I remember a conversation that I had with English professor Dr. Karen Dillon last spring. I asked her if she had any advice for me as a graduating senior. She said “get out of Illinois” and that’s what I did. I went from a place where I ran into my professors right after skipping their classes to somewhere where I was alone even though I was surrounded by eight million people. I am currently working as an AmeriCorps Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. I am helping to build affordable housing in New York City. It is probably one of the scariest, toughest and best things that I have ever done, and I blame Blackburn for it.
I graduated from Blackburn with an environmental studies degree. As you can see, I am not really pursuing a career in that field. However, Blackburn gave me the experiences that I needed to land this job.
Flashback to freshman year. I was taking an “Introduction to Teamwork” course with Rob Weis who was the Director of Counseling at the time and Dr. Sam Meredith who has since retired (from the Leadership, Law and Public Service department). One of the requirements of the class was to go on a trip to Joplin, Missouri, to rebuild houses after the 2011 tornado. During the trip, I met Blackburn’s Habitat for Humanity president Samantha Yoder who tried to get me to join the chapter. It did not take much convincing since one of the cool things about Blackburn’s chapter is that they take a spring break trip down south each year. I was involved with Habitat all four years at Blackburn; I met a lot of interesting people and learned a ton of construction skills. During my breaks at school, I also worked for New Construction Supervisor Michael Slightom. Although he was one of the toughest people that I have ever worked for, he taught me the importance of being a hard worker who produces quality work.
There are other things that prepared me for my current job, but I want to take the time to give current Blackburn students some advice. Freshmen: take time to befriend upperclassmen. They will leave you in the end but you will make some memorable moments. Sophomores: if you want to switch your major, do it now. Starting over sucks but being in a major that you do not enjoy sucks even more. Juniors: don’t drink and drive. Graduating seniors: whatever you want to do, do it. But first, get out of Illinois.