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First Steps
Now I have a job. Of sorts. I have a goal to spread everything the Lougheed Center for Applied Learning has to offer to every student at Potsdam. It's a big goal, but a marathon starts with putting your first foot forward and that's exactly what I had to do.
Putting my own first foot forward entailed getting out there and seeing why this was my goal. Why do students need to know things? What could they have to benefit from the LoCAL? Turns out, thousands of people can benefit from it in hundreds of ways. The average Joe isn't fully aware of what's available to them, and even if they are there are so many unanswered questions that they have. The hundreds, if not thousands, of resources available to them are completed unknown. I learned this the hard way by attending an open house for potential Potsdam students as a shadow to the man who used to be my professor and hired me during an interview, Toby White.
Toby White is known by almost every faculty member on Potsdam's campus. When I was first trying to obtain work study, I had an issue waiting to hear from financial aid for over a week. I visited their office and dropped Toby's name and within a half hour saying that I had been granted work study. The man has connections, and he also knows what he's doing. He has an incredible sense of social interaction and knows how to talk to complete strangers about anything and everything. My job at the open house was to watch and listen to him promote LoCAL and also take note of the questions that were asked by potential students.
There were dozens of questions asked throughout the day and Toby had an answer to every single one of them. People asked about internships, police academy, which career is right for them, how they can pursue a career, or even directions into town. I learned a lot, not only about the programs offered to students but I learned how best to tell people what they need to know in a short amount of time. I also had the privilege of giving people my own input and answering questions specific to my own experience, which I thought was a lot of fun.
Witnessing all the people who could benefit from LoCAL programs but didn't know about them or where to find them impacted me a lot. I've been in their shoes, and I realized I now have the ability to help them. I was once unable to tell someone what a cover letter even is, much less how you can create one and where to make an appointment to do so. I have the knowledge and opportunity to spread important information to hundreds of students who could and will benefit from this. They just need to be informed.
My first step was seeing first hand that a major barrier to a lot of student's success is obliviousness. They don't know what they're capable of getting done just by sending some emails and showing up to some appointments. It helped me realize I have a certain power to break down this knowledge barrier so many people have simply by talking to people, which, coincidentally, is something I'm rather fond of.
This open house was just as much of a learning experience for me as it was for all the people Toby and I interacted with. It gave me a perspective and motivation to reach my goal, and I couldn't wait to take my next step.
Here's to hoping, and thanks for reading.