Launch Pad | travel-blog

The Launch Pad

As 140 Interns from a range of programs gathered in the cafeteria this morning for our first senior speaker, we were unsure as to what to expect. Broadcasted live from New York, we wouldn’t actually be interacting with Pat Davids, the Global Head of Diversity for JP Morgan Chase, yet we would be watching her speak to the 400 other interns in New York, along with other intern groups also tuning in via webcam from Tampa, Columbus, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, etc. Luckily enough, this spunky, sassy woman from the Bronx in New York pleasantly surprised us with her straight forward attitude, her incredibly useful insight, and her ability to keep college students in 5 states entertained over Webcam.

In the last few weeks, I have met and heard from a number of senior staff, primarily at the Delaware location, and although a lot of what they say is helpful, it is also incredibly repetitive. Like, “You get out what you put in”, “Always ask questions”, “look to leave a lasting mark on your team”. A lot of this, I already knew coming in. A lot of it comes to us in the form of a sales pitch, trying to not only sell the entry level program, but sell the company to us. This is a tactic that most large companies that have large recruiting budgets do to try and gain and retain top performing students and future leadership.

I was surprised when this webcam speaker, located states away from me, was able to stop me dead in my tracks. She left the topic as quickly as she came to it, but this piece of wisdom really resonated with me, and I felt as though it would be benefical to others.

What I always seemed to know, yet never knew how to articulate, Pat was expressed so fluidly:

“Everything [you do] should be a launch pad for what you actually want to do.”

Recently, I have been struggling with what exactly I should be doing once I finish up my two degrees at Temple. I have an unparalleled ability to see more options for myself than I know what to do with, each ranging in level of difficultly, level of risk, and level of reward. I also have a fear that if I don't explore every possibility in front of me, I'm going to end up unhappy, yet with this statement made by Pat, I began to really thing about what I am doing this summer, what I want to do following graduation, and where I want to be in 5 years.

Even amidst all of the options I need to figure out which of these options set me down the right path towards what I actually want to do. More than that, which ones set me on the path towards what I don’t want to do?

I feel as though college students are hardwired to believe that getting a job after college is the ultimate goal. Often, this job comes at the expense of what we actually want to do, since we believe that the only thing valuable about entry level work is the job experience that it gets us to then be used as a stepping stone.

Yet what if that entry level position is the mouth to a path we don’t want to go down? What if it isn’t actually a launch pad for what we actually want to do? Do we give up the opportunity, even with the risk attached to letting it pass you by?

That’s what made this talk both so sobering, and so incredibly valuable: that maybe the goal after college is not just a job, but a sense of direction that will send you down the path you actually want to go down. Job experience is important, and building your resume is important, but what is the point if it is not a way to reach what you ultimately want to do?

Meaning that no matter how tempting a contract and salary may be, there really is no excuse not to pursue something you love, or something that will help you get there… even as a 22 year old straight out of college. It is time that we begin to realize that money and convenience is not the only factor in chosing a career, and I need to find an entry level position that will be my launch pad, not just give two years of my life to something that I have merely been told is the next logical step.

So, I encourage all of my fellow rising seniors, those who will graduate in the coming years, and those who have just recently graduated to ask themselves: is what I am doing right now a launch pad for what I actually want to be doing? If the answer is no, or if you hesitate, get out while you still can, otherwise you may turn out like the other 70% of Americans who hate their jobs.