It is common for students to get overwhelmed or discouraged along during their academic careers. However, there are resources available to students designed to help them align with their academic goals.
One resource that aids students in developing a plan is the Career Center.
The Career Center is an office located in the Business Department, which is commonly known as the JTS building.
Grambling State’s Office of Career Services goal is to strive to enhance the overall educational experience of its students by assisting with educating the “total” student. The center’s goal is to also give many professional experiences that mimic those found in everyday life.
Not only does the center specialize in helping students develop skills that will help them while they are in school, it also helps students prepare for their desired careers after graduation.
Director of Career Services Kellye Blackburn said students are missing out if they are not utilizing the resources provided in Career Services.
If a student would like to get started with the center it is recommended that they first complete a Focus 2 Career Assessment.
“The Focus 2 Career assessment identifies a student’s college major, personality strengths and weaknesses, and reviews career options for them based on their skills and interests,” Blackburn said. “Handshake is a platform that connects GSU students with more than 8,000 employers in all academic majors and fields.”
There are other ways that the center helps with career development besides helping students secure occupations as well.
“GSU Career Services invests a lot of effort into building relationships with employers and planning career development events with top companies and organizations to increase opportunities for students to obtain scholarships, internships, and full-time employment,” Blackburn said.
A huge component that she believes is key in developing success after college is for students to network.
Blackburn said it is also important for students to know when pursuing a career in a designated field.
It is of importance for students to have relevant experience, extra-curricular activities and good grades because these are all things that employers seek from new college graduates.
“Relevant experience in your major can include community services, academic related projects and research, and internships… It is also important for students to have top good grades and to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher,” Blackburn said.
GSU models the no student left behind concept through its departments on campus.
Azia Adams, a senior Mass Communications major, is one student who has faced challenges while at GSU and has successfully looked to resources available to students, such as career services, for assistance.
“Having to adjust to going to school very far from your home state can be difficult once you start to approach being an upperclassman,” Azia Adams, a senior Mass Communications major, said.
Adams said she has a wide variety of challenges while navigating life through college.
“While attending GSU, I had to deal with emotional and physical situations that caused me to not be focused solely on school,” she said. “I endured things like being homesick and the effects of losing loved ones back home and not being able to do anything about it.
“There were times where I felt as if I did not have an academic purpose because I came to college right out of high school with an idea of how I wanted it all to go, but I did not have a set plan at first.”
Having the pressures of balancing personal life and staying motivated in school were instances that were difficult to her, but with personal effort and help from the university she was able to persevere.
“I have since been able to build up the discipline that I needed to study effectively and maintain good grades across my major curriculum,” Adams said. “During the time I felt overwhelmed I took a semester off, but there were staff in various departments that made me aware of the opportunities that I could utilize to get back on the road to graduation.”
Adams is now set to graduate GSU this year of 2021.
There are numerous ways that students can prepare to secure success for themselves through Grambling’s resources, especially those provided by the Office of Career Services.
Even if a student was not prepared to attend college, GSU tries to ensure that students are prepared to finish strongly and that is its superpower.