September 22 marked the first day of fall, and all around campus, students donned their coats and sweaters for the first time as they rushed to their classes. This year, alongside the cooler weather and colorful autumn leaves, the university welcomed an exciting new addition to Andrews. While the Career Center’s official opening was celebrated on the third floor of the James White Library with balloons and a tasteful snack spread, the center has actually been operational since January. It has already serviced over 350 students and alums, but Jordanne Howell-Walton (graduate, clinical mental health counseling) tells me they’re looking forward to helping many more.
Howell-Walton works as a Graduate Assistant Career Coach at the center and is one of the two primary staff who helps conduct one-on-one mock interviews and career counseling. An Andrews graduate student and undergraduate alumnus herself, she understands the struggle for students to figure out the next steps in their career journey. She said, “[A Career Center] was not available when I was an undergrad, and I super wish that it was because I dabbled a lot in what I wanted to do after I graduated.” She also said, “if [she] had something like [the Career Center, she] may have been able to streamline that.” Figuring out a career path can be a daunting challenge for anyone, as Lucille Borges (sophomore, speech pathology) can testify. She said this: “I think generally around this time in college, about when you’re in your sophomore or junior year, you start to feel a little bit lost because you’re getting a degree and you know kind of what you’re doing but you don’t really have any kind of connections into that world.” This is a common issue, as Howell-Walton says, “a lot of times it's easy to choose a major, but a major is not a career.” “Other times,” she says, “students experience it backward where [they] know what [they] want to do but don’t know how to get there.”
Whatever the situation, the Career Center promises to be a place where students can go to receive help. Howell-Walton explains, “the Career Center helps make tangible steps for people to accomplish their career goals.” So whether a person needs assistance practicing for an interview, advice on how to find and apply for jobs and internships, general career counseling, or someone to review and edit their resume, the Career Center and their knowledgeable staff are ready to help, completely free of charge. “So,” Howell-Walton implores, “take the opportunity to use its resources… it’s only 30 minutes of your week, but it can make a huge difference!” Students and Alumni can be connected to various services by booking an appointment on their website.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.