I was talking to a mother of a college student a few weeks ago, and she was concerned because she felt like her son was drowning in his extremely rigorous engineering program. With the school year coming up around the corner, she contacted a counselor at the school to see if her son could get some one on one attention at a very large and prestigous school located in the northeast region. She knew her son didn’t have the personality to contact someone himself, so she figured she would do it. To her dismay, there was not much assistance available to her son. However, she finally got the help she was looking for after visiting the school and asking around campus.
As a college professor, I constantly hear students complaining about the lack of assistance they are offered to pick classes, figure out a plan for graduation, or even help them figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Time after time I’ve seen students drop out of school because they don’t know what they want to do and lack guidance on figuring it out.
Don’t give up. Demand attention because you know you deserve it! Ask your instructors for advice. Dive into their lists of contacts and talk to people from different careers you might consider.
Visit the career center at your school. Don’t be afraid to ask for an internship. You might not make a lot of money, but you’ll certainly get your foot in the door. That internship might lead to your future job upon completing college.
Being persistent is the key! You pay a lot of money to go to school, so get the help you need. Colleges have a ton of business connections, but you often have to ask in order to tap into them. And many times you have to ask several times and several people before you get an answer, but it’s definitely worth the information.
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