- Im worried Ill constantly be struggling financially, and Ill never really get to a settled place in life.
- As a first-generation college student, I wonder if I am doing what is right for me because I worry that I am not following my own path.
- I worry sometimes that I wont be able to deliver in person what I have presented on paper.
- Im worried about the sacrifices I may have to make and if they will be worth it.
These are just some of the fears students shared during the Break Through panel Lets Keep Talking With Alumni of Color: Facing Fears in Careers.
Alumni Tia Banks 16, public relations and social media strategist, John C. (CJ) Williams 17, associate director of admission at Perkiomen School, and Lisa Lim 14, program coordinator at Penn State University, tried to assuage these fears by sharing their own experiences and the tips theyve learned along the way. Viulka Arias Guzman 15, English teacher with Camelot Education, moderated the panel.
On following your own path:
Banks entered SU with the intention of going to medical school, but trouble with chemistry caused her to rethink her future. As a first-generation college student, I felt a lot of pressure to make a lot of money and to make my mom proud. But once I took chemistry, it went downhill from there, Banks said. I thought, how am I going to tell my mother?
Banks changed her major to communications, and not works as an independent consultant in public relations and social media strategy, and added that she eventually told her mother of her major change, and ultimately, she was happy for me, she said.
Williams also faced trying to follow his own dreams while pleasing his family, leaving his home state of Pennsylvania to work in Los Angeles.
When I told my mom I was leaving she cried, Williams said. But I had to bet on myself.
On debt:
Dont rush moving out if you dont have to, Banks said. Make the little sacrifices to keep yourself in a good financial position, like skipping the bar and lunches out.
Know your worth, Lim said. I think a lot of women dont negotiate when they get to that salary point. The worst that can happen when you ask is they say no.
On confidence:
Fake it till you make it, our alums advised not the skills part, but the confidence part, until eventually the confidence is real.
I went into jobs thinking Im not good enough and that maybe I didnt know as much as I thought I knew, Banks added. And people came in knowing less, but they were confident and management responds to that.
On sacrifice:
After Banks graduated, she landed an internship opportunity but it was unpaid.
I had no car and had to walk to the train station every day and it was a long walk followed by a two-hour commute, Banks said. But I knew this was what I was going to have to do to get to where I wanted.
Lim also took some risk, leaving the comfort of living with her family and a secure job to pursue her masters degree.
I quit a job I was financially secure in to go do something I didnt know was going to work out, Lim said. The risk is up to you to determine if its worth it.
