Learning Experience: Blog 3

Learning Experience: Blog 3

Through my major, Strategic Communication, I’ve learned a ton over the years about making connections. Myself being a go-getter and always looking for the next thing that I can be involved in no matter how much I already have going on; I really took that advice to heart. Now, as a senior, I’ve been blessed with some incredible internship opportunities over my 4 years here at TCU, all while learning from many mistakes I’ve experienced too. Some of my job experiences have not been so good as others and I think it goes hand in hand with how being a go-getter can sometimes backfire. Yet, I treat it as one of those life experiences where you simply can’t know it until you experience it yourself. One of my first intern experiences was at a local advertising agency and granted I really didn’t know what to expect. I remember getting that first email that told me I was invited to have a phone interview with the head of the internship department on the following Tuesday, and I was ecstatic. However, I was super nervous about what to expect and what kinds of questions that I would be asked because it was my first interview ever. Of course when I had the phone interview, I was thrown a question I had never thought of being asked about: “What is one accomplishment that has shaped your life thus far?” I stood thinking for way longer than I think I should have, started to sweat and all things you are afraid of happening to you during an interview, decided to happen to me all at once. As a senior, I realize that is one of the most common interview questions I’ve been asked since that day, but of course that being my first interview experience I felt I was thrown a curveball. But, looking back on that experience has made me realize sometimes you actually don’t need to know the perfect answer. You just need an honest answer. It took me forever to realize that the people interviewing you aren’t looking for a cookie-cutter basic answer – they want to get to know you and see your personality. For me, I’ve had some incredible mentors in my Strat Comm classes and my honors classes where I truly understood that advice. Freshman year, I wanted to be perfect. Senior year, I can happily say I just want to be myself. That is single-handedly one of the greatest things I’ve learned here at TCU. That crazy need for perfection taught me that I should always be proud of who I am. As long as I answer interview questions as someone who believes in herself, I won’t ever say I wasn’t thankful for an experience – no matter if I got the job or not. Life will not always be perfect, and you will definitely not get all of the things that you apply for, I know I have had my fair share of no’s. But, in the end, I think whatever is happening in your life will never be more important than the values you hold behind why you are doing something. I’m so proud to be graduating from TCU where professors are always looking out for you and wanting you to push yourself outside of your limitations and really strive to be the best version of yourself you possibly can be. TCU has shown me to always be myself no matter what situation is sitting in front of me, and that is truly a gift that I will never be able to repay.