would always leave me little notes in my lunches or backpack when I lived at home. I can't tell you how much I miss those- so now she sends me weekly notes! Even though I am a senior, I still LOVE receiving them! It makes me feel so special to get a piece in the mail, and sometimes she includes great articles from the newspaper or magazines. I also love it when I come home because my mom hides little notes in my luggage As you can see, it can be hard to move away, but in the end, looking back I wouldn't have had it any other way! Going to school out of state has been hands down the greatest decision of my life. I have had more leadership, job and countless other opportunities that I would have never had staying in my hometown.
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An athlete preparing for the Olympics is similar to how I prepare for SWE conferences.
Now, you might have read that and said, man Elaine, you went a little overboard on that statement, however if you have been to one of these professional conferences you would understand exactly what I mean! At the National SWE conferences they have career fairs with around 150 companies. This automatically triggers me to make my resume as best as it possibly can, make my elevator speech amazing, print out new pictures of my latest projects and start working out as much as possible. See, my major is very unique in the fact that it is less theoretical and more hands on. This can give a much better advantage in some situations or it can be a total pitfall... Either way, I always tried to be the most prepared to my abilities. The next thing I add to my to-do list for Conferences is to make sure my clothes look as professional as possible. It can be very hard to find cute professional clothes that are affordable but here is my biggest hint- Ann Taylor. Ann Taylor has a wonderful range of clothes from petite, to casual to business casual. I have never bought anything full price either. I always wait until I have found good coupons, sales or their clearance section is usually an additional 60% off. In my opinion, if you are going to torture yourself with heels these are my heels of choice. http://www.anntaylor.com/mila-leather-pumps/397108?skuId=20153281&defaultColor=3338&colorExplode=true&catid=cata000020 They are very classy and let's be honest. Ann Taylor has got their heels down to a science. Now here's when those coupons come in handy. You can find 40% off coupons so they become much more affordable. If you laughed at the working out part above here is some more information regarding it. The more confident you are the better you can sell yourself to recruiters and employers!! The other plus side of this is the conferences usually entail lots of walking and carrying career fair swag, notebooks stuffed with information from sessions and at the last conference I went to my suitcase broke so I had to carry my whole suitcase in wedges through the Seattle airport ( pictured below). As you can see, I put incredible amounts of time and effort into these things, but It has slowly paid off. I now have recruiters that remember who I am from the year before, I know how to present myself in such a way that the HR people aren't repulsed by the technical terms that I used but most importantly I have been able to network with other students and professional women from around the nation. This year I decided to take a different approach to the New Year. Instead of the " New Year, New Me" I started to evaluate how 2016 went. Unlike many other people, 2016 was a great year for me. I received another internship, met many new people that have helped me grow and progress into my degree and I felt like it was an excellent platform for my future.
This year I decided that it would be a " New Year, Same me" and focus on building on top of my previous goals I have so much more ambition, motivation and hunger to make this a great year and I am very excited. |
AuthorMy name is Elaine Cope, I am studying Manufacturing Engineering. I decided to make this blog with hopes to inspire other young female engineers to pursue their dreams. Archives
November 2019
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