Last week in the Independent Study and Mentorship class was the big day that we have been working for to showcase our skills and be able to network with other ISM students and professionals at the professional symposium. The experience was very special and important as it provided a variety of insight and a look into what the rest of the year looks like for us.
The first aspect of the professional symposium that we got to experience was the different stations hearing from ISM 2 students, ISM alumni, other ISM students, and a professional panel. Getting to know other ISM students through student networking was a lot of fun and a great experience getting to hear about other schools, other people’s topics, and I even got to find someone who had the same topic as me. Additionally, all of the information the ISM 2 students provided was amazing as they showed us things from our digital portfolios to original work and gave us a glimpse into what the rest of the year would entail. My favorite aspect however out of this selection of rotations was the ISM alumni section where we got the opportunity to hear from people know in college or in a career that went through ISM as a high school student and the impact it had on their lives. Everyone had only amazing things to say about the program and all the ways ISM has benefitted them was a list that could go on which was very inspiring to see just how far this class can go beyond the 4 walls of the classroom and even into the future.
The next major component of the symposium was interviewing with 2 professionals, and I had the incredible opportunity to interview with 2 incredible people. While I will admit that at first the interviews were a little awkward and a little scary, both professionals I had the chance to speak with made it a very open and comfortable environment. My first interview was with a civil engineer who recently graduated from A&M and also participated in the ISM program. While our topics did not quite align, the life experience and wisdom she spoke into our interview was one of a kind and would be applicable to any field. We got to talk about balance between work and personal life and how to incorporate values into your line of work which is something I want to highly prioritize. Additionally, I also got to speak with a nurse who recently graduated from UTD and we got to converse about handling the hard emotions of both of our professions and how to handle that when incorporating it into your personal life. She gave great advice to me about the experience she has had and she even provided me with a contact of a friend who was pursuing family law.
It was overall a fantastic experience where I gained lots of wisdom and experience going into upcoming interviews and I can’t wait to see where the next few months in ISM leads.
Comments