CAREER SERVICES AT ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE | SANTA FE | OCTOBER 2013
Fishing and Brokering in Alaska Interview with Dylan Hitchcock-Lopez (SF14) by Allen Matsika
Dylan spent his summer in Southeast Alaska, at the Alaskan Salmon Fishing/Brokerage firm, Shawn Delaney-At-Sea-Salmon Brokerage. Having grown up fishing commercially in Southeast Alaska, he wanted a business perspective on the whole fishing activity. Summers in Alaska receive extra daylight, experiencing only four hours of darkness a day. From Dylan’s description, it was beautiful. Read on to find out more about his internship experience. Remember to check out the Ariel Internship Reports when they are published and visit the Career Services Offices for a copy and a chance to see the endless possibilities you can explore every summer. Q: Dylan, did this internship have anything to do with your intended career path? “When it comes down to it, the food we eat, how we get that food, and how we deal with that food, are really important issues.”
It is yet to be decided, but the back story is that I grew up in commercial fishing. When you grow up on fishing boats you essentially become comfortable with one side of the fishing business, which is catching fish. But I started looking at how much we were paid for the fish off the boat and how much the fish cost in the grocery store. I realized there was a huge difference in the prices. The fish in the grocery store was $20-$24 more than what we sold it for off the boat. So I began to wonder what happened between the time we sold the fish and when the fish got to the grocery store. I wanted to try to work in the world of marketing fish, selling fish, and doing things around that side of the fish business. Continued on page 2
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Awesome interviews with Ariel interns Advice on graduate school application Local internship opportunities
Profiles Continued from page 1
The fishing industry has been growing eight percent per year since 1980. It is one of the few industries that we are still in a hunter-gatherer relationship with. Regulating that, making sure it’s sustainable, how to meet the demand and not deplete resources—all these are big questions. I wanted to talk to some people about this and research it for myself. Q: Would you say you achieved your goals for the summer? I did actually, I had one main mentor in the business and I learned a lot from him. I also worked with Alaska’s Own, a local organization that delivers fish from local fishermen to local people, bypassing the grocery stores. This ensures that the community that lives close to a food source gets to use that resource. Q: It is beginning to sound serious and philosophical. Would you say you had fun this summer?
Brokering in his hometown, Dylan gets firsthand experience of the business side of fishing in familiar surroundings.
It is really fun to go fishing, and getting a glimpse of the business side was great. This summer was like bringing two sides of my life together: the practice of commercial fishing and my education at St. John’s. When it comes down to it, the food we eat, how we get that food, and how we deal with that food, are really important issues. I hadn’t really been in communities where these were so important. I had talked to restaurants and grocers, but it was different being in a fishing community and being more on the business side of things. I found that the philosophical and practical aspects of what we are doing on our planet are very similar and we have to deal with them from both sides. Q: What was the most challenging thing that happened to you this summer? In the real world you make plans, but plans can go wrong. One of the challenges I faced was that one of the companies I worked with was good at cutting and preparing the fish, but they were bad with deadlines. I would tell them of a delivery three weeks before it was due, but they would not be ready by that date. My integrity and professionalism as a supplier was compromised. It is tough to make a plan and work in some wiggle room for when things go wrong. Being polite and keeping a civil relationship with business associates who don’t follow through can be a huge challenge. We have dealt with this challenge in seminars at St. John’s as we interact and talk, but when people’s money is on the table, the situation is much more dramatic. Q: If you had not done this internship, what would you have done? I would have had to work so I could come back to school. I would have gone fishing, and it would have been alright, but it wouldn’t have been optimal. The things that I learned, the people I dealt with, and the connections I made this summer would never have happened. I would have been out on the boat, which I enjoy, but it wouldn’t have allowed for the integration of my St. John’s education and the practical side of life. The Ariel Internship was a huge opportunity and a great help in making these experiences possible. Q: What was cool about this internship besides the work? The coolest thing was being in this small town that I am from. I know most of the people there, but it was different talking to people and developing relationships involving politics and business. At one time I was sitting at a lunch table with a guy from the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA), an environmental lawyer, and the local journalist. We had this really deep conversation that spanned the fields of politics, law, local concerns and somehow centered mainly on fish. That was cool. Dylan loves bagels and lox, and we might be having a bite together sometime soon. 2
“[Languages] are so important and amazing — it is communication. Even when we interviewed the people in Manang I marveled…These people had found a set of totally different sounds for communication.”
Majestic Mountains and Beautiful Languages Interview with Yesha Mala (SF14) by Allen Matsika Preservation of Endangered Languages, Southern Illinois University
When asked about her Ariel internship in Nepal, Yesha seems to begin telling a fairytale of distant lands, gorgeous mountains, beautiful languages, and wonderful people. She talks of time spent sampling local food, moments of self-discovery that just blew her mind, and rich incidents of self-conquering. She speaks four languages fluently and understands three others. The following is the interview Odyssey Bound managed to get with her. Q: Where exactly in Nepal did you do this internship? I worked in Kathmandu but we took a 26-day excursion to the mountain villages of Manang. We can call this 26-day trip the field work or the actual work. We left on June 3, travelled two days in a jeep, and then we had to walk to all the villages we had in mind. At one time it snowed terribly and we could not leave a village for some days, but it wasn’t so bad. I had a copy of War and Peace to keep me company. My project director had set up an office in Kathmandu, so when we were done with the field work, we worked there. I basically stayed at home and went to work every day. It was really good to be able to go home. Q: Is preserving endangered languages what you want to do after St. John’s? It is definitely an option. I really got into it over the summer and I have a personal stake in it. My family speaks a dialect that I cannot really speak and I would love to get to know it. As fewer and fewer people speak it, it could die.
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Profiles
“I had never really been out of Kathmandu, but I had heard Manang is really beautiful. When I went there it was amazing.”
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Q: It sounds like you got more interested in the preservation of languages over the summer. Why did you choose this internship and not go fishing like Dylan? As the 2012-13 academic year began I was set on getting an Ariel Internship. I looked at things I was interested in. One of those things is languages, and then I heard of this project in Nepal. It offered me an opportunity to go home and do what I love doing, which is dabbling with languages. During my first two years at St. John’s I really got into Greek. I am a French Assistant right now because I was fascinated by the French language as well. I am very much interested in the structure of languages and their sounds. They are so important and amazing, it is communication. Even when we interviewed the people in Manang I marveled at how different and beautiful the languages sounded. These people had found a set of totally different sounds for communication. Anyway, when I was checking out the internship, I talked to Kristine Hildebrandt, my project coordinator. She told me that we were going to interview people and ask them what they thought about their own language. She said we were going to record the people telling a story. Then she said we were going to hike to the remote parts of my home country, Nepal. I had never really been out of Kathmandu, but I had heard Manang is really beautiful. When I went there it was amazing. I am also not very physical; I like walking but when it comes to hiking it is really hard for me. But when we hiked I was surprised to look at the time and realize I had been hiking for 11 hours. It was amazing. Q: Did you have a Plan B for this summer? No, I didn’t actually. My only other option was to stay on campus and work. I am really glad I got the Ariel Internship. I discovered a lot about myself. I realized that I can do anything. For example, I was asked to work with some language software and I thought I would never get it, but, surprisingly, I got really good at it by the end of about three weeks. I hiked up the mountain; it’s such a gradual process you know. You take one step and then you take another step, and then you get up the mountain. When we got to the top I was like, “Yeah, I can do anything.” I was on top of a mountain, looking toward other icy peaks, the wind was blowing, and the rest of the view was gorgeous. It was just the best place to have such a realization. I am glad I got the Ariel, which made it possible for me to take advantage of this very interesting internship. 4
Career Fair Career Fair in Pictures The Fourth Annual Career Fair hosted in September, was a huge success. Numerous local opportunities were made available and we even had an alumnus show up from a local non-profit organization called ¡YouthWorks!. Career Services hopes you all benefited from the information. Furthermore, we hope you got some of the free t-shirts and swag. We encourage anyone who didn’t attend this year to stop by next time.
CAREER FAIR PARTICIPANTS Artsmart Audubon New Mexico Big Brother Big Sisters Breakthrough Santa Fe Center for Contemporary Arts Council on International Relations Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Cornerstone Community Partnerships Del Norte Credit Union Lensic Performing Arts
MATCH New Mexico New Mexico Workforce Solutions Peace Corps Positive Energy Solar REI SJC Career Services SJC Residential LifeProject Politae SJC Mad Skills Program: Life Beyond the Great Books! SF Alliance for Science
SF Children’s Museum SF Concert Association SF Habitat for Humanity SF Film Festival SF Independent Film Festival SF World Affairs Forum Simon Charitable Foundation SITE Santa Fe Theaterwork The Reporter
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US Bank U.S. Department of State Warehouse 21 Wells Fargo Bank Whole Foods Women’s International Study Center ¡YouthWorks!
Profile
Michael Santillanes standing in front of a gorgeous mural some ¡YouthWorks! participants painted in the ¡YouthWorks! facility.
Taking advantage of local opportunities Interview with Michael Santillanes (SF03), Associate Director of ¡YouthWorks! By Allen Matsika
As editor of Odyssey Bound I had a great opportunity to chat with St. John’s alumnus Michael Santillanes. He is the associate director of the local organization ¡YouthWorks!, a non-profit whose culinary project provides over 300 lunches a day to two local charter schools and to other youth working on community service projects. ¡YouthWorks! Youth Build program has built eight town homes for low income families in the last two years with their partners, Habitat for Humanity. ¡YouthWorks! has also helped dozens of high school dropouts complete their GEDs and enroll in college. Laid back, engaged, and ready to discuss big questions, Michael made me feel at home away from the familiar Johnnie campus. We were exchanging experiences and talking about the Program in no time. Before we get into what !YouthWorks! is, or what Michael does, I will highlight the important question of the day: Q: Why Santa Fe? Why did you decide to settle and work here? I have always had roots in Santa Fe; my family was here for a while and we moved a lot, but I always considered Santa Fe my home base. My grandfather was a tutor in Annapolis and he was one of the first tutors to come out here when the school expanded to this side of the country. I moved to Alaska in 1991, but I came back in 1999 to go to St. John’s College. I decided to settle here because I wanted to give back to the Santa Fe community and the larger New Mexican community. New Mexico is one of the poorest states. It has some of the highest poverty rates and people struggle a lot here. This is the side of Santa Fe that many don’t get to see. Many just go downtown and remain there and get an impression of affluence and beauty. We do have a thriving tourist industry and that is good for the economy, but the other less-affluent side of New Mexico sometimes gets swept under the rug. Engaging with the populace of this other less-affluent side, getting to know these people, makes you realize they deserve a chance to make something of themselves. 6
Q: How does your SJC education tie in with your responsibilities as associate director? When I started working at ¡YouthWorks! I was a teacher for the GED class, which covers five subjects: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. I was required to teach all of these subjects. Coming from St. John’s, it was very easy to engage with students across these different fields. Furthermore, I had learned at St. John’s that dialogue is a great vehicle for learning. Education by its nature is true dialogue, it is dynamic. The student is not a cup to be filled with water, but rather it is like lighting a fire. I love the teaching experience, but I chose to step up to the position of associate director when it was offered to me because I see the importance of it and how it makes everything else possible. I think having good administrators in these types of institutions, and in education in general, is really important. When I look for teachers, I ensure that they keep in mind the type of educational philosophy that I think is appropriate when dealing with the underprivileged group. It has been a great experience and an opportunity for me to grow. Grant writing, working behind the scenes to keep the program running and keep the organization strong, and ensuring that we have the resources that we need in order to run the programs to help these young people. I do miss the direct interaction in the classroom, but I keep my feet grounded and make sure that I still know all the participants and young people, and I interact with them in a different capacity. Q: Many young people consider Santa Fe a little boring. What do you do for fun in Santa Fe? Most of my time gets taken up by work, but I like playing sports. I play basketball and recently I have taken up tennis. Some of my students have taken an interest in custom car building and low riders, so I bought a 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on Craigslist. I bought the shell actually and with the help of my students we built an engine and installed it. It’s kind of a work in progress but I think it is a good hobby for me. Q: I am very interested in non-profit organizations and I am hoping to found one someday. I suspect I am not the only one interested in non-profits at St. John’s. What advice do you have for people like me? Well, I would like to say starting a non-profit is not easy, so make sure that you have a clear vision of your mission and dedicate yourself to whatever it is that drives you. Make sure that nothing ever gets in the way of that. There are many ‘top down’ or ‘top heavy’ non-profits, where people at the top and the staff get large salaries and very few of the funds get to where they are supposed to go. I discourage becoming one of these non-profits. Non-profit is a dedication, it is for a larger cause and that knowledge needs to stay at the forefront. If you can do that and produce a high quality product or service, things will happen. It is about being able to show the results and show them on paper and not lose track of the heart of what you are doing. It is definitely possible and needed in this world. Michael came to the Career Fair hosted by Career Services in September and he says that ¡YouthWorks! is looking for tutors. Check out the ¡YouthWorks! mission below: ¡YouthWorks¡ is a non-profit, community-based organization that creates opportunities for disconnected youth and families in Northern New Mexico to become engaged and valued members of their communities. Through our programs: job training and placement, life skills, counseling, education, and leadership development, we inspire youth to realize their full potential. For more information visit: http://santafeyouthworks.org/home.php 7
“I do miss the direct interaction in the classroom, but I keep my feet grounded and make sure that I still know all the participants and young people, and I interact with them in a different capacity.”
Internships Internships Local Internship and Volunteer Opportunity Highlights Most of the 35 organizations attending this year’s annual Community & Career Fair offered terrific job or internship opportunities. If you are thinking about staying in Santa Fe or the southwest this summer and applying for an Ariel Internship, or have an interest in pursuing a local volunteer or internship opportunity during the academic year, here is a sampling of some great organizations that offer possibilities.
The Randall Davey Audubon Center in Santa Fe)
Artsmart – Offers art programming for youth throughout the year. St. John’s senior Emma Diez completed an Ariel Internship this past summer with Fine Arts for Children and Teens (FACT), a program of Artsmart. She would be a great person to talk to about this organization. For more information contact: Lisa Vakharia or Amanda Lee at 505-989-1199 x14 Breakthrough Santa Fe – “Students Teaching Students is a tuition-free program in which talented high school and college students teach middle school students, with limited educational opportunities, the academic, organizational and social skills they will need to succeed in competitive high schools.” This program is administered out of Santa Prep (down the street from St. John’s) and has opportunities for their after-school program and during the summer with the supplement of an Ariel Internship award. For more information contact: Talia Winokur, 505-982-1829. Or visit: http://www.breakthroughsantafe.org Center for Contemporary Arts – “The Mission of the CCA is to create, maintain, and promote a vibrant regional gathering place for the exploration and presentation of diverse and challenging contemporary art forms and ideas through interdisciplinary programs: film, visual arts, performance, and educational outreach.” Emma Diez and other Johnnies have volunteered and interned with CCA over the past few years. For more information contact: Karen Ramage 505-1338 x108 or visit: http://ccasantafe.org Santa Fe Council on International Relations (CIR) – “CIR is dedicated to promoting the understanding of international issues and cultural affairs and to promoting ‘grassroots diplomacy.’ They provide discussion opportunities, lectures, seminars, travel opportunities, student outreach activities and international visitor meetings. CIR’s activities are designed to stimulate dialogue within the community about current foreign affairs issues and help educate members, students and the community about current international issues that affect the United States.” St. John’s senior Alexandra Marx just completed an Ariel Internship with CIR and she would be happy to talk about her experience. She can be reached at a.kmarx@yahoo.com. For more information about CIR contact: Patti Poitras, 505-982-4931 or visit: https://www.sfcir.org 8
Cornerstone Community Partnerships –This organization has worked to preserve architectural heritage and community traditions at more than 300 locations in New Mexico and the greater southwest. Paid and unpaid internship and volunteer opportunities are available throughout the year. For more information contact: Robin Jones (SF84), 505-982-9521 or visit: http://cstones.or/ Georgia O’Keeffe Museum – An internship at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum offers an invaluable learning experience by giving you the opportunity to do real work and participate in the operation of a museum. There are a variety of internship opportunities, both paid and unpaid, throughout the academic year and during the summer. Stop by Career Services for program information or contact: Jackie M, 505-946-1006, jackiem@okeeffemuseum.org or visit: www.okeeffemuseum.org/internships.html Randall Davey Audubon Center – Volunteers are needed at the center for all sorts of activities. Spend a few hours a week at an idyllic 135-acre wildlife sanctuary nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (not far from St. John’s College). This organization offers paid internships with housing during the summer. For more information contact: Dana Strang, 505-983-6245 x27 or visit http://nm.audubon.org Women’s International Study Center (WISC) – “Spanning 150 years, three remarkable women, three generations of the same family, made their marks on the world. For over a century they were an active, creative presence in the Southwest. The house they designed and lived in for decades in Santa Fe, the Acequia Madre House, home of the newly formed Women’s International Study Center, is an institute focusing on women in the arts, sciences, cultural preservation and business.” WISC offers residency to scholars. If you are interested in contributing to this newly formed organization they are interested in developing an internship opportunity for you. For more information contact: Bunny Huffman, 505-983-6538 or visit: http://wiscamh.org These are just a few of the prospects in Santa Fe. If you have other ideas and want to discuss possibilities that interest you, then call, email, or visit the Career Services office and speak with Barbara Lucero Sand, Assistant Director and Internship Coordinator: 505-984-6132, blucerosand@sjcsf.edu.
Check out http://www.santafe.com/calendar/for Santa Fe events!
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Graduate School Graduate School — Choosing Programs and Applications To find out more about a particular field, talk to your tutors and St. John’s alumni. They can share their experiences and also help you determine which fields are most closely related to your particular interests, and also suggest universities that are compatible with what you want to study. Tutors can also be helpful in explaining the graduate school environment and what you should be looking for in terms of faculty and facilities as you are researching schools. Another part of your research should include going to the college’s library and reading journals or looking up articles on the Internet that have been written by the faculty at your intended graduate schools. If the Meem Library doesn’t have a copy of the journal you need, you aren't sure which journal you need, or you are having difficulty with an Internet search – ask the librarians for help. Also use the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which can be found online at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/, to learn more about specific careers and the degrees needed for each. Other good resources in the Career Service Library include The Real Guide to Graduate School (Humanities and Social Sciences) and Getting What You Came For. Graduate school applications in any field of study are complicated and the selection process is highly competitive. Do not waste your effort if you are unsure about WHAT you want to study and WHY you need a particular degree. General interests in a field are fine, but you need to be as specific as possible in your Statement of Purpose in each application, so be sure to focus your interest before you begin your applications. Graduate admissions committees understand that your interests may change once you begin classes, but they need to see that you have done enough thinking and research about a particular field or subject and that your interests are in line with the interests of their faculty and the courses being offered. No one is going to check in 10 years to see if you are doing what you proposed in a graduate school application, but if you are too vague and aspire to a variety of types of study, you are unlikely to be successful at most schools. For PhD programs in particular, it actually helps to spell out your plans for a dissertation topic when you are applying. Also, some schools will not let you defer entry after acceptance, so be sure you want to be in school next fall if you are applying this year. Graduate school is where you will establish important contacts for the first few years of your professional life. It is helpful to apply to schools in a part of the country where you would like to stay, and to study with individuals in a department with whom you want to exchange ideas for some time. If at all possible, visit schools either before you apply or certainly before you accept an offer. Also, talk with current graduate students at each school. They will be able to tell you whether they are happy in that environment or if it has turned out to be entirely different than what was advertised on the school’s website. They can also give you insights about particular professors. Once you have a short list of schools, approximately 8-10, figure out what is required for each application. Do you need to take the GRE, and, if so, is the General GRE enough or does your field require a GRE Subject Test (normally required in the sciences)? Is the application online or hard copy? How many letters of recommendation do you need? What are the instructions for the Statement of Purpose (also
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sometimes called “Letter of Intent” or “Proposed Course of Study”)? Is there a separate application for financial aid or are all applicants automatically considered for aid? What types of aid are available — departmental scholarships, teaching assistantships, grants? Are there any additional materials required, such as writing samples or a portfolio of your art work? Most of the details mentioned above will be solely your responsibility, but you obviously need assistance from tutors for the letters of recommendation. DO NOT WAIT until the last minute (e.g. the day before the letter is due) and expect your tutors to produce a quality recommendation. Strong, effective letters of recommendation require time and thought to craft. Don’t assume that every tutor will feel able to provide such a letter. If one of them declines to write a letter, thank them, and ask someone else. Once your tutors have agreed to write letters, the more information you can give them about what you want to study, where, and why, the more detailed and helpful their letters can be. Get yourself organized so that you are asking for these letters at least a month before the letters are due. During that month, check in with the tutors to see if they need any more details from you. That can also be a gentle reminder that the deadline is approaching. Make sure each tutor knows whether to send hard copies of the letter directly to your schools (with envelopes and postage provided by you) or upload the letter to an online application site. Make sure they are comfortable with either format. For those who may not want to face an online system, remind them that Career Services can assist them with that process. Also, please ask all of them to provide electronic copies of their letters for your file at Career Services, which will be saved for future use. Choosing to apply to graduate or professional school is one of the most important career decisions you will make. To do it successfully, it should be like a full-time job, not something that you try to squeeze in around classes, jobs, extra-curricular activities, and special study groups. Don’t expect to be able to pull together a strong, effective application overnight. The Statement of Purpose alone will require multiple drafts and reading by unbiased advisors (e.g. tutors, Writing Assistants, the Career Services Director). Schools set up fairly complicated application processes partly to see if you can read and follow the directions and “jump through their hoops.” If this all sounds like much more than you can handle the fall semester of your senior year, with applications due anywhere from December 1 to the end of February, then you may want to consider taking an extra year to really give thought to exactly what you want to study and where, and to be able to devote the necessary concentrated time to compile a strong and focused application. If you decide you want to take a year off, visit Career Services to talk about and brainstorm other options for the year after you graduate. If you decide to forge ahead with applications, Career Services can also help you get organized and gather the various pieces of your applications. Don’t feel that you have to do this alone!
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Working World 20 Cities That Are Hiring Liberal Arts Majors by Vivian Giang, from BUSINESS INSIDER, August 29, 2013
“Liberal arts majors have had it pretty rough, but things may be looking up. While liberal arts grads face the highest unemployment rates of all undergraduate majors, labor-market analytics firm Burning Glass released a new report showing the 20 U.S. cities where liberal arts majors are most in demand. They analyzed more than 23,000 employer sites and job boards to find the cities with the most entry-level job postings available to these grads. Of the nearly one million jobs that Burning Glass found open to liberal arts majors nationwide, New York and LA had the most openings at 101,750 and 66,747 respectively, but also the stiffest competition. However, the problem is that liberal arts majors aren’t the only candidates applying to these jobs. ‘When you look at the numbers, [liberal arts grads] aren’t only competing with their cohorts, but also with job changers and other candidates with communication, research, and problem-solving skills,’ Matthew Sigelman, Burning Glass CEO, tells Business Insider. Sigelman says if liberal arts graduates incorporated ‘a relatively small dose’ of any of the following eight technical skills to their background, their job prospects would nearly double to about two million openings nationwide. These skills are marketing, sales, business, social media, graphic design, data analysis, computer programming, and IT networking. ‘We instilled these specific eight skill sets because they’re skills we thought people could develop within their liberal arts studies or internships,’ says Sigelman. ‘It’s a tough market if you don’t have these additional skills.” (See the chart for the Burning Glass list of cities with the most jobs open to liberal arts majors. Also see the articles in this issue regarding the new Pathways Fellowships and expanded Ariel Internship program.)
Location
Postings Open to Liberal Arts Graduates With No Additional Training
Postings Liberal Arts Graduates Can Qualify for with Additional Technical Skills
Total Postings Open to Liberal Arts Graduates
Nation-wide New York, NY Los Angeles, CA Washington, DC Chicago, IL Boston, MA Dallas, TX San Francisco, CA Atlanta, GA Philadelphia, PA Houston, TX Seattle, WA Detroit, MI San Jose, CA Denver, CO Miami, FL Phoenix, AZ Minneapolis, MN Portland, OR Baltimore, MD San Diego, CA
954,996 101,750 66,747 47,129 54,131 21,220 45,616 35,932 40,799 38,940 29,598 32,034 26,542 12,958 22,722 29,290 26,640 21,621 18,441 16,570 17,538
861,572 80,212 45,952 39,234 38,376 21,301 32,757 26,647 26,016 25,599 18,636 21,700 17,480 10,568 16,111 15,911 16,728 15,834 12,031 11,124 11,921
1,816,688 181,962 112,699 86,364 92,507 42,521 78,347 62,579 66,815 64,539 48,233 53,734 44,022 23,526 38,832 45,202 43,368 37,455 30,472 27,693 29,459
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Programs Bridges To Your Future As nice as it would be to continue as a student at St. John’s forever, graduation (hopefully) happens for all of you. Then the question becomes, “what’s next?” The college and Career Services want to help all students find answers to that question. If you think graduate or professional school or a creative endeavor is your next step, consider applying for a Pathways Fellowship. The Pathways Fellowships are a new collegefunded program that has been created on both campuses to enable St. John’s students to transition into graduate study or careers that call for special or prerequisite courses. Through this program, current sophomores, juniors, and seniors, including international students, can apply for up to $2,500 to enroll in summer classes in, for example, teacher education programs for public school certification, art or creative writing classes in preparation of a portfolio, pre-medical courses, or study abroad programs. Financial need is not an eligibility factor for a Pathways Fellowship, but a strong application that explains why a proposed program is vital for a student’s career goals will be required. An application form and complete application details, as well as assistance with creating a Pathways application, are available from the Career Services office. The following members of the Pathways Fellowships Committee are also ready to assist students in determining which prerequisite courses are best at their stage of career exploration, along with possible locations for these classes: Bill Donahue, Claudia Hauer, Susan Kaplan, Barbara Lucero Sand, Margaret Odell, Eric Poppele, and Llyd Wells. Pathways Fellowships applications are due at the Career Services office by noon on Monday, December 16, 2013. Awards will be announced in January 2014. Thorne and Braziel/Lynn Scholarships for Pre-medical Study are a subset of the Pathways Fellowships program on the Santa Fe campus. These two scholarships are awarded to students so they can take the pre-requisite chemistry classes and labs they will need for application to allopathic medical schools. The amount of individual Thorne scholarships varies, with recent awards ranging from $2,500-$5,000. The Braziel/Lynn Scholarship is a single $5,000 award. Applications for both scholarship programs (available at the Career Services office) require a letter explaining why a student is planning to pursue a career as a physician, along with a budget showing proposed costs for summer classes and living expenses. Both the Thorne and Braziel/Lynn applications are due at the Career Services office by noon on Monday, December 16, 2013. Santa Fe students may apply for both scholarships. Another option for getting career experience next summer is an Ariel Internship for which you spend two-three months working in a field that interests you as a possible career. Ariel interns have explored careers as diverse as art, family counseling, foreign affairs, historic preservation, linguistics, mediation, museum and gallery curation, music, naturopathic medicine, non-profit and public administration, organic farming, politics, sustainable architecture, teaching, and many more. The first step in the Ariel process is to find an established internship or to create an internship for yourself. Barbara Lucero Sand, Assistant Director of Career Services and Internship Coordinator,
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has resources to help you with either path. Many alumni have also been happy to open spots in their own internship programs or work with students to craft an individualized experience. Once you’ve decided on an internship and have actually applied, it’s time to fill out the Ariel Internship application to request up to $3,600 to meet your summer expenses for the duration of the internship. If you are particularly interested in a bio-medical internship, the award can be up to $4,000. Copies of successful internship applications, interns’ reports on their experiences, and the 2014 application will be available at an Ariel Introductory meeting at noon on Tuesday, October 8, in the Junior Common Room. Please bring your lunch and join Ms. Lucero Sand and some of this past summer’s interns to learn about the details of the application process and the types of experiences you might have, and to pick up this year’s application. Ariel Internship applications for the summer of 2014 are due to Career Services by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 21, 2014. Awards will be announced before Spring Break. Whether you want to take a prerequisite class, study abroad, or try out a careerrelated job next summer, the college and Career Services are committed to helping your dreams about the future become a reality. Don’t procrastinate; start thinking about these opportunities today!
Programs Projects for Peace
Elene Gvilia, Bilsana Bibic, and Noam Freshman received a grant from the Davis Projects for Peace initiative for their project. With the help of Terry Manning, these students traveled to the Republic of Georgia to make a difference in education, health, and politics.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Davis United World College Scholars Program has invited St. John’s College to submit an application for the Projects for Peace competition. Since 2007, six teams of students from St. John’s College (four from the Santa Fe campus and two from Annapolis) have each won $10,000 to carry out projects they defined as having a direct bearing on establishing a sustainable peace. The Santa Fe projects have ranged from building a water purification tank and installing plumbing in a remote village in Nepal to renovating a building for a community library (also in Nepal) and bringing together students from various sides of major political and military conflicts in the Republic of Georgia. All undergraduate students on both campuses are eligible to propose a project for this competition, but Dean Sterling and Dean Kraus must select only one primary project and one alternate to be submitted to the Davis UWC program. The application for this competition consists of a two-page statement that details the project (who, what, where, how), including a description of how the student or group of students is defining “peace,” their expected outcomes, and prospects for the future impact of the project, along with a one-page budget of how the $10,000 award would be spent (transportation, living expenses, project materials, etc.) All applications in Santa Fe must be submitted to Career Services no later than noon on Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. A committee made up of tutors and staff will consider the proposals and offer suggestions for further work to be done during Winter Break. By the end of January the two Deans will have determined whether there is a primary and an alternate from among the applications from both campuses and the final applications will be sent to Davis no later than February 10, 2014. Career Services will present an informational meeting about how to craft a successful Projects for Peace proposal on Tuesday, October 22, 12:15-1:15 p.m. in the Senior Common Room. More details about Projects for Peace can also be found at: http://www.davisprojectsforpeace.org. If students have questions about Projects for Peace, please contact Career Services directly, because any contact between students and the Davis UWC office is strictly prohibited.
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Events EVENTS October 8 Ariel Internship Introduction Presentation Junior Common Room 12:15 – 1:15 p.m. Bring your lunch as Ms. Barbara Lucero Sand, assistant director of career services and internship coordinator outlines the Ariel Internship program and answers questions. Also hear former Ariel interns speak about their experiences this past summer and share tips on the application process. Resched October 16 — Town Hall Meeting (pizza will be served) from Oculed t. 2 Great Hall 3:15 - 5 p.m. Panel discussion with Pathways Fellowship Committee members who will share the philosophy and details of this new college-supported opportunity for summer academic classes, including pre-requisite courses 2013 WRITING FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS for graduate and professional school and study abroad. 3-Part Workshop Series This series will be presented by Margaret Odell, director of Career October 22 Projects for Peace Presentation Services, with assistance from Alan Zeitlin, tutor and writing archon, and Senior Common Room 12:15 - 1:15 p.m. the student writing assistants. The aim is to look at what makes up a St. John’s College has once again received an invitation from the Davis successful statement of purpose for graduate school, internship and job United World College Scholars Program for any interested undergraduates applications, and how this kind of writing is different from what students on our campus to design grassroots “Projects for Peace,” which will take do for SJC essays. Space is limited and there is some reading to do for the place in the summer of 2014. Bring your lunch and find out all about the first session, so students need to sign up at the Career Services office by proposal process, deadlines and receive an example of a successful October 22 and pick up the packet of readings. proposal. October 23 Writing for Graduate School Applications October 23 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Senior Common Room 6-8 p.m. Socorro, NM, Science Presentation Part 1 is a discussion of the hallmarks of all-purpose good writing. We will Senior Common Room 3:15 - 4:30 p.m. also consider examples of Statements of Purpose from former SJC graduate school applicants. Assistant Professor, Sally Pias, Department of Chemistry at NM Tech, will lead a seminar discussion on The Molecular Mind-Body. November 6 Writing for Graduate School and Internship Applications October 30 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Senior Common Room 6-8 p.m. Internship Presentation Students will share their own writing for current applications or help Fireside Lounge 3 - 4:30 p.m. critique the writing of other workshop members. This will be a safe, Brenda L. Montoya, student programs’ coordinator at Los Alamos supportive environment to learn about what it takes to switch from writing National Laboratory (LANL), will present internship information and tips a seminar essay to stating what you plan to do in graduate school or at a to students interested in interning at LANL next summer through our proposed internship. We will explore the importance of allowing time for multiple revisions and review by a variety of impartial readers. paid Ariel Internship program.
November 13 Writing Beyond the SJC Seminar Essay Senior Common Room 6-8 p.m. This final meeting will give students an opportunity to try other forms of non-academic writing, such as cover letters for jobs or statements of educational philosophy. We will also tie up any questions remaining from the first two sessions and spend some time identifying and discussing the hallmarks of good writing.
RECRUITING EVENTS October 23
New Mexico Tech Graduate Programs in Science, Socorro, NM, Peterson Student Center Hallway near cafeteria 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Assistant Professor, Sally Pias, Department of Chemistry at NM Tech will host a table to discuss graduate programs and will follow up with a seminar discussion at 3:15 p.m. on the same day, (see above information).
If students have questions about this workshop series, contact Margaret Odell directly at extension 6067 or modell@sjcsf.edu.
November 1 SIT Graduate Institute, Brattleboro, VT, Peterson Student Center Hallway 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Interested in intercultural exchange, running a study abroad program, sustainable community development, or peacebuilding? Come by the table to learn more about SIT Graduate Institute and their interculturally focused MA degree programs.
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Career Services Office
CONTACT: Career Services 505-984-6066 Fax 505-984-6167 Web address: www.stjohnscollege. edu/admin/SF/career.shtml AGORA: www.myinterfase.com/sjcsf/student Facebook: www.facebook.com/sjcsf careerservices Email: careerservices@sjcsf.edu Office located in the basement of Weigle Hall, Room 13 Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. or by appointment Career Services Staff: Margaret Odell Director Barbara Lucero Sand Assistant Director and Internship Coordinator Lise Lookman Administrative Assistant Allen Matsika Publication Editor Asmin Sitaula Research Assistant Melissa Latham-Stevens Art Director
Disclaimer: The St. John’s College Career Services office produces Odyssey Bound as a service to St. John’s College students and community members for their career development and educational and life planning. Any jobs or other opportunities listed herein do not indicate an endorsement or recommendation from St. John’s College or the Career Services office. Students and individuals from the St. John’s College community are responsible for all necessary precautions when interviewing for or accepting these positions or awards. They are also responsible for checking the credentials and integrity of all employers or organizations. St. John’s College and the Career Services office assume no liability for acts or omissions by third parties or for material supplied by them. The St. John’s College Career Services office is not responsible for anything that happens at a given job site. The presence of an employment listing in Odyssey Bound does not guarantee any given employer’s compliance with legal behavior. If a student or individual experiences discrimination or sexual harassment on the job or in a job interview, he or she is encouraged to call the Department of Fair Employment in the state in which the violation occurred. Career Services makes every effort to publish the most current information, but unforeseen publishing problems may render some events obsolete. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause the reader.
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Check us out online! www.stjohnscollege.edu/admin/SF/ career_newsletter.shtml or in the Agora Resource Library