by Izabella Louk, Staff Writer
The Ehinger Center was abuzz with activity this past Saturday as student organization KUUMBA hosted a career day. The event, which consisted of workshops and professional networking, branched away from KUUMBA’s usual fireside chat events, and provided students the opportunity to learn skills that will aid them in job seeking and the professional world.
Though the actual day did bring a few challenges in terms of attendance in the earlier hours of the event (college students living up to the trope of sleeping till midday!), it was a big success. KUUMBA brought in professionals to run four separate workshops, each providing valuable information to students. The first was on the topic of ‘Why Should We Hire You’ – This workshop had professionals coaching students on how to properly handle job interviews, how to properly dress for an interview, what hairstyles are appropriate for an interview, and proper resume formatting. The second was ‘Turning Your Passions into Paychecks’. This workshop was created to teach students how to take something they love or love doing and turn it into a business venture, definitely encouraging entrepreneurship. (This workshop was a crowd favorite). The third workshops was called ‘Let Your Name Speak for Itself’ – This workshop was on based on how one should portray themselves on social media as a professional. Unruly behavior on social media can hinder job/internship opportunities. (This workshop was also a crowd favorite). And the final workshop was ‘Breaking Barriers in the Professional World’ – This workshop covered how people of color can and are breaking down barriers in the professional working world. It’s hard being a minority in a predominantly white professional setting and there is always an obstacle to overcome.
Naturally, such a successful event could not have occurred without lots of hard work. Co-Chair of KUUMBA, Marvianna Gray (’17) stated, “Blood, sweat, and lots of tears went into planning this event.” Gray continued to say, “We honestly didn’t think we were going to go through with ‘think big, dream big, be big’ because although we’ve planned events and we’re so used to doing it, we knew that this event had to be perfect and had to be completely different from our other events.” Gray also complimented the group’s ability to adapt for the importance of the program, “This wasn’t just a KUUMBA party or a fireside chat, we all had to step out of our elements and become professionals ourselves in order for this event to be successful. The members of KUUMBA weren’t Drew college students that day, we were adults in the professional working world.”
This event was a fantastic step towards improving diversity not only on-campus, but in the working world, and should be celebrated. Gray commented again, saying, “I hope the future leaders of KUUMBA when I graduate make this an annual event because it was definitely a huge success, none of us expected it to be this successful and we thank Drew University and Student Activities for allowing us to put something so wonderful together.”
Keep an eye on the Drew Today for other events by KUUMBA.
